What Is The Similarities Between Stonehenge's Calendar And The Sequani Calendar
The reason for Stonehenge being built has been a topic widely disputed all around the globe. For centuries these twenty-foot stones built over a millennium ago by Neolithic people have boggled the minds of archaeologists and historians. Many people see it as Britain’s most popular tourist attraction and greatest national icon, symbolizing strength, power, and mystery, but different groups of people have theories. While the world can’t say why it was constructed, we can certainly say it wasn’t constructed for any casual purpose. Only something of great importance would have been worth the time and effort it took to construct the monument. Many people have speculated that Stonehenge was created as a temple for Druidic religious worship,
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This calendar helped shed light on the use of stone circles as astronomical calendars, and in particular, Stonehenge. In 1990, a paper by researcher Alban Wall summarized the similarities between the Sequani Calendar and Stonehenge. “Both Stonehenge and the Sequani Calendar are luni-solar (combining movement of the sun and moon), both are based on a nineteen year cycle of the moon (Metonic Cycle), and both have months that alternate between twenty-nine and thirty days” (themystica.com Staff). Both calendars can also be divided into 235 months that begin at the first quarter moon every Metonic Cycle, and both mark important solar holidays that are still celebrated today. These include the Winter Solstice, Imbolc, Spring Solstice, May Day, Summer Solstice, Lugnasad, Fall Equinox, and Samhain. These holidays were easily converted into the Roman calendar used by most countries today, but the 235 months that make up every Metonic Cycle were not. These months help Stonehenge keep “extremely close reconciliation with lunar and solar time,” and may even be more precise than most calendars today (themystica.com …show more content…
After rotating around the circle thirteen times, the sun circle equals a total of 365 days, the same amount of days in the solar new year. The next smaller circle of Stonehenge, located inside the sun circle is used to count the 235 months in the Metonic cycle of the moon by advancing the space between stones once a day. The “horseshoe” shape near the center represents the three phases of the moon, and “the innermost stone circle was used to count the 19 year cycle of the moon by advancing a space between stone once a day” (themystica.com staff). Wall’s theory may be very unlikely however, because the Sequani Calendar and Stonehenge were constructed by two different groups of people who probably had very different beliefs and ideas about
This calendar helped shed light on the use of stone circles as astronomical calendars, and in particular, Stonehenge. In 1990, a paper by researcher Alban Wall summarized the similarities between the Sequani Calendar and Stonehenge. “Both Stonehenge and the Sequani Calendar are luni-solar (combining movement of the sun and moon), both are based on a nineteen year cycle of the moon (Metonic Cycle), and both have months that alternate between twenty-nine and thirty days” (themystica.com Staff). Both calendars can also be divided into 235 months that begin at the first quarter moon every Metonic Cycle, and both mark important solar holidays that are still celebrated today. These include the Winter Solstice, Imbolc, Spring Solstice, May Day, Summer Solstice, Lugnasad, Fall Equinox, and Samhain. These holidays were easily converted into the Roman calendar used by most countries today, but the 235 months that make up every Metonic Cycle were not. These months help Stonehenge keep “extremely close reconciliation with lunar and solar time,” and may even be more precise than most calendars today (themystica.com …show more content…
After rotating around the circle thirteen times, the sun circle equals a total of 365 days, the same amount of days in the solar new year. The next smaller circle of Stonehenge, located inside the sun circle is used to count the 235 months in the Metonic cycle of the moon by advancing the space between stones once a day. The “horseshoe” shape near the center represents the three phases of the moon, and “the innermost stone circle was used to count the 19 year cycle of the moon by advancing a space between stone once a day” (themystica.com staff). Wall’s theory may be very unlikely however, because the Sequani Calendar and Stonehenge were constructed by two different groups of people who probably had very different beliefs and ideas about