I'HE RITUAL OF BARROWS AND CIRCLES. 245 



And James Milne ,*- after observing that the orientation of the 

 alignments varies from east to E.S.E., says that at " the head 

 [the western end] of the alignments of Menec and Kerlescant, 

 large menhirs form a cromlech " [stone circle]. 



Other uses have been assigned to stone circles. It has been 

 thought that they were employed for astronomical observations. 

 But the orientation that they possess is too variable to support this 

 view. The case of Stonehenge is unique and would require to be 

 dealt with at length. It is oriented to the summer sunrise and if 

 the central line of the earthen avenue that stretches in that 

 direction, and passes down hill till it is out of sight, corresponds 

 to the point where the sun rose at the date of the construction of 

 this monument, Sir Norman Lockyer would give B.C. 1680 as 

 the year of its birth. But according to Prof. Petrie the avenue's 

 point of departure is not exactly opposite the middle trilithon. 

 And it cannot now be decided what part of the solar disc 

 constituted an effective sunrise — the first glimmer of its edge, its 

 centre, or the appearance of the complete orb. 



Professor Petrie himself prefers the Heelstone, as a gnomon, to 

 the A^•enue, and considers the true date of construction to be 

 A.D. 730. But, unfortunately, " he overlooked the fact that the 

 change of the ecliptic is taking place in the wrong direction, and 

 that the sun now rises farther south than it has done for the last 

 10,000 years. He applied the correction with the wrong sign."f 

 Again, speaking of the Heel-stone, Mr. Lukis regards it " as 

 belonging to a later date than Stonehenge." In his opinion " it 

 was erected as a sepulchral monolith upon consecrated ground, 

 perhaps long after the purpose for which the circles were 

 designed had been discontinued. All the sarsen stones com- 

 posing the monument, without exception, have been shaped with 

 a tool, whereas no tool has touched the Friar's-heel. It is a very 

 ugly and rugged block, and it is in its native condition.":]: 



* Kesearches in Brittanj% pp. 92, 95. 

 t Arthur E. Hiuks, Camb. Observatory. 

 I Proc. Soc. Autiq. 1881, p. 118. 



