Happy Winter Solstice
Pictured above is the 5000-year-old Newgrange megalith in eastern Ireland. The large structure was built such that every year on the winter solstice, as long as the skies are clear, the interior is dramatically lit up by the sun shining through a perfectly positioned hole in the rock.
I was there almost two years ago, but in February, not late December. Since there is not much space inside Newgrange, there is a lottery each year to pick the lucky few who will get to see the solstice effect. I entered my name but have had no luck.
But it doesn't really matter this year, because so far cloud cover is hiding the sun. The 30 or so lucky people still have a few more days to witness the remaining effects of the solstice, and I wish them luck.
Update: Here are some more pictures of a sunny winter solstice at Newgrange.
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There are similiar archaeoastronomy effects at
Mesa Verde National Park and at Chaco Canyon Culture
National Park in the Southwest. Both extremely
cool- particularly Chaco Canyon. I would like to
see ones like this in Europe. I have a feeling that
these sort of things are more common than we think--
there just isn't a lot of evidence of them being
left.
Thanks, Slater. It's interesting that at both Chaco Canyon and at Newgrange, obviously two cultures that never crossed, spiral petroglyphs play a large role.
http://www.solsticeproject.org/lunarmark.htm
http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/newgrange/artgallery/artgall...
This is depressing:
http://www.angelfire.com/indie/anna_jones1/lost_dagger.html
That's a pretty good article, but doesn't seem to tell the
whole story. When I went to Chaco in 2003, I watched a
video about the sun dagger and all of the archaeoastronomy.
I think that the sun dagger is still there, and more or
less still has the same effect, sans the pillars. What was
more interesting to me was how all of the structures at
Chaco were built with the sun and moon in mind. Each building
was strategically placed-- it's amazing to visualize when you
are there-- it was hot as crap though when I visited-- there
is virtually no shade. You can witness how the landscape must
have been denuded by over-use and overpopulation. It's not
as visually interesting as Mesa Verde (or other sites with
cliff dwellings), but it conceptually is really cool. It
has one of the least light polluted areas in the U.S., making
it great for starwatching.
Crazymonk, those extra pictures are really cool. I'll
have to copy some of those for future presentations.
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