Now we can switch to Vega before we analyse the full picture.
Accuracy of table data BELOW increased from Skyglobe 3.6 => The Digital Universe Program
Skyglobe lacked both proper motion and horizon refraction
| SUN'S ALT | DATE 5520BC | OBJECT | HORIZON AZIMUTH | B= before, A= after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24.2° | Mar 31 | Moonset | 306.8° | 13 mins A |
| 28.9° | Apr 13 | Moonrise | 131.9° | 10 mins A |
| 34.2° | Apr 27 | Moonset | 307.2° | 9 mins B |
| 39.8° | May 11 | Moonrise | 132.8° | 45 mins A |
| 45° | May 25 | Moonset | 307.3° | 38 mins A |
| 49.5° | Jun 7 | Moonrise | 133° | 21 mins A |
| 54° | Jun 21 | Moonset | 307.9° | 17 mins A |
| 58° | Jul 3 | Moonrise | 133° | EXACT |
| 59.5° | Jul 18 | Moonset | 307.5° | 60 mins A |
| 60.3° | July 30 | Moonrise | 132.2° | 18 mins B |
| 60.5° | Aug 7 | Sunset | 312.5° | 10 mins A |
From our Vega table we can see a number of important points.
1) The Sun is rising up in elevation to reach its highest altitude on
Aug 7 and therefore giving us the Summer Solstice Standstill point,
312.5°at sunset.
2) We've captured the Midwinter Sunrise point , 132.5° to within 1° on
all recorded Moonrises!!!
3) The Sun at its highest elevation sets exactly opposite the Midwinter Sunrise point
at 312.5°(312.5° - 180° => 132.5°)
The extraordinary accuracy attained attests to simply eyesight.
Our observers now had via the Gnomon part, their longest daylight
time, their shortest daylight time, when equal day/night occurred
(2 occasions, the Vernal and Autumnal Equinox points), their
Summer Solstice point and Midwinter sunrise point and if they
used Crux as a guideline, all four Cardinal points would have been
known with remarkable accuracy.
What do these mathematical observations look like when the mesolithic settlers mapped them out on the ground.
Clearly Jupiter's oscillation marks the most concentrated alignments to the West and gives special added emphasis to the East-West axis that the builders used to align the luminaries. Jupiter would have been seen every night for a full 4 months from Nov 9 5520BC to Mar 18 5519BC when it moved between 271 and 276° azimuth. The probability estimates for seeing all of this are interesting. Over 8000 opportunities existed with just the time span of 5541BC to 5518BC, that's without including Jupiter's measure. Allowing say, a 30% drop due to inclement weather conditions and throwing in Jupiter , we arrive at 5700 opportunities over 24 years i.e. over 200/year. As I stated before it would have been impossible to miss this sky show.
A question arises as to where our settlers placed the post, did it once lie within where the mound now exists? or somewhere close by? If it was within the mound area, a good position would be at the intersection of where the back-to-back East-West passages now lie, that would facilitate future ease with constructing the megalithic mound(s) that would have come later on as crops flourished and a permanent foothold for agriculture took place in the Boyne valley. If it was outside the later mound then it may have been within less than a 1/4 mile or so radius. Where ever they decided to erect it, a location affording a good all round observation platform would have been desirable.
Being a wooden structure, over time, it would have succumbed to the ravages of decay and foreign interference from outsiders. Some sort of protection had to be built surrounding it. A defensive wooden low level stockade perhaps. If it got damaged in any way repeated repairs would have to be made to ensure seasonal accuracy of crop rotation.
I'm inclined to believe that outsiders, attracted by the fertility of the ground there, moved in and started a new religion and ritual worshipping of the luminaries. They may have co-acted peacefully with their Mesolithic hosts, but these newcomers, which archaeologists refer to as Neolithic (New Stone Age), had a decidedly different architectural edifice in mind when they built Knowth later on. Stone would replace the impermanence of timber and artwork would symbolise the structure's importance to the flourishing community.
The question is when these Neolithic people started to build Knowth proper? Timber construction may have lasted a number of centuries until our newcomers arrived on the scene. If we take the 4885bc C14 date found within the construct of Knowth Site 1 as a measure, it could be estimated that Knowth Phase 2 began somewhere around 5100BC. That's fully 1800 years back further in time than the archaeologists would like to believe and as I've mentioned before, this sort of date throws out the genesis of megalithic art and firmly places its origin as Irish not as a foreign intervention. Some of the earliest passage graves in Brittany ,Barnenez for example, date back to 4700BC. Some archaeologists, in reference to the Site 1 find, suggest that the 4885bc date refers to a PRIOR mound structure predating the present one. That's a plausible offer but to prove it you would have to dismantle Knowth Site 1 completely to get down to reminants of the former mound, if it did exist, at all. It remains an open debate. But I ask why should the decorative artwork be foreign influenced?
Again were back to precedence of continental artwork and more particularly the passage way constructs (ground plans) which would suggest if you choose 5100BC as the date, that these forms of ground plans existed unchanged for nearly 2 millennia!!. Interestingly enough there is continental evidence that shows clearly undisturbed architectural styles that span such long periods of time. And in Ireland's case some court tomb construction spans over 1000 years with little structural variation.
Also C14 dates for Irish passage tombs only account for 10% of the total, a slim margin on which to base definitive, comparative origin determinants.
