Abstract
HAWKINS1,2 has suggested that the Aubrey holes at Stonehenge were used to count the years of a 56-year cycle, important in the motion of the Moon and the occurrence of eclipses. Hoyle3 and Colton and Martin4 have suggested other ways that Stonehenge could have been used to predict eclipses. Here we suggest a use of Stonehenge that has nothing to do with eclipses. We suggest also that the Aubrey holes, if they were used as counters at all, were used to count intervals of 56 months rather than 56 years.
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References
Hawkins, G. S., Nature, 200, 306 (1963).
Hawkins, G. S., Nature, 202, 1258 (1964).
Hoyle, Fred, Nature, 211, 454 (1966).
Colton, R., and Martin, R. L., Nature, 213, 476 (1967).
Atkinson, R. J. C., Stonehenge and Avebury (HM Stationery Office London, 1959).
Neugebauer, O., The Exact Sciences in Antiquity, 141 (Brown University Press, Providence, Rhode Island, 1957).
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NEWTON, R., JENKINS, R. Possible Use of Stonehenge. Nature 239, 511–512 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1038/239511a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/239511a0
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