New-York tribune., 1906-07-29
AGE or STONEHEycp
Determined by It's Relation fo A..
ROmicaI Observations

Following the same line Of thought MA.
formerly applied TO certain Egyptian 49,.
Sir Norman LOclCyer is able 70 sbov es.s
henge was originally built 70 serve ~ -
Of primitive observatory Il was b,rI.,
use Of the astronomer priests. who -.
brought the wisdom OF the East 10 tb,,'
many centuries before its very us--
emerged into the light Of history. Tt..
star worship which forms the basis ~ -
types OF primitive religion was eloe.lv n
woven with the practical need OF fvas -
the year for the use OF the agricuI,u-'-s
possessed no calendar 70 tell him vba, +
his seed and when 20 expect his harvest r.
day the Pleiades are known as the -.
stars" in South Africa. and take the pla,,..
farming calendar to the Solomon Islar5,-. !.
as their midnight elimination fixed IN. -
ming OF the feast Of Isis at Busiris. An, -
lated the ffty-two year cycle OF the -.
MeXicans. Il is now proved. from a COM
study Of prehistoric monuments and -
temples all over the world. that one Of n.
uses Of these edi1ces was to enable the 49,.
mer priests to fix such dates with ease an
tainty.
Every one knows that the sun rises AZ q n
ferent point on the horizon daily throuato. =
year. and that the time Of star risinr ~
night by night. These simple facts -
primitive man for the determination o. -
endar. Some OF the Egyptian temples vera ~
fully Oriented so that a bright star, Ike S.
or CanOpus. was visible down the avenus ~
served as the tube Of a telescope at a ra-.l-
Er-rrr
greater number OF stone circles. OF which -
henge IS the best known example, were 81
ented that the rising sun on midsumms- m
ing flashed its rays directly upon the err
altar; IN other words. their axis was ea.sss
directed TO the point on the horizon Over vi
the sun rose on the longest day IN the ~
There are many other instances Of dirs-s,s =
entatiOns. each corresponding to the fixed N,
in some ancient calendar. But StOnehsng. =.
certainly a solar temple and Observatory.
Now comes In the bearing OF this fact M
the history OF it's building. The point a NJ
summer sunrise IS not always the same n
procession OF the equinOxes- the fat n
the celestial pole IS travelling round a u
circle, which 1t takes about twenty-five Hs.
sand years 20 complete causes a secular elz,
in this point At the present day the ezs
StOnehenge Is not directed to the midsunns
sunrise. but to point nearly one degree a7g
from IL Now we know the rate at which L
place OF midsummer sunrise changes IN eo1s
quence OF procession. and It is a comparative,
simple calculation 70 determine the date
which the sun must have risen on midsuuzz
day In a line with the avenue at Stoneh1g
The conclusion Is that this remarkable eis
must have been erected about 1850 B. C., L
possible error being not greater than tWO hu
dred years on either side OF this date n
tells US that Stonehenge must hzl
been built somewhere between 1900 and 81
B. c., II the assumption OF It's purpose be a.
rect The general evidence from similar temps
all over the world hardly leaves room for dol.
on that head. and thus we obtain what n
safely be called the first definite fact in BEirs
history. carrying it back more than ff.ss
centuries before our islands first came into e'-
tact with recorded civilization. II Is clear u
the people who could build Stonehengs f0r 81
q purpose were far removed from mere a