Re: Megalithic Calendar
Posted: 8:12 pm
It's no surprise that the Metonic cycle features at Stonehenge as well.
The Tiverton and Mid Devon Astronomy Society points out that the bluestone horseshoe : "Consisting of 19 stones, the bluestone horseshoe (just inside the 5 sarsen trilithons) had a couple of possible uses. They could be used for counting the period from a full moon on a particular day of the year to the next full moon that falls on that day of the year, which would be 19 years later. Known as the Metonic cycle (after Meton, a 5th Century BC Greek astronomer), this is correct to around 2 hours. (Postins, 1982) It could also be used to follow the nodal cycle of the Moon, which has a period of 18.61 years. "
Ref: http://www.tivas.org.uk/stonehenge/stone_ast.html
I'd defer to Jon on that one, as that might be guesswork.
But the discovery of the Coligny Calendar in France moves us firmly into the realm of hard physical evidence.
The Tiverton and Mid Devon Astronomy Society points out that the bluestone horseshoe : "Consisting of 19 stones, the bluestone horseshoe (just inside the 5 sarsen trilithons) had a couple of possible uses. They could be used for counting the period from a full moon on a particular day of the year to the next full moon that falls on that day of the year, which would be 19 years later. Known as the Metonic cycle (after Meton, a 5th Century BC Greek astronomer), this is correct to around 2 hours. (Postins, 1982) It could also be used to follow the nodal cycle of the Moon, which has a period of 18.61 years. "
Ref: http://www.tivas.org.uk/stonehenge/stone_ast.html
I'd defer to Jon on that one, as that might be guesswork.
But the discovery of the Coligny Calendar in France moves us firmly into the realm of hard physical evidence.