Sir Norman Lockyer — pioneering solar astronomer and founder of Nature — argued classical temples and monuments like Stonehenge aligned with sunrise or specific stars. His books sparked a megalithomania wave, with people chasing alignments at stone circles. Later archaeologists criticized the astronomy angle while ironically using similar logic. Wild stuff 🔭
Norman Lockyer's astronomical theory of stone monuments
EnglandArchaeoastronomy
Key facts
- Sir Norman Lockyer, Astronomer Royal and founder of Nature journal, wrote a book on stone monuments considered astronomically
- Lockyer established that classical temples were oriented toward sunrise or specific stars/sun/moon
- He found Stonehenge aligned to astronomical phenomena
- This caused an outburst of megalithomania with groups searching for sunrise alignments at stone circles
- Revival of Druidry in Wales accompanied Lockyer's work, joined by nationalist antiquarians and clergymen
- Lockyer was later criticized by archaeologists who attributed astronomy to ancient peoples but didn't accept it as evidence
Site mentioned
Sources
Stonehenge and Other British Stone Monuments Astronomically ...books.google.com
Title, Stonehenge and Other British Stone Monuments Astronomically Considered ; Author, Sir Norman Lockyer ; Edition, 2 ; Publisher, Macmillan and Company, 1909.
Stonehenge Astronomically Considered Index - Sacred Textssacred-texts.com
Lockyer's primary hypothesis, that Stonehenge and other megalithic constructions were ancient observatories, is still considered plausible.
Archaeoastronomy and Stonehenge - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
The site is aligned in the direction of the sunrise of the summer solstice and the sunset of the winter solstice. The sunlight shining through a trilithon at ...
77. Remarks on Mr. Stone's Paper on the Date of Stonehenge ... - jstorjstor.org
arrived at by Sir Norman Lockyer, through astronomical means, for the building of. Stonehenge. ... and Stone Alignments are rarely straight lines. It should ...
Stonehenge and Other British Stone Monuments Astronomically ...booksamillion.com
Lockyer, a noted astronomer and archaeologist, presents a detailed analysis of the alignment of these ancient structures with celestial bodies and argues that ...
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