The eastern passage is entirely different from the Western
'Allee Coudee' having instead the classical Irish cruciform plan,
with 2 side recesses and an end chamber. It measures approximately
40m in total length , average width 85cms, height 1.6m making it the
longest in length of the surviving passageways in all Europe.There are
reminants of stone basins in each recess and the classical corbelled
architectural roof.(Note 6) The focal point of the
Sun and Moon would have hit the backstone of the end chamber
around the equinoxes and this passageway unlike its western counterpart
is relatively straight all the way, affording it a slightly wider azimuth
range of 3° close to the cardinal axis 90° (84° - 86°)
(see diagram below)
Again features repeat themselves as at the Western entrance. K 11 is the designated entrance stone , approximately 93cms high. Beyond that a limestone pillar stands,1.6 m in length, 23 cms wide and 2.5 m away from K11.(see figure below)
The main difference between the setup here, at the eastern side of the mound, concerns the uncanny fact that although the dimensions, distance and height of k11 and the limestone pillar differ from the dimensions of their western counterparts, they nevertheless cut a shadow altitude range almost the same, in this case 15° - 32°. Now does the Sun/Moon system work here? Yes, positively, using the two luminaries in conjunction with each other, a time of Autumnal equinoxes could be measured, every 19 tropical years. lets now look at 3 tables to see this more clearly.
The first thing to notice is the Moon's shadow is much stronger than the Western casting shadow of the Vernal Equinox Moon. Here we have a 1/2 Moon. The azimuth distance between the sun setting and the prior Moon's azimuth is much greater, 7.1°.
Again 19 years later, 5080 BC, the azimuth difference is 7.2°. You will also notice that the Moon's altitude rises erratically up the horizon, exactly the behaviour seen at the western side where it oscillates in altitude range.
Finally, at 5061 BC, the difference is down to 7.3°. If you try to use the Moon in the intervening years, you just don't receive as many shadow hits on the entrance stone. Now let's examine what the shadows look like on k11.
Again, as with the Western K74 stone, a clearly defined vertical line demarcates the surface and splits the K 11 stone in equal halves. The rectilinear artistic style is slightly different from K74, and we can determine that the shadows appear similiarly in our Sun/Moon system. One curious feature of the kerbstones around Site 1 appears to involve delibrate placing of these stones on a raised small stone platform. Did the Neoliths have a purpose in mind? The main factor in our Sun/Moon system shows the Moon as the primary predictor of the Sunrise entering the Eastern passage. It shows this, again with casting a shadow over the K11 entrance stone 7 - 8 days before the Sun enters the end chamber. (see fig. below)
That's what I believe they were trying to do. It also may highlight the belief in our Mesolithic Zenith post idea. The Moon of course is the brightest night time object and the swiftest moving. It would intersect the horizon much more frequently than any of the planets. But the moon also exhibits eclipses, lunar eclipses, 2 or 3 per year but usually in a cycle of every 3 years. These were visible sometimes on the Eastern side of the Site 1 mound and would have represented an awesome spectacle at night turning its surface red/orange in colour. It may have presented a ritual significator to the Neoliths for their ceremonies at the site.
Predicting when a lunar eclipse would occur using the passageways
at Knowth is relatively easy. They simply found out that if an eclipsed moon
occurred within 40 days either side of equinox peak times then
the preceding full moon would have shone into the Eastern passageway
usually 28 - 30 days beforehand. Working forward if a full moon
occurred in the Eastern passage around the equinoxes then the
next full moon would be an eclipsed one over the night sky following the 3 year cycle!!!
If you see the chart below it shows a crop of recent lunar eclipses
and their preceeding full moons( see below).
Not all lunar eclipses occur around the equinoxes because the lunar ascending/descending nodal axis rotates or precesses every 54 years presenting eclipses at different times and different azimuths throughout the year. But perhaps an excellent example of Site 1's axis alignment is the lunar eclipse of Mar 12, 1998. When the Sun set in the western passage, a couple of minutes later, the rising moon ,later went into eclipse mode over the Eastern section of the sky. This clearly demonstrates this function. Now we have 3 separate and distinct functionalities with Site 1's features, i.e. Lunar eclipse predictor, adjustor for Metonic measures(Moon), Lunar predictor for solar equinoxes. There maybe other functions waiting to be discovered.
Enormous amounts of the stones from Knowth have been worked and dressed with 'abstract' styles. There appear to be tentative simliarities with continental styles in Iberia. However, the chronology of the decoration and an indicator towards its ultimate origin, is open for debate. I have outlined the idea of a Gnomon/ Zenith post as an agricultural initiator, but when we examine Knowth at subsequent phases, can we be certain that Knowth's chronology and genesis is in line with Newgrange or for that matter, Dowth, all passage monuments within a mile radius of Knowth. This will be our next exploration which I've divided up into 2 scenarios that have strong possibilities. It is up to the reader to choose that scenario which agrees comfortably with their own intelligence and reasoning.
