Bill Kramer

Some years ago I learned that someone had put forth the notion that Stonehenge, the famous archeological site in England, could have been used to predict eclipse events.  As an eclipse chaser, I was naturally intrigued by this concept and wanted to learn more. 

 During a visit to Stonehenge in 2001 the tour guide said that Stonehenge might have been used as an astronomical calculator.  He mentioned that it was said to predict eclipses however he did not know the specifics when I questioned him.  This led me to begin researching the subject deeper in order to learn more about Stonehenge and how it could have been used as an observatory.  The gift shop at the Stonehenge monument site contained several small booklets that assisted greatly in this quest.  I've supplied a list of good references at the end of the article.

The following article is a summary of what I've learned along with an analysis of a simple numeric method for eclipse prediction.  References are provided at the end for those wanting to learn more about this fascinating subject.

The fact that many of the large stones line up to mark the solstice and equinox as well as other astronomical timings related to the seasons is well known.  However, this knowledge alone cannot help in eclipse prediction unless it is done to a much higher degree of precision than can be accomplished with large rocks and wooden posts.  And the degree of sophistication needed to conduct a long term experiment into the repeating cycles of the Sun, Moon, and Earth would have resulted in more than just a ring a well placed stones.  Archeological studies have found evidence of holes that once held wood posts that mark the positions of the moonrise relative to other stones.  This leads one to wonder just how much the ancients who built Stonehenge were researching the cycles of the heavens. 

 Several clever explanations for the stone configurations related to solar system objects have been proposed along with the sun and moon tracking.  Other stone circles from the same archeological time period do not have the same configurations thus making Stonehenge somewhat unique in that regard. A lack of written records from the time period in question means that we can only guess.  Some of the guesses have been interesting while others can only be considered preposterous given what is known these days about the civilization and times through archeological study.  But then, archeology is a science of based on the scientific method with little opportunity for definitive proof.  This means that sometimes there are breakthroughs that prove previous conceptions incorrect.  Perhaps the builders of Stonehenge were astronomical geniuses and their work is only preserved in our spirit to understand.....