Five and a half thousand years ago, workers built megalithic monuments at both Newgrange, in the Boyne Valley in Ireland, and at Gavrinis, a small island in Brittany, France. At that time there must have been close contact between the Neolithic people of Ireland and Brittany - which are 400km apart. According to the science of Archaeo-astronomy, the orientation of the passages in these megaliths to the winter solstice confirms the importance of Solar astronomy to the builders.
The stone carvings at both sites have a symbolic meaning, with the Sun most often being represented by a spiral. Newgrange has what is considered to be the world’s oldest known Sun-dial. Measuring a mere 18 inches, the ancient stone sundial is divided into eight perfect sections, which enabled its creators to tell the time of the day with extreme precision. This existed at least two millennia before the first know Egyptian Sun-dials and pre-dated those of the Greeks and Romans by thousands of years.
These buildings can be most correctly described as Temples and they were very obviously dedicated to the Sun. The passages and chambers at both Newgrange and Gavrinis are aligned with the rising Sun on the Winter Solstice. As with other ancient megalithic sites, stones weighing several tons were hoisted into high positions by means which we no longer understand.
These monuments were not built by primitive superstitious savages – they were purposefully constructed in accordance with astronomical movements. And the Sun was well understood as the prime source of life in our Solar System.
Credit for Images
TOP: AT GAVRINIS http://megalithicscience.org/index.php/art/79-gavrinis-searching-for-lunar-nodes-rather-than-extremes
BELOW:AT NEWGRANGE: http://www.knowth.com/knowth/kerbstone_15.jpg
The stone carvings at both sites have a symbolic meaning, with the Sun most often being represented by a spiral. Newgrange has what is considered to be the world’s oldest known Sun-dial. Measuring a mere 18 inches, the ancient stone sundial is divided into eight perfect sections, which enabled its creators to tell the time of the day with extreme precision. This existed at least two millennia before the first know Egyptian Sun-dials and pre-dated those of the Greeks and Romans by thousands of years.
These buildings can be most correctly described as Temples and they were very obviously dedicated to the Sun. The passages and chambers at both Newgrange and Gavrinis are aligned with the rising Sun on the Winter Solstice. As with other ancient megalithic sites, stones weighing several tons were hoisted into high positions by means which we no longer understand.
These monuments were not built by primitive superstitious savages – they were purposefully constructed in accordance with astronomical movements. And the Sun was well understood as the prime source of life in our Solar System.
Credit for Images
TOP: AT GAVRINIS http://megalithicscience.org/index.php/art/79-gavrinis-searching-for-lunar-nodes-rather-than-extremes
BELOW:AT NEWGRANGE: http://www.knowth.com/knowth/kerbstone_15.jpg
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