Tombs aligned on Aldebaran

[Ray McCarthy]

Researchers say that the dark entrances to 6,000 year-old tombs in Portugal could have been an early form of astronomical tool that enhanced the visibility of the stars. In particular, they say, the orientation of the entrances to the passage graves suggests that they are aligned to offer a view of Aldebaran, the red star that is the brightest body in the constellation of Taurus.

The prehistoric tombs that may have been used as 'telescopes'

Interesting.
Certainly many Irish tombs 2,500 to 5,000 years old show alignments.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

There are very many ancient stone circles, dolmens and court graves near me. Much closer are very many Raths, remains of Iron Age forts. Some may be be at older prehistoric sites.

Note: All the "megalithic" structure predate the Iron age Celts (500BC and later) as they are 500BC to 3000BC or earlier. Many predate the the Bronze Age Celts (1800BC to 500BC roughly in Ireland.)

I've been inside Newgrange once and outside it many times. A sort of letterbox above the door aligns with the sun once a year.

(Edited from OPW photo, personal photography, discracefully is forbidden!. The photos below are my own. The special slot can't be seen, but you can see light from it on roof at top right)

Lough Gur
There is one "grave" of some kind at Lough Gur near here. It's one of the most famous places of those regarded as gateways to the Otherworld(s) by Iron Age and later Celts (500BC to 1100AD). I've measured alignments and taken a lot of photos in the area. There is one of the larger diameter stone circles in Ireland nearby. I have photos of it some place too, it's "N" on the map.

The general area

One of the prehistoric "graves". It's smaller than a true Irish Court Grave. It's not a Dolmen at all. "L" on map below. I don't know why it's called the "Giant's Grave" as it's maybe the smallest one I know!

Visitor's Centre map (with permission, very helpful people). It's on their web site. Unusually for Irish tourist sites, though access is free, there are proper public toilets in the car park. Generally in Ireland, if you need to loo, you find a pub or café.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Prehistoric tombs may have doubled as star-gazing observatories

Archaeological records suggest many prehistoric societies timed their migrations or crop-planting with astronomical events, such as when certain stars become visible in the night sky. And spending a night in a tomb alongside the ancestors’ remains was also a common rite of passage for adolescents.

Silva thinks that passage graves could connect the two phenomena. If you spent the night in such a tomb, the alignment of the corridor would allow you to see a certain star at dawn several days earlier than if you were looking out for it while above ground. This might be seen as special knowledge granted by the ancestors, says Silva. “Most of these initiation rites involved the imparting of knowledge,” he says.

It's certainly possible - but I'm not sure if it's probable. The argument for a "secret mystery" is interesting.

But overall, there are far more obvious markers for the agricultural calendar - certainly in Europe. IMO it would make little sense to have such much focus on minutiae that simply echoed that.

More likely, IMO, any secret knowledge relating to the stars would be fixed on the motions of the planets, which were far less predictable than the constellations - more so than I think the everyday farmer would have knowledge of - yet have always been seen to have had a major influence on us.

The idea of ancient Europeans focusing on the rise of Aldebaran just seems so irrelevant by comparison.

Of course, we know the ancient Egyptians looked to the rise of Sirius, because of the lack of season cues. But even then note that Sirius is one of the brightest stars in the sky - I don't recall anything about ancient Egyptians looking for faint stars that might preclude the rise of Sirius.

2c.

 

[Serendipity]

Prehistoric tombs may have doubled as star-gazing observatories



It's certainly possible - but I'm not sure if it's probably. The argument for a "secret mystery" is interesting.

But overall, there are far more obvious markers for the agricultural calendar - certainly in Europe. IMO it would make little sense to have such much focus on minutiae that simply echoed that.

More likely, IMO, any secret knowledge relating to the stars would be fixed on the motions of the planets, which were far less predictable than the constellations - more so than I think the everyday farmer would have knowledge of - yet have always been seen to have had a major influence on us.

The idea of ancient Europeans focusing on the rise of Aldebaran just seems so irrelevant by comparison.

Of course, we know the ancient Egyptians looked to the rise of Sirius, because of the lack of season cues. But even then note that Sirius is one of the brightest stars in the sky - I don't recall anything about ancient Egyptians looking for faint stars that might preclude the rise of Sirius.

2c.

Aldebaran is a red star.

I picked up somewhere that ancient people would not have been able to see blue. In fact the colours they could see in the order that there developed to see them are: dark/light, red, yellow/green, blue.

Is it possible that these people could only see dark/light and red, and that is therefore why they fixed on Aldebaran?

Just a thought....

 

[Brian G Turner]

I picked up somewhere that ancient people would not have been able to see blue. In fact the colours they could see in the order that there developed to see them are: dark/light, red, yellow/green, blue.

Millions of years ago, among our ape ancestors, perhaps - but all modern humans share the same biology. So the tomb builders wouldn't have had a problem seeing the same colours as us.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

but all modern humans share the same biology. So the tomb builders wouldn't have had a problem seeing the same colours as us.

Is it possible that these people could only see dark/light and red,

Probably Neanderthals saw the same colours.
Even ten thousand years ago people only differed from us in technology, health care and nutrition. Not in any other way.

I'm sceptical that structures were built to view Aldebaran, but who knows. The Ancient Babylonians, Indus valley and Chinese peoples were all keen visual astronomers.

 

[J Riff]

Pyramid at Giza has a tunnel pointing off somewhere, but, where was that, thousands of years ago? And, what about the space in between? How do we know it didn't have a totally different function? You have to figure ET into it before it makes much sense.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

There is load of nonsense written about Giza in particular and pyramids in general.
FACT
The sides of all three of the Giza pyramids were astronomically oriented to the north-south and east-west within a small fraction of a degree.
That's impressive and real.

Disputed Theory
The Orion idea is probably nonsense.

Orion correlation theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Astronomical Alignment in Egyptian Pyramids

Hoax based on grain of truth
Planetary alignment pyramid scheme - Bad Astronomy
Planetary Alignment Over Giza

 

[J Riff]

Well, my name is still on the wall in there somewhere. I was a member of Bad Astronomy until it got bad..* ) ...
We figured it out, missing door and all. Tons of salt and all. But that tunnel is really hard to explain.
When we were there rules were still lax, so we got to pet the Sphinx.
Why do you reckon it was aligned so perfectly? Was that calculated by magnetic readings or wha? And why?