A rare lunar phenomenon indicated a connection between a cult object and the Earth’s satellite

Archaeologists and astronomers will pay attention to the little-studied interaction of Stonehenge with the Moon

A project has been launched at Stonehenge to explore the connections that may exist between the UNESCO World Heritage site and the Moon during a rare lunar event.

In January 2025 there will be a “great lunar stop”, which occurs once every 18.6 years when the rising and setting of the Moon reach their farthest points on the horizon.

This phenomenon will give archaeologists, astronomers and archaeoastronomers a rare opportunity to study theories surrounding this event and the ancient priestesses of Stonehenge. The fact is that some experts believe that the people who built the monument were aware of this phenomenon and buried their dead in a certain part of the megalithic monument due to its connection with the Moon.

They also believe that four “station stones” forming a rectangle, two of which are still standing, were installed to mark the Moon’s main stop.

English Heritage plans to broadcast live the southernmost moonrise and host a number of events throughout the season leading up to the big lunar stop.

Professor of archaeoastronomy Clive Ruggles noted that the location of the monument on the days of the summer and winter solstices left no doubt about its significance for the builders of Stonehenge.

“But what is much less clear to us is whether there is any physical connection between the monument and the Moon,” he explains.

During the early stages of Stonehenge’s construction, around 3000 to 2500 BC, people buried the cremated remains of their dead and placed offerings in the ditch and banks of the Henge, as well as in the so-called Aubrey pits – 56 depressions that originally contained vertical wooden posts. Many of these cremation sites were concentrated in the southeast of the site, which generally corresponded to the position of the rising Moon in the south. The station stones were installed at about the same time as the large sarsen stones, as they were brought from the same location from West Woods to Marlborough.

Ruggles says, “The station stones are positioned to correspond to the extreme positions of the Moon, and researchers have debated for years whether this was intentional and, if so, how it was achieved and what its purpose might have been.”

He noted that it would not be surprising if ancient people actually paid attention to the moon.

“People have known about the phase cycle of the Moon for tens of thousands of years. I think this may have been the case at Stonehenge, and that’s what we’re interested in exploring – around the time of the great stagnation, people noticed that the moon was rising or setting unusually far to the north or south, realized that this was something special, and began to venerate and, ultimately, monumentalize this place. You can imagine how the elders reminisced about the time they saw the moon in the sacred direction, and then, a generation later, watched it again in awe,” the archaeoastronomy professor concluded.

Archaeologist Amanda Chadburn stressed that “it will be critical to observe this relationship with our own eyes in 2024 and 2025. Tracking lunar extremes is not an easy task and requires specific timing and weather conditions. We want to understand a little bit of what it’s like to experience these incredible moonrises and moonsets and observe their visual effects on the stones, such as the play of light and shadow.”