A Rosetta Stone for the Prehistoric Solar Calendar? Kerbstone K15 at Knowth, Ireland

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12911692
AutoresEuan W Mackie (National Museums Scotland, autor correspondente)
Ano2013
Volume6
Fascículo2
Páginas211-229
Data de publicação2013-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoTime and Mind (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1751-696X • E-ISSN: 1751-6978
EditoraTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2752/175169713x13589680081894
OpenAlexW2335682795
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas8

Interpreting Neolithic passage grave art is difficult but, according to middle range theory, could be achieved with analogies with known other factors. Celestial phenomena present one possibility and can easily be assessed qualitatively and quantitatively; however, a single match in modern eyes need not necessarily have been intended by Neolithic minds; independent corroboration is needed. The late fourth millennium BC kerbstone KI5 at Knowth, Ireland, bears a fan-shaped pattern that has been controversially interpreted as a solar calendar yet it has not been noted until now that there is independent evidence for exactly this calendar, in fine detail, in the standing stone alignments of Britain. A new examination and reinterpretation of the rock carving reveals a strikingly good match with this “menhir calendar” of Alexander Thom and strongly supports his statistical deductions from his survey data. Also offered is an interpretation of the “diamond and spiral” symbol that appears rarely on passage grave art and once on a sherd of Orkney Grooved ware. A link with the solar calendar is possible

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Interpretation (philosophy · Prehistory · Reinterpretation · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · History · Philosophy · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Geology · Paleontology