Bournemouth University scientist Timothy Darvill presented a study that indicates that in ancient times Stonehenge served as a solar calendar for local residents. With the help of the structure, eclipses, the winter and summer solstice, the equinox and other events in the sky were predicted, scientists believe.

Stonehenge is located on the Salisbury Plain in the English county of Wiltshire. The object consists of vertical and horizontal sandstone slabs, which are called sarsen stones. The inner ring of the structure dates back to 2.4 - 2.2 thousand years BC. Information about the construction of the facility and its purpose has not reached the present.

In his previous writings, Darvill reported that Stonehenge was a place of healing. In turn, an archaeologist from University College London, Michael Parker Pearson, suggested that the object was part of a larger ritual structure and served as a funerary monument. The scientist believes that within the limits of Stonehenge for several centuries, cremated dead were buried in pits called Aubrey holes. Parker Pearson and colleagues found in 2019 that 42 of the building's stones came from Wales.

Darvill says that each of the 30 stones in the outer circle represents one day in a month, which consisted of three weeks of 10 days each. Specific stones symbolize the beginning of a new week. The system introduced by Darvill includes an additional month of five days, as well as a leap day every four years.

The scientist notes that the numbers 30, 5 and 4 are interesting in the calendar sense. When 30 stones are multiplied by 12, we get 360, plus 5 more triliths inside Stonehenge, this equals 365. According to the archaeologist, the calendar was used in the same way as in ancient Egypt.

Parker Pearson, commenting on Darvill's work, said that his proofs are used selectively in an attempt to fit the numbers.

The study was published in the scientific journal Antiquity in March 2022.

In February last year, scientists at University College London presented work that Stonehenge was built from the stones of the ruined structure of Vaun Maun, which was located in southwest Wales. The object was built at least 400 years before Stonehenge.

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