Mysterious stone circles in Scotland align with the Sun and Moon

Using statistical methods, researchers found stone circle monuments in the British countryside are actually calibrated to fall in line with the motions of the Sun and Moon 5,000 years ago, according to a new report in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

The study is based on two- and three- dimensional mathematical tests that determined the alignment between the stones and the two celestial bodies.

“Nobody before this has ever statistically determined that a single stone circle was constructed with astronomical phenomena in mind – it was all supposition,” study author Gail Higginbottom, an archeologist from Australian National University, said in a news release.

Connecting the circles to the Sun and Moon

Analyzing two of the most ancient rock circles erected in Scotland, the scientists discovered a great degree of alignments towards the Sun and Moon at several times in their cycles. The team also looked at smaller sites built around 2,000 years later in Scotland, and found these monuments had at least one of the same celestial alignments discovered at the great circles.

The scientists also uncovered a special connection between the positioning of the stones, the nearby landscape and horizon, and the motions of the Sun and the Moon across those surroundings.

“This research is finally proof that the ancient Britons connected the Earth to the sky with their earliest standing stones, and that this practice continued in the same way for 2000 years,” Higginbottom said.

Analyzing locations in detail, the study team discovered that approximately half the locations were encompassed by one landscape pattern and the other half by the complete opposite.

“These chosen surroundings would have influenced the way the Sun and Moon were seen, particularly in the timing of their rising and setting at special times, like when the Moon appears at its most northerly position on the horizon, which only happens every 18.6 years,” Higginbottom said.

“For example, at 50 percent of the sites, the northern horizon is relatively higher and closer than the southern and the summer solstice Sun rises out of the highest peak in the north,” she added. “At the other 50 percent of sites, the southern horizon is higher and closer than the northern, with the winter solstice Sun rising out of these highest horizons.

“These people chose to erect these great stones very precisely within the landscape and in relation to the astronomy they knew. They invested a tremendous amount of effort and work to do so. It tells us about their strong connection with their environment, and how important it must have been to them, for their culture and for their culture’s survival.”

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Image credit: Richard Mudhar

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