New theory casts doubt on the possibility of Stonehenge being a solar calendar

Planet Earth has many mysteries that will take centuries to unravel or that we may never be able to understand. One of them is the great monument Stonehengelocated in the county of Wiltshire, England.

The monument surprises with the size of its rocks, which are stacked on top of each other to form a kind of horseshoe. However, as already mentioned, what is most surprising are the mysteries surrounding the creation and presence of these rocks.

This is because Stonehenge demonstrates a curious alignment in relation to the Sun, at sunrise, on the summer solstice, and between sunset during the winter solstice.

This alignment can be seen in more detail in the following images, which were taken from the page dedicated to the monument on Wikipedia:

Due to these coincidences (or not), many theories have emerged over the years that seek to explain the real reason for the monument’s existence. One of the most recent claims that Stonehenge would actually be a solar calendar.

According to the theory published in the magazine Archaeology Journal AntiquityStonehenge would be the representation of a solar calendar extremely similar to the Alexandrian calendar, widely used today.

In other words, this calendar consists of 12 months of 30 days and 5 epagomenal days (additional days to complete 365) and an extra day every 4 years, that is, a leap year.

Stonehenge: cHow does the calendar work?

According to the research, the calendar would be a metric made by multiplying the (supposedly) 30 original lintels. The lintels are the horizontal stones that are balanced on top of two vertical ones.

Therefore, the supposed 30 lintels would be multiplied by 12, totaling 360, plus the 5 epagomenal days, while the presence of the leap year would refer to the four “station stones”. According to this metric, the days would be calculated by the alignment of the sun with the monument, as can be seen in the images.

However, a study conducted by professors Juan Antonio Belmonte and Giulio Magli, both experts in the field of Archaeoastronomy, demonstrated that this theory is completely unfounded. According to the professors, this theory is dismissible mainly due to astronomical and numerological issues.

This is because, even though Stonehenge is aligned with the summer and winter solstices, the alignment ends there. In order for there to be a correct relationship between the solar movement and the monument, it would need to be much “thinner” in shape in order to demonstrate the small changes that occur day to day with the change in the solar position.

Logically, this does not occur, after all, we are talking about enormous rocks. As for numerology, this is a much debated issue among archaeologists, since claiming that there is a correlation between numbers and structures without any explicit characteristic that refers to this is a fragile issue.

There is no way to gauge what the builders were thinking when they placed the rocks in that position or arrangement. Therefore, even if it is an interesting theory, it is nothing more than another theory that fails to explain Stonehenge.