THOM'S MEGALITHIC YARD
I wanted to give an explanation to the thoughts, ideas and reason for my Megalithic Metre pieces in this exhibition. Alexander Thom was my great grandfather. He smoked a pipe and liked to call you, when the time was right, a wee scunner.
If you are interested in the work of Alexander Thom, Please contact me at- info@dealbhadair.co.uk or via the gallery.
Many thanks to Robin Heath for his help and all the good work he has done to promote Alexander Thom's amazing discoveries.
Eòghann MacColl, 2001.
info@dealbhadair.co.uk
Alexander Thom
"We are dealing with the remnants of an earlier civilisation, a civilisation which vanished and has left behind only these few records in stone. What will our civilisation leave behind? Scars and the greed of mankind?"
Professor Alexander Thom 1978
Summary of Alexander Thom's achievements
The British Neolithic period - or 'New Stone Age' - lasted from about 4500 to 2500 BC and saw the gradual spread of the first settled societies, which herded sheep and cattle and cultivated barley. The previous Mesolithic population had been many fewer and had lived by hunting and gathering. Modern genetic studies confirm that some of the new farmers were immigrants. No metal was known; all tools were of bone, stone and flint, and containers were of pottery. There were no towns and everyone lived in small villages of thatched huts. Occasionally people combined to construct massive 'collective tombs' of wood and stone, and by 3000 BC some very large ceremonial monuments were being built, notably in southern England and Orkney. These huge structures - often including standing stones - imply that in late Neolithic times there were powerful chiefs, and probably priests, with considerable authority. However there was no writing then so standard archaeological research can tell us little definite about religion and customs.
The work of Alexander Thom (1894 - 1985) on the Neolithic standing stones and stone circles has opened a new window on to the religion and knowledge of the time, although his discoveries are still controversial to most archaeologists. By exact surveying and statistical analysis he demonstrated that most stone circles could have been set out much more accurately than previously supposed. Most are truly circular with diameters set out in units of a 'megalithic yard' of 0.829 metres or 2.72 feet. Other circles had more complex shapes like ellipses and flattened circles, whose dimensions appear to be based on pythagorean triangles, also measured in megalithic yards. By similar means he showed that many standing stone sites pointed at notches and mountain peaks on the horizon where the Sun or Moon rose or set at significant times. Not only does a sophisticated solar calendar seem to have been in use, but the Moon's movements may have been studied carefully, even up to the level of eclipse prediction. These ideas, if correct, will transform our ideas of the capabilities of the Neolithic priesthood, and of the nature of Neolithic society.
Euan W. MacKie July 30th 2003
Research - Rannsachadh
"Our method of working depends entirely on measuring lengths, angles and while occasionally we use a rod or a bayonet to prod, we do not dig. In this we differ from the archaeologists whose major weapon is the spade. We have established that a universal unit of length was in use from Shetland to Brittany and we have shown that most of megalithic man’s constructions of circles, rings and alignments were designed to definite rules".
Our Ancestors
"The languages that we find in Europe were in a highly developed state when written history begins. Because we have not found any of the records written by these people it would be wrong to say that they had no method of writing. Meanwhile the knowledge of geometry and astronomy was increasing but they have left the evidence in stone. The sites are being rapidly destroyed, but enough is still left to show how advanced they were. If we accept the findings in this book, we must accept that they could keep records of dates, numbers etc. It is difficult to believe that all this came about without writing. Similarly it is difficult that the Greek alphabet, grammar, and so on developed in a few hundred years".
Origins
"All European countries have, in historic times, produced outstanding scientists. These people took knowledge as it existed at their time and advanced it – sometimes considerably. Each generation tends to underestimate the intelligence and ability of those who have gone before. Various writers have expressed the opinion that Megalithic man could not possibly have reasoned out anything about the cosmos. Our prehistoric ancestors were certainly our equals in intellectual ability. People of great capacity would be produced in every generation. The fact that they did not have the use of pen and paper or PC, would not have prevented them from thinking, speculating or expounding. The European languages developed before the means by which they were written down were available, and so must have been with the beginnings of mathematics and astronomy".
all quotes taken from:
Alexander Thom and Archibald S Thom
Megalithic remains in Britain and Brittany
Oxford University Press 1978
Lost clear highway - Mar rathad cèin
"For generations there has been an interest in the mysterious rows and rings of standing stones to be found in North-western Europe. We believe that at one stage in prehistory many of them were used in conjunction with the horizon to observe the rising and setting of the sun and moon. No written evidence exists, the evidence is only that obtainable from the stones themselves. Erected 4,000 years ago, 120 generations back in time, many of the stones seem to act as focal points in the landscape, involving the horizon, the sky and the land".
Archibald S Thom
Archaeoastronomy and the roots of Science
Edited by EC Krupp 1984
Books are available at -
www.oup.co.uk/isbn/0-19-813148-8
Oxford University Press
Great Clarendon Street
Oxford OX2 6DP
England
t: +44 (0) 1865 556767
f: +44 (0) 1865 556646
