Stonehenge and beyond: the sky and ancient cultures

Talk to be given by Clive Ruggles, Emeritus Professor of Archaeoastronomy, University of Leicester.

Was Stonehenge, as many have suggested, some form of ancient observatory? There is no simple answer to be revealed just by scrutinising the stones.

Professor Ruggles will describe how astronomers and archaeologists can get some important clues by looking more broadly at how ancient cultures worldwide related to what they saw in the sky.

In the absence of written evidence, these clues are man-made objects, human debris, and the layout of monuments and buildings.

There are also valuable insights from beliefs and practices that have survived among indigenous peoples in the modern world.

Professor Ruggles will look at evidence from across the world: from Ireland to continental Europe, the USA, Australia, Polynesia and Ethiopia, before returning to prehistoric Wessex.

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