Chapter II: Preface: v

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTORY 1

II. THE ASTRONOMICAL DIVISIONS OF THE YEAR 12

III. THE AGRICULTURAL DIVISIONS OF THE YEAR 17

IV. THE VARIOUS NEW-YEAR DAYS 25

V. CONDITIONS AND TRADITIONS AT STONEHENGE 34

VI. GENERAL ARCHITECTURE OF STONEHENGE 55

VII. ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS AT STONEHENGE IN 1901 62

VIII. ARCHÆOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS AT STONEHENGE, 1901 69

IX. WAS THERE AN EARLIER CIRCLE? 88

X. THE MAY AND JUNE WORSHIPS IN BRITTANY 96

XI. ASTRONOMICAL HINTS FOR ARCHÆOLOGISTS 107

XII. ASTRONOMICAL HINTS FOR ARCHÆOLOGISTS (_Continued_) 118

XIII. STENNESS (Lat. 59° N.) 123

XIV. THE HURLERS (Lat. 50° 31′ N.) 133

XV. THE DARTMOOR AVENUES 145

XVI. THE DARTMOOR AVENUES (_Continued_) 157

XVII. STANTON DREW (Lat. 51° 10′ N.) 166

XVIII. FOLKLORE AND TRADITION 178

XIX. SACRED FIRES 189

XX. SACRED TREES 200

XXI. HOLY WELLS AND STREAMS 213

XXII. WHERE DID THE BRITISH WORSHIP ORIGINATE? 232

XXIII. THE SIMILARITY OF THE SEMITIC AND BRITISH WORSHIPS 252

XXIV. THE MAY YEAR IN SOUTH-WEST CORNWALL 261

XXV. THE MERRY MAIDENS CIRCLE (Lat. 50° 4′ N.) 265

XXVI. THE TREGASEAL CIRCLES 277

XXVII. SOME OTHER CORNISH MONUMENTS 287

XXVIII. THE CLOCK-STARS IN EGYPT AND BRITAIN 294

XXIX. A SHORT HISTORY OF SUN-TEMPLES 304

XXX. THE LIFE OF THE ASTRONOMER-PRIESTS 316

APPENDICES.

I. DETAILS OF THE THEODOLITE OBSERVATIONS AT STONEHENGE 325

II. SUGGESTIONS ON FIELD OBSERVATIONS 329

INDEX 333

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FIG. PAGE

1. Present Sun Worship in Japan 4

2. The Celestial Sphere, Conditions at the North Pole 5

3. The Celestial Sphere, Conditions at the Equator 6

4. The Celestial Sphere, Conditions in a Middle Latitude 6

5. The Four Astronomical Divisions of the Year 14

6. The Various Bearings of the Sun Risings and Settings in N.
latitude 51° 14

7. The Astronomical and Vegetation Divisions of the Year 23

8. Original Tooling of the Stones at Stonehenge 44

9. View of Stonehenge from the West 45

10. Copy of Hoare’s Plan of Stonehenge, 1810 46

11. The Leaning Stone in 1901 48

12. The Axis of the Temple of Karnak 56

13. Plan of the Temple of Ramses II. in the Memnonia at Thebes 57

14. One of the remaining Trilithons at Stonehenge 59

15. General Plan of Stonehenge 60

16. The Arrangements for raising the Stone 70

17. The Cradle and Supports 71

18. The Frame used to locate the Finds 73

19. Some of the Flint Implements 77

20. Showing the careful Tooling of the Sarsens 82

21. Face of Rock against which a Stone was made to rest 83

22. The Leaning Stone Upright 85

23. Stonehenge, 1905 86

24. Map of the Stones made by the Ordnance Survey 89

25. Rod placed in the Common Axis of the Circle and Avenue 94

26. Alignments at Le Ménec 99

27. Menhir on Melon Island 100

28. Melon Island, showing Menhir and Cromlech 101

29. Menhirs of St. Dourzal 102

30. Alignment at Lagatjar (photograph) 103

31. Alignments at Lagatjar (plan) 104

32. Menhirs on Solstitial and May Alignments 105

33. Diagram for finding Declination from given Amplitudes or
Azimuths in British Latitudes 113

34. Declinations of Northern Stars from 250 A.D. to 2150 B.C. 115

35. Declinations of Southern Stars from 250 A.D. to 2150 B.C. 116

36. The Conditions of Sunrise at the Summer Solstice in Lat.
59° N. 119

37. The Azimuths of the Sunrise (upper limb) at the Summer
Solstice. Lats. N. 59°-47° 121

38. Maeshowe and the Stones of Stenness 124

39. Chief Sight-Lines from the Stones of Stenness 126

40. Variation of the Obliquity of the Ecliptic 100 A.D.-4000 B.C. 130

41. The Sight-Lines at the Hurlers 136

42. The Southern Avenue at Merrivale, looking East 147

43. Avenues, Circle and Stones at Merrivale, with their Azimuths 154

44. Cursus at Stonehenge, nearly parallel to the Merrivale Avenue 155

45. The remains of the Challacombe Avenue 159

46. The Sight-Lines at Trowlesworthy 162

47. The Circles and Avenues at Stanton Drew 169

48. The Carro, Florence 194

49. Cresset-Stone, Lewannick 257

50. First Appearance of May Sun in British Latitudes 263

51. Azimuths of the May Sunrise 264

52. The Merry Maidens 269

53. 25-inch Ordnance Map of Merry Maidens showing Alignments 275

54. The Eastern Circle at Tregaseal 279

55. Photograph of Ordnance Map showing Sight-lines 281

56. Plan of the Mên-an-Tol 283

57. Photograph of the Mên-an-Tol 284

58. The Mên-an-Tol. Front View and Section 285

59. Photograph of the Ordnance Map of Boscawen-un 288

60. Diagram showing Azimuths of Sunrise 1680 B.C. and 1905 A.D. 290

61. Arcturus and Capella as Clock-Stars in Britain 300

62. A Night-Dial 303

63. Layard’s Plan of the Palace of Sennacherib 305

64. Layard’s Plan of the Mound at Nimrood 306

65. The Temples at Chichen Itza 307

STONEHENGE