The modern view of astronomy as a pure-science, which would seem to be of little realistic use to primitive Britons, can make us forget that astronomy was a main factor in the change from the hunter-gatherer culture to an agricultural one. The inspiration for the sort of co-operative attempt needed by such a large constructive undertaking can be respected in relation to the unique value of accurate dating for the whole region of southern Britain, but our ignorance of the social context of the time makes it difficult to speculate on how it might have been organized. Since there was a substantial dividend for the whole population, Stonehenge could have been the conclusion of lesser regional investments in this kind of technology over a long period. What sort of society might have existed which could draw labor and commitment from a broad geographical area, and over most probably a long period of years while the monument was being erected? Perhaps the astro-technology of that era was sufficiently trusted and valued to make this possible.
Secular calendar theory Of Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about 3.2 kilometers (2.0 mi) west of Amesbury and 13 kilometers (8.1 mi) north of Salisbury. One of the most famous primitive sites in the world, Stonehenge is collected of earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones. Archaeologists believe that the standing stones were erected around 2200 BC and the surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the first phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. Stonehenge has been subjected to many theories about its origin, ranging from the academic worlds of archaeology to explanations from mythology and the paranormal. Most theories have expected at a cultic purpose behind the astronomical design of the monument, on the grounds that such an enormous undertaking must have had an ideological rather than practical basis. They obtain from anthropology rather than from cultural and technological history. But Lockyer and others have pointed out the realistic value of astronomical observation at a time when there was no other way to set up precise calendar dates, whether these were needed for agricultural, social, or seasonal-religious reasons.The double-level circle and the central stone of the monument define an observational vantage-point from which the precession of constellations could be exactly established. It would have been known from previous and less massive constructions that these events corresponded specifically with the cycle of seasons, but wooden edifices, earth-mounds and even standing-stone circles would not retain accuracy over any long period. Without at least one authoritative standard, events and seasons had no sequential index, since the exact length of the year was not known, nor would the mathematics have been available to extrapolate from it. There was a good reason for a huge and enduringly immobile construction at a flat inland location where all sides of the sky could be equally measured.
