Researchers claim that this monument is not a calendar

In 2022, a ProfArchaeology at Bournemouth University (United Kingdom) explained in his work The prehistoric site of Stonehenge served as a solar calendar. A theory that has been refuted today by researchers specializing in ancient astronomy in a study published in Old On March 23. The latter believe the site was mainly used to commemorate the dead, reports said Geo.

His study, the archeology professor explained that the ring of stones that has become a famous monument today was erected around 2,500 BC. The purpose of the monolithic device was to mark feast days or demonstrate “mastery of the universe” and strengthen political power along the way. The 30 stones originally erected, 17 of which remain today, correspond to the thirty days of a month. Added to this are unique stones that mark the beginning of each ten-day week.

An impossible precision

This calendar system would have been influenced by those used in the Near East at the same time. But a mathematician from the Polytechnic of Milan (Italy) and an astronomer from the Astrophysical Institute of the Canary Islands find this theory hard to believe. “The slow movement of the sun over the horizon on days close to the averages makes it impossible to control the correct functioning of the so-called calendar,” they assert. According to them, the massive stones of the Stonehenge installation did not provide the necessary precision for a reading, which had to be carried out to within a tenth of a degree.

The authors of a more recent study find it hard to believe that relations between Britain and the Middle East existed at the time. For them, Stonehenge was a place used for ceremonies to celebrate the dead. Professor of British Archaeology, quoted Direct science, found this possibility compatible with his own theory. He explained that the stone calendar made it possible to mark dates associated with deaths in some prehistoric religions.

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