Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A New Archaeoastronomical Investigation Of The Irish Axial-Stone Circles, Frank T. Prendergast, Clive L. Ruggles

Conference Papers

This paper presents the preliminary results of a project undertaken in 1994 to investigate the astronomical potential of the axial-stone circles (ASCs) of seven or more stones in Counties Cork and Kerry, south-west Ireland. This group of sites is of particular interest in that the monuments in the group bear a striking resemblance to the recumbent stone circles (RSCs) of Aberdeenshire, eastern Scotland, which appear to exhibit a strong pattern of alignment in relation to prominent hilltop summits and the rising and setting position of the moon. The first indications from the Irish data are that similar patterns of alignment …