THE SECRET OF STONEHENGE — HAWKINS 313 



have their eyes in the sljy; archeologists in the earth. . . . However, 

 I agree that Stonehenge is oriented to the winter solstice setting sun 

 in the great central trilithon as seen from the center or anywhere else 

 on the axis, and since the plan of Stonehenge is sepulchral, it is in some 

 way the mortuary temple to the sun in his old age when he goes down 

 to the lower world at the end of the year or life. . . . 



Mr. Newall also wondered if Stonehenge could aline to an astro- 

 nomic point, the point of sunrise at equinox. He was right ; two of the 

 main stoneholes do this to within one-tenth of a degree. The aline- 

 ment was overlooked by me, I regret to say, and the machine is blame- 

 less. Finally he quoted the first-century B.C. writer Diodorus, who 

 said that in the mysterious northern island of "Hyperborea" there was 

 a "spherical temple" to Apollo, and "the god visits the island every 

 19 years, the period in which the return of the stars to the same place 

 in heaven is accomplished. . . ." 



The archeologist concluded : "Now I do not say that that refers to 

 Stonehenge, but could it . . . ? Could the full moon do something 

 spectacular once every 19 years at Stonehenge?" 



It is a fact that some Jewish and Chinese calendars used a 19-year 

 cycle, and that the Greek Meton knew that the full moon occurs 

 exactly on the same calendar date after a lapse of 19 years. But I was 

 struck by Newall's wonderment about the moon at Stonehenge. I 

 thought, "What about eclipses, at the most spectacular place — over the 

 heelstone?" So I looked up eclipse records for some 150 years. Moon 

 eclipses in December-January, the approximate time when the eclipsed 

 moon would rise over the heelstone, occurred mostly at intervals of 

 19 years, with sometimes an interval of 18 or 8. Interesting? 



A similar condition occurs at Midsummer, and this phase of the 

 Stonehenge cycle is going to happen in 1964, this very month ! ^ Tlie 

 full moon is eclipsed at 2 a.m. on June 25, and then sets in the great 

 trilithon as seen from the center of Stonehenge. The monument will 

 be closed to visitors at that time, unfortunately. 



In the course of this investigation, I have found out many other 

 arresting things, indicating avenues for further exploration. The 

 machine, quick, dispassionate, tireless, makes possible much more thor- 

 ough analysis of such an elaborate problem than humans would care 

 to attempt. A new chapter in the ancient book of Stonehenge now lies 

 open. 



» June 1964. [Thia eclipse, and the Midsummer sunrise, was filmed and shown In "The 

 Mystery of Stonehenge," presented by CBS-TV.] 



