Records in Stone: Papers in Memory of Alexander Thom

by Clive Ruggles (Editor)

Professor Alexander Thom, who died in 1985, was a distinguished engineer. Independently of his 'mainstream' academic career, he developed a deep and active interest in the prehistoric megalithic sites of Britain and Brittany, visiting and surveying many hundreds of them over a period of forty years. Thom's interpretations of the field data have aroused strong interest and some intense controversy. The main areas of debate geometry (the methods used to set out the megalithic rings, many of which appear to be non-circular); mensuration (the possible use of 'standard' units of measurement in setting out rings and rows); and astronomy (the connection between structures aligned upon the horizon and the rising and setting positions of the sun, moon or stars).

540 pages, Paperback

First published July 29, 1988