If you didn't go with the last idea about predictors to the mid winter solstice phenomenon then perhaps an alternative idea would suit. Situated approximately a half mile from the front elevation of Newgrange lies a round small mound about 1/6 the size of Newgrange proper. Site B lies almost in the river Boyne itself and is a passage mound. I get a Geodetic azimuth of 125° 30' from the entrance of Newgrange through Site B to the distant horizon. Its an odd azimuth, not really corresponding to any lunar or solar extremes. Its only if you take yourself back in time to 3300BC that it begins to make some sense. In that time, Orion's belt, would have risen cutting right across the top of Site B. However Site B lies at lower ground than the Newgrange hilltop so at night probably a fire was lit just outside Site B to become visible from the summit.This would have occurred around Jan 5 - 7th at that era. In the previous December, the sun would rise over Site B between about 10 - 12th of the month. Closer to Newgrange is a smaller passage mound called Site A. Geodetically it gives us an azimuth of 138° 12'. Again around 3300BC certain alignments are picked up here. Saiph, in the constellation Orion, rises over Site A about mid December. About an hour later each night the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius (-1.59 mag.), also rises over Site A. But before it does that Sirius would have appeared within the roofbox frame from inside the passageway of Newgrange. With these tantalising elements you can construct a sequence that predicts the onset of the Mid winter solstice within Newgrange and also find its two defining limits either side of this. Simply put I've created a sequence of small diagrams that show how this could have happened. (see below)

Now you can see the pattern emerging. It is considered that the 2 mounds in question A & B are seemingly contemporary with Newgrange proper. But in order to fix a date span when this would have occurred you have to take in all the overlaps of the stars appearing over each marker. The Belt of Orion would have spanned Site B from 3250BC - 3550BC. Saiph from 3250BC - 3400BC and Sirius 3250BC - 3700BC. Therefore, the maximum time frame turns out to be 3250BC - 3400BC , a 150 year time period. If ,for the sake of arguement, the Belt of Orion was visible through the roofbox and then failed to appear over ensuing centuries then a pick up on the external alternative predictors could be easily used. The later alternative also coincides nicely with the archaeologist's estimate of Newgrange's construct date , 3300BC. Here I've shown the mathematical proof for 2 points within the passage. There maybe more areas to prove. I chose these 2 points because they had unusual 'rib' etchings unlike the designs on the other stones. I hasten to think that there maybe no 'Rosetta Stone' decipherment of the Newgrange iconography but instead, at least to my mind, the Neolithics made representation of elements of nature that they came in contact with. Its also amazing to note that the search for an entrance behind K52 was undertaken mainly in light of the fact that Knowth Site 1 came up with back to back passages. However no such conclusion was evident with Newgrange and now it has been ascertained that a prior turf mound was in evidence underneath the area at K52 being approximately 1/3 the dimensions of Newgrange itself. We await further discoveries with intrepidation.

The Great Circle

Now we come to the only discovered stone circle surrounding a mound at Boyne Valley. It originally consisted of 36 - 38 great stones set upright skirting the great mound.Today 12 remain of the original full quota.They consist of greywacke(type of sandstone), limestone, granite and other igneous materials and rise to a height of approx. 2 metres. This circle is considered contemporary or even prior to the mound itself. If this is the case then there may be important alignments to the distant horizon. It's already evident that GC 1 outside the entrance K 1 is aligned with the kerbstone and the roofbox from its left edge when you face out from the passageway. In the diagram below I have laid out various azimuth alignments on the left edges of GC 1, GC 3, GC -1 and GC -2 from the K1 midpoint where the vertical groove can be seen. These are approximations.(see below)

Clearly if we take the 3300BC date for a moment, Bellatrix from Orion will rise at 110°(GC -1) but from the left edge of GC -2(91°) we have an alignment to the equinoxes(Vernal/Autumnal). Now if we use 3000BC we have Pleaides rising at GC -2 and Sirius rising at GC 1. From GC 3 we can ascertain its azimuth as 183° a couple of degrees West of the South cardinal point. I'm sure there are other alignments of interest. But from this cursary glance we see some evidence of an attempt to fix most of the 4 major seasonal axes of the Neolithics.

© Paul Griffin, 2000