An archaeoastronomy debate was triggered by the 1963 publication of Stonehenge Decoded, by Gerald Hawkins an American astronomer. Hawkins claimed to observe numerous alignments, both lunar and solar. He argued that Stonehenge could have been used to predict eclipses.

Jul 26, 2022 · A new study explains how the ancient solar calendar may have worked at Stonehenge — and why it was constructed in the first place.

Stonehenge has become the very icon of ancient astronomy, featuring in nearly every discussion on the subject. And yet there are those who persist in believing that it actually had little or no connection with astronomy at all. A more informed picture has been obtained in recent years by combining evidence from

Sep 14, 2023 · Stonehenge, a prehistoric monument in England, has long fascinated people with its secrets. In the 1960s, a theory suggested that ancient astronomers built Stonehenge to predict eclipses. Gerald Hawkins proposed this theory, which gained popularity but was later rejected by archeologists who thought primitive people built Stonehenge.

Feb 7, 2008 · More recently, though, the astronomer Gerald Hawkins has argued that Stonehenge is not merely aligned with solar and lunar astronomical events, but can be used to predict other events such as eclipses. In other words, Stonehenge was more than a temple, it was an astronomical calculator.

Jun 7, 2024 · Stonehenge played a significant role in ancient astronomy, serving as a site for observing and recording celestial phenomena. The monument’s alignment with the movements of the sun and moon suggests that it was used to track the changing seasons and mark important dates in the agricultural calendar.

Apr 20, 2024 · Ancient civilizations used Stonehenge as an observatory to study the movements of the sun, moon, and stars. By tracking the positions of the celestial bodies, they were able to develop calendars, predict eclipses, and understand the cycles of the natural world.

Stonehenge – architecturally our most elaborate stone circle – was not dealt with but was surveyed in the early 1970s and an analysis of its geometry and astronomy appeared in a later book.8 Thom’s work was new in several ways, not least because it seemed to show that sophisticated geometrical and astronomical knowledge could have been intertwined.

Nov 5, 2011 · Stonehenge has a history of construction and use extending over more than two thousand years, from about 3100 BC to about 1000 BC or later, on the evidence of radiocarbon dates.

Apr 7, 2016 · If you are interested in Stonehenge and its relationship to astronomy there are two excellent sources of information available. Firstly, The Royal Astronomical Society published a leaflet entitled Stonehenge and Ancient Astronomy in 2009.