Next Friday 22nd October will be the autumn equinox and a good time to go look at the heap of stones called Cairn Holy not too far from here.
I say ‘heap of stones’ but that’s hardly fair —
These stones were assembled by man about four thousand years ago and prove that someone back then had a good knowledge of time and how to measure it. They may look like a random collection but in fact when the sun shines – particularly at any one of the four equinox we have each year – various features of the stones come into play —
It’s really the shadows cast by the stones that do the work which makes the whole subject all the more of a mystery.
It’s a fact that the stones once were put in place with marks and indentations that throw shadows one to the other in perfect timing which to this day equate to within 14 seconds of our own clocks and calenders. They were then covered over and formed burial mounds. It sure is a puzzle.
I have a theory that there was one opening left in the mound that would allow a direct shaft of sunlight to penetrate all the way to the central tomb at noon on a certain equinox but how do I prove it?
The old people certainly had the knowledge to do it.
Stone Clock at Cairn Holly
from-a-distance 