Nope, Stonehenge Isn't an Ancient Calendar After All, Scientists Say

Science Alert ^ | March 27, 2023 | Mike McRae

[SunkenCiv]

...To a number of scholars, there's more to Stonehenge's design than a symbolic reverence for the changing lengths of days. It's a timekeeper of some detail, a 'Neolithic computer' even...

Last year, Bournemouth University archaeologist Tim Darvill published his claim that the monument operated as some kind of 'perpetual calendar', one based on a solar year equivalent to 365.25 days.

Now, Polytechnic University of Milan mathematician Giulio Magli and astronomer Juan Antonio Belmonte from the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, Spain, have countered Darvill's claim, stating it is based on "a series of forced interpretations, numerology, and unsupported analogies with other cultures".

What we think of as Stonehenge is really a small part of the total archaeology at the site. Long before the famous stones were put into place, it was an important burial ground for cultures near and far...

As stated by the authors, the critical number 12 used by Darvill to multiply the number of lintels isn't reflected anywhere in Stonehenge's structure. There is also a variety of other numbers represented throughout the structure, such as in its portal, which seem to be ignored...

As for the calendar's Egyptian origins (and improvements upon), it's a speculation that would need some pretty convincing evidence, according to Magli and Belmonte. The Egyptians themselves built nothing that might mark off the days to such precision, after all, and wouldn't even consider how to account for a leap year for at least another 2,000 years.

Lastly, it's more likely than not that, like most Neolithic cultures, Stonehenge's architects would have adhered to a lunar calendar. While solar alignments might have played a role in anchoring significant lunar dates, determining these alignments would need some pretty precise handiwork.

[SunkenCiv]

The rest of the keyword, sorted:

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[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Red Badger.

[Fai Mao]

I think it was really an early Motel 6.

[SunkenCiv]

The Romans took over and renamed it Motel VI.

[Olog-hai]

So long as it’s not in danger of being crushed by a dwarf.

[C210N]

Construction of Stonehenge... in the 1950's

[wally_bert]

Or from Clark Griswold.

[aynrandfreak]

It was for Claire to go back to the 18th Century!

[seowulf]

Sometimes a henge is just a henge.

Archeologists tend to stretch their imaginations sometimes.

[PIF]

In any case, he won’t be the last to contemplate the true purpose of the stone columns rising from a plain in Salisbury, UK, that have stood in defiance of time for thousands of years.

—
Or they could examine the far older and bigger ones in North Africa - Libya and Algeria

[Governor Dinwiddie]

One thing of which we can be certain. Stonehenge was not built by subsaharan Africans in helicopters and jet planes. They used that technology when they built the pyramids.

[minnesota_bound]

I think the Druids just moved in some blocks of stone for shade and to sit on and have barbecues.

[Veto!]

I went to Stonehenge many years ago. Was not impressed. I did love the tiny English villages our tour bus drove through to get there.

[Brilliant]

Launch pad.

[Karliner]

Not a Motel Six. This was the Drive In remains from the days of the Flintsones.

[WHATNEXT?]

I told her NOT TO TOUCH IT!

[NetAddicted]

READ LATER

[Robwin]

I think Darvill and Magli should duke it out in a publicly broadcast cage match and whoever wins, we accept his findings.

[17th Miss Regt]

determining these alignments would need some pretty precise handiwork.

That's what calculators are for. Sheesh!

[outofsalt]