The Gold Torc of Cambridgeshire as Possibly Being a Land Survey viz. Sky Measurement Ell of Ancient Britain

Via Archaeo-News at StonePages.com we have been alerted to a developing story of a fairly recent potentially significant find made in a plowed field in Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom.

See two reports at:

• Maev Kennedy at the The Guardian in
  Spectacular bronze age gold torc unearthed in Cambridgeshire field
• Daily Mail Online at
  Revealed: 3,000-year-old gold belt worn by a pregnant woman during a fertility ritual is among the stunning treasures found in the UK last year

We refer to those two particular reports because each has a slightly different photograph of the torc, which was useful to us for counting "torc twists".

We reluctantly note as too often typical for mainstream Archaeology that the reports appear to focus predominantly on the 732 grams of almost pure gold that was made to use the torc ...
rather than on analytically important torc ESSENTIALS such as the LENGTH of the torc -- a measurement length nowhere to be found in sources thus far published, as far as we can tell.

Accordingly, we had to estimate its length ourselves by using the photographed gloved hands holding the gold torc as a guide, presuming a woman's hand/glove-length of about 6 modern inches and apparently about 7 such hand lengths in the round of the torc for a potential total of somewhere around 42 modern inches as the length of the twisted part of the torc.

The Guardian quotes Neil Wilkin, Bronze Age Europe Curator at the British Museum, as saying that "If you take callipers, and measure the gaps between the twists, they are absolutely spot on accurate."

WELL, then, why not then take those callipers folks, and count just how many such "spot on accurate" twists there are and what their total length might be. The gold torc in its bent shape may reflect its being carried at the "middle girth" of it's wearer, whoever he or she was. That kind of "spot on accuracy" in its twists would seem unusual for something intended only as a fertility belt

The Daily Mail writes that:

"The torc is thought to have been worn as a belt over clothing, as part of animal sacrifice or even by pregnant women in fertility ceremonies."

The fertility explanation caught our eye because we subsequently did go to the trouble to count the number of "twists" in the photographs available at the above sources -- a count nowhere found in any of the sources.

By our count there appear to be 270 twists.... Why such accurate twists?

That number of 270 could indeed have been intended as the simplified "round number" matching the human pregnancy period as calculated from ovulation to birth, which in modern times has been found to average ca. 268 days, i.e. the 270 days could have marked the human birth period (modernly often set at 280 days as measured, however, from the first day of the woman's last menstrual period, which does not necessarily coincide with the point of impregnation.)

The 270 twists -- assuming a six-inch gloved hand as noted above -- could perhaps make for a Cambridgeshire Gold Torc length of about 45 modern inches or about 55 megalithic inches.

The standard "ell" in England was 45 inches.

If the delayed mainstream measurements of the actual torc length actually mesh in any way with our cogitations -- regardless of any other calculational or "fertility" uses the gold torc may have had -- it seems a bit short for a "jump rope" -- then this torc may have been so created in gold to represent a "standard" ell in Ancient Britain, or, should the length of the gold torc be even longer than we have estimated, perhaps even something like the "King's ellwand" or an ancient British ell-version of a longer "royal cubit".

The standard "ell" in England was 45 inches. 

Under ELL in the Wikipedia we can read that:

"In England, the ell was usually 45 in (1.143 m), or a yard and a quarter. It was mainly used in the tailoring business but is now obsolete. Although the exact length was never defined in English law, standards were kept; the brass ell examined at the Exchequer by Graham in the 1740s had been in use "since the time of Queen Elizabeth".

The Viking ell was the measure from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, about 18 inches. The Viking ell or primitive ell was used in Iceland up to the 13th century. By the 13th century, a law set the "stika" as equal to 2 ells which was the English ell of the time. An ell-wand or ellwand was a rod of length one ell used for official measurement. Edward I of England required that every town have one. In Scotland, the Belt of Orion was called "the King's Ellwand"."

It is therefore also possible that standard land survey measurement ells viz. "ellwands" in Ancient Britain, Scotland and Ireland had their astronomical comparables in terms of sky measurement "sticks" or "torcs".

We had hoped, for example, to find comprehensive mainstream archaeological measurements online of the width and height of the Avebury stones in order to see whether their dimensions correspond to some standard length of measure for measuring the distances between stars, but we have found nothing.

Looks like we will have to take another trip to the UK and see what we can do.

Avebury Stone #16 Henge Inward Marks Stars Above Virgo with Boötes as a Horned Ox

Avebury Stone #16 Henge Inward Marks Stars Above Virgo with Boötes as a Horned Ox Facing Left

Want to try your hand at deciphering? This stone gives you a nice opportunity.

Not only did the ancients provide us with stones carved with figures, but they also interspersed veritable sky maps for us, carved on stone. The ancients created such maps not only by carving figures imagined "in the sky" onto the stone, but also by carving holes or "cupped" indentations in the stones, called cupules or cupmarks. Each hole or indentation represents a particular star. The relative sizes of the holes or indentations often mark the relative brightness (magnitude) of the stars being portrayed, but because of differing erosive and other forces, size can be a variable and is not always reliable.

Mainstream scholars "think" that such indentations or holes such as on the henge inward face of Avebury Stone #16 are "naturally caused" and are not man-made.

"Think" is not the right word for what the scholars up to now have done.

They presume that the holes are natural, but never check their own unproven presumptions. Merriam-Webster defines the word "presumption" inter alia as
"a belief that something is true even though it has not been proved".

As we show here, such markings on megaliths are often man-made, though of course one would expect that natural markings on stone were also used or integrated into carvings if they fit the astronomical picture being represented.

The henge inward face of Avebury Stone #16 is a good example of holes viz. indentations that were intentionally made by the ancients to represent stars.

Avebury Stone #16 Henge Inward Face - Photograph by Andis Kaulins

Avebury Stone #16 Henge Inward Face - Photograph Tracing
(we do our tracing using Paint Shop Pro 7 at magnifications up to 8x the normal image resolution, which reveals many more features than those seen easily by naked-eye observation -- feature selection is subjective)

Avebury Stone #16 Henge Inward Face Selection of Stars Above Virgo
A Star Field for Would-Be Decipherers

We know from previous decipherments of stones at Avebury that the henge inward face of a stone marks stars above those marked on the henge outward face. Since we have deciphered the henge outward face of Avebury Stone #16 to mark stars of Virgo, we know that the above inward face must mark stars above Virgo, but it is always an adventure to discover which stars those are.

Accordingly, we provide below an appropriate "star field" of stars above Virgo clipped via the astronomy software Starry Nigh Pro 3.1 (starrynight.com).

-- click the sky map graphic below to obtain a larger image --

This is your chance, would-be decipherers! You can test your own analytical and observational skills by trying to discover which stars from the above star field are marked on the henge inward face of Avebury Stone #16.

We have marked the most prominent circle of stars to give you a fair start, because that is our method of proceeding, by identifying one or two main features that appear to be certain and going from there, but be careful here, because our previous finding -- that most Avebury stone markings match the sky closely in terms of the true relative distances of stars -- does not work here, and that is the second decipherment hint. Form yes, distances no.

We provide our own "decipherment" of the henge inward face of Avebury Stone #16 further below, but if you do not look beyond the star field image above, you can try your own decipherment out before looking at our below solution. You might even try retracing the most prominent lines on the stone, fewer than we have, and your results may be even better. Try it out.

Avebury Stone #16 Henge Inward Face Decipherment As Shown by Identification of the Corresponding Stars

Looking left is a head at Boötes that is the horned head of an ox, which is the classical animal identity (ox, horn) assigned to Boötes in antiquity. See Richard Hinckly Allen, Star Names, Boötes, starting in that book at page 92.

The stars of Ursa Major, Canes Venatici, and Coma Berenices are otherwise all carved as birds, with Coma Berenices as a bird head extending clear across the stone, looking right.

One can also see that the ancients carved the entire stone as a human head, grimacing, that is looking left at Boötes with a kind of tassled hair bun to the right at Ursa Major. We already saw that grimace on the left side of the stone.

What made this particular decipherment difficult was the fact that the stone carvings do not keep the proportions of the sky but compress them narrower in breadth. We hope that remains an exception for other Avebury stones.

-- click on the graphic below to obtain a larger image --

 

If you had the courage to try to decipher this henge inward face of Avebury Stone #16 on your own, how did you do? Not as easy as you thought, was it?

We hope through this exercise to show how difficult it can be to reconstruct the manner in which the ancients carved these stones.

Moreover, you, the reader, already have a great advantage over normal decipherment work.

We have shown you which region of the sky of stars is involved and have given you a sure starting point in those stars.

Without such helpers, which is the normal situation, deciphering the henge inward face of Avebury Stone #16 would be extremely difficult and, indeed, it took us a long time to figure it out.

Avebury Stone #16 Right Side Marks Stars Right of Virgo at Boötes plus Corona Borealis

Avebury Stone #16 Right Side Marks Stars Right of Virgo at Boötes plus Corona Borealis

The right side of Avebury Stone #16 marks stars of Boötes plus Corona Borealis to the right of the previously deciphered Virgo on the henge outward face of  Avebury Stone #16.

Avebury Stone #16 Right Side Photograph and Tracing by Andis Kaulins

Avebury Stone #16 Right Side Black/White and Color Tracing

Avebury Stone #16 Right Side Corresponding Stars in Boötes plus Corona Borealis

Avebury Stone #16 Left Side Marks Stars to the left of Virgo from Ursa Major to Leo to Hydra

Avebury Stone #16 Left Side Marks Stars to the left of Virgo (looking henge outward) from Ursa Major to Leo to Hydra

The narrow left side of Avebury Stone #16 (looking henge outward) marks stars to the left of the previously deciphered Virgo on the henge outward face.

Avebury Stone #16 Left Side Photograph and Tracing by Andis Kaulins
-- click on the graphic for a larger image --

Avebury Stone #16 Left Side Photo Tracing in Black/White, Color and Stars

The left side of Avebury Stone #16 points toward Leo and marks Leo in the stars as a lion head together with Ursa Major as a dog-like animal above it, plus Leo Minor viz. Lynx as another "big cat" or cub, and below Leo there are stars of Hydra marked as a large serpent plus a smaller serpent.

Avebury Stone #16 Henge Outward Face Marks Stars of Virgo as a Woman's Head and Bosom

Avebury Stone #16 Henge Outward Face Marks Stars of Virgo as a Woman's Head and Bosom

We wrote a preface to this posting -- doing so in part to ward off any misguided actions by or comments by others about what our objectives are in these postings, which is to decipher figures carved on ancient stones and to explain their significance -- in their era. Our era may have different (and we think terribly skewed) views about these things. That does not change the past.

In any case, anyone in Archaeology or related disciplines who can not see the woman's bosom clearly carved on this stone should examine whether they have the skills of observation necessary to accomplish the interpretative task at hand.

Similarly, any person in law or in a judicial or related capacity who has "moral" or "legal" problems with these decipherment images -- taken straight out of the human past -- should surely reconsider their positions. They would, in any case, be confirming the correctness of the decipherment, since the interpretative images are all tracings of the stone. Either the subject matter portrayed is there or not. If the image we suggest is there, it is not ours, but rather that of the ancients.

Avebury Stone #16 Henge Outward Face Photograph by Andis Kaulins

Avebury Stone #16 Henge Outward Face Photo Traced

Avebury Stone #16 Henge Outward Face Black/White Tracing and Stars

Avebury Stone #16 Henge Outward Face Tracing in Color and Stars

Avebury Stone #16 Henge Outward Face Corresponding Stars in Virgo

There is no need on our part to make any kind of extensive commentary. The matter is so simple that we can not imagine anyone not getting it. Indeed, we have posted several variations of the resulting traced image above to show that our interpretation of the stone and the corresponding stars is correct.

The Avebury Stone #16 Henge Outward Face portrays the head and bosom of a woman as God made her. The ancients "drew" this image in the corresponding stars and put it to stone through their megalithic carving. It is Virgo.

The ancients surely placed Virgo in the stars at a position nine months removed from the position of Gemini, the twins, in order to mark the nine-month gestation period of a human being.

The cosmology of the ancients was based on the actual realities of their life in their era. They would be have been negatively puzzled by the modern world and its attitudes toward the most natural of things of human life and existence. Puzzled. Moreover, they would have been astounded by the failure of those who research, study and/or view the stones to see this particular figure carved on the stone. 

Astounded.

Prelude to Avebury Stone #16 Whose Henge Outward Face Marks Stars of Virgo

Prelude to Avebury Stone #16
Whose Henge Outward Face Marks Stars of Virgo

We had a special reason to interrupt our stream of megalithic postings and to interject our Galaxy album songs in the two previous postings, honoring, as they do, not only the universe in which we live, but also the human beings with whom we all share our life here in Earth, a human existence that is by no means perfect, and -- as daily world events in the media show -- a human existence that can be fraught with countless difficulties and dangers

"Survival" is always a watchword and remains a biological necessity that drives humanity in many of its daily affairs. However, our contemporary human world must ALSO deal with the truly significant problem that mankind's understanding of our role in the universe has simply not kept pace with technological advance.

On the one hand, humanity thinks we "know" MORE, and yet, on the other hand, the truth is that we might even "know" LESS than our ancestors.

Consider our astronomical decipherments of the megalithic systems of Stonehenge and Avebury and what they tell us about a comparison of the lives of Neolithic (Stone Age) mankind with our lives today.

The Stone Age ancients were demonstrably and understandably awed by the starry sky of the galactic night and even mapped their own Earth accordingly -- as was taught for millennia by hermetic tradition - as above, so below.

This reverence of the starry night skies by ancient skywatchers led to cosmological belief systems in which the ancients placed their deities -- their "gods", as it were -- in those starry skies above them. Their belief systems made sense -- in their era. They all knew the stars in the skies and thus Heaven was where they placed their gods. The underworld in turn was viewed as the realm of the vast oceans, while the volcanic innards of the Earth gave rise to fiery notions of Hell.

The ancients thus created a logical connection between their visible world and their belief systems.

Moderns have established little connection between reality and religion, which has created enormous difficulties on Earth between rival religious groups, all professing belief systems not capable of proof.

"Belief" has accordingly become "absence of fact" rather than reflecting "what is known". No modern belief system today can be proven, and is merely an act of faith.

Many today know virtually NOTHING about the stars, about THEIR galaxy, or the space beyond, and yet, their professed gods are still seen to originate in a sky that modern astronomy has shown to be far different than envisioned by ancestral cosmologists or theologians. A massive factual discrepancy now exists.

The ancients devised a logical system based upon a world that they could view in their time and that they could represent readily in stone -- with the technology then available.

It was all that they had. No paper, no pencils. No Radio. No TV. No smartphones. People carved their message into the rocks around them, long before they learned to "paint". Painting was a later technological "advance", first in pictures and then in more abstract symbols. Abstraction is a modern invention. Rock carving is old.

Theirs was a much, much simpler world than ours. Mankind was in some ways THEN much more in tune with the "basics" of human survival as also with natural events and happenings on Earth -- much more so than we are NOW. Step outside and look at the sky. How many stars can you recognize? Indeed, due to city lights and environmental pollution, how many stars can you even see?

Just what did it mean THEN and what does it mean TODAY to BE human?
What ARE some of the BASICS of human life and being human?

Did we not all begin our lives being weaned on a woman's breast? That's basic.

In ancient days, a female bosom was not a "pornographic" exposure. Rather, it was NORMAL, and essential to human survival. It marked THE BEGINNING of LIFE AFTER BIRTH. Women were important. Indeed, they always have been.

How we got to the present situation is a strange tale of misplaced conceptions of human morality and religion in a world nevertheless dangerously over-populated by over 7 billion human inhabitants. They all got here pretty much the same way. Talk about a massive gap between morality theory and reality. That's it.

In many ways, our modern world is OFF TRACK. We need to get back on the right path again. We need to learn to appreciate the BASICS of LIFE again. Not a woman's bosom is "offensive", but -- in our view -- the evening news IS OFFENSIVE  -- to the human spirit, to the way the Earth could be, but is not.

That is our prelude to the next posting at Avebury Stone #16 Whose Henge Outward Face Marks Stars of Virgo.

Stand Up Tall and Appreciate Life in The Grandeur of the Stars of YOUR Galaxy

Stand Up Tall and Appreciate Life in The Grandeur of the Stars of YOUR Galaxy

The closing song of the Galaxy album in the previous posting is:

Track 21 - Ode to the Stars - 4:28 21-Ode to the Stars-Andis Kaulins .mp3

That song is the galactic finale and designed to make the listener "stand tall".

Music is of course personal and emotional and everyone reacts differently to given music, nor can we make any guarentees, but Ode to the Stars can make a person stand up, tall and proud just to be a human being in our galaxy.

When the song is completed, you could have a smile on your face.
On the other hand, some people have been moved to tears.

Try it.

Galaxy Album: Music of the Stars and Planets as Indie Synthesizer Music

This is a must have for all galactic inhabitants.
We do not just write about megaliths,
and the Sun, Moon and Stars,
but we also compose music about them....

From Isandis, let the music about our galaxy begin...
The label Isandis is combination of the artist's first name Andis with the first name of his first wife Isa, i.e. Isa+Andis. It seemed liked an obvious name, but we have found that many people read instead the term "Islandis", inserting the more familiar term "island". Everything has to be researched, even the giving of names.... Who could know?

THE ALBUM: Galaxy: Music of the Stars and Planets

Music of the Stars is Synthesizer Music of the Earth and the Sky by Kaulinsium.
The CD-ROM is 56.29 minutes. The Composer is Andis Kaulins who also does the Keyboards (yes, we know, the songs need professional mastering). These songs were all created in a home environment using basic consumer equipment.

The Genre is Indie (Independent) Alternative Music.
Copyright © 2004 by Andis Kaulins in Traben-Trarbach with all rights reserved.
Consumers can copy and play these songs for free for private non-commercial use. For terms of commercial use, please contact the copyright holder.

Classical Piano Music Lovers try Track 10.
Our own favorites are Tracks 1, 4, 11, 8 and 21, but some of the others can grow on you. Composing music is one of the most fun activities we have ever done and we like to think we have a few "catchy" tunes. Music is personal.

We claim this music can make you smarter. Such is their design. One critic wrote to us to tell us how we could improve the songs. Our answer, "See, smarter already!" Click on the link to hear that song on your media player.

Track 1 - Galactic Milk - 2:33 01-Galactic Milk-Andis Kaulins.mp3
Track 2 - Black Space - 2:27 02-Black Space-Andis Kaulins.mp3
Track 3 - Off to the Stars - 1:52 03-Off to the Stars-Andis Kaulins.mp3
Track 4 - On the Edge of Light - 2:19 04-On the Edge of Light-Andis Kaulins.mp3
Track 5 - The First Planet - 1:52 05-The First Planet-Andis Kaulins.mp3
Track 6 - 1st Planet More Cleary - 1:59 06-The First Planet More Clearly-Andis Kaulins.mp3
Track 7 - Earth - 2:23 07-Earth-Andis Kaulins.mp3
Track 8 - The Earth Song - 2:25 08-The Earth Song-Andis Kaulins.mp3
Track 9 - Jubilation & Ebulation - 3:36 09-Jubilation & Ebulation-Andis Kaulins.mp3
Track 10 - Mercury - 1:15 10-Mercury-Andis Kaulins.mp3
Track 11 - The Asteroids - 2:28 11-The Asteroids-Andis Kaulins.mp3
Track 12 - Jupiter - 3:38 12-Jupiter-Andis Kaulins.mp3
Track 13 - Jupiter 2 (faster) - 2:31 13-Jupiter 2-Andis Kaulins.mp3
Track 14 - Saturn - 2:23 14-Saturn-Andis Kaulins.mp3
Track 15 - Uranus - 2:14 15-Uranus-Andis Kaulins.mp3
Track 16 - Pluto - 2:47 16-Pluto-Andis Kaulins.mp3
Track 17 - Solar Symphony - 7:04 17-Solar Symphony-Andis Kaulins .mp3
Track 18 - Mars - 2:42 18-Mars-Andis Kaulins .mp3
Track 19 - Moody Moon - 2:13 19-Moody Moon-Andis Kaulins .mp3
Track 20 - Venus - 5:20 20-Venus-Andis Kaulins .mp3
Track 21 - Ode to the Stars - 4:28 21-Ode to the Stars-Andis Kaulins .mp3

There are a few more songs, also vocals, at Isandis:

If you like it, tell us. If not, switch channels.

The Avebury "Swindon" Stone #46 Henge Inward Face Marks Stars Toward the North Ecliptic Pole

The Avebury "Swindon" Stone #46 Henge Inward Face marks stars to the side of the stars of Cygnus toward heaven's center at the fixed North Ecliptic Pole (which is not the same as the North Celestial Pole, which is not fixed, but in its position makes a circle around the North Ecliptic Pole in ca. 26000 years time).

The present posting must be viewed together with the previous postings explaining and deciphering the other sides of Avebury Stone #46, as well as deciphering other stones.

Our previous decipherment of the narrower "Swan Side" of the stone gave a clear result showing it depicted the stars of Cygnus at the top and the stars of Aquila below it.

Hence, according to the decipherment logic applied successfully to other Avebury stones thus far, the henge inward face of the Avebury "Swindon" Stone #46 should mark stars neighboring to Cygnus in the direction of heaven's center -- and so it is.

We were initially not happy, however, that we got so much "star" overlap between the Cygnus "Swan Side" stars and the stars of the henge inward face of Avebury Stone #46, but we had to take our results as we found them. A possible explanation is found toward the end of this posting.

Avebury Stone #46 Henge Inward Face Photograph by Andis Kaulins
-- click on the graphic for a larger image --

Avebury Stone #46 Henge Inward Face Photo Traced
-- click on the graphic for a larger image --

The red circle shows an area of the stone that was critical for determining which stars were marked on the stone. Note that the entire "face" of the stone also shows a human face profile looking right (the eye is just below the red circle, but the shape of that head is only of interest to us here in terms of the stars in the sky represented by the stone markings as a whole.

Note that the stars extend from Cygnus to the North Ecliptic Pole in Draco.

Avebury Stone #46 Henge Inward Face and Corresponding Stars
 -- click on the graphic for a larger image --

The visual result -- just as on the opposite henge outward face -- once again appears to show a sled, but this time with the human at the front of the sled facing left and his various passengers and cargo to the back at the right.

The "extended" Cygnus overlap of the above decipherment was puzzling. Why would the ancients have done that? Either we were wrong in our decipherment, or the ancients had something else in mind and did that overlap intentionally.

We thought that the images had possibly interlocking edges in order to create "one" sledding picture as it were, and so we tried to interlock the decipherment images of the henge outward and henge inward faces. The resulting interlocked image is shown below, suggesting how Cygnus is still marked as a swan -- now facing right -- and permitting the two sledders to join together.

Avebury Stone #46 with Interlocking Decipherments of the Henge Outward and Henge Inward Faces - Note how there are numerous lines that seem to extend from one image into the other.... Recall that these are just "rough" drawings, and that drawings exactly meshing size, position and angle would produce even better results.
 -- click on the graphic for a larger image --

Would the ancients have "joined" viz. interlocked the two stone faces in their carvings this way? We think it possible.

Avebury "Swindon" Stone #46 Henge Outward Marks Mostly Stars in Pegasus to the Side of Cygnus

The Avebury "Swindon" Stone #46 Henge Outward Face marks mostly stars in Pegasus to the side of the stars of Cygnus, the latter as located on the narrower "Swan Side" of the stone as previously deciphered.

The Avebury Stone #46 henge outward face was a very difficult decipherment.

Avebury Stone #46 Henge Outward Photograph by Andis Kaulins
-- click on the graphic for a larger image --

Initially, one could perhaps "imagine" several figures in the above photograph, one could perhaps see a shape like a human head profile in the middle of the stone (virtually no other markings). Then there might be a human head or a big cat-like head in the upper half of the stone and a large horse-head at the bottom left with its body right, i.e. a big cat of prey attacking a horse. Probably not likely, but we wanted to mention it. A few other animal figures might be visible toward the middle of the stone -- with their legs at the lower bottom of the stone). Astronomically, however, there was nothing convincing to see.

Indeed, even detailed tracing, which was repeated anew SEVERAL TIMES, gave in each case mostly an unsatisfactory result that looked like paisley patchwork. However, as noted in the previous posting, we are -- by the logic of previous Avebury decipherments -- dealing here with neighboring stars to Cygnus in an area of the sky where, except for the Great Square of Pegasus, there are no modern stellar constellations, precisely because of the lack of "prominent" easily imaginable figures. This decipherment was not going to be easy to see or prove.

Avebury Stone #46 Henge Outward Photograph TRACED
-- click on the graphic for a larger image --
 

Avebury Stone #46 Henge Outward Face Black and White Tracing Only
 -- click on the graphic for a larger image --

After many hours of study, a few minor details became apparent that offered points of reference, e.g. the alligator-like head at the top, the small horse head towards the middle and the bird-like figure to its left. Could that combination be found in that approximate form in stars near Cygnus? Using Starry Night Pro astronomy software, we tried various star fields near Cygnus and through trial and error overlaid them directly on our tracing of the henge outward face of Avebury Stone #46. Placement, angle and size had to fit. But did anything fit?

Finally, we found what appears to be the ca. right combination of placement, angle and size, made all the more difficult by the fact that the stone itself
is of course not an exact match for a modern star map, even if the ancients too tried to maintain accuracy in the portrayal of the stars, also as to their relative distances, one from the other. No matter how this star map is overlaid on the stone, some parts are are wider, some thinner, but it proves close enough.

Avebury Stone #46 The Star Field Used for Decipherment of the Henge Outward Face as clipped via the astronomy software Starry Night Pro 3.1 starrynight.com  -- click on the graphic for a larger image --

We overlaid that above star map on our black and white tracing of the stone. Check out there the alligator head at the top, the horse head towards the middle and the bird-like figure to its left. Of course, it took us a long time to get the approximate size, angle and placement right, but we did get the stars to fit.

Avebury Stone #46 Stars Overlaid on the Traced Henge Outward Face
 -- click on the graphic for a larger image -- 

 
Avebury Stone #46 Henge Outward Face -- Its Decipherment in the Stars
 -- click on the graphic for a larger image --  

This was a difficult stone to decipher and we redrew all tracings and decipherment drawings several times, but the result always appears to portray a long toboggan-like family sled apparently carrying people, pets and provisions.

The appearance of the sled would have been more of a surprise if we had not already found a boat that we thought might also be a sled (but unlikely in the summer) as portrayed on the henge inward side of Avebury Stone #10. Go there to take a look.

 As we wrote previously at the Ancient World Blog about Avebury Stone #46:

"We see figures in our tracings of the most prominent lines on the henge-outward and henge-inward "faces" of the stone  that could be interpreted to be people on sleds in the snow.

Ancient sleds were, depending on the culture, also called  toboggan, pulk or ahkio. Especially the latter term ahkio is of possible interest because the stars marked here include the Great Square of Pegasus, known in ancient Sumerian (viz. Babylonian) MUL.APIN texts as ASH.IKU, whereby IKU is viewed as the term for "square" or "field".

A toboggan-like sled might be found on the henge-outward face below the prominent human head profile, i.e. the figure would be sitting in that sled. The henge-inward face might at the front include a solo sledder lying face forward on a sled of the type that we all used for sledding in our younger days.

The sledding explanation is, of course, not essential, and had nothing to do with our identification of the stars that correspond to the markings on the stone."

Avebury Stone #46 Henge Outward and Inward Faces at the Solstitial Colure

In the era of the construction of Avebury, the solstitial colure (line) of the Winter Solstice in the stars ran through Cygnus, going through approx. Alpha Cygni in ca. 3100 B.C. and approx. through Gamma Cygni in ca. 2500 B.C.

We add that solstitial colure below for 2500 B.C. as the thick red line to the underlying sky map from the astronomy software Starry Night Pro 3.1, http://astronomy.starrynight.com. However, we remain of the provisional opinion that Avebury Stone #46 may in fact date back to ca. 3100 B.C. and thus may predate the full construction of the Avebury Henge complex, in which case the solstitial colure would have been "higher" toward Pegasus than here below.

In terms of the ancient "measurement" of the heavens via a starry night sky carved in the stones, the central Cygnus star Gamma Cygni  in ca. 2500 B.C. is a useful point because in that era it is nearly midway between the Winter Solstice point in the stars (on the ecliptic) and the North Celestial Pole

Gamma Cygni marks the "eye" of Cygnus on Avebury Henge Stone #46 as deciphered in the previous posting and also practically straddles the Galactic Equator. Note that the Cygnus side of Avebury Stone #46 is drawn exactly along that same Galactic Equator.

The large henge-outward and henge-inward "faces" of Avebury Stone #46 mark neighboring stars to the Cygnus side. These stars along solstitial colure pointed to the Winter Solstice and to winter weather. We see figures in our tracings of the most prominent lines on the henge-outward and henge-inward "faces" of the stone that could be interpreted to be people on sleds in the snow.

Ancient sleds were, depending on the culture, also called  toboggan, pulk or ahkio. Especially the latter term ahkio is of possible interest because the stars marked here include the Great Square of Pegasus, known in ancient Sumerian (viz. Babylonian) MUL.APIN texts as ASH.IKU, whereby IKU is viewed as the term for "square" or "field".

A toboggan-like sled might be found on the henge-outward face below the prominent human head profile, i.e. the figure would be sitting in that sled. The henge-inward face might at the front include a solo sledder lying face forward on a sled of the type that we all used for sledding in our younger days.

The sledding explanation is, of course, not essential, and had nothing to do with our identification of the stars that correspond to the markings on the stone.

The henge-outward face of Avebury Stone #46 was in fact particularly difficult to decipher because of the lack of "prominent" easily-identifiable figures in this area of the sky, and, indeed, except for the Great Square, modern astronomy has no constellations at all in this sector of the heavens. Thankfully, we were ultimately able to overlay star fields on tracings of prominent markings on the stone to arrive at solutions.

We present the henge outward and henge inward faces of Avebury Stone #46 separately in the next postings.

Avebury Stone #46 Cygnus Side Marks the Swan and the Eagle in the Stars

Avebury Stone #46, also known as the "Swindon Stone", is the most northerly stone in the Northwest Sector of Avebury Henge and is placed here in our analysis directly after Avebury Stone #30, just previously deciphered, which is the most southerly stone in the Northwest Sector of Avebury Henge.

Contrary to our routine start with the henge-outward face of a stone, here we start with what we call the "Cygnus Side" of Avebury Stone #46, a side which marks stars in the Swan of Cygnus and under it the Eagle of Aquila. Lyra is also marked -- to the side of the head of the Swan.

Avebury Stone #46 is a gigantic megalith -- the largest in terms of weight of all the Avebury Henge stones. It is one of the most famous stones at Avebury. We begin with this side of the stone because we think it possible that its name as the "Swindon Stone" has not only to do with the fact that it marks the gateway to the town of Swindon to its north, but also because "Swin"-don itself may have been named for the "Swan" that the Swindon Stone represents, i.e. an original name perhaps something like Swan-don, Swan-ton, Swan-down, or Swan-town. The Domesday Book spelled its name as Suindune. The folk etymology that this derived from "swine" appears to us to be just idle nonsense.

The closest Roman name for a town nearby was Durocornovium ("door of the horn"), thought to be the village of Wanborough, i.e. "WAN-borough", so that an original (S)WAN-borough is remotely possible. On the other hand, we find written at the Wikipedia that Wanborough was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as Wôdnes-beorg which later became Wodnesborough before becoming Wanborough, in which case the "Swan" name origin is less likely.

However, Joseph Bosworth's A Dictionary of the Anglo-Saxon Language equates Wodnes with the Germanic god Woden, i.e. Odin, and so arguably takes Avebury into the astronomical world of ancient gods in any case. We will show in subsequent postings that the henge-inward face of Avebury Stone #46 includes the stars of mid-heaven. The Wikipedia  writes about Odin: "Odin was known in Old English as Wōden, in Old Saxon as Wōdan, and in Old High German as Wuotan or Wōtan, all stemming from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic theonym wōđanaz." The proto-Indo-European term on the basis of Latvian vidiens (compare wōđanaz), could simply have meant "middle, center, main".

We need not trace here the principal markings on this stone because both the swan and the eagle are easy to spot on the stone. There are other figures on the stone of course, but these merely add detail to the main analysis, e.g. the typical "back" of the swan at the top of the stone (visible only on the second photograph below). Our photographs below are followed by our decipherment image of the corresponding stars, drawing the main carvings on the stone on an underlying map of the stars clipped via Starry Night Pro astronomy software.

Avebury Stone #46, the Swindon Stone, Photographs of the Swan Side

(we made two photographs, one photo to evade the plints, but that first photograph presented here does not quite catch properly the top of the Swan's head, whereas the second photo does)

The second photograph shows well the curve of the top of the swan's head, and see the typical "back" of the swan at the top right there
 -- click on the photograph below to obtain a larger image --

Avebury Stone #46, the Swindon Stone, Cygnus Side
The Stars Corresponding to the Carvings on Avebury Stone #46

 
Obviously then, all of the other faces and sides of Avebury Stone #46 must by the logic of our other Avebury decipherments then mark neighboring stars. We now look at the henge-inward and henge outward faces of the stone.

Please note: We do not have a photograph of the opposite narrow side of the Swindon Stone because there was a limiting fence on location there and that side of the stone jutted out toward the road over that fence, so that we were unable to make a photograph of that side.

If someone out there has or knows where to find a photograph of that opposite side, please let us know, as we would be pleased to add that side to our decipherments. We have found no such photograph online and find none in our personal library of Avebury books. Thank you.

Total Decipherment of Avebury Stone #30 Faces and Sides in the Corresponding Stars as a Ritual Scene with Druid

The image below is our "total" decipherment of Avebury Stone #30 which places the previously deciphered faces and sides of Avebury Stone #30 in the heavens at their decipherment-mandated corresponding stars. The combined result is a ritual scene (perhaps a funerary scene) with woman, child, man, and a figure we call "the Druid" (i.e. a wise man of old, a shaman, a Neolithic physician), together with the presumably memorial stone.

Total Decipherment of Avebury Stone #30 with the Faces and Sides Placed in the Corresponding Stars Forming a Ritual Scene with Druid
 (our graphic below is just a very rough sketch and will need future refining)

-- click the graphic below to obtain a larger image --

Although we generally have used a date of 2500 B.C. as the date of origin of the carved stones of Avebury Henge, in our software astronomy program Starry Night Pro 3.1, which is is our main tool for astronomical decipherment work, we here also tried a date of ca. 3100 B.C. because of the round "foot" of the lying figure which would then possibly be pointing to the Autumn Equinox in that era.

The actual date of origin could be, but does not have to be that date.

To our initial surprise, there is some overlap of the carved sides and not all elements of the henge outward face appear to be essential for the scene, except e.g. to add a shoulder to the man lying at the bottom, but the general nature of the scene formed by combining the 2 faces and 2 narrower sides of Avebury Stone #30 is clear.

UPDATE: We now see that in fact some of the lines of the henge outward face added to the overlapping parts of the stones could create a larger "sitting" man being attended to on his leg by the Druid, that sitting man with his head looking right just under the heads of the woman and child.

Avebury Stone #30 Henge Inward Face Aquila Sagitta Vulpecula Cygnus

The henge-inward face of Avebury Stone #30 shows stars in Aquila, Sagitta, Vulpecula, and Cygnus which are located directly above and neighboring the stars represented by the henge-outward face of Avebury Stone #30.

Avebury Stone #30 Henge Inward Face Photo by Andis Kaulins
-- click on the graphic to obtain a larger image --

Note the "gate" in the background which is the entry point at Avebury Henge when coming from the Alexander Keiller Museum and appurtenant buildings. This is then the first stone that a visitor sees.

Avebury Stone #30 Henge Inward Face Corresponding Stars in Aquila, Sagitta, Vulpecula, and Cygnus which are located directly above and neighboring the stars represented by the henge-outward face of Avebury Stone #30.

-- click on the graphic to obtain a larger image --

Avebury Stone #30 Henge Inward Face Side-by-Side with Corresponding Stars in Aquila, Sagitta, Vulpecula, and Cygnus

 -- click on the graphic to obtain a larger image --

There are several human faces figures carved on the stone, one looking left, while the entire henge-inward face of the stone represents a human face with the mouth at the large triangle to the right and the ear as the head of the smaller human face to the left. Bird figures represent Aquila and Cygnus.

Avebury Stone #30 Right Side Marks Stars in Aquila, Scutum and the top of Sagittarius

The Right Side of Avebury Stone #30 marks stars in Aquila, Scutum and the top of Sagittarius to the right of the stars represented by the henge outward face of Avebury Stone #30.

Avebury Stone #30 Right Side Photograph by Andis Kaulins

Avebury Stone #30 Right Side Corresponding Stars on an Underlying Sky Map made via Starry Night Pro 3.1 astronomy software
-- click the graphic to obtain a larger image --

The right side of Avebury Stone #30 marks stars in Aquila, Scutum and Sagittarius to the right of the stars marked on the henge-outward face of Avebury Stone #30. Figures represented are a woman with child (possible an elder below that), at least one large bird for Aquila in the middle, and several other possible human faces, including the entire stone side shape as a human face (looking right).

Avebury Stone #30 Right Side Photograph Shown Side-by-Side with the Corresponding Stars
-- click the graphic to obtain a larger image --

The next posting shows a photograph and decipherment of the henge-inward face of Avebury Stone #30.

Avebury Stone #30 Left Side Photo Corresponding Stars Ophiuchus

The Left Side of Avebury Stone #30 viewed henge-outward marks stars of Ophiuchus principally as two human figures, one with his or her arm around the other figure. There is the head of another figure at the bottom. The stars represented here directly neighbor the stars represented by the henge-outward face of the stone.

Below, we first show our photograph of the left side Avebury Stone #30. That image is followed by a graphic of our decipherment of the corresponding stars in Ophiuchus, using an underlying star map via the astronomy software Starry Night Pro 3.1, http://www.starrynight.com.

Avebury Stone #30 Left Side Photograph by Andis Kaulins

Below:
Avebury Stone #30 Left Side Corresponding Stars in Ophiuchus
-- click on the image to see the graphic in larger original size --

Below:
Avebury Stone #30 Left Side Shown Side-by-Side
with the Corresponding Stars in Ophiuchus
 -- click on the image to see the graphic in larger size --

The subsequent posting shows a photo of the Right Side of Avebury Stone #30 plus its astronomical decipherment.

Avebury Stone #30 Henge-Outward Plus Edge of Back of the Head and Corresponding Stars

Avebury Stone #30 Photo Including the Edge of the Back of the Head

The henge-outward face of Avebury Stone #30 stands somewhat at an angle so we also took a photograph that includes the henge-outward face plus the edge of the back of the head. That photograph is shown below and followed by a clip in which we mark the back head edge area in red.

-- click on our photograph below  to get a larger image --

Below is the edge of the back of the head as marked and as viewed from the perspective angle of the henge-outward face.

Avebury Stone #30 Photo Including the Edge of the Back of the Head 

We then initially deciphered that marked area as follows:

Avebury Stone #30 Corresponding Stars at Edge of the Back of the Head are neighboring stars to those deciphered for the Henge-Outward Face 

The full "back of the head" is then shown in different photographs as a large figure in its own right and a more complete decipherment of the corresponding stars is then found in the subsequent posting. 

Avebury Stone #30 at the Milky Way Hole at Serpens Cauda and Surrounding Stars

The Alexander Keiller Museum and adjacent buildings at Avebury were our first stop in visiting Avebury Henge. We had a cup of hot coffee there to offset the cold and overcast weather that prevailed on our visiting day. That same weather, however, provided advantageous non-glare non-shadow conditions to permit the taking of no-nonsense photographs of the Avebury Henge stones.

When one subsequently enters the Avebury Henge Circle from the Alexander Keiller buildings location, the first stone in the Northwest Sector of stones is Avebury Stone #30. Below we present our photographs and decipherment of the henge-outward face of Avebury Stone #30 and follow with postings that decipher the henge-inward face and the two narrower adjoining sides of the stone.

Avebury Stone #30 Photograph by Andis Kaulins

Below is the "Star Region" that Corresponds to the Henge Outward Face of Avebury Stone #30 Above, with nothing outlined

-- click on the Starry Night Pro 3.1 clip below  to get a larger image --

The Shape of the "Open Space" Between Strands of the Milky Way in this Stellar Region Surely Inspired to Shape a Similar Figure in the Stars

This decipherment was more difficult than it appears because the similar open "shape" formed at this stellar region by the strands of the Milky Way (the purple-bluish colored area in the sky map) surely served the ancients as the idea for this figure in stone, but the stone was then actually carved based on a similar shape "drawn" in the surrounding stars. We discovered this by placing the above star map transparently on our above photo of Stone #30. The ancients clearly used a much larger area of stars to "draw" a similar figure.

Avebury Stone #30 Corresponding Stars and Shape using the Sky Map shows that Stone #30 marks stars from the bottom of Aquila to Serpens Cauda and Scutum and then the edge of Ophiuchus and the top of Sagittarius. The ancients, veritably, "mapped" the sky of stars in stone.

-- click on the graphic drawing below  to get a larger image --

Avebury Stone #30 Henge-Outward Face and Corresponding Stars
-- click on the graphic drawing below  to get a larger image --

The correspondence of the stars and the shape of the stone is so clear that we did not even find it necessary to trace Stone #30 to get the above result. 

It was -- only initially -- somewhat of a surprise to us that not just the "hole" in the Milky Way was being marked -- because it does have a very similar shape -- but our previous decipherments show that the ancients in carving these stones represented much larger areas of stars -- stellar regions whose representation in stone continued to the left, right and above the henge-outward facing side, as we show in the subsequent postings for Avebury Stone #30. P.S. The through-going "lines" in decipherment above from the left bottom corner upward represent the Ecliptic, the Celestial Equator and the Galactic Equator.

Avebury Stone #42 Left Side Marks Stars in Ophiuchus, Scorpio and Ara plus Center of the Galaxy

Avebury Stone #42 on its Left Side viewed henge-outward marks stars directly to the left of the stars in Sagittarius marked on the henge-outward frontal face of the stone. The Left Side represents stars in Ophiuchus, Scorpio and Ara.

The galactic center is part of the chair being held by the figure, which we interpret to mean that it symbolizes the "throne" of the center of the Milky Way Galaxy whose galactic center is located there.

Avebury Stone #42 Left Side Photograph

Avebury Stone #42 Left Side Photo Tracing

Avebury Stone #42 Left Side and its Corresponding Stars in Ophiuchus, Scorpio & Ara to the left of the stars of Sagittarius marked on the henge-outward facing front face

The head at the bottom would seem to signify the underworld of the deceased, who, as we know from Avebury Stone #10 and from our previous decipherment of the Stonehenge sarsens and stones, marked the destination (presumably presumed "origin") to which the souls of the deceased returned.

Avebury Stone #42 Right Side Marks Stars of Capricorn and Microscopium to the Right of Sagittarius

The "Right Side" of Avebury Henge Stone #42 marks stars in Capricorn to the right of the stars of Sagittarius marked on the frontal henge-outward face of the stone. Indeed, as shown in the decipherment below, it includes the back end and the extension of the horse depicted on the henge-outward front face.

Our method of proceeding in deciphering Avebury Henge stones is to clip an appropriate section of one of the photographs of Avebury stones we made September, 2005, as in the clip below, and then to make a lighter version of that photograph to be able to see the lines more readily. A good example is the head at the bottom, which marks Microscopium below Capricorn....

Avebury Stone #42 Right Side (Viewed Henge Outwards)
(always click on an image to see if a larger, original view, exists)

Avebury Stone #42 Right Side Tracing and Corresponding Stars