Orientation of Prehistoric Monuments in Britain.

• Author: Marshall, Alistair.
• Place / Publishing House: Oxford : : Archaeopress,, 2021.; ©2021.
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (702 pages)

Reassesses major axial alignment at many megalithic ritual and funerary monuments (Neolithic to Bronze Age) in Britain and Ireland, not in terms of abstract astronomical concerns, but as an expression of repeated seasonal propitiation involving community, agrarian economy and ancestry in an attempt to mitigate variable environmental conditions.

Table of Contents

Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Information -- Abstract -- Section 01: Introduction -- 01a Preliminary notes for readers: -- 01b Table of contents -- 01c Preface -- 01d Guide for use of digital images (e-Figures) -- 01e National distributions of sites that appear in the analysis -- 01f Glossary of terms used in the analysis -- 01g Introduction -- Cues and targets for alignment -- Section 02: Cues for axial alignment -- Section 02a: -- The axis of monuments -- Definition and analysis of data -- Adequacy of published sources -- Precision and accuracy of data -- Use of context-free data sets -- Discussion of the axis -- Definition of axis -- Symmetry within an axis -- Abstract notions of direction -- Alignment behaviour between regions and over time -- Intervals between determination of orientation at a monument and its fuller construction -- The status of the axis -- Types of axis -- -Scope of intended axial usage: transient or continuing -- -Degree of active involvement of the axis in ritual at the site -- -Range of physical relevance -- Directed ritual: transmission and reception -- Section 02b: Possible targets for alignment -- Potential targets for orientation of monuments -- Problems of interpretation -- Types of target -- Random alignment -- Topographical conformity -- Imitative alignment -- Reference to celestial cues -- Axial compromise: a case from the Cotswold-Severn group of long barrows -- Use of other monuments as targets -- Axial combination -- Alternatives for targeting the solar transit -- The influence of climatic factors on orientation -- Use of celestial targets -- The type of astronomical object involved -- Use of universal or site-specific targets -- Reference to the solar cycle, and use of limiting positions -- The complexity of the astronomical target.

The elevation of the astronomical object, or event, used to determine orientation -- Solar shadow-casting -- The transit of the sun -- Reference to the lunar cycle -- Use of stellar and planetary cycles -- Other considerations -- Orientations beyond the solar and lunar range -- Properties of data from observation of a moving solar target -- Latitude-dependent factors affecting alignment of monuments -- Local onset of the seasons -- Properties of the solar cycle -- The seasonal-solar model of alignment for long barrows: a simplified example -- Test areas -- The model -- Conclusions -- Discussion -- Divisions of the year -- The Celtic agrarian calendar -- The megalithic calendar -- Stellar motion and the agricultural calendar: Classical sources -- Section 02c: Astronomical issues -- Methods -- Calculation of astronomically significant positions within the solar and lunar cycles at defined latitudes: rising, setting, and transit -- Solar events -- Lunar events -- Problems with over-specific use of astronomical data -- Adjustment of solar and lunar risings and settings for topography at the local horizon -- The solar transit: properties -- Basic physical properties of the solar transit -- Definitions -- -limiting positions of the transit on the horizon -- -zonation of the transit and changes in its properties with latitude -- Axial intersection of the solar transit: transit-frequency -- Solstices and equinoxes: the effects of latitude and longitude on azimuth and timing -- Tracking the solar transit -- Dwell-time of the sun in a particular direction: seasonal variation -- Use of near-setting or -rising positions of the sun as cues for alignment: implications for the seasonal-solar model of alignment behaviour -- Alignments: banding for analysis of regional distributions -- Visualising the solar transit at winter minimum (e-FIGS AS-04b and c).

The lunar transit: properties -- Basic properties of the lunar transit -- Complexity of the lunar transit -- Combination of lunar and solar cycles -- S'n moon-skim: the minimal lunar transit between major S'n standstills -- Constellations -- The Orion group -- Brightness -- Directions of rising and setting -- Patterns of rising and setting during the year -- Changes in the daily timing, and visibility of rising, and settings over millennia -- Consideration of other stars as potential targets for alignment of monuments -- Stars: changing visibility in the night sky: specific examples -- Planets -- e-FIGURES: combined listings and supporting information -- Groups of monuments in the analysis -- Section 03: Axial alignment amongst particular groups of monument -- Analysis of the orientation of long barrows, and other chambered tombs from the European Neolithic -- Introduction -- The monuments and their orientation -- Aspects of orientation for assessment -- Proposal of some general model for orientation -- The need for comparative studies -- Evolution of alignment-practice -- Existing interpretation of orientation amongst chambered tombs -- The nature of the axis at long barrows -- The timing of its construction -- Types of axial structure -- Persistence of the axis -- Complications in measurement of axes -- Asymmetric sites -- Symmetrical sites -- Composite monuments -- Directionality at long barrows -- Facing versus pointing -- Structural trends -- Alignment of human remains -- Analysis of alignment amongst groups of long barrows -- Results of the analysis -- Factors determining axial alignment amongst these funerary monuments -- The seasonal-solar model (e-FIG CO-02) -- -- Grouping of sites -- Factors interacting to determine the axis of a long barrow -- Anomalous orientation of passage tombs in Ireland.

The Orion group of constellations: possible relevance of risings and settings to funerary ritual -- Determination of environmental factors important in seasonally-dependent models for monumental construction: application to long barrows -- Onset of the seasons -- The basic cycle -- The seasonal labour cycle -- The ergonomics of monumental construction -- Timing of construction projects -- Interpretation of barrow alignment in terms of seasonal activity (e-FIGS LB-41 and 41a) -- Comparison of barrow alignment over the range of latitudes -- Orientation of longhouses -- Relationship with long barrows -- Climatic cues -- -Neolithic longhouses -- -comparison of orientation between Neolithic barrows and longhouses -- -other long- and round-houses -- -anthropological parallels -- Cues for alignment -- Directed illumination of interior structures at chambered tombs -- Introduction -- The case against directed illumination -- General conclusions -- Properties of candidate monuments -- Alternative interpretations -- -deposition and display -- -Knowth site 1: alternative uses of light -- Supplementary information on sites: directed illumination -- Study area: long barrows in the N'n Cotswolds -- The general area and its long barrows -- Analysis of orientation (e-FIG LB-16 and 17) -- Siting of barrows -- The detailed study area: N'n Cotswolds (e-FIG LB-89) -- Long barrows: interaction between axis and topography: comparative analysis of long barrows in the Cotswolds, mid-Wye valley, and on the Lincolnshire Wolds -- The study areas -- Conclusions -- Differences in mean axial alignment between samples of long barrows from the Cotswolds and Lincolnshire Wolds: relevance for the seasonal-solar model of barrow construction -- The Dorstone Hill complex -- Herefs -- SO 3242 -- -- More detailed analysis of orientation within regional groups of funerary monument.

Case study 1: long barrows in S'n England (e-FIG LB-92) -- Case study 2: barrow groups from Scotland (e-FIG LB-93) -- General discussion -- Regional variation and latitude-dependant effects -- e-FIGURES: combined listings and supporting information -- Appendix: sites producing data used in the analysis: -- Section 03a: -- Section 03b: -- The orientation of augmented long barrows in Britain -- Introduction -- Problems in use of the term 'bank barrow' -- Further definition of length and shape amongst long barrows -- Redefinition of this group of long barrow-like monuments -- Analysis of orientation amongst augmented barrow monuments -- Supplementary information: details of sites -- Composite barrows -- Linked sites -- Unitary sites -- e-FIGURES: combined listings and supporting information -- Section 03c: Analysis of the orientation of cursus monuments in Britain -- Cursus monuments and their orientation -- General introduction -- Context -- Definition -- Distribution -- Function -- Location -- Properties -- Illustrated examples -- The scope of this analysis, and inherent problems -- Analysis of orientation at cursus sites -- Alignments and the solar transit -- Methods -- Results -- Structural differentiation between directions in the axis of cursus monuments -- Aspects of distribution and associations of cursus sites -- Case studies: spatial analysis of surrounding monuments and their possible relationship with axial alignment of the cursus -- The Dorset Cursus (see Table of Contents: 03c/8a -- e-FIGS CU-03 to 06) -- The Fladbury group of smaller cursoid enclosures -- SO 9846 -- Evesham, Worcs -- e-FIGS CU-08 and 08a -- -- The Rudston cursus complex (see Table of Contents: 03c/8b -- e-FIGS CU-12 to 14) -- Existing astronomical interpretation: one example -- The relationship between alignment of cursus sites and solstitial axes -- General conclusions.

Association between barrows and cursus monuments.