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Stonehenge Decoded: An Astronomer Examines One of the Great Puzzles of the Ancient World
Published by Barnes & Noble, 1993, this Second Edition hardcover has 26 b/w photos and 13 ink drawings. This 210 page Gerald S. Hawkins was the first one to make a solid case for Stonehenge being an astronomical observatory and the first to debunk the heavy Druid blood sacrifice myth.
210 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1965
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 13, 2008
Wow! It was built over a 300 year period from about 1950BC 'till about 1650BC (which was just before the famous Trojan War). It was most probably used for even a much longer period than 300 years. The earliest builders put in the 56 Aubury holes and the four rectangle stones which enabled them to accurately find the two solstices and two equinoxes and thus divide the year accurately into four seasons, which we still use today.
This latitude of stonehenge is the only latitude where the moon will rise 90 degrees to the sun at summer solstice.
The 56 aubury holes enabled them to predict eclipses of the sun and moon to within three days because eclipses occur in cycles of 18.61 years and 18.61 times 3 is very close to 56.
The big 30 to 50 ton sarsen stones, put in by the Wessex lords, completed stonehenge in 1650BC and enabled these Wessex lords to be able predict eclipses of both the sun and moon to an accuracy of about an hour according to author Gerald S. Hawkins.
Found buried with these various Wessex lords were items from Egypt and Greece and Crete and this temple of stonehenge seems to have been well known to the people of Egypt and Greece and that area for the stonehenge priests' ability of accurate eclipse predicting.
This was one of the best books that I have ever read.
Hawkins used one of the early 1965 IBM computers to verify the sighting lines which was almost an impossibility to do before the advent of these computers.
This latitude of stonehenge is the only latitude where the moon will rise 90 degrees to the sun at summer solstice.
The 56 aubury holes enabled them to predict eclipses of the sun and moon to within three days because eclipses occur in cycles of 18.61 years and 18.61 times 3 is very close to 56.
The big 30 to 50 ton sarsen stones, put in by the Wessex lords, completed stonehenge in 1650BC and enabled these Wessex lords to be able predict eclipses of both the sun and moon to an accuracy of about an hour according to author Gerald S. Hawkins.
Found buried with these various Wessex lords were items from Egypt and Greece and Crete and this temple of stonehenge seems to have been well known to the people of Egypt and Greece and that area for the stonehenge priests' ability of accurate eclipse predicting.
This was one of the best books that I have ever read.
Hawkins used one of the early 1965 IBM computers to verify the sighting lines which was almost an impossibility to do before the advent of these computers.
August 14, 2009
Not the greatest book on the topic, I'm sure, (still looking for the definitive one) but a must read. Hawkins brought astronomy to the fore in regards to understanding Stonehenge, which has been like an epiphany to all who study the circles and other formations of England. Written in 1963, it has a very dated feel to it, and he does ramble on about so many seemingly insignificant bit of information, but when he gets to it, the material sings of revelation. Though scholars at the time scoffed at his scientifically researched and verified acertions, today these insights are generally accepted and more completely fleshed out and proven.
March 27, 2023
AN ASTRONOMER ANALYZES THE MYSTERIOUS STRUCTURE
Astronomer Gerald S. Hawkins served as Science Advisor to the United States Information Agency, where he was appointed the Director and where he remained until his retirement in 1989.
He wrote in the Author’s Preface to this 1965 book, “Every visitor to Stonehenge wonders in some way or other what its purposes could have been. The rugged stones are blank with no word of dedication, no constructional notation, and no readable clues. Because of this the word ‘decoded’ needs some explanation. As this book will show, there is a wealth of information in the positioning of the stones in the successive master plans of the structure and in the choice of the site itself…. It presents a unique cryptic puzzle, the solution of which has led to an understanding of the minds of prehistoric people. Before, with only vague legends to guide us, the remote past seemed incomprehensible. Now, perhaps, the door of prehistory stands ajar. My working hypothesis has gradually developed over the past two years: If I can see any alignment, general relationship of use for the various parts of Stonehenge then these facts were also known to the builders… There can be no doubt that Stonehenge was an observatory… In form the monument is an ingenious computing machine, but was it ever put to use? As a scientist I cannot say…”
He states in the first chapter, “Stonehenge is unique… What was it? What purpose did it serve…? Was it a city of the dead? A druid place of horrid sacrifice? A temple of the sun? … Stonehenge was so old that its true history was probably forgotten by classic times… When the practical Roman invader came to Britain they paid it little reverence---after all, Rome had her temples, and Egypt her pyramids, in better condition, perhaps, than this group of stone blocks… Not until the Dark Ages brought back mystery did the old stones begin to stir men’s fancies. By then any clear memory of the origin and use of the ‘gigantick pile’ had long since evaporated. It was necessary to create for it a biography…” (Pg. 1)
He says of the Druids, “Later accounts of them stress their wisdom, healing and teaching ability, and their judging. Their mystical powers were described as less savagely dependent on human sacrifice: they raised magic mists… prophesied and in general attended to the ritualistic life of the people without demanding blood---or so say the accounts. It is always hard to find out about pagan priesthoods like the druids because so much of the literature about them has been filtered through Christian transmission. The best present estimate is that the druids came with the Celts to Britain in about the fifth century B.C., and soon became the most influential priestly cult in the land For centuries they were powerful… And the memory of them was never lost. In the seventeenth century interest in them revived… In 1781 a group calling itself ‘The Most Ancient Order of Druids’ was established in London, and still flourishes… These modern ‘Druids’ have somehow established in the official mind so firm a conviction that they have legitimate connection with Stonehenge that they are allowed to conduct unauthentic ceremonies there… It is possible that … the real druids, ha something to do with Stonehenge when it was operative… But it now seems extremely unlikely. There MAY have been sacrifices at Stonehenge… but such sacrifices, if they took place, very probably were not directed by druids, since druids very probably were not present in England then …” (Pg. 17-18)
He summarizes, “The ‘when ‘ of Stonehenge is now known to be long before Saxons, Danes, and even before the Romanized Romans. The ‘how’ of the massive structure---how these great stones were assembled ad erected---has not been so definitely established… The ‘why’ of Stonehenge is one of the main subjects of this book.” (Pg. 27)
He explains, “The bare facts… are as follows… Stonehenge was built between the years 1900 and 1600 B.C. … The building at Stonehenge took place in three waves of activity. First traceable construction at the site occurred about 1900 B.C. … Late Stone Age people … dug a great circular ditch and piled up its removed earth into banks on either side… Slightly farther inside… the builder dug two deeper holes… These seem to have held upright stones… A third stone, the now famous ‘heel stone,’ was erected 100 feet outside of the circle… Thus, the first builders made Stonehenge a relatively simple enclosure…” (Pg. 39-42)
He continues, “About 1750 B.C., the second wave of construction began… by a different race of people: the Beaker people. These second builders brought the first assembly of megaliths, or ‘large stones.’” (Pg. 48) Beginning about 1700 B.C., the Bronze Age proper came to Britain, and with it the final wave of construction at Stonehenge.” (Pg. 50) He asks, “Why was there such an unusual number, 59, of them? Why were they so irregularly spaced? Why were they never used as stone emplacements? Why is their filling material… unlike the coarse rubble of the Aubrey holes? Why was there at the bottom of practically every one of them that solitary bluestone fragment? … The answers to these last four questions we may never find.” (Pg. 58)
What was the purpose of the stones, and their positions? He analyzed it with a computer, and “I was prepared for SOME Stonehenge-sun correlation. I was not prepared for total sun correlation---and … almost total moon correlation as well… the significant Stonehenge alignments pointed to an extreme position of the sun… [and] to an extreme of the moon.” (Pg. 107) He admits that there are SOME errors in the positions, but argues, “the sunset trilithons are presently in a sorry state. The great trilithon is broken, having fallen hundreds of years ago… To support my suggestion that some of the errors are modern, note that the trilithons and archways which have never fallen are more accurately aligned.” (Pg. 113) “To sum up, then: Stonehenge I had 11 key positions, every one of which paired with another, often more than one other, to point 19 times to ten of the twelve extremes of the sun or moon; Stonehenge III with its five trilithons and Heel stone axis pointed 8 times to eight of those same extremes. Such correlation could not have been coincidental.” (Pg. 116)
He summarizes, “The machine has established an extraordinary sun-moon correlation throughout the structure. Astronomy has done its best. It now rests with the prehistorians, the archaeologists, anthropologists, mythologists and other authorities to make use of these new findings to advance our understanding of the ‘gaunt ruin,’ which should no longer stand QUITE so lonely in history as it does on the great plain.” (Pg. 148)
This book will be of great interest to those seriously studying Stonehenge.
Astronomer Gerald S. Hawkins served as Science Advisor to the United States Information Agency, where he was appointed the Director and where he remained until his retirement in 1989.
He wrote in the Author’s Preface to this 1965 book, “Every visitor to Stonehenge wonders in some way or other what its purposes could have been. The rugged stones are blank with no word of dedication, no constructional notation, and no readable clues. Because of this the word ‘decoded’ needs some explanation. As this book will show, there is a wealth of information in the positioning of the stones in the successive master plans of the structure and in the choice of the site itself…. It presents a unique cryptic puzzle, the solution of which has led to an understanding of the minds of prehistoric people. Before, with only vague legends to guide us, the remote past seemed incomprehensible. Now, perhaps, the door of prehistory stands ajar. My working hypothesis has gradually developed over the past two years: If I can see any alignment, general relationship of use for the various parts of Stonehenge then these facts were also known to the builders… There can be no doubt that Stonehenge was an observatory… In form the monument is an ingenious computing machine, but was it ever put to use? As a scientist I cannot say…”
He states in the first chapter, “Stonehenge is unique… What was it? What purpose did it serve…? Was it a city of the dead? A druid place of horrid sacrifice? A temple of the sun? … Stonehenge was so old that its true history was probably forgotten by classic times… When the practical Roman invader came to Britain they paid it little reverence---after all, Rome had her temples, and Egypt her pyramids, in better condition, perhaps, than this group of stone blocks… Not until the Dark Ages brought back mystery did the old stones begin to stir men’s fancies. By then any clear memory of the origin and use of the ‘gigantick pile’ had long since evaporated. It was necessary to create for it a biography…” (Pg. 1)
He says of the Druids, “Later accounts of them stress their wisdom, healing and teaching ability, and their judging. Their mystical powers were described as less savagely dependent on human sacrifice: they raised magic mists… prophesied and in general attended to the ritualistic life of the people without demanding blood---or so say the accounts. It is always hard to find out about pagan priesthoods like the druids because so much of the literature about them has been filtered through Christian transmission. The best present estimate is that the druids came with the Celts to Britain in about the fifth century B.C., and soon became the most influential priestly cult in the land For centuries they were powerful… And the memory of them was never lost. In the seventeenth century interest in them revived… In 1781 a group calling itself ‘The Most Ancient Order of Druids’ was established in London, and still flourishes… These modern ‘Druids’ have somehow established in the official mind so firm a conviction that they have legitimate connection with Stonehenge that they are allowed to conduct unauthentic ceremonies there… It is possible that … the real druids, ha something to do with Stonehenge when it was operative… But it now seems extremely unlikely. There MAY have been sacrifices at Stonehenge… but such sacrifices, if they took place, very probably were not directed by druids, since druids very probably were not present in England then …” (Pg. 17-18)
He summarizes, “The ‘when ‘ of Stonehenge is now known to be long before Saxons, Danes, and even before the Romanized Romans. The ‘how’ of the massive structure---how these great stones were assembled ad erected---has not been so definitely established… The ‘why’ of Stonehenge is one of the main subjects of this book.” (Pg. 27)
He explains, “The bare facts… are as follows… Stonehenge was built between the years 1900 and 1600 B.C. … The building at Stonehenge took place in three waves of activity. First traceable construction at the site occurred about 1900 B.C. … Late Stone Age people … dug a great circular ditch and piled up its removed earth into banks on either side… Slightly farther inside… the builder dug two deeper holes… These seem to have held upright stones… A third stone, the now famous ‘heel stone,’ was erected 100 feet outside of the circle… Thus, the first builders made Stonehenge a relatively simple enclosure…” (Pg. 39-42)
He continues, “About 1750 B.C., the second wave of construction began… by a different race of people: the Beaker people. These second builders brought the first assembly of megaliths, or ‘large stones.’” (Pg. 48) Beginning about 1700 B.C., the Bronze Age proper came to Britain, and with it the final wave of construction at Stonehenge.” (Pg. 50) He asks, “Why was there such an unusual number, 59, of them? Why were they so irregularly spaced? Why were they never used as stone emplacements? Why is their filling material… unlike the coarse rubble of the Aubrey holes? Why was there at the bottom of practically every one of them that solitary bluestone fragment? … The answers to these last four questions we may never find.” (Pg. 58)
What was the purpose of the stones, and their positions? He analyzed it with a computer, and “I was prepared for SOME Stonehenge-sun correlation. I was not prepared for total sun correlation---and … almost total moon correlation as well… the significant Stonehenge alignments pointed to an extreme position of the sun… [and] to an extreme of the moon.” (Pg. 107) He admits that there are SOME errors in the positions, but argues, “the sunset trilithons are presently in a sorry state. The great trilithon is broken, having fallen hundreds of years ago… To support my suggestion that some of the errors are modern, note that the trilithons and archways which have never fallen are more accurately aligned.” (Pg. 113) “To sum up, then: Stonehenge I had 11 key positions, every one of which paired with another, often more than one other, to point 19 times to ten of the twelve extremes of the sun or moon; Stonehenge III with its five trilithons and Heel stone axis pointed 8 times to eight of those same extremes. Such correlation could not have been coincidental.” (Pg. 116)
He summarizes, “The machine has established an extraordinary sun-moon correlation throughout the structure. Astronomy has done its best. It now rests with the prehistorians, the archaeologists, anthropologists, mythologists and other authorities to make use of these new findings to advance our understanding of the ‘gaunt ruin,’ which should no longer stand QUITE so lonely in history as it does on the great plain.” (Pg. 148)
This book will be of great interest to those seriously studying Stonehenge.
November 29, 2025
I should read a more recent book on Stonehenge but this is the one I have. Still it told me more than I knew and he used an old computer. I’m interested to see if current computers could solve more mysteries.
December 13, 2019
This book was given to me by my grandfather many years ago and I finally got around to reading it. It was a really fascinating book. I loved how the author gives plenty of information on the legends and history behind the monument before he talks about his theory. His theory is quite fascinating and I think it is very plausible. I have an edition from the sixties (first edition maybe?) so I don’t know how well his theory has held up in modern times though. Maybe it’s still the best theory on Stonehenge, maybe another one has replaced it? Regardless, very much worth the read.
August 24, 2021
Although the astronomical math was a bit beyond me, the author explained in "plain" terms very well. There is also a nice synopsis of general history of the site as well as of previous archiological digs. Excellent diagrams and notes are complimented by dry wit and a general sense of love for the place. This sent me right to youtube to hear Hawkins lecture.
February 6, 2024
Bought this book a long time ago out of curiosity, it is a classic and it is focused on the archeoastronomy of the Stonehenge site. It is a pioneering work full of new ideas, the author is a mainstream scientist it was a jaw-dropping work at the time and opened so many lines of research, a brilliant book.
August 27, 2019
Fascinating discovery, but rather repetative and some what technical - Ok author was probably showing all his calculations to prove he'd done them, but I found some a bit beyond me.
May 15, 2022
Fascinating.
June 20, 2016
Hawkins weaves a compelling narrative as he decodes the mysteries of the monument dubbed Stonehenge—an astronomical observatory lying on the Salisbury Plain in southwestern England. It’s a monumental temple with intricate celestial alignments concealed in apparent simplicity and symmetry of design. He posits that Stonehenge is the eighth wonder of the world.
His writing style is easy—clearly written for the layman. His explanations of technical details of the site are readily understandable. However, some his astronomical conclusions are beyond my skill level. Nonetheless, one can skip these details without losing the thread of his narrative. Outstanding graphics are exceptionally well annotated as are relevant photographs with cogent captions.
Archeologists estimate that the British began building Stonehenge about 2000 B.C. and finished around 1500 B.C. It was built in three eras—each about 150 years apart. The building of this temple to the sun and moon required its creators to have absolutely extraordinary theoretical and planning abilities and superb transportation and engineering skills—far beyond what we would have imagined of these people.
Significantly, the latitude of Stonehenge is sited at the almost perfect optimum for sun-moon rectangular alignments. There is only one latitude in the northern climes at which the extreme declinations of the azimuths of the sun and moon are separated by exactly ninety degrees. Stonehenge’s placement and orientation is within a few miles of this position—an error of only 0.2 degrees. The odds are astronomical that the builders chose this location by chance. They computed it.
The positioning of the large stones (some of the sarsen stones weigh as much as 40 tons) in precise astronomic alignment demanded critical astronomical and engineering skills. Such skills are beyond those possessed by most 20th century men.
Hawkins asks why so much energy, time, and physical and sociological resources were expended to build Stonehenge. We do not know. He suggests that they created this astronomical calendar for two reasons:
1. It was an agricultural calendar used to compute the beginning of the seasons to plant crops and for other sociological purposes.
2. It was for religious purposes—to create and maintain priestly power. For example, to predict the summer and winter solstices, many moon phenomena, and eclipses.
Hawkins concludes, “There are doubtless many remarkable things yet to be discovered about Stonehenge.”
I highly recommend this book for aficionados of this megalithic monument.
His writing style is easy—clearly written for the layman. His explanations of technical details of the site are readily understandable. However, some his astronomical conclusions are beyond my skill level. Nonetheless, one can skip these details without losing the thread of his narrative. Outstanding graphics are exceptionally well annotated as are relevant photographs with cogent captions.
Archeologists estimate that the British began building Stonehenge about 2000 B.C. and finished around 1500 B.C. It was built in three eras—each about 150 years apart. The building of this temple to the sun and moon required its creators to have absolutely extraordinary theoretical and planning abilities and superb transportation and engineering skills—far beyond what we would have imagined of these people.
Significantly, the latitude of Stonehenge is sited at the almost perfect optimum for sun-moon rectangular alignments. There is only one latitude in the northern climes at which the extreme declinations of the azimuths of the sun and moon are separated by exactly ninety degrees. Stonehenge’s placement and orientation is within a few miles of this position—an error of only 0.2 degrees. The odds are astronomical that the builders chose this location by chance. They computed it.
The positioning of the large stones (some of the sarsen stones weigh as much as 40 tons) in precise astronomic alignment demanded critical astronomical and engineering skills. Such skills are beyond those possessed by most 20th century men.
Hawkins asks why so much energy, time, and physical and sociological resources were expended to build Stonehenge. We do not know. He suggests that they created this astronomical calendar for two reasons:
1. It was an agricultural calendar used to compute the beginning of the seasons to plant crops and for other sociological purposes.
2. It was for religious purposes—to create and maintain priestly power. For example, to predict the summer and winter solstices, many moon phenomena, and eclipses.
Hawkins concludes, “There are doubtless many remarkable things yet to be discovered about Stonehenge.”
I highly recommend this book for aficionados of this megalithic monument.
June 17, 2010
The great works done by Professor Gerald S Hawkins by using his knowledge of astronomy and applying statistical and mathematical methods is a milestone in the history of decoding some of the mysteries of Stonehenge. He is also a modest man as he attributes his success to the "machine" - the computer technology that was able to validate some of the theories, and go even further with new revelations. A very interesting read, particularly if you are an entusiast of the technicalities of his work.
January 4, 2011
Pretty much any books on the subject of these monolithic structures will interest me, but i really enjoyed this one. Gerald Hawkins presented the information in a comprehendable way, and his findings were incredible! Who would have thought that our ancestors, whom some believe to be stupid cavemen, could have built such a complex structure for noting positions of the Moon and Sun, and eclipses. CRAZYYYYNESSS!
July 30, 2011
The first really in-depth study of Stonehenge as an (alleged) archaeoastronomical site, based on the theories of Alexander Thom and lots of number-crunching. Not always easy to follow the line of argument, and there are some fairly wild flights of fantasy too, but this is lucid and interesting for the most part, and a deeply influential book, whatever its faults.
April 23, 2007
read this as a teenager and loved it then.
January 29, 2008
one of the best books about Stonehenge that I have ever read.
Want to read
April 8, 2009Looks fascinating!
August 15, 2009
Very interesting book on Stonehenge. Having visited there, it was more revealing than what you would see on an initial visit.
January 15, 2013
Second time I've read it...it's a classic.
September 15, 2013
Interesting speculations but I am sure it pales compared to the richness of the full truth.
October 9, 2013
Very interesting book! I'd like to know the current thought on the subject and how well these theories stood the test of time.
January 12, 2014
Many intriguing ideas, with great illustrations.
Read
June 29, 2016a realy intersting book well worth five stars
March 22, 2011
A bit dated, but still an interesting take on the Henge.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews