The seafarers leaving Ireland and going north had an objective of getting to the great Orkney Island community through Stornoway. The Orkneys were the gateway to the great Scandinavian cultures: Denmark with Bornholm Island, Sweden, Norway, and even Russia. Four thousand years later, the Vikings would use the northern trade route through the Orkneys to Ireland. Much later in time, the Earls of the Orkneys were the Sinclairs of Rosslyn Chapel.
I must visit the Orkney Islands, for they are calling me.
East from Ireland: Isle of Anglesey, Wales
Latitude: 54° N with a sun-shadow predicted latitude of forty degrees north
Longitude: 4.5° W
From the Boyne Valley, a one-day sail due east, is the Isle of Anglesey, Figure 10-6a, the holy island of Wales with its major town, Holyhead.
Figure 10-6a: Isle of Anglesey, Wales
Figure 10-6b: Isle of Anglesey, Llandudno is the Great Orme copper mine (Reference 61)
Figure 10-6c: Isle of Anglesey, Barclodiad y Gawes great mound, the “apronful” of the giantess (Reference 61)
This region was abundant in metals—primarily, copper. Substantial quantities of gold, copper, and lead were also extracted. The Great Orme copper mine is at Llandudno, shown in Figure 10-6b. Wales surely was part of the ancient copper trade.
The Isle of Anglesey, also, was the site of the great mound of Barclodiad y Gawres, the apronful of the giantess, seen in Figure 10-6c. This mound has a rho passageway design. The chambers to the left are similar to the North Mound at Dowth. The passageway has many stones having spirals, zigzags, lozenges, and chevrons (see Figure 10-7).
Figure 10-7a and b: Barclodiad y Gawes: Stone 1 is spiral location with two diamonds surrounded by zigzags and then rotated ninety degrees, indicating a harbor with the water to the west with a second location (Reference 7, author’s annotations)
Figure 10-7c and d: Barclodiad y Gawes: Stone 2 is a five-spiral harbor map and when rotated ninety degrees places the harbors around the northwestern and west coasts of Wales (Reference 7, author’s annotations)
Figure 10-7b can now be decoded from a seafarer’s perspective. The spiral is the harbor at Holyhead with the land above it. The zigzag pattern is the sea west of the Isle of Anglesey. The right diamond is the sun-shadow latitude with about a thirty-five degree sun-shadow north latitude. The left diamond has an angle of about forty degrees relative to the east-west axis. The curved zigzag above the diamonds represents the seas flowing around the northern shores of Ireland. The curved zigzag below the diamonds represents the seas, flowing around the southern shores of Ireland.
Figure 10-7c is the stone having multiple spirals, which needs decoding. If the orientation for east is up, Figure 10-7c should be rotated ninety degrees clockwise, as shown in Figure 10-7d. A spiral is a harbor from a seafaring perspective. This figure is a combination of harbors along some coast. It surely resembles the harbors in Figure 10-7e located from Holyhead down to Cornwall, where the great tin mines are located. The other lines in Figure 10-7d are similar to the coastline of Western Wales and England: from Holyhead to the Bristol Channel and then to Cornwall. Figure 10-7e is an actual map of this west coast showing various metal locations.
It is easy to conclude that Figure 10-7 represents two navigation maps for the seafarers visiting the Isle of Anglesey.
Another Isle of Anglesey mound having a “rho”-type passageway is Bryn Celli Mound, seen in Figure 10-8.
Figure 10-8: Anglesey: Bryn Celli Mound with a rho passageway (Reference 61, author’s annotations)
The passageway/chamber is designed as a rho, and the passageway is aligned twenty degrees counterclockwise from north. Connecting the large, upper-left stone to the center has an angle of forty degrees relative to the east/west axis.
The seafarers leaving Ireland had not far to go to find the harbors on the Isle of Anglesey, with its abundant copper. The trip was due east of the Howth harbor, a one day sail. All of the symbols on the stones and the mound designs are similar to the Boyne Valley symbols. There was a strong bond between the Irish and Welsh seafaring traders. They were twins.
The Isle of Anglesey is strategically located, having copper mines, gold mines, megalithic stones, and mounds. It is no wonder that this garden (of Eden) became the Holy Island with Holyhead as its center. It is also the home of the last Welsh Prince of Wales, Gweyllen the Great, and the current Prince of Wales.
Southeast from Ireland: Cornwall, England, and Stonehenge
The southeast trade routes leaving Ireland or Wales would head toward the southwest corner of England. The location of interest to the seafaring trader was Cornwall. The great tin mines are located here, and it is one of the places proposed for the Cassiterides, the Tin Islands, first mentioned by Herodotus.
Mining in Cornwall has existed from the early Bronze Age, c 2150 BCE, and was traditionally thought to have been visited by metal traders from the Eastern Mediterranean. Tin ore was readily available on the surface but was later worked from underground mines (Figure 10-9).
Figure 10-9: Cornwall, location of one of the greatest tin mines in the world, except for China (Reference 61)
Figure 10-9 shows the Cornish tin mines, the quartz crushing rock and a picture of tin embedded in quartz. The oldest production of tin bronze is in Turkey about 3500 BC, but exploitation of the tin resources in Britain is believed to have started before 2000 BC, with a thriving tin trade developing with the civilizations of the Mediterranean. The strategic importance of tin in forging bronze weapons brought the southwest of Britain into the Mediterranean economy at an early date.
The gardens (of Eden) of England were close to the Cornwall tin mines leading to the great structures constructed at Stonehenge, Avebury, Sidbury Hill, and Glastonbury.
The enormous size of the stones at Stonehenge is amazing and indicates a site for significant astronomical observations. In my visits, I got a sense that the stone orientations were for calendar usages, not for navigation purposes.
Figure 10-10a: Megalithic site of Stonehenge astronomic site (Reference 61)
Figure 10-10b: Projected view of Stonehenge showing the center pentagram
Figure 10-10c: Megalithic site of the TOR at Glastonbury
Figure 10-10d: Schematic of a stone circle with pentagram near Newgrange
Much has been written about these locations, and this book will look at them from a seafaring perspective. The Bronze Age needed copper and tin. Thus, the seafaring traders were interested in Cornwall’s tin and transporting the tin back to the customers, primarily in the Eastern Mediterranean. The seafarer would go back through the Strait of Gibraltar, but later the seafarers would take the trade routes through France, for it was quicker and safer.
Stonehenge
Latitude: 51.2° N with a sun-shadow latitude of forty-two degrees north
Longitude: 1.83° W
Stonehenge evolved between 3000 BCE and 1600 BCE and is aligned with the rising and setting of the sun at the solstices. Instead of separate circles for the sun, moon, and Venus, Stonehenge has concentric circles. Figure 10-10b shows Stonehenge as it probably existed in its original completeness.
If correct, the inner set of five sets of two stones form the star pentagram of Venus. The main passageway has a forty-two-degree angle relative to the east-west axis. This forty-two-degree sun-shadow latitude, using the golden ratio, predicts a latitude of fifty-one degrees north. The actual latitude is 51.1 degrees north.
The movements of the sun, moon, and Venus were tracked with great detail at Stonehenge (see Figure 10-11c). Stonehenge was a chronometer with three major clocks, one each for the sun, moon, and Venus. The outer circle was related to the moon. The middle stone circle was related to the sun. The inner stones were in a pentagram shape related to Venus. Stonehenge was the ultimate in calendar design, but evolved from the same concentric circles and crescents found hundreds of years earlier symbolized on the kerbstones and passageway/chamber designs and mound configurations in Ireland. The three moun
d orientations for the sun, moon, and Venus were eventually built into the three-dimensional towers (e.g., the Newport Tower in Newport, Rhode Island).
Since many of the stones in Stonehenge were imported, there were few stones for recording purposes. The trading routes from Wales could easily bring the stones. However, Stonehenge was not a navigation or distribution center for the seafaring traders.
TOR at Glastonbury
Close to Stonehenge is the spiritual town of Glastonbury. The giant mound of the TOR is on the outskirts of Glastonbury. The TOR at Glastonbury shows the tiered, spiral path to the top observatory (Figure 10-10c).
We had a mystical experience walking a spiral path to the top of the TOR thinking that Joseph of Arimathia also may have walked the same path. The views at the round tower were spectacular. Joseph of Arimathia was known as the tin merchant related to the Cornwall tin mines and was also the minister of mines for the power establishment in Jerusalem.
There have been few stones and mounds having spirals, diamonds, zigzags, etc., found in the megalithic sites in southwest England, the sites of these monumental structures. This suggests that from a seafaring perspective, these sites were not part of the trading routes or part of the storage locations between 3000 and 1000 BCE. It appears that the traders kept going to Brittany and Iberia. However, the astronomy aspects were well developed and could have been the educational source for the explorers. As the copper metal trade subsided from 2000 to 1200 BCE, the intellectuals may have moved south toward Glastonbury.
Southeast from Ireland, Brittany
Brittany
Latitude: 47.6° N
Longitude: 3.07° W
Brittany has a sun-shadow latitude of forty degrees north, based on the golden ratio calculations. The longitude would have a five degree clockwise rotation from the Rose Line, based on Venus.
Going southeast from Ireland, the seafarer would pass Cornwall and then sail toward the northwestern coast of France, Brittany, later the home of the Gauls (Figure 10-11). The oldest megalithic structures can be found in Brittany, also known as the Egypt of the North. Brittany also should be the land of measurements. The Brittany region, in Figure 10-11, is a key strategic trade location for all travel to and from the north, Ireland, or through the English Channel to the North Sea cultures. Lead and silver mines are also located around Brittany. It was a major pottery center. The pottery was needed by the seafarers. This was Brittany’s Garden of Eden.
The southwest region of Brittany has the second-highest concentration of megalithic stones. The earliest examples (4000 BCE) in this area have symbols identical to those found in Ireland. The mound and passageway designs are similar to those in Ireland. Among the most famous examples are the passage mounds on the island of Gavrinis and at Barnenez. Because the age of these megaliths predates the Boyne Valley etched stones, the traders probably came to Brittany first and then to Ireland as part of the gold trading located on the west coast of Ireland at Carrowmore, Donegal. The routes were traveled at least as early as 4500–3500 BCE.
From 3000 BCE, the trade routes emphasized copper. Brittany shares many megalithic symbols with both Ireland and Iberia because there was much contact between these regions based on the seafarer’s trade routes. The trade routes shifted from the west coast to the east coast of Ireland and the west coast of Wales. As North American trade was developed, the metal trade routes used both Irish coasts and connected with Brittany.
It is clear that the metal trade went both directions (north and south) over time, from Brittany, with its major center at Carnac. Thus, storage would have been a key necessity. The design of the mounds would still have navigation features and latitude and longitude for both the suppliers and the customers. Obviously, the previously mentioned symbols, spirals, zigzags, etc., are present in the stones found in Brittany. From a seafarer’s perspective, the symbols in Brittany are the same as those found in Ireland, with the same seafaring meanings.
This section will emphasize the mound designs and maps found in the following locations: Carnac, Kercado, Gavrinis, Locmariaquer, and Barnenez. Also, the major trade route from the harbors near Carnac to the harbors near Narbonne will be outlined. The objective of the above is not to interpret in detail the angles and counts but to observe the detailed design measurements built into the Brittany mounds. From a seafaring perspective, they all relate to the latitude and longitude of the supplier and the customer.
Carnac: Before 3300 BCE
Latitude: 47.6° N or sun shadow of forty degrees north
Longitude: 3° W
Carnac was named after the Karnak of Egypt, the land of measurement. Carnac has more than ten thousand Neolithic standing stones with stone circles at both ends, as shown in Figure 10-11a.
Figure 10-11a: Brittany, Carnac, the largest site for standing stones in the world (Reference 61)
Figure 10-11b and c: Brittany, Kercado Mound and a schematic of the mound, showing a simple passageway, 3500 BCE (Reference 61)
Figure 10-11d: Kercado, a stone showing a grid
The Carnac stones were erected during the Neolithic period, which lasted from around 4500 BCE until 2000 BCE. The precise date of the stones is difficult to determine, but the site’s main phase of activity is probably around 3300 BCE, the same as the Boyne Valley activity. Alignments of the stones, menhirs, are arranged in four groups and are arrayed in rows stretching over four kilometers. Each set is organized from the tallest stones at the western end to the shorter ones at the eastern end. Some end with a semicircular cromlech.
Kercado, 3500 BCE
Kercado Mound is one of the best-preserved mounds in Brittany (Figure 10-11b). Until recently, menhirs were associated with the Beaker people, who inhabited Europe during the later third millennium BC—the European late-Neolithic and early Bronze Age. However, recent research into the age of megaliths in Brittany strongly suggests a far older origin, perhaps back to six to seven thousand years ago, 4500 BCE.
The Kercado Mound is circular, with a passageway ending with a rectangular center chamber. The passageway has a twenty-degree angle relative to the east-west axis. Connecting the chamber center to the outside standing stones forms a twenty-three-degree angle relative to the east-west axis. Thus, there is a three-degree difference between the center line and the line connecting the center to the standing stone in Figure 10-11c. Keep in mind that a twenty-degree sun-shadow latitude exists at the stone circle in the Nubian Desert, and, at this time, the Nubian sailors may have reached Brittany.
The main chamber design is rectangular, and it is difficult to measure shadow-related angles generated by either the sun, the moon, or Venus based on this schematic. Counting the number of standing stones and the number of overhead stones in the passageway may generate new information. Figure 10-11d shows a stone within the passageway having a well-defined map grid pattern. The pattern tapers as the grid goes up the stone. More study is needed of the symbols and mound design at Kercado because it is located in a key seafaring location.
Island of Gavrinis, 3600 BCE
In the Gulf of Morbaha along the rocky coast of French Brittany is the small island of Gavrinis, seen in Figure 10-12a.
Figure 10-12a: Island of Gavrinis (Reference 61)
Figure 10-12b: Gavrinis, mound with noteworthy carved stones
Figure 10-12c: Gavrinis, an example of the style of showing waves of curved lines
Figure 10-12d: Gavrinis, stacked diamonds in decreasing angles with four semicircles associated with four locations similar to the northwest coast of France (Reference 55)
A three-tiered passage mound was built on this island around 3500 BCE (Figure 10-12b). The top tier has a rose-petal shape, and the angle of the stone wall is about seventy-two degrees. This represents Venus. Features of the passage tomb are stones having spirals and curved lines like fingerprints, as seen in Figure 10-12c. The wavy lines relate to the surrounding waters.
The stone mound has a diameter of about fifty meters. The mass of stones forming the
passageway is internally structured by a series of walls. It is a characteristic example of Neolithic dry-stone architecture. The mound covers a single rectangular (nearly square) slab-built chamber, located at the center of the mound. The chamber is built of about fifty carefully placed slabs. The biggest of these is the ceiling slab, which weighs nearly seventeen tons. Such simple dolmen-type chambers, reached by passages, were very common in Brittany between 4500 and 3000 BC. At the same time, similar monuments were constructed in Ireland, Britain, and the Iberian Peninsula.
Figure 10-12d is of particular seafaring interest, even though all of the stones at Gavrinis relate to the sea. The sill on the mound has the stacked Xs or stacked diamonds, with eight diamonds as seen on the left side of figure 10-12d. It appears that the shape of the diamonds decreases from the top to the next-to-bottom diamond, decreasing latitudes. The eight diamonds could also relate to the eight sun years associated with the five Venus-year cycles.
Figure 10-12d was rotated clockwise based on the convention that east is up. There are four concentric half circles, representing four locations from the northwest coast of Brittany to the south. There are a differing number of concentric arcs, possibly related to sun-shadow degrees of latitude. So the stacked diamonds and the different numbers of arcs per location relate to sun-shadow latitudes. The two upper semicircles may be the northwest coast of Brittany. As we will see in the Iberian section of Chapter 10, a nob on a circle or semicircle may indicate the Strait of Gibraltar.
From Carnac to the southern border of France, there are about four sun-shadow degrees of latitude; to Galicia, Spain, there are six sun-shadow degrees of latitude; and to the Strait of Gibraltar, there are eight sun-shadow degrees of latitude. These sun-shadow latitudes correspond to the number of arcs for the semicircles from north to south in Figure 10-12d.
Locmariaquer
A Seafarer's Decoding of the Irish Symbols Page 14