Archives:
Brit-Am Megalithic Bulletin Update (BAMBU)
Updates on Megaltihs, dolmens, and Israel
BAMBU Archives
Brit-Am Megalithic Bulletin Update (BAMBU)
NEWS AND INFORMATION
Tracing The Israelite Paths of Migration
according to the Directions of the Prophet Jeremiah 31:21
Brit-Am Megalithic Bulletin Update
BAMBU no.1
Contents:
1.
Solstice
recorded in Scottish Stones
2. Ireland: New Grange
3. Interesting British-Israel-New Age Type Site on New Grange
New Grange Pictures
Winter Solstice at New Grange |
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1. Solstice
recorded in Scottish Stones
Archaeologists rise to solstice circle discovery
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1046352007
JAMIE BEATSON
ARCHAEOLOGISTS working on a remote Scottish island have discovered an ancient
stone ceremonial enclosure that is perfectly aligned to the winter and summer
solstices.
The find was made by members of the Bath and Camerton Archaeological Society (Bacas)
working on the island of Foula.
The stones were found on the last day of an extensive geophysical survey at an
area called Da Heights. The group found stones rising from the ground in a curve
which did not look like they were placed naturally.
Extensive research has shown the stones were part of an early Bronze Age
ceremonial enclosure. The structure would have been built some time between 3500
and 2000BC.
Jayne Lawes, the director of excavations, said: "This excavation has proved
conclusively that the stone enclosure is man made and similar in construction to
others of the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age.
"The actual date of the construction has yet to be proved, though one shard of
pottery has been found buried under 60cm of peat on the floor of the enclosure
and should help to provide evidence of a date when the site was in use."
John Holbourn, a Bacas member from Wiltshire, said: "The alignment of the stone
ring to the midwinter sunrise is of real significance.
"While in the summer the island is bathed in light throughout most of the day
and night, in the winter daylight lasts for only a few hours.
"The knowledge that the days will lengthen and get warmer is very cheering."
Isobel Holbourn, who owns the land in Foula where the discovery was made, said:
"We knew there was something there, and the archaeologists found an egg-shaped
circle of stones.
"It turns out that the winter sunrise goes right up the middle, while the summer
solstice rises at right angles to it.
"The circle is egg shaped, and in the centre they dug a trench and found a paved
area and a bit of black pottery in between the stones.
"This has been sent away to be dated. The team watched the summer solstice
sunrise on 21 June. From the middle spot the sun rolls and rises up the side of
Ronas Hill - the highest hill on the Shetland mainland."
2. Ireland: New Grange
Extrects from "101 Facts about New Grange"
General Information
Never used as a grave
Chris O'Callaghan, "Newgrange "Temple to Life"
http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/newgrange/newgrange-book.php
14 The Winter Solstice event was known about in local folklore before the
alignment was rediscovered by Professor Michael J. O'Kelly in 1967.
http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/newgrange-facts/myths.php
On the Winter Solstice, the light of the rising sun enters the roofbox at
Newgrange and penetrates the passage, shining onto the floor of the inner
chamber. The sunbeam illuminates the chamber of Newgrange for just 17 minutes.
A survey of the roofbox, passage and chamber of Newgrange by Dr. Jon Patrick in
1972 found that the Winter Solstice orientation of the site was an original
feature, and that they were sophisticated constructions, intended to maximise
the accuracy and length of the beam entering the chamber.
Construction
http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/newgrange-facts/construction.php
21 Newgrange mound should be properly referred to as a cairn, because it
consists of water-rolled pebbles, each of which is between 6 to 9 inches across.
22 The entire mound contains an estimated 200,000 tonnes of material, and it has
been estimated construction would have taken about 30 years using a workforce of
about 300.
23 It is not known with any certainty how the larger stones which form the kerb
and passage and chamber of Newgrange were brought to the site. Many of these
stone slabs, 550 in number, were collected from where they had been lying in the
landscape. Because many of the stones were found to be weathered, it is believed
they were not quarried, so there would have been a huge logistical task in
finding suitable boulders dotted throughout the landscape.
24 Because Newgrange sits atop a ridge, many of the large slabs would have
needed to be brought uphill, again suggesting a highly organised community was
behind its construction.
30 Various estimates of the original height of Newgrange have been guessed at in
recent centuries, with some explorers of the site giving estimates as high as
45.7 metres (150 feet). Archaeologists believe the actual height would not have
been much more than 11 to 13 metres.
Passage and Chamber
http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/newgrange-facts/passage.php
38. At one time, there was what was described as a "pyramidal-shaped" stone in
the centre of the chamber. Some time after it was recorded by Thomas Molyneaux,
it disappeared and has not been seen since.
The Great Circle
http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/newgrange-facts/greatcircle.php
46 Archaeoastronomer Frank Prendergast has produced data which shows that the
"Great Circle" stones were astronomical and calendrical in function.
Construction
47 Excavations revealed that the Great Circle was erected some time after
2000BC, meaning it was the final stage of construction at Newgrange.
48 It is known that the Great Circle was erected when Newgrange was still in
use. It had been put in place before the collapse of the cairn, which is obvious
from the way the cairn slip material mounted up against the GC stones.
http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/newgrange-facts/greatcircle.php
50 An implement described by Professor Michael J. O'Kelly as an "iron wedge" was
found under the turf near a pit which may have originally been a socket for
stone GC-3. The archaeologists speculated this implement could have been used to
split the stone - fragments of which may have been found nearby.
Brit-Am Note: Taking nos 48, 49, and 50 together indicates that the construction
of New Grange Belongs at least in part to the Iron Age.
Satellite Sites
http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/newgrange-facts/satellites.php
63 A survey of the whole area around Newgrange by Dr. Jon Patrick revealed some
very interesting points: Newgrange and sites E, F and H are in a straight line.
So also are Dowth and sites F, D and C. Patrick indicated that Newgrange was the
focus of the groups of alignments which he found.
Megalithic Art
85 The majority of decorated passage-mounds, accounting for more than
four-fifths of the decorated stones, are located in Co. Meath, including
Newgrange.
Astronomy
91 On the Winter Solstice, the light of the rising sun enters the roofbox at
Newgrange and penetrates the passage, shining onto the floor of the inner
chamber. The sunbeam illuminates the chamber of Newgrange for just 17 minutes.
96 A survey of the roofbox, passage and chamber of Newgrange by Dr. Jon Patrick
in 1972 found that the Winter Solstice orientation of the site was an original
feature, and that they were sophisticated constructions, intended to maximize
the accuracy and length of the beam entering the chamber.
97 A further study by Tim O'Brien showed that at the time of construction the
sun-beam was so accurately framed by the roof-box aperture that Newgrange could
be used to determine the exact day of solstice.
100 Frank Prendergast's research demonstrated how the shadow of GC1, the
megalith adjacent to the entrance, would have crossed the lower part of the
three spirals on the west side of K1 at the winter solstice; that the shadow of
GC-1 would have crossed through the centre of the three spirals at the period
when the south declination of the sun was half its annual maximum; that the
shadow of stone GC-2 similarly crosses the same three spirals at the equinox.
Click here for more.
More on Astronomy
http://www.mythicalireland.com/astronomy/ancientastronomers.html
. In 1999, there were 297,000 visitors to Newgrange, and numbers have been
rising steadily.
The Winter Solstice sunrise event at Newgrange, where the sun shines into the
long passage on the shortest day of the year and illuminates the central
chamber, is the most heralded event in the Irish cultural calendar, and attracts
major media attention every year. Most people know about it, and many gather at
the famous mound every December to witness the event, even though most of them
have to make do with seeing the event from outside. It is a famous example of
ancient astronomy in action in modern times, and is a fitting beginning to our
exploration of the ancient Irish skywatchers.
At dawn on Winter Solstice every year, just after 9am, the sun begins to rise
across the Boyne Valley from Newgrange over a hill known locally as Red
Mountain. Given the right weather conditions, the event is spectacular. At four
and a half minutes past nine, the light from the rising sun strikes the front of
Newgrange, and enters into the passage through the roofbox which was specially
designed to capture the rays of the sun.
The sunlight appears to be split into two beams - a higher beam and a lower
beam. This is in fact true, the lower beam being formed by the doorway to the
passage. It is the light which enters through the roofbox, however, which
reaches the central chamber.
For a very short time, the beam of sunlight enters the chamber, illuminating the
floor. It is a narrow beam, only 34cm wide at the entrance and narrower in the
chamber. Originally, the beam would have struck the rear chamber orthostat (C8)
and, possibly, would have been reflected onto another chamber stone, C10, which
contains the famous triple spiral. After just 14 short minutes, the beam
disappears from the floor of the chamber, retreats down the passage and once
again the heart of newgrange returns to darkness.
3. Interesting
British-Israel-New Age Type Site on New Grange
Information to be accepted with great reservation but site
includes some valuable illustrations and facts worth noting:
Extracts:
Professor Michael J. O'Kelly states on page 41:-
(Sean P.) O'Riordhain (Professor of Archaeology at University College Cork and
Prof. O'Kelly's teacher) said it was certain that "The stone (GC -10) was
erected clear of the edge of the cairn and that it fell before any collapse (of
the cairn) took place because none of the cairn material lay beneath it." The
orthostat and circle, therefore, must either be contemporary with the mound or
earlier (and David Sweetman the chief archaeologist at Duchas / OPW has
ascertained using rain-water-corrupted material that gave a radiocarbon reading
for an earlier date than the real age, that these GC stones including GC -10
were erected post Bronze-Age [Iron-Age] - Technology Ireland; March 1991, page
23).
This cairn was built, as legend and Ogham script within the cairn on Stone C4 in
the West Recess tell us, by Eochaidh Ollathair the Daighda and his son from his
marriage-union with Teia Tephi (Tailte) / Bovinda, called Aengus/Oengus Mac Ind
Oc, who lived in the sixth century BC. - the Iron Age; not the Stone Age and
from whom it acquired its rightful name - Brug Aengusa or Brug Maic Ind Oc.
The Daighda - Eochaidh Ollathair reigned from c. 633 B.C. for forty years. The
Book of Lecan states that the Daighda had three sons :- Aedh; Aengus and
Cermaidh.
Aengus was the son of Eochaidh Ollathair, the Daighda, High-king of Tara who
reigned at the beginning of the sixth century B.C. and according to the Annals
of the Four Masters he died at Newgrange in "year of the world" 3450 (554 BC)
and so Newgrange is Iron-age NOT Stone-age. It was built in the sixth century
B.C. with metal tools, using horses and carts to haul and transport the approx.
200,000 tons of stones.
The age of the cairn is also confirmed by the astronomical alignment of the
cairn with the Winter Solstice sunrise at this time - 600 - 550 BC.
New Grange by Gail Kelly
BAMBU-2
1.
Megaliths and Stonehenge
2.
Ralph Waldo Emerson on Stonehenge
3.
The Construction of Stonehenge: Sources
1. Megaliths and
Stonehenge
http://nabataea.net/stonehenge.html
It is estimated that over 50,000 stone megaliths were erected in a great arc
around the coasts of Europe, from Sweden and the Shetland Islands in the north
to Spain, Portugal and Malta in the south. The most famous megaliths are found
at Stonehenge. They are located on the Salisbury Plain in southern England, a
chalk grassland that stretches as far as the eye can see. In the middle are the
megaliths, most of them more than 13 feet high. It is estimated that Stonehenge
is 4,000 years old and there is evidence that the stones were shaped by tools.
In 17th century, before the advent of archeology, historians imagined that
Stonehenge had been built by the Druids, the white-robed Celtic priest of
Britain and Gaul, of whom little was known However, history has shown than
Stonehenge is more than 1000 years older than the Druids. Some have suggested
that it was built by Phoenicians or Egyptians, but no proof has every uncovered
to support this. Interestingly enough, there are more than 900 other stone
circles found throughout the British Isles, and many more found throughout the
world. Near Stonehenge, around 2 miles away archeologists uncovered Durrington
Walls, where there is evidence of two huge circular wooden buildings one of them
127 feet in diameter.
2. Ralph Waldo
Emerson on Stonehenge
English Traits (1856)
by
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Chapter XVI
Stonehenge
http://www.rwe.org/works/
English_Traits_Chapter_XVI_Stonehenge.htm
Extract:`
In the silence of tradition, this one relation to science becomes an important
clue; but we were content to leave the problem, with the rocks. Was this the
"Giants' Dance" which Merlin brought from Killaraus, in Ireland, to be Uther
Pendragon's monument to the British nobles whom Hengist slaughtered here, as
Geoffrey of Monmouth relates? or was it a Roman work, as Inigo Jones explained
to King James; or identical in design and style with the East Indian temples of
the sun; as Davies in the Celtic Researches maintains? Of all the writers,
Stukeley is the best. The heroic antiquary, charmed with the geometric
perfections of his ruin, connects it with the oldest monuments and religion of
the world, and with the courage of his tribe, does not stick to say, "the Deity
who made the world by the scheme of Stonehenge." He finds that the _cursus_ (*
1) on Salisbury Plain stretches across the downs, like a line of latitude upon
the globe, and the meridian line of Stonehenge passes exactly through the middle
of this _cursus_. But here is the high point of the theory: the Druids had the
magnet; laid their courses by it; their cardinal points in Stonehenge,
Ambresbury, and elsewhere, which vary a little from true east and west, followed
the variations of the compass. The Druids were Ph;oenicians. The name of the
magnet is _lapis Heracleus_, and Hercules was the god of the Phoenicians.
Hercules, in the legend, drew his bow at the sun, and the sun-god gave him a
golden cup, with which he sailed over the ocean. What was this, but a
compass-box? This cup or little boat, in which the magnet was made to float on
water, and so show the north, was probably its first form, before it was
suspended on a pin. But science was an _arcanum_, and, as Britain was a
Ph;oenician secret, so they kept their compass a secret, and it was lost with
the Tyrian commerce. The golden fleece, again, of Jason, was the compass, -- a
bit of loadstone, easily supposed to be the only one in the world, and therefore
naturally awakening the cupidity and ambition of the young heroes of a maritime
nation to join in an expedition to obtain possession of this wise stone. Hence
the fable that the ship Argo was loquacious and oracular. There is also some
curious coincidence in the names. Apollodorus makes _Magnes_ the son of _Aeolus_,
who married _Nais_. On hints like these, Stukeley builds again the grand
colonnade into historic harmony, and computing backward by the known variations
of the compass, bravely assigns the year 406 before Christ, for the date of the
temple.
(* 1) Connected with Stonehenge are an avenue and a _cursus_. The avenue
is a narrow road of raised earth, extending 594 yards in a straight line from
the grand entrance, then dividing into two branches, which lead, severally, to a
row of barrows; and to the _cursus_, -- an artificially formed flat tract of
ground. This is half a mile northeast from Stonehenge, bounded by banks and
ditches, 3036 yards long, by 110 broad.
3. The
Construction of Stonehenge: Sources
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/stonehenge.htm
http://nabataea.net/stonehenge.html
and another one which may be the best of them all
and has useful illustrations:
http://www.stonehenge3d.co.uk/about.htm
BAMBU-3
Contents:
1. North Africa and Megaliths
Moorish Tag Day Update
2. Dating Uncertain but still Reluctant to Admit it.
Later finds in the mounds of megaliths
3. Megaliths Used by Later Cultures, or ascribable to them?
Imitations of ancient burial mounds
Dolmens in Spain
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1. North Africa
and Megaliths
Brit-Am: The extract below is especially significant since:
(a) it stresses the importance of the Calendar
in Megalithic Culture (and the observation of Velikovsky concerning the
calendar
http://www.britam.org/megaliths/velikovskyworlds.html );
(b) Presence of Megalithis in North Africa
(c) Berbers of North Africa were still erecting Megaliths in the 1920s.
Moorish Tag Day
Update
by Hakim Bey
Extracts
http://www.hermetic.com/bey/snakes.html
The third clue is -- Megaliths. Now so far in life I've resisted "Megalthomania"
( as John Michell calls it ) but here I'm afraid I've succumbed. I've read about
20 books on the subject so far, and am developing my own...crackpot theory.
Quinn suggests ( as does the turn of the century scholar, T. W. Rolleston, in
Celtic Myths and Legends, 1917 ) that the pre-Celtic population of Ireland and
the rest of the Insular or thalassic-Atlantic world, the people who built the
megaliths, were not wiped-out but absorbed by the late-coming Celts, who
preserve significant "megalithic" strains of folklore as well as music and
language; that these people are even more clearly represented in the modern
world by Berbers ( who have not been absorbed by the Arabs ). Quinn and
Rolleston go so far as to imagine that megalithism arose first in Morocco and
that the proto-Berbers ( as in Iberian and Hibernian, the Classical names for
pre-Aryan aborigines of Spain and Ireland ) were in fact the "Megalithic
Missionaries" envisioned by certain archaeologists.
Without going into arguments, I will assert here that Megalithism was a religion
based on the calendar ( the *first ideology ) and on agriculture. It bears great
similarities to the super-ancient agricultural religion of the Near East (
explored by T. Gaster in his magnificent Thespis ), but with several major
differences. For one thing, the megaliths themselves were not temples ( Near
Eastern style ) but observatories, calendars. ritual dance/theater sites, fairs
for gift exchange, and colleges for higher learning, all in one. ( Classical
authors called the megalith builders Hyperboreans, and their shamans, the
Boreates -- note the B'R root. Again! )?
I could go on ( and I will ) -- but here I'll skip to the subject of folklore.
The so-called "Celtic" calendar of Ireland is very likely megalithic in origin (
see K. Danaher in The Celtic Consciousnes ) The megaliths are obviously
pre-Celtic in origin, so that all "Celtic" folklore about them must be sifted
out; what's left might contain hints about megalithic culture. I need access to
certain key early texts ( long out of print or horribly expensive ), such as the
Book of Invasions, to carry out this task. So far, I believe I've located a
complex of pre-Celtic themes in the myth of the Fomorians, the one-legged,
one-eyed giants who were already in Ireland when the Celts ( the Tuatha de
Danaan ) first arrived -- although in some versions the Fomorians came from the
sea. ( Note: Amur, an ancient name for Morocco or Mauritania; Amorica, ancient
name for brittany, and Fomorians. ) Even the late "druidic" legends of the
megaliths are worth studying; yet more promising, however, are the non-learned,
non-aristocratic traditions embedded in, say, the Fenian Cycle and the legendary
history of Munster ( see Rees & Rees, Celtic Heritage, London, 1961 ); and
Breton peasant lore and fairy tales ( see J. P. Mohen, The World of Megaliths,
NY 1989 ).
Recently I borrowed and read the entire 1,238 pages of Westermarck's great
Ritual and Belief in Morocco ( Quinn also missed this ). To my amazement I
discovered that in the 1920's the Berbers were still building stone circles and
erecting menhirs! Westermarck devotes hundreds of pages to Moroccan stone cults,
holy wells and mountains, snake cults, and other pre-Islamic survivals. The
Berbers perform ( on Midsummers Eve! ) a burlesque version of the ancient
Neolithic Calendrical drama, described by Gaster, and also found in Britain as
the "Mummer plays and Morris ( i.e. Moorish ) Dances".
2. Dating Uncertain but still Reluctant to Admit it.
Brit-Am: The article below speaks of numerous finds in Megalithic
Monuments
dating from periods later than the dates ascribed to the Monuments.
The explanation is that for various reasons later cultures used these monuments
for their own purposes
and this inserted within them evidence of their own presence.
This explanation undoubtedly is correct in some instances but reading between
the lines one can already sense a certain
difficulty in applying it in every case. We believe that conventional dating of
the Megalithic Monuments is much too early and that a re-examination
in the late of the "later" finds would justify our position.
The following remarks are especially telling in our opinion:
>>Christopher Evans (1985: 88) noted with reference to British material that "[o]ften
the presence of such later pottery is either not interpreted or else dismissed
as artifactual 'background noise'."<<
>>Some sherds can be explained as remains of the urns of further secondary
burials the other traces of which have entirely disappeared. But often the
sherds are too few, or they are only single pieces, and they cannot therefore be
interpreted as the remains of a complete burial urn. <<
Later finds in the
mounds of megaliths
https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/citd/holtorf/5.1.2.html
[See the above URL for an interesting pie-chart of percentage of finds with
"later" insertions]
Extract:
After studying the records of all megaliths in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, I was
surprised to learn that 46 (10%) of all well documented megaliths, and an
astonishing 41 (28%) of all those excavated since 1945 have produced later
prehistoric and historic finds, including secondary burials (see graphics
below). If all megaliths had been excavated, an overall proportion of just under
one third could be expected to contain later finds.
Among these finds, all later prehistoric (and early historical) periods are
represented, although the Pre-Roman Iron Age and the Slavic Period can together
account for more than half of all finds (see graphics). Interestingly, these
later finds were discovered both within the mounds as well as within the
chambers themselves. Christopher Evans (1985: 88) noted with reference to
British material that "[o]ften the presence of such later pottery is either not
interpreted or else dismissed as artifactual 'background noise'."
This is equally true for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Clearly, better interpretations
are needed in order to make sense of this evidence. Some sherds can be explained
as remains of the urns of further secondary burials the other traces of which
have entirely disappeared. But often the sherds are too few, or they are only
single pieces, and they cannot therefore be interpreted as the remains of a
complete burial urn. Similarly, later prehistoric finds, which do not clearly
stem from later burial urns, were also found in some Bronze Age barrows, e.g. in
Waren (Schoknecht 1986: 206-7).
Looking beyond my study area, the phenomenon of later prehistoric finds in
megaliths is not unique. In Sweden, finds from the Roman Iron Age were made in
Neolithic stone cists/dolmen (Arne 1919). Similarly, Iron Age material was found
in megalithic burial chambers on the Scottish islands in the Atlantic, and some
megaliths there were even re-used as (parts of) houses and souterrains (Hingley
1996; MacKie 1998). Chambered long barrows in England are also known to contain
occasional finds from the first millennium BC and indeed the Roman period (Darvill
2004: 225-9). In ancient Greece and Roman Britain too, new uses were found for
ancient monuments, and traces were found accordingly. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,
there is evidence that the megalith of Nobbin on R?en was used as occupational
site by Slavic people, who partly destroyed the grave chamber and left sherds of
their pottery as well as an arabic coin.
But why did later finds in so many cases end up in megalithic mounds? They could
have been moved here, when existing burial mounds were enlarged using earth
containing such items. Peter Goesler suspects that the 'Hohmichele', a tumulus
of the Hallstatt culture in Southwest Germany, was later enlarged as expression
of the political power of the ruler, using earth taken from other burial mounds
which contained earlier pottery sherds (Goesler 1938: 30). But such processes
are not known from later prehistoric and historic Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In
some cases, later finds may have found their way into mounds when megaliths were
destroyed and stones removed for new uses, as Achim Leube and Ewald Schuldt
suspected for as early as the 13th century (Leube 1969: 18; Schuldt 1969: 25),
or during archaeological investigations in the 19th and early 20th centuries,
which is what Adolf Hollnagel suggested with reference to objects from different
ages found in a megalithic chamber at Forst Everstorf (Hollnagel 1970: 92).
The relatively high frequency of later finds cannot, in my opinion, exclusively
be explained by accidental deposits during work carried out by later builders,
stone-robbers, treasure-hunters, antiquarians, or archaeologists, especially
since more than half of these finds were?in the eyes of the excavators?obviously
or possibly connected with secondary burials. What these finds therefore seem to
indicate is human presence and activity during later periods at a fairly large
number of megaliths, probably going together with some form of special meaning
of these sites (cf. Hingley 1996; MacKie 1998; Chapman 1997).
Pottery may have been deliberately deposited at megaliths. The motivations for
this could have been very diverse. Perhaps, broken pottery, old or new, was
dumped here in later prehistory together with other rubbish, indicating a view
of ancient burial mounds as desecrated rubbish disposal sites. This is known to
have occurred in historic times. Adolf Hollnagel stated (1971) that in
Gro?Zastrow (767, 769) 19th century material was dumped into robbed chambers
along with stones and other debris collected on the surrounding fields.
But later finds in megaliths could also reflect more positive values which
megaliths acquired during their long life-histories. G?ter Rennebach speculated
that scattering broken pots may have been a part of later ritual sacrifices on
burial mounds which were of special cosmological significance to these people (Rennebach
1974: 150). In Crickley Hill in England, there is evidence that people during
the Roman period drew deep holes into a prehistoric long mound and dropped a
brooch and coins, perhaps as offerings. A similar act may also explain how a
17th century AD iron knife could turn up inside the same mound (Selkirk 1993:
503; cf. Darvill 2004: 228).
For References see:
https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/citd/holtorf/5.1.2.html
3. Megaliths Used
by Later Cultures, or ascribable to them?
Brit-Am: the extract below shows how aspects of megalithic
Monuments parallel cultural features of civilizations known to date well
after the periods ascribed to the Megaliths themselves.
The explanation given is that later cultures copied the Megalithic precedents.
We would suggest that the explanation in some cases should rather be that the
Megaliths themselves belong to the later period.
Imitations of
ancient burial mounds
https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/citd/holtorf/5.1.6.html
Extracts:
There are numerous barrows in the landscape of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, from
different ages. The earliest ones are those containing megaliths. Even though
the custom of erecting barrows for burials is widespread throughout prehistory,
both in time and in space, it is conceivable that the barrows erected in the
Bronze Age, in the Iron Age and in the Slavic period gained some of their
cultural meaning from their similarity with the earlier mounds, which are in
some cases very close by. It seems clear that many megaliths have been visible
for a long time after they had been built. Their appearance could thus have been
imitated later on as a deliberate archaism. Alternatively, some megaliths were
later covered by an additional layer of earth, probably in connection with
secondary burials from the Bronze Age, e.g. in Boldebuck, in Twietfort (Becker
1935: 115-6; Rennebach 1974: 122-5), in Dummertevitz and in Burtevitz (Schuldt
1972a: 149-51; 1972b: 124), and thus became physically converted into
contemporary tumuli.
As a result, it can be difficult to distinguish a Bronze Age barrow from a mound
containing a megalith. Not only the earliest antiquarians and map-makers were
often not clear about the precise content and age of a mound?and sometimes used
the terms "Hunengrab" (giant's grave, usually referring to megaliths) and "Grabhugel"
(barrow, usually Bronze Age) interchangeably; even modern archaeologists can
find it difficult to keep the two types of graves apart. In Nipmerow, Gunter
Rennebach was surprised to discover a megalithic grave when he expected to
excavate a Bronze Age barrow (Rennebach 1986: 39-40; see already Virchow 1886:
628). This effect may have been quite deliberate, if Bronze Age people tried to
imitate earlier mounds. In a group of nine barrows in Twietfort the most western
mound (1) contained a megalith as well as 14 Bronze Age urn burials, while the
other eight (2-9) were built in the Bronze Age but did not contain any burials (Rennebach
1974: 136-55). It appears as if all that mattered during the Bronze Age was the
linking of burials, and barrows that looked like burials, with an older
monument.
In Waren, a group of four barrows included one ordinary Bronze Age barrow,
which also contained a Slavic secondary burial. A second mound did not contain
any finds, while another turned out to be a Neolithic stone cist with a Bronze
Age burial and barrow on top, and a third mound had been built as a grave during
the pre-Roman Iron Age (Schoknecht 1986). A similar surprise was provided by
five mounds in Zislow, Kreis Robel, of which three turned out to be Neolithic,
one was a natural hill which was later used during the pre-Roman Iron Age and in
the Slavic period, and only one mound was in fact from the Bronze Age (Schoknecht
1991). Svend Hansen suspected that many Danish mounds, too, have been mis-classified
as belonging to the Bronze Age, when in fact they contain megaliths from the
Neolithic (1993: 16).
Occasionally, it appears as if old monuments attracted newer ones, and all were
then (re-)designed to look indistinguishable.
The King's Grave of Seddin, built in the later Bronze Age, contained a burial
chamber which reminded Albert Kiekebusch (1928: 15-6) of Mycenaean tholos-graves.
But it could also have been inspired by the interior architecture of local
passage graves from the Neolithic. Imitations of prehistoric monuments are also
known from other regions and contexts.
In Thy in northern Denmark, long barrows saw a revival during the Early Bronze
Age (Thorpe 1997: 76).
Richard Hingley argued that later prehistoric people in Atlantic Scotland drew
inspiration from Neolithic chambered cairns for the design of their own houses.
This may have served as a means of claiming ancient tombs for the group's own
ancestors, and thus foster an attempt of projecting the identity of the lineage
into the distant past (Hingley 1996).
In Ireland, complex timber circles find their closest parallels in later
Neolithic henge monuments from Britain. Maybe they represent a deliberate
attempt to re-invent a particular past (Gibson 2000).
Orjan Mattsson made a case for interpreting the tradition of erecting standing
stones (bautastenar) in the Swedish province of Uppland, dating mostly from the
first century BC until the second century AD, as "part of a growing interest
for, and re-use of, megalithic monuments that can be seen on the British Isles
during the Roman and Post-Roman times" (Mattsson 1996: 64; 56f.). In other
words, according to Mattsson, megalithic architecture known from elsewhere was
imitated in later prehistoric Uppland in central Sweden.
In ancient Greece, the Messenians imitated in their own grave architecture the
form of ancient tumuli burials. Arguably, the tumulus at Marathon too refers
back to much more ancient tomb architecture.
In south-eastern England, both barrows and chambered tombs can be found that
were built by the Romano-British population. At Frilford, there is even a 'henge
monument' of Iron Age origin remodelled by the Romans (Stevens 1939).
Groups of barrows built successively and/or modelled on ancient prototypes, like
in Twietfort, can also be seen at Bronze Age barrow sites in Britain, and at the
royal sites of Uppsala in Sweden and Jelling in Denmark (Bradley 1993: 94-5,
103-8).
Hermann Ament noticed that burial mounds of the Alamanni in western Germany were
spatially associated with prehistoric barrows, and that these links changed over
time. Alamanni graves were placed near prehistoric barrows from the 6th century
AD, inside them (as secondary burials) from the early 7th century AD, and in
newly built barrows since the middle of the 7th century AD, thus reflecting a
stepwise familiarisation with the ancient barrows which culminated in their
complete imitation (Ament 1975: 86).
The Church of Santa Sabina-Silanus on Sardinia appears to have been build with a
plan inspired by the single-tower nuraghe from the Bronze Age located next to it
(Blake 1998).
Dolmens and Megaliths
BAMBU-4
Brit-Am Megalithic Bulletin Update
Contents:
1. Lost City of Apollo Found at
Stonehenge?
2. Prehistoric Moon map unearthed
3. Stonehenge not voted as one of the Seven Wonders of the World
4. Stonehenge: A megalithic mystery
5. Megaliths in Sligo,
Ireland
6. Atlit
Yam in Israel
7. Ancient Astronomy at Rujm
el-Hiri
(Rogem
Hiri
or Gilgal
Rephaim)
Views of Heelstone at Stonehenge
 |
 |
 |
1. Lost City of Apollo Found at
Stonehenge?
http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/lost-city-apollo-found-at-stonehenge/weird-science
2. Prehistoric Moon map unearthed
[Knowth, Meath, East Ireland]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/325290.stm
3. Stonehenge not voted as one of
the Seven Wonders of the World
http://www.new-age.co.uk/stonehenge-news.htm
100 million people voted and the list has been revealed:
The Statue of Christ Redeemer, Brazil
Peru's Machu Picchu, Peru
Chichen Itza pyramid, Mexico
The Great Wall of China
Petra, Jordan
The Colosseum, Rome
Taj Mahal, India
4. Stonehenge: A megalithic mystery
http://www.new-age.co.uk/stonehenge-standing-stones.htm
A Megalithic Mystery
http://www.new-age.co.uk/stonehenge-standing-stones.htm
Extracts:
Stonehenge is a magnificent Neolithic monument near Amesbury, Wiltshire, built
high on the windswept chalky Salisbury Plain. It is now widely accepted that
there were three constructional phases...
Stonehenge - Temple of the Sun
During the midsummer solstice we gaze out of the sacred circle to see the sun
rise over the Heel Stone, and the first rays shine into the centre of the
monument between the stones of the trilithon horseshoe...
Some believe the Heel, or Hele, stone - an outlying sarsen - was originally part
of a pair that was intended to perfectly frame the midsummer sunrise. The Anglo
Saxon verb 'helan' meaning 'to conceal' could be connected with the naming of
this stone - it conceals the sun rising on the summer solstice.
At the midwinter solstice the setting sun sinks between the two uprights of the
largest trilithon and behind the altar stone -
There are many stellar correlations as well as the sun and moon alignments at
Stonehenge. There are solar alignment points not only within the stone circle,
but beyond these with the outlying Heel and Slaughter stones.
Timothy Darvill, professor of archaeology at Bournemouth University, has
recently revealed research that he believes shows that Stonehenge was an ancient
healing place. In his new book 'Stonehenge: The Biography of a Landscape' the
professor cites that human remains excavated from burial mounds near Stonehenge,
reveal that many of the buried had been ill prior to their death. The remains
also seem to have come from far and wide, like the Amesbury Archer who
originated from what is now known as Switzerland. The professor believes that
Stonehenge would have been mainly used during the winter solstice, when our
ancestors believed it was occupied by Apollo, the Greek and Roman god of
healing.
Layamon's poem, 'Brut', written around AD1215 seems to reinforce this use of
Stonehenge, and is one of the earliest megalithic poems.
The stones are great
And magic power they have
Men that are sick
Fare to that stone
And they wash that stone
And with that water bathe away their sickness
Lunar temple
Some believe that the early Stonehenge was re-aligned into a solar monument
instead of being a pointer for lunar movements. This was apparently achieved by
moving the entrance constructed thousands of years before and re-aligning the
axis, so the focus became solar.
The Altar Stone
This large stone is not a bluestone or sarsen. It is micaceous sandstone -
containing thousands of light reflective particles of shiny mica. Though this
important stone is now fallen and we can only see the upper surface, when it was
standing 3 metres high inside the circle it may have acted like a mirror
reflecting back the rays when the midsummer sunrise shone into the centre of
Stonehenge.
Construction
Although Stonehenge is not the world's largest stone circle (Avebury,
constructed between 2800 and 2700 B.C.is the largest - 1,401 feet in diameter),
it is the only one that has horizontal lintels around the top.
'Stonehenge' is believed to be the Old English word for 'hanging stone'. The
lintels are fixed end to end by tongue and groove joints and firmly held on top
of the standing sarsens with mortice and tenon joints.
Such construction skill is one of the reasons that part of the circle is still
standing after thousands of years. Unlike other stone circles Stonehenge reveals
careful shaping, smoothing and tapering of the stones. The outer circle's
lintels are even curved to follow the line. The Heel Stone is the only naturally
shaped sarsen. Stonehenge is more than a stone circle - it is architecture with
aesthetic appeal, and the wonder of Western Europe.
'The Druid's groves are gone - so much the better.
Stonehenge is not, but what the devil is it?'
Don Juan - Lord Byron, 1823
Aubrey Holes
Seventeenth-century antiquary John Aubrey discovered a ring of fifty-six shallow
pits - many containing cremated human bones. The holes were evenly spaced and
were about three feet deep.
Bluestones
Another mystery is the use of bluestones - so called because they look blue when
wet - from the Preseli Mountains in South Wales. The stones weighed up to 4 tons
each and about 80 blocks and slabs were used. They are believed to have been
transported the 240 miles to Salisbury Plain by roller and sledge on land, and
on rafts along the coast. Perhaps the stones came from another circle or their
location was believed to be of spiritual or magical importance, we can only
guess.
Recently, archaeologists have - through isotope analysis of teeth - discovered
that three of the remains found in a 2,300 year-old grave close to the
Stonehenge site are most probably Welshmen, and were likely to have been
involved in the construction of the monument.
Merlin and the Giants' Dance
In the 12th Century Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain
stated that the stones were originally brought from Africa to Ireland by a race
of giants. Later the wizard Merlin apparently moved the standing stones - the
'Giants' Dance' as Geoffrey called them - from Killaraus, a mountain in Ireland,
to Salisbury Plain. They were to provide 'an everlasting monument' to the nobles
that had been massacred by the Saxons.
People's Temple
The last man to own Stonehenge was Cecil Chubb - he purchased the stones in 1915
for 6,600 pound.
Three years later he made a gift of the stone circle to the nation, with the
proviso that admission to locals should be free. This continues today and
includes the residents of all the parishes of the former Amesbury Rural
District. Close visitor contact with the stones has been prohibited since 1978,
apart from the annual Open Access for the solstices and out-of-hours private
visits - where you can step inside the fenced path encircling the stones for a
price.
Some suspect that Stonehenge was built for elite gatherings, as experts believe
that most sound would have remained inside the circle. Perhaps the priests
controlled a larger crowd by climbing up onto the great trilithon where they
could be seen and heard by all? We can only guess at the motives behind the
creation of Stonehenge's colossal magnificence. It remains an amazing focal
point in a landscape of burial mounds and barrows - a ritual space and monument
- a celebration of man's abilities on earth.
5. Megaliths in
Sligo,
Ireland
http://www.irishnews.co.uk/tourism/Sligo2.html
The Carrowmore Megalithic burial site just west of Sligo Town is the second
largest Megalithic cemetery in Europe. The field site contains over 45 stone
circles, passage graves, standing stones and dolmen tombs.
6.
Atlit
Yam in Israel
http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=14&subj_id=139
Megalithic Installations
A ritual installation of megaliths was found at the Atlit-Yam site. It consists
of seven stones (1-2.1 m long), six of which are still standing upright, forming
a circle (diameter ca. 2.5 m) open to the northwest. The bases of the standing
stones are covered with gray travertine attesting to the presence of fresh water
in the past. Close to the standing stones to the west, a few flat stone slabs
(0.7-1.2 m long) were found lying horizontally. On some of them were hewn
shallow cup-marks. It is suggested that these features formed part of a ritual
structure, perhaps associated with a fresh-water spring that may have existed at
the site. Another installation consists of three oval stones (1.6-1.8 m), two of
which are circumscribed by grooves forming schematic anthropomorphic figures.
7. Ancient Astronomy at
Rujm
el-Hiri
(Rogem
Hiri
or Gilgal
Rephaim)
http://archaeology.about.com/od/archaeoastronomy/a/rujmelhiri.htm
From K. Kris Hirst,
Star Watching in Ancient Israel
Sixteen kilometers east of the Sea of Galilee in the western part of the
historic Bashan plain of Israel are the ruins of a most unusual structure. Built
during the late Chalcolithic or Early Bronze Age about 5000 years ago, Rujm el-Hiri
(also called Rogem Hiri or Gilgal Rephaim) is made of an estimated 42,000 tons
of uncut black volcanic basalt field stones piled and wedged into five
concentric rings, about 2 to 2.5 meters high. The outermost, largest ring is 156
meters (475 feet) in diameter, with walls up to 3.5 meters thick. Each ring is
broken into compartments by a series of 36 spoke-like walls, which seem to be
randomly spaced. At the center of the innermost ring is a cairn protecting a
burial; the cairn and burial postdate the initial construction of the rings by
perhaps as long as 1500 years.
The huge structure (and a series of dolmens nearby) may be the origin of the
myths of the ancient race of giants, mentioned in the Old Testament of the
Judeo-Christian bible as led by Og, King of the Bashan. Archaeologists Yonathan
Mizrachi and Anthony Aveni, studying the structure since the late 1980s, have
another possible interpretation: a celestial observatory.
Recent work by Mizrachi and Aveni has noted that the entranceway to the center
opens on sunrise of the summer solstice. Other notches in the walls indicate the
spring and fall equinoxes. Excavations into the walled chambers did not recover
artifacts indicating that the rooms were ever used either for storage or
residence. These walls seem to have pointed to star-risings for the period, and
may have been predictors of the rainy season, a crucial bit of information for
the sheep herders of the Bashan plain in 3000 BC.
Dolmens and Megaliths
BAMBU-5
9 Kislev 5768 19th November 2007
Brit-Am Megalithic Bulletin Update (BAMBU)
Contents:
1. A Modern Attempt: The Building of
Stonehenge
2. Calendar Change from 365 days to 360 Explained
(a) 360 vs. 365 by Guy Cramer
(b) More Proof of a 360 Day Year
The 360 Day Prophetic Year of the Bible
by Grant R. Jeffrey
(c) Immanuel Velikovsky: THE YEAR OF 360 DAYS
3. Carbon Dating and
Dendrochronology Refuted
1. A Modern Attempt: The Building of
Stonehenge
From: "C. Koch"
Subject: Fw: how stonehenge was built by one man using sticks and stones
Received this from a friend and thought you might like it!
Subject: how stonehenge was built by one man using sticks and stones
Hi guys. Did I send you this video on how stonehenge was built? It is
really wild stuff! It is so simple, it is almost stupid. One man by
himself, using rocks and sticks, could do it within a year.
http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/posts/moving_big_rocks
The video is dramatic, but Wally's website gives even more information:
http://www.theforgottentechnology.com/
2. Calendar Change from 365 days to
360 Explained
The Prophet Jeremiah predicted that the Migratory Path of Lost Israelites
to the west would be reconstructed by their descendants using the evidence of
Megalithic monuments. This path exists.
http://britam.org/Jeremiah/Jeremiah29to32.html
[Jeremiah 31:21] SET THEE UP WAYMARKS [Megalithic Monuments], MAKE THEE HIGH
HEAPS [Cairns etc]: SET THINE HEART TOWARD THE HIGHWAY, EVEN THE WAY WHICH THOU
WENTEST: TURN AGAIN, O VIRGIN OF ISRAEL, TURN AGAIN TO THESE THY CITIES.
http://www.britam.org/Proof/Attributes/roleDolmen.html
The conventional dating of these monuments does not allow them to be
associated with the Lost Ten Tribes who came much later.
There is archaeological evidence proving the conventional dating to be wrong.
In addition, the Megalithic Monuments are aligned in accordance with the present
solar calendar.
This calendar has only been valid according to various sources since somewhere
between 740-700 BCE which is the very period
in which the Lost Ten Tribes were exiled.
Nowadays the earth takes 365.25 days to go round the sun.
Before 740-700 BCE it only took 360 days and there were twelve lunar months of
30 days each (12&30=360)
whereby the lunar and solar years were equal, something which does not hold
today.
Since many megalithic monuments are aligned in accordance with the appearance of
the sun at the solstice
they are aligned according to the present calendar and could only have been set
up after that calendar
became pertinent i.e. after 740-700 BCE and after the Exile of the Ten Tribes
of Israel.
Extracts from an Interesting article by Guy Cramer below.
Claims that the change in length of year took place during the reign of Ahaz
(742-726 BCE)
of Judah during whose time most of the Ten Tribes were exiled.
(a) 360 vs. 365
http://www.direct.ca/trinity/360vs365.html
by Guy Cramer
[Go to the above URL for the complete article and for necessary illustrations]
360 Day Years - Fact or Fiction
Extracts ONLY
Did the earth have a 360-day year with a 30-day lunar month within the last
3,000 years?
Our year is actually 365.2422 days and our lunar month (from new moon to new
moon) is 29.531 days.
So why did early civilizations around the world use calendars with months of 30
days and years of 360 days? These calendars seemed to function well until
sometime in the 8th century BC when suddenly it became necessary to change them.
Most civilizations around the world began to modify their calendars to allow for
5 extra days for the year and 6 fewer days for a lunar year. A lunar year is 12
full months; a modern lunar year is 354 days (12 months x 29.5 days).
Were these early civilizations incapable of accurately measuring the
astronomical cycles that governed their calendars prior to the 8th century?
The 8th century BC was a time between 799 BC - 700 BC. Let's look to the Bible
in that period of time to see if we can find any changes mentioned. There are a
number of books in the Bible that were written during this time. 2nd Kings,
Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah... In the book of Isaiah we find the story of the
sundial going backwards.
This is the earliest mention of a sundial in historical literature.
Isaiah 38 tells us about Hezekiah king of Judah, a man near death, told by
Isaiah to put his house in order because God told Isaiah that Hezekiah would die
and not live. Hezekiah prays to God and God tells Isaiah that He has heard
Hezekiah's prayer and will add 15 years to his life. God even says to Isaiah
that He will give Hezekiah a sign that God will do this.
"Behold, I will bring the shadow on the sundial of Ahaz ten degrees backward."
So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down. (Isaiah
38:8)
This story is repeated in 2 Kings 20:1-11
How much time would this 10 degrees take?
360 degree circle (on the sundial), divided by 12 hours of sunlight (average
day) = 30 degrees per hour
1/3 of an hour = 20 minutes
10 degrees would = 20 minutes.
Now a modern sundial is round and would only show a 180 degree change for 12
hours, but the sundials from this time were not round but a set of stairs that
had two sides that stepped up towards each other and met in the middle. We don't
know how many steps this particular sundial of Ahaz had. If it had 360 steps
then 20 minutes could be an accurate estimate.
Why 360 steps? The Hebrew in Isaiah can be translated literally as steps (NIV)
but it can also mean degrees (KJV), so if the meaning were 10 degrees then 360
degrees would = 360 steps.
A sundial positioned properly with 360 steps could tell you not only what hour
of the day it was but also what day of the year it was (if the year had 360
days).
Now this gets quite interesting:
The earth is orbiting the sun at 29.79 km/s (kilometers per second) and has been
doing so for many thousands of years. This constant speed of 29.79 km/s means
that to make one orbit of the sun (one complete circle) will take 365.2422 days.
If we speed up the orbit of the earth to 30.22379 km/s we would end up with a
year that is 360 days long.
If we had a year of 360 days and slowed the orbit of the earth from 30.22379
km/s back to 29.79 km/s then the year would equal our current solar year;
365.2422 days per year.
The difference in speed between 365.2422 days per year and 360 days per year is
equal to 20.9688 minutes per day. This is not a difference in our 24-hour time
period but it would take the earth 20.9688 minutes less time per day to travel
that same distance in the orbit around the sun.
365.2422 days -20.9688 minutes per day = 360 days
If you had a year = 360 days per year and slowed the orbit of the earth around
the sun by 0.433792 km/s (The difference between 30.22379 km/s and 29.79 km/s),
you would end up with a year that takes 365.2422 days. This slower speed would
cause 5.2422 days extra per year to make one complete revolution around the sun.
There is no time dilation or anything extraordinary here. We have only slowed
the speed of the earth down. We have not changed spin of the earth in a 24-hour
period and we have not changed the speed of the moon around the earth.
However, if the earth had a year of 360 days per year (= earth's orbital speed
of 30.22379 km/s) the moon would now automatically have a 30 day lunar month
without changing the speed of the orbit of the moon!
By adjusting the speed of the earth around the sun to give us a year of 360 days
we automatically end up with a month that equals 30 days (29.96785 days). It
just so happens that all ancient calendars had 12 - 30 day months, which equaled
360 days. These ancient calendars also had 1 solar year = 360 days!
All these 360-day solar/lunar year calendars suddenly begin to change in the 8th
century BC to either a 365 day solar year or a lunar year of 354 days per year
(or both). Which match our modern calendars.
In the 8th century BC, the Bible tells us the sun moved backward on a sundial,
our calculations estimate that this distance on the sundial would equal about 20
minutes. A miracle so subtle you would only notice if you were watching a
sundial.
The difference between 360-day year with a 30-day month and our 365.2422-day
year with a 29.531-day month is orbital speed, which can also be translated into
time, about 20 minutes extra per day.
(b) More Proof of a 360 Day Year
The 360 Day Prophetic Year of the Bible
by Grant R. Jeffrey
http://www.direct.ca/trinity/360day.html
Extracts Only
It is vital that, if we are to correctly understand the precision of biblical
prophecy, we must determine the precise length of the biblical (or prophetic)
year which is used in Scriptures.
Our modern word calendar is based on the solar cycle, and consists of 365.25
days. The modern Jewish calendar is calculated according to both the lunar and
solar cycles. Their twelve months are currently calculated as containing 354
days, which leaves their year eleven-and-one-fourth days short of the true solar
year. This is corrected by adding a "leap month," known as Ve-Adar, seven times
during a nineteen-year cycle.
However, when we turn to the Scriptures we discover that the biblical-prophetic
year consisted of 360 days. Abraham, the father of Israel, continued to use the
360-day year, which was known in his home in Ur of the Chaldees. The Genesis
account of the flood in the days of Noah illustrated this 360-day year by
recording the 150-day interval till the waters abated from the earth. The 150
days began on the seventeenth day of the second month, and ended on the
seventeenth day of the seventh month (Genesis 7:11,24 and 8:3-4). In Other
words, the five months consisted of thirty days each; therefore, twelve months
would equal 360 days (12 x 30 = 360 days).
Sir Isaac Newton stated, "All nations, before the just length of the solar year
was known, reckoned months by the course of the moon, and years by the return of
winter and summer, spring and autumn; and in making calendars for their
festivals, they reckoned thirty days to a lunar month, and twelve lunar months
to a years, taking the nearest round numbers, whence came the division of the
ecliptic into 360 degrees." ( Anderson, Robert. The Coming Prince. London:
Hodder & Stroughton, 1894. )
The book of Esther (1: 4) indicates the same 360-day length of year by recording
the six-month-long feast of Xerxes as continuing exactly 180 days.
(c) Immanuel
Velikovsky:
THE YEAR OF 360 DAYS
Extract from "Worlds in Collision", chapter seven
http://www.britam.org/megaliths/velikovskyworlds.html
3. Carbon Dating and
Dendrochronology
Refuted
Megalithic Monuments are frequently dated way back in time far beyond
the period in which the Ten Tribes of Israel were exiled.
This dating is usually based on Carbon Dating and Dendrochronology i.e.
the counting of tree rings.
Numerous URLs show that these methods are unreliable and that to a degree the
scientists themselves
now admit it.
e.g.
http://www.allaboutarchaeology.org/carbon-dating-2.htm
Critiques of Carbon dating etc are available mainly from "Creationist" sites
e.g.
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/aig-c007.html
nevertheless even regular sites here and there admit that carbon dating is
fallible.
Dolmens and Megaliths
BAMBU-6
12 Kislev 5768 21th November 2007
Brit-Am Megalithic Bulletin Update (BAMBU)
Contents:
1.Dafydd
Cotter:
The Secret Pathways of Megaliths
2. Archaeoastronomy
3. Radiocarbon
and Similar Dating Methods
DeBunked
1. Dafydd Cotter:
The Secret Pathways of Megaliths
From: Dafydd Cotter <dafydd@iinet.net.au>
Subject: Re: BAMBU-5
Dear Yair,
Thank you for the recent update (http://www.britam.org/megaliths/megalithtimesNOW.html#5).
Apart from the 360 / 365.25 day year issue, and Brit-Am's position on the
interpretation of Jeremiah's prophecy (Jeremiah 31:21) - both of which I am in
full agreement, there is another issue which is worthy of study as it reflects
on the nature and the knowledge of the wandering Hebrews as they migrated to the
North and the West.
We look at these scattered monuments in isolation, I believe that there is a
pattern or an arrangement of sorts behind their construction. I don't understand
the nature of this arrangement (location of one monument in relation to others),
but there is some proof that such an arrangement exists. I shall give you two
examples of this arrangement, they are not "proofs" in any strict scientific
sense, but they are worthy of consideration.
(1. At the time of the Bolshevik uprising in Russia, a group of people left St.
Petersburgh to travel to Europe. They were students of a Greek-Armenian teacher
named G.I. Gurdjieff, and they decided to flee Russia due to Gurdjieff's
relationship with the deposed royal family of Russia. They traveled by foot,
intending to go to Constaninople, then on to western Europe. A migration path
out of Russia via Constantinople was already well worn by Russian Jews fleeing
the pogroms. One of the party members, a mathematician named P.D. Ouspensky,
recorded an incident on their travels (near Tbilisi, if memory serves correctly)
when the travelling party stopped to rest near a megalithic monument. Curiosity
regarding the monument led members of this travelling party to approach
Gurdjieff to seek his understanding of the megaliths, and Ouspensky records that
Gurdjieff examined the monument, then pointed in a certain direction and told
his party that if they travelled in that specific direction, for a specific
distance, they would find another monument. Some members of the party set off
walking in that direction and located another monument at the distance specified
by Gurdjieff. It was covered by shrubs and its presence had not been noted by
anyone previously, as they discovered when they notified the local Antiquities
Office latter in their travels
(2. Some years ago I read a book titled "The Pattern of the Past" by author Guy
Underwood. Underwood was an English Barrister and an amateur archaeologist who
discovered, through dowsing, that a pattern of energy anomalies existed between
ancient "holy places", including the megalithic monuments. This "energy anomaly"
ran as pathways and ancient holy places were built where several pathways
intersected.
This is of interest from a Brit-Am perspective as it:
a) shows that our forefathers, or a priesthood in their midst, had a peculiar
knowledge of this world which we still don't fully understand, and
b) Jeremiah's prophecy mentions not only the waymarks and the high heaps, but
also the highways - "Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine
heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin
of Israel, turn again to these thy cities". It does appear that these highways,
or pathways of some sort, still exists and have a relationship to the megalithic
waymarks.
Blessings and Shalom,
Dafydd Cotter
2. Archaeoastronomy
A Survey of Prehistoric Sites in South Wales
by Martin J Powell
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mjpowell/ArchaeoAstro/ArchaeoAstro.htm
3. Radiocarbon
and Similar Dating Methods
DeBunked
Below is the URL to yet another (out of very many sites)
that show that carbon dating and similar methods are unreliable.
Carbon dating and the like is the main justifications archaeologists have for
dating Megalithic monuments way back beyond the time the Northern Israelites
were exiled
by the Assyrians.
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/aig-c007.html
This is a Christian site but the scientific explanations are good ones.
If anyone can point us to a Jewish site of equal (or almost equal) value
we will also refer to it.
Megalithic Monuments may serve as proof of the Migratory paths of the Israelite
Exiles.
For a Map and List of Israelite Migratory Routes see:
http://www.britam.org/Questions/
QuesHistory.html#Migratory
For more maps of the Megalithic Trail of Migration see:
http://www.britam.org/Proof/Attributes/roleDolmen.html
There is much archaeological evidence some of which we have
quoted in the past.
http://www.britam.org/Questions/
QuesArchaeology.html#Stonehenge
Dolmens and the Bible
Pictures: Dolmens from Around the World
Answer to Queries on Archaeology Question no.3:
"What do Dolmens and other megalithic monuments such as Stonehenge tell us?
Dolmens by Yair Davidiy
Dolmens in Biblical Codes
Immanuel Velikovsky and the Change in Our Calendar
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