Theory

Stonehenge has been aligned with the Sun during the solstices for millennia, but is it possible that it is also aligned with the Moon? A once-in-a-generation event known as the “Great Moon Standing” is currently taking place, and scientists are preparing to investigate whether ancient humans built a monument to align it with our natural moon.

A great lunar standstill (or great lunar standstill/stall) occurs every 18.6 years, when the Moon rises and sets further north and south on the horizon than normal. From our Earth perspective, the Moon will be higher in the sky than the summer Sun and lower than the winter Sun.

This lunar cycle occurs this year and until 2025.

It’s a long cycle. Archaeologists didn’t have many opportunities to study this. [у Стоунхенджі]”,
– said Jennifer Wexler, an expert on prehistoric sites at English Heritage, an organization that oversees historical monuments.

Stonehenge, B.C. It went through many phases of construction and reconstruction, starting around 3000 with the construction of a large circular moat with inner and outer banks and two entrances. Archaeologists found 56 pits in the inner circle of the site, called “Aubrey pits” after the 17th-century antiquarian John Aubrey, who first described them. It is possible that vertical logs or stones were once stored in these pits. However, as in other parts of Stonehenge, cremation burials took place in some of them. Surprisingly, many of the cremations were found in the southeastern part of the complex, near three pits that probably once contained wooden pillars and appear to coincide with the southeast of the moon during the great lunar standstill.

These southeastern burials, both in and around the Aubrey Pits, apparently remained important because when the famous great stones were first erected around 2500 BC, ancient builders placed the so-called four Station Stones at this site. The long axis of the rectangle formed by these stones may coincide with the southernmost point of the moonrise.

Stonehenge’s architectural connection to the Sun is well known, but its connection to the Moon is less understood. The four station stones correspond to the Moon’s most extreme locations, and researchers have debated for years whether this was intentional, how it was accomplished, and what its purpose might have been.
says Clive Ruggles, Emeritus Professor of Archaeoastronomy at the University of Leicester.

Ancient people may have considered this time sacred. They were the first farmers, so understanding these cycles was extremely important to them. Perhaps people have told their children and grandchildren about the unique position of the Moon. This may be part of an ancestral connection with Stonehenge as a place passed down from generation to generation.

Researchers from Historic England, the Universities of Oxford, Leicester and Bournemouth and the Royal Astronomical Society will examine different aspects of the site during their observations of the great lunar recession at Stonehenge. They hope to see a visual effect (such as patterns of light and shadow) on the stones.