Rare lunar event may reveal Stonehenge’s link with the moon
By Katie Hunt, CNN
6 minute read
Published 1:16 PM EDT, Tue May 21, 2024
*** begin quote ***
To those gathering over the centuries at Stonehenge — the imposing prehistoric monument that has dominated Salisbury plain in southwest England for some 4,500 years — it was likely clear how the sun could have informed its design.
The central axis of the stone circle was, and still is, aligned with the sunrise at midsummer and sunset at midwinter, the stones dramatically framing the rising and setting sun when days were at their longest and shortest.
But do Stonehenge and potentially other megalithic monuments around the world also align with the moon?
The idea that Stonehenge was linked in some way to the moon gained ground in the 1960s. However, the concept hadn’t been systematically explored, said Clive Ruggles, professor emeritus of archaeoastronomy in the school of archaeology and ancient history at the University of Leicester.
This summer, archaeologists are using a little-known lunar phenomenon that happens every 18.6 years to investigate as part of their work in understanding why Stonehenge was built.
Lunar standstill
Like the sun, the moon rises in the east and set in the west. However, moonrise and moonset move from north to south and back again in the space of a month. The northern and southern extremes also change over a period of about 18 and a half years. The lunar standstill is when the northernmost and southernmost moonrise and moonset are farthest apart.
*** end quote ***
In my old age, I’ve become more and more convinced that humanity has lost some dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom) along the way on the “road to progress”. Some of what has been lost was NBD (no big deal) like beliefs in witches, “poisonous tomatoes”, and the “Divine Right of Kings”. Some losses have been down right positive like superstitions, subsistence farming, and disease caused by spirits.
I’ve never heard of the “Lunar Standstill” but obviously those primitive savages had.
What else did they know that we’ve lost?
We have a lot to be humble about.
—30—
Reinke Faces Life 