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Books on megalithic art, stereo photography and archaeocosmology

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Alexander C., Stanfield J.L.
Echoes of the heroic age: Ancient Greece Part I
National Geographic, Vol 196, No. 6, Dec. 1999, pp 54-79
Comment: A picture of the light beam inside Treasury of Atreus was published (with nice smoke effect). The picture was taken in Sept. 1998.

Arentzen, Y., Klompmaker, H., Nijkeuter, H.
Hunebedden in de Nederlandse literatuur
Edu'Actief, Meppel, 2003, ISBN 90-6053-39-25
Comment:

Ashmore, P.
Maeshowe,
HMSO, Historic Scotland, ISBN 1900168065, 1995, Edinburgh
Comment: This is a booklet of the monument Maeshowe (build around 2800 BCE). It gives some old pictures including results of excavations (some cross cuts and a translation of the runes inside the building [made by Vikings when raiding the place around 1150 CE]).

Ashmore, P.
Neolithic and bronze age Scotland
Batsford Lt, London, Historic Scotland, 1996, ISBN 0713475307
Comment: The period 4000 BCE until 750 BCE is being discussed for the buildings build in this period. Only buildings are mentioned that have carbon dates connected to them.

Ashmore, P.
Archaeology and astronomy: A view from Scotland
Archaeoastronomy, Volume XIV, number 2, 1999, page 3-32
Comment:

Ashmore, P.
Calanais: The standing stones
HMSO, Historic Scotland, ISBN 1 903570 59 X, 2002, Edinburgh  
Comment:

Aveni A.F.
Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico ISBN 0292705026

Aveni, A. F.
Archaeoastronomy in pre-Columbian America
British library: X.421/10211, Woolwich, ISBN 0292703104

Aveni, A. F.
Archaeoastronomy in the New World, American primitive astronomy
British library: X.622/13705, Conference proceedings, ISBN 0521247314

Aveni, A. F. (editor)
World Archaeoastronomy
University of Cambridge Press, 1989, ISBN 0521341809
Keywords: archaeoastronomical observatories, cosmology, prehistoric, ancient, world survey

Aveni, A. and Ammerman, A.
Early Greek astronomy in the oral tradition and the search for archaeological correlates
Archaeoastronomy: The journal of astronomy in culture, Volume XVI, 2001, page 83-97
Comment:

Bakker, J.A.,
The Dutch Hunebedden, Megalithic tombs of the funnel beaker culture
1992, ISBN 1879621029
Comment: An overview is given of the types and architecture of hunebedden in Holland. There are some 76 extend and demolished hunebedden. The hunebedden are dated between 2700 - 2150 Uncal BCE.

Bancroft, A.
Origins of the Sacred: The Spiritual Journey in Western tradition
Arkana/Routledge and Kegan Paul/Methuen, 1967, 201 pp, ISBN 1850630283
Keywords: megaliths, mounds, petroglyphs, houses of worship, funerary-cemetery-burial sites, archaeoastronomical observatories, labyrinths, symbolic landscaping, religion, myth, folklore, cosmology, religious iconography, prehistoric, ancient, medieval, Europe, Greece, Rome
Comment: Despite the new-age-sounding title, this is a well-written (but, sadly, unillustrated) survey of the religious practices of prehistoric and early historic European cultures; Bancroft deftly integrates archaeoastronomy, funerary architecture, shamanism, and myth into the larger context of sacred endeavor; the book also contains an excellent bibliography.

Battersby, W.
The age of Newgrange. Astronomy & mythography,
Costella Print Ltd, 1997, ISBN 0951865137
Comment: Difficult to read. He talks a lot about the art, but in the whole book there is NO picture... The book of O'Kelly [1982] is essential to understand this book. The main idea in the book is; that Newgrange started off as a stellar building (without cairn, but some orthostats and kerb stones). Later it evolved in a solar/lunar building.

Battersby, W.
Knowth, 10 ages.
Costella Print Ltd, 1999, ISBN 0951865145
Commentt: Difficult to read. He talks a lot about the art, but in the whole book there is NO picture... The book of Brennan [1986] is essential to understand this book. It gives an overview of the 10 ages of the use of Knowth.

Bauval R, Gilbert A.
The Orion mystery
Mandarin, 1994, ISBN 0749317442
Comment:

Beckensall, S.
Prehistoric rock art in Northumberland
Tempus, 2001, ISBN 0752419455
Comment:

Bednarik, R.G. (editor)
Rock art sciences: The scientific study of palaeoart
Brepols Publishers NV, 2001, ISBN 2503991246
Comment:

Bednarik, R.G. (editor)
Rock art glossary: A multilingual dictionary
Brepols Publishers NV, 2003, ISBN 2 503 99127 0
Comment:

Bellaire, C.,
Itineraires des megalithes en Wallonie
1992, Hommes et paysages, Societe Royale Belge de Georgaphie

Bennett, G.G.
The calculation of astronomical refraction in marine navigation,
Journal of Inst. navigation, No. 35, page 255-259, 1982
Comment:

Berger, A. and Loutre, M.F.
Insolation values for the climate of the last 10 million years
Quaternary science review, Vol. 10, pp 297-317, 1991

Blesser B., Salter,L.-R.
Spaces Speak, Are You Listening?: Experiencing Aural Architecture
The MIT Press, 2006, ISBN 0262026058
Comment:

Bom, F.
Het mysterie van de hunebedden; buitenlandse hulp?
Ankh-Hermes bv, Deventer, 1978, ISBN 9020254065
Summary: In this book he tries to explain how and why the passage mounds were made. Ideas about splitting stones with laser and teleporting of stones by humans are mentioned. Furthermore he has the idea that there would have been thousands of passage mounds in he Netherlands and not build by the Funnel beaker people but much earlier by other people (but these did not leave other signs behind then the passage mounds).

Bom, F.
Eerste Nederlandse hunebedden gids
ISBN 9020254073, Ankh-Hermes bv, Deventer, 1978
Summary: An overview (of the locations) of some 53 Dutch hunebedden (megalithic mounds). Furthermore an idea is given of the azimuth of the passages/openings of the mounds. A comparison of Bom's and Reijs's azimuth measurements is available.
An example of a megalithic mound (without the barrow) can be seen.

Bord, J.
Cures and curses: Ritual and cult at holy wells
Heart of Albion, 2006, ISBN 1872883958
Summary: A book full of lore around holy wells in Britain and Ireland. Just to mention s few subjects touched in the book: Trees, pins, warts, modern use of holy wells, well buildings, healing, miraculous powers, etc, etc. It also has an extensive bibliography of 9 pages!

Bord, J.
Holy wells in Britain; A guide
Heart of Albion, 2008, ISBN 9781905646098
Summary:

Brennan, J.H.
A guide to megalithic Ireland
ISDN: 1855382709, The Aquarian press, 1994
Summary:

Brennan, M.
The Boyne Valley Vision
ISBN:0851053629, 1980, The Dolmen Press, Portlaoise Ireland.
Comment: A lot of speculation but two ideas are striking:

1. the A, B and C measures
where B = SQRT(2) * A and C = 12 * B or C= 20 * A
2. the idea of a chamber top hole (page 66)! He did not realize that such a thing could actually happen at Newgrange and Knowth (he just saw it, because there were modern man-made holes at Fourknocks)!

Brennan, M.
The stars and the stones
Thames and Hudson, 1983, ISBN 0500272832
Comment: A book with lots of pictures of the art is several megalithic mounds (like: Newgrange, Loughcrew, Dowth, Knowth, Tara and Knockmany). It tries to relate the art with the sun and the moon.

Brennan, M.
The stones of time. Calendars, sundials and stone chambers of ancient Ireland.
Inner Traditions International, 1994, ISBN 0892815094
Comment: This book is almost a reprint of the book The stars and the stones. The ONLY difference seems to be the last section of 8 pages: Epilogue. This section briefly puts the finding is a broader perspective (like: medieval church building, Ramesside temples, Chaco Canyon, Baja, The Coricancha, the mace head at Knowth and a possible second passage at Newgrange.

Brenneman, W. and Brenneman, M.
Crossing the circle at the holy wells of Ireland
University Press of Virginia, 1995, ISBN: 0813915481.
Comment:

Bretagnon P. and Simon J.L.
Planetary Programs and Tables from 4000 BCE to 2800 CE
Willem-Bell, 1986, ISBN 0943396085
Comment: It gives the longitude of the sun and five other planets with an accuracy of between 0.0006^o and 0.0104^o for a date expressed in ephemeris time

O'Brien, T.
Light Years Ago: A study of the cairns of Newgrange & Cairn T Loughcrew
The Black Cat Press, ISBN 094805008 X, 1992
Comment: Nice photographs of the light penetrating Newgrange (winter solstice) and Cairn T (equinox), Loughcrew.
Most interesting are his remarks on the behavior (4 year period and obliquity) of the sun during winter/summer solstice and equinox. The following things are to me important:

• 4 year period
Because the year is 365.25 days long, a change to the sun path will be seen due to this effect. This effect is almost not seen during winter or summer solstice days (a 1' difference, both on azimuth and altitude), but at equinox day it is some 16' (both on azimuth and altitude)!
• obliquity
This effect is maximum at winter/summer solstice day, almost 1^o in azimuth, while it is neglectable during equinox sunset/sunrise.

Brown, P. L.
Megaliths, myths and men: An Introduction to astro-archaeology
Blandford Press, 1976; Taplinger Publishing, 1976; Harper Colophon, 1978, 324 pp, 142 b&w illustrations, ISBN 0060905786 [Harper Colophon pbk]
Keywords: megaliths, mounds, petroglyphs, houses of worship, funerary-cemetery-burial sites, archaeoastronomical observatories, labyrinths, symbolic landscaping, ley lines, religion, myth, folklore, cosmology, metrology, religious iconography, prehistoric, ancient, world survey
Comment: A technically dense history of archaeoastronomical theory, with particular reference to Britain and Egypt; the author presents solid evidence for ancient astronomical knowledge and supports the meteorological work of Alexander Thom while gently deriding John Michell for his over-reliance on number symbolism.
It is a real compilation of all the work Thom, A. and Thom, A.S. have done.

Burl, A.
A guide to the stone circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany
1995, ISBN 0300063318, Yale University
Comment: The book gives good information how to survey a site. In principle this book only discusses stone circles (so no chambers!). A quote:

An error of a degree or two does not invalidate the deduced sight line, because prehistoric designers were not much concerned with astronomical niceties.

Burl, A.
The Stone Circles of the British Isles
Yale University, 1976, 7th printing, 1989, 410 pp, LC 75-43311, ISBN 0300023987
Keywords: megaliths, archaeoastronomical observatories, symbolic landscaping, prehistoric, Europe
Comment: Contains a good bibliography. KO

Burl, A.
Prehistoric Astronomy and Ritual
Shire, 1983, ISBN 085636210
Keywords: megaliths, archaeoastronomical observatories, symbolic landscaping, prehistoric, Europe

Burl, A.
Prehistoric Avebury
Yale University, 1979, ISBN 0300023685
Keywords: megaliths, archaeoastronomical observatories, symbolic landscaping, prehistoric, Europe

Burl, A.
From Carnac to Callanish. The Prehistoric Stone Rows and Avenues of Britain, Ireland and Brittany.
Yale,  1993, ISBN 0300055757
Comment: This is a great book though it is only concerned with stone rows and avenues. It is well worth a read.

Ó Cadhla, S.
The holy well tradition; The pattern of St. Declan, Ardmore, County Waterford, 1800-2000
Four Courts press, 2002, ISBN 1-85182-706-4
Comment:

Calvin, W.
How the shaman stole the moon. In search of ancient prophet
ISBN 9035112032, Bert Bakker, 1991
Comment: A good book concerning astro archaeological alignments in USA.

Childe, V.G.
Maeshowe
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 88, 1954-1956, page 155-171
Comment:

Chippindale, C. and Taçon, P.S.C.
The archaeology of rock-art.
Cambridge University press, 1998, ISBN 0521576199
Comment:

Clinton, M.
The souterrains of Ireland
Wordwell, 2001, ISBN 1869857496
Comment: Souterrains over Ireland are described. It seems most of them are from around 800 CE until 1200 CE. The nine souterrains at Knowth are describe (page 204) as a possible part of the dwellings of Aire Ard or Aire Forgill.
But one major thing is missing; there is NO index! And souterrains are listed in several methods (trapdoors, beehive, number of doors, passages, wood, stone, etc, etc.) in over 20 tables, but in every table every souterrains gets a NEW number!!! It is not an easy reference due to this. A  real pity!

Collier, M., Manley B.
How to read Egyptian hieroglyphs
The Bathc Press, 2001, ISBN 0714119105
Comment:

Cooney, G.
Landscape of neolithic Ireland
Routledge, 2000, ISBN 0415169771

Cox, J.
The orientation of prehistoric temples in Malta and Gozo
Archaeoastronomy, the journal of astronomy in culture, valume XVI, 2001, page 24 - 37

Curtis, G.R. and M.R.
Callanish. Stones, moon & sacred landscape
ISBN 0951380451, 1994.
Comment:

Curtis, G.R. and M.R.
Callanish kaleidoscope. Circles & seasons
Video tape, private publishing, Olcote, Lewis.
Comment:

Curtis, G.R. and M.R.
Callanish 2006
Private publishing, Olcote, Lewis, 2003
Comment: Gives information on the lunar standstill limit event in 2006. It has the nice idea of providing a graph how the declinations before and after the real min/max are, this helps in planning visits!

Cusack, J.
It pre-dates the pyramids of Egypt: Lough Gur geometrically solved, a prehistoric site at Grange in Co. Limerick.
Comments: He tries to convince the reader that several things (like: area of circle, internal rectangular, golden rectangle, equilateral triangle) can be determined by geometry from Circle B and its surroundings. He did not convince me (yet).

Davidson J.L. and Henshall A.S.
The cambered cairns of Orkney
Edinburgh University press, 1989, ISBN 0852245475
Comment: An updated overview of the cairns of Orkneys from Henshall, 1963. Specific information on several cairns is given, including Maeshowe plans from Gibb, 1861. An overview of 81 chambered cairns is provided.

Department of arts, heritage, Gaeltacht and the islands
Brú na Bóinne World heritage site: Draft management plan
December 2001
Comment:

Devereux P.
Stone age soundtracks; The acoustic archaeology of ancient sites
vega, 2001, ISBN 184333447X (on page 2 a wrong ISBN is mentioned)
Comment:

Devereux P.
Places of Power; Measuring the secret energy of ancient sites
Blandford, 1999, ISBN 0713727659
Comment:

Dronfield, J.
The vision thing: Diagnosis of endogenous derivation in abstract arts
Current Anthropology, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Apr., 1996), page 373-391
Comment:

Dronfield, J.
Migraine, light and hallucinogens: The neorocognitive basis of Irish megalithic art
Oxford Journal of archaeology 14(3), 1995, page 261-275
Comment:

Dronfield, J.
Subjective vision and the source of Irish megalithic art
Antiquity 69 (1995): page 539-549
Comment:

Ó Duinn, S.
Where three streams meet: Celtic spirituality
the columba press, 2000, ISBN 1856072886
Comment: A merging of Irish history based on the three streams: the megalithic, the Celtic and the Christian

Ó Duinn, S.
The rites of Brigid: Goddess and Saint
the columba press, 2004, ISBN 1 85607 483 8
Comment:

Duffett-Smith, P.
Astronomy with your personal computer
Cambridge University Press, 1990, ISBN 0 521 38995 X
Comment: Computer program code (BASIC) of the book

Duffett-Smith, P.
Practical astronomy with your calculator
Cambridge University Press, 1988, ISBN 0521356997
Comment: Lots of formulas for: a) time and coordinate conversions, b) sun, planets, moon and eclipse events and c) all kind of information on phenomena like: precession, refraction, parallax, etc.

O'Dwyer, S.
Prehistoric music of Ireland
Tempus Publishing, Stroud, 2004, ISBN 0752431293
Comment:

Eogan, G.
Excavations at Knowth 1
1984, Royal Irish Academy, ISBN 0901714348
Comment: Detailed information on site 2 and higher at Knowth concerning the neolithic and beaker period. No accurate dimension information on the main mound (site 1). The stone art at the smaller sites is depicted.

Eogan, G.
Knowth and the passage tombs of Ireland
London, Thames & Hudson, 1986, ISBN 0500390231
Comment: Detailed information on site 2 and higher at Knowth. Not much accurate dimension information on the main mound (site 1). Lots of information about the art at Knowth, Dowth and Newgrange.
Also a ground plan of Dowth is provided.

Evans-Wentz, W.Y.
The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries,
Recently reprinted by Citadel, ISBN 0806511605
Comment: About 100 years ago.

Everest, F. Alton
Master handbook of acoustics
New York, McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0071360972, 2001
Comment:

Fansa, M.
Großsteingräber zwischen Weser und Ems
Isensee Verlag, Oldenburg, 1992, ISBN 3894421185
Comment: Some 53 German passage mounds are pictured incl. their azimuth.

Ferwerda, J.G.
Stereofotografie stap voor stap
Nederlandse vereniging voor stereofotografie, 1977
Comment: Information on 3D photography.

Ferwerda, J.G.
The world of 3-D: A practical guide to stereo photography
Book productions, Borger, Netherlands, 1990, ISBN 9071377512
Comment: Information on 3D photography.

Francis, G., Rothmayer, M.
Interactions of afterimages for orientation and color: Experimental data and model simulations
July 30th, 2002

Frazer, J.
Antiquities of Stenness parish
Proceedings of the Orkney Antiquarian Society, 4, 1925-1926, page 18-22
Comment: Condensed information on the megalithic sites around Stenness, including Comet Stone.

Garnett, J.I.
Newgrange speaks for itself: Forty carved motifs
Trafford Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1412057175
Comment:

Garstang, R.H.
Limiting visual magnitude and night sky brightness
Memorie della Societa Astronomia Italiana, Vol. 71, 83-92, 2000.
Comment:

Giffen, A.E. van
De Hunebedden in Nederland
Utrecht, Part I (Text): 1925, Part II (Atlas): 1927, Part 1 (Extended text): 1927
Comment: An overview of all the short stemmed passage mounds in The Netherlands (incl. pictures, azimuth's and plans).

Gimbutas, M.
The language of the Goddess
Thames and Hudson, 1989, ISBN 0062503561
Comment: A lot of pictures on art, figurines, etc. made for 7000 BCE until 1000 BCE. This is entirely oriented around the Goddess, which seemed to be very important during these times. Looking at all the pictures, male figurines were indeed rare! It also gives an idea what the possible meaning could be of the art on these artifacts.

Ginkel, E.J. van
De hunebedden, gids en geschiedenis van Nederlands oudste monumenten
Assen, 1988, ISBN 90-70884-18-6
Comment: A nice, short description of the history around the megalithic mounds in The Netherlands. The megalithic mounds were build and used (between 3500 BCE and 2700 BCE) by the Funnel beaker (TRB) Culture. Remember the megalithic mounds/cainrs in France, UK, Ireland and Spain were build by different cultures! It also provides for some 18 megalithic mounds the location were to find them.

Ginkel, E.J. van, Jager, S., Sanden, W. van der
Hunebedden: Monumenten van een steentijdcultuur
Uniepers, Assen, 1999, ISBN 90-6825-202-X
Comment:

Hadingham E.
Early Man and the Cosmos
University of Oklahoma Press, Norman and London ISBN: 0-8061-1919-5

Hancock, G.
Het ontstaan en het begin van alles
Trans.: Fingerprints of the Gods, Tiron, Baarn, 1995, ISBN 90-5121-600-9
Summary: A book that tries to prove that there were cultures as early as 12000 BCE that were highly educated in 'science'. He tries to prove this with e.g. the Peri Reis maps, that seem to hold information of a dry and ice less Antarctica (which possibly occurred around 13000 to 4000 BCE).
Also other cultures are mentioned (Inka, Egypt, Maya, etc.) in relation to this.

Hawkins, A. and Avon D.,
Praktisch handbook fotografie
Pubisher Helmond, Helmond, 1980, ISBN 90-252-6859-5
Comment:

Healy E.
In search of Ireland's holy wells
Wolfhound Press, Ireland ISBN: 0-86327-865-5, 2001

Hedges K.
Pipette dreams and the primordial snake-canoe: Analysis of a hallucinatory form constant.
Ed. Turpin S.A., Shamanism and rock art in North America, 1994, pp 103-124.
Comment:

Hedges J.W.
Tomb of the eagles
Tempus Reparatum, 1992, ISBN 1 871314 03 8
Comment:

Hegge, D. C.
Archaeoastronomy in the Old World
British library: X.622/13631, ISBN 0521247249

Heilbron, J.L.
The sun in the church; Cathedrals as solar observatories
Harvard university press, 1999, ISBN 0-674-85433-0
Comment: This books provides information how sundials were constructed within churches so that Eastern could be defined. Beside this the length of the year and the obliquity of the earths path could be determined. This all was between 1650 and 1750 (sometimes called the dark ages of astronomy, because the church crushed the ideas of Galileo).

Hodder I, and Hutson S.
Reading the past: Current approaches to interpretation in archaeology
Cambridge university press, 2003, ISBN 0 52152884 4
Comment:

Hoskin, M.
Tombs, temples and their orientations: A new perspective on Mediterranean prehistory
Ocarina books, UK, 2001, ISBN 0 9540867 1 6
Comment:

Henshall, A.S.
The cambered tombs of Scotland, Part I (1963), Part II (1972),
Edinburgh, 1963
Comment: Really a lot can be found in these two books! It covers more than 300 chambered mounds/cairns in Scotland. It tries to provide links between the evolution of these mounds (also with regard to English mounds).

Hohenkerk C.Y and Sinclair A.T.
The computation of angular atmospheric refraction at large zenith angles
NAO Technical note, No.63, Royal Greenwich Observatary, April 1985
Comments;

Ingham M.F.
The length of the Sothic cycle
The journal of Egyptian archaeology, Vol 55, 1996, pp 36-40
Comment:

Johnson, M.
Archaeological Theory: An Introduction
Blackwell, 1999, ISBN 063120296X
Comment:

Jonge, R. de & IJzereef, G.
De stenen spreken. Het geheimschrift van de megalieten ontcijferd.
Kosmos, 1996, ISBN 90-215-2815-0
Comment: They pose the idea that some megalithic art depict maps of sea trips from the Meditarian Sea upto UK, Norway, Greenland and Ostmeer. A stimulating idea.

Jonge, R. de & Wakefield, J.S.
How the sungod reached America.
MCS Inc. 2002, ISBN 0-917054-19-9
Comment: Reinoud de Jonge (a Dutch chemist) and Jay Wakefield (an American biologist) have specialized in the study of megalithic culture. They present their analysis of a dozen archaeological sites, showing how many petroglyphs are geographic maps. They show how monuments provide numerical data revealing megalithic religion and ancient sailing discoveries in the Atlantic. For example, numeric picture writing at Loughcrew, Ireland, deciphered by the authors, reveals that these people gave up their efforts to cross the Ocean west of Greenland in 3200 BCE. However, decipherment of the petroglyphs at Dissignac, France, shows that they next explored the earth to the east, where they discovered Australia and Alaska. Subsequently, they found routes across the Atlantic, and built Stonehenge, the monument for the discovery of America.
These decipherments shed light on a number of mysteries in American prehistory, such as the origin of the Olmec civilization, the Michigan copper mines, and the stone chambers of New England. This is the only book providing solid evidence, reasonable explanations, and comprehensive dating for megalithic petroglyphs and monuments. It will fascinate anyone interested in old religions, little known petroglyphs, ancient seafaring, voyages of discovery, and the prehistory of Europe and America. Sites in Europe include Kercado, Gavrinis, Dissignac, Paredes, Chao Redondo, Loughcrew, Stonehenge, and many more. 384 pages, half of them photos, petroglyphs, groundplans and maps

Kaulins, A.
Stars, stones and scholars: The decipherment of the megaliths as an ancient survey of the earth by astronomy.
Trafford Publishing, Canada, 2003, ISBN 1-4120-1344-5
Comment:

O'Kelly, M.J.,
Newgrange
London, 1982, ISBN 0-500-27371-5
Comment: Newgrange is a massive mound about half way between Dublin and Belfast on the east coast of Ireland. It is the oldest roofed building in the world, some 500 years older than the pyramids. The site also has standing stones and some great megalithic art. It's crowning glory is one of the few totally undisputed solar alignments. Lost of information about megalithic art is given.
O'Kelly (1982) is showing in his pictures something about 148^o - 150^o for the azimuth of the passage. This is not correct. According to Tim O'Brien, O'Kelly has acknowledged this error. It should be around 135 ⁰ - 136^o.

O'Kelly, M.J. and O'Kelly C.,
Illustrated guide to Lough Gur, Co. Limerick
Houston Publisher, Cork,1978
Comments: Provides an overview of all the (pre-)historic buildings around Lough Gur, like the great stone circle (B), Bourchier's castle, Bolin Island, etc.

O'Kelly, M.J. and O'Kelly C.,
The tumulus of Dowth, county Meath.
Proc. of the Royal Irish Academy, Volume 83, C, Number 5, 135-190, 1983.
Comment: A record of the investigations at Dowth.

O'Kelly, M.J. Lynch, F. and O'Kelly C.,
Three passage-graves at Newgrange, Co. Meath.
Proc. of the Royal Irish Academy, Volume 78, C, Number 10, 240-352, 1978.
Comment: A record of the investigations at Newgrange K, L, Z and Z₁.

O'Kelly, M.J.
Early Ireland
Comment: An examination of the archaeology of Ireland. This book is interesting to those interested in other areas as well and it gives a good introduction to the different types of monument. O'Kelly is a bit insular in attitude and so has difficulty with the Ballynoe stone circle but this is still a great book.

Kinsler, L.E, Frey, A.R., Coppens, A.B. Sanders, J.V.
Fundamentals of Acoustics
John Wiley & Sons, 2000, ISBN 0 471 84789 5
Comment:

Kleinsmiede, H. zur
3-D montagewijzer; Praktische handleiding bij het monteren van stereodia's
3-D Book Productions, Borger, 1993, ISBN 90 71377 08 3
Comment: How to mount stereo pairs.

Klok, R.H.J.
Hunebedden in Nederland: Zorgen voor morgen
Unieboek b.v., Bussem, 1979, ISBN 9022837408
Comment: An overview of all Dutch short stemmed passage graves, inlcuding the surroundings

Klompenmaker, H.
Hunebedden in oude ansichten
Europese bibliotheek, 1994, ISBN 9028859578
Comment: It gives a lot of pictures (from postcards) of the Dutch short stemmed passage mounds.

Klompenmaker, H.
Kijk op keien; hunebedden in beeld en theorie
Edu'Actief B.V., Meppel, 1994, ISBN 9051171765
Comment: Provides a history how hunebedden were viewed.

Knight, C., Lomas, R.
Uriels's machine
Century, London, 1999, ISBN 0712680071
Comment:

Kreyszig, E.
Introduction mathematical statitstics: Principles and methods
John Wiley & sons, USA, 1970, ISBN 0 471 50730 X
Comment:

Krupp, E. C.
Archaeoastronomy and the roots of science
British library: X.421/25962, ISBN 0865314063

Kyriakidis, E.
The archaeology of ritual
Cotsen institute of archaeology, 2007, ISBN 1931745471
Comment: Gives a good overview of how to treat ritual in archaeology

Logan P.
The holy wells of Ireland
Guernsey Press Company, Guernsey, 1992, ISBN 0-86140-046-1
Comment:

MacKie, E.W.
Science and society in prehistoric Britain
London, 1977, ISBN 023640041X
Comment: This books describes in the first part possible problems one can have with using numbers and statistical methods. This chapter is in my opinion very important for many people that just use all kind of methods, but don't know the real reason why they can use them, or why one was even not allowed to use a method for particular instances. In my opinion, a must to read!
The second part is in my opinion not that acceptable. It tries to get prove that megalithic society and the still existing memorials of that society are buildings made for a certain class in that community (the priest class).

McMann, J.
Loughcrew: The Cairns. A guide to an ancient Irish Landscape
After Hours Books, Oldcastle, 1993, ISBN 0952198703
Comment: A nice booklet about Loughcrew. It mentions all important cairns including maps, aerial photographs, ground plans, folklore, etc. It is only a pity that the ground plans of the passages are not correct with regard to the art on them, a small item though!

MacShamhrain, A.,
The island of St. Patrick: Church and ruling dynasties in Fingal and Meath, 400-1148
Four Courts Press, 2004, ISBN 1-85182-867-2
Comment: The proceedings of the St. Patric conference in Skerries. Victor Reijs particpated in that conference with his virtual world of Church Island.

Meeus J.
Mathematical Astronomy Morsels
Willmann-Bell, 1997, ISBN 0943396514
Comment:

Meeus J.
Mathematical Astronomy Morsels IV
Willmann-Bell, 2007, ISBN ???
Comment:

Meehan, A.J.
Celtic Design: Maze Patterns
Thames and Hudson, 1993, ISBN 0500277478
Comment:

Meletzis, S. and Papadakis, H.
Corinth: Mycenae, Tiryns, Nauplion
Art editions Meletzis&Papadakis, Athens, 1997, ISBN 3795405904
Comment: The map of Treasury of Atreus is not correct (beter take the one of Wace [1949]). The map of the environment around Mycenae is not correct (beter take the one of Spathari [2001]).

Mereaux, P.
Carnac, des pierres pour les vivants
1992, edition NATURE & BRETAGNE, KERWANGWENN - 29540 SPEZET, BRETAGNE.
Comment

Mills, I.L.
Daylight on Stonehenge,
Compuer, Print&Design, Napier, 2001, ISBN 0-473-08031-1
Comment:

Michell, J.
A little history of astro-archaeology
Thames&Hudson, 2001, ISBN 0500275572
Comment: A history of the science astro-archaeology are put on a row. Not only astronomical issues but also leylines, well, landscape are important. An important conclusion of him is that astronomy is certainly not the only thing that drove the megalithic landscape.

Midland-East Tourism,
Newgrange ... a step back in time.
1997, Bord Failte. OPW.

Moroney, A-M.
Dowth: winter sunsets
Flax Mill Publications, Drogheda, 1999, ISBN 0953382230
Comment: A lovely book on the sunsets at Dowth. Money evenings she must have stayed there to capture the atmosphere. A great book that leaves your imagination working!

Murphy, A., Moore, R.
Island of the Setting Sun: In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers
The Liffey Press, 2006, ISBN 1905785054
Comment: A wonderful book with lots of refereance (including lots of references to the Irish Stones e-group;-)

Morrison, L.V.
On the analysis of megalithic lunar sight lines in Scotland
Archaeoastronomy, no.2 (1980), pp. 64-77

Mylonas, G.E.
Ancient Mycenae: The capital city of Agamemnon
Pinceton Univeristy Press, 1957

Mylonas, G.E,
Mycenae; A guide to its ruins and its history
J. Makris, S.A., Athens 1972

Mylonas, G.E,
Mycenae; A guide to its Ruins and its History  (in Greek)
Ekdotike Athenon S.A., Athens 2002 (copyrigth 1981), ISBN 960-213-211-2
Comment: This book has a picture of the sun ligth patch on the backwall (no mention though of this in the text).

Nautical almanac office
Explanatory supplement to the astronomical ephemeris and the American ephemeris and nautical almanac.
Her majesty's stationary office, 1974, ISBN 0 11 880578 9
Comment:

North, J.
Stonehenge, Neolithic man and the cosmos
Harper Collins Publishers, 1996, ISBN 0 00 255773-8
Comment: This is an interesting book and has a lot of information. It also investigates alignments with stars quite extensively. It seemed that in former times the stars were more important then sun/moon. Because the precession is more influential on starts (higher up the sky), and former people realized that something was happening over there, they change to sun/moon alignments. A lot of buildings (like Stonehenge and long mounds) in UK are being discussed.

Papathanassiou M., Hoskin M., Papadopoulou H.,
Orientation of tombs in the late-Minoan cemetry at Armenoi, Crete.
Archaeoastronomy, 17, page S43-S55, 1993
Comment: An overview of 209 tombs that are could be orientated along the sunrise/moonrise.

Papathanassiou M., Hoskin M., Papadopoulou H.,
Orientation of tombs at Armenoi, Crete: Appendix
Archaeoastronomy, 18, page S43-S55, 1993
Comment: An overview of an additional 11 tombs that are orientated along the sunrise/moonrise.

Petrie, G.
Notice of the opening of a tumulus in the parish of Stenness on the mainland of Orkney
Archaeological Journal, 18, page 353-358, 1861
Comment: The first article concerning Maeshowe. It provides a record of the opening of the mound by James Farrer.

Petrov, Y.A., Popple, A.V.
Effects of negative afterimages in visual illusion
Journal Optical Society of America, Vol. 19, No. 6, June 2002, page 1107-1111
Comment:

Prendergast, F., Ray, T.
Ancient astronomical alignments: fact of fiction?
Archaeology Ireland, Volume 16, No.2, issue 60, page 32-35
Comment: Measurements of Knowth passages are mentioned.

Pryce, F.N.
Catalogue of sculpture in the department of Greek and Roman antiquities of the British Museum, Vol 1, Part., pp 21-27.
Comment: An overview of the fragments from Treasury of Atreus facade.

Poynder, M.
PI in the sky
The collins Press, 1997, ISBN 1-898256-33-0
Comment: It is a book that tries to fit the important buildings in a grid of Earth stars, (closely related to ley lines).
One interesting thing though that got my brains. It seems that the cross quarter dates were not really fixed on the sun, the author tells that the feast was held close to these cross quarter days on a full moon day! This is interesting; perhaps this idea of coupling solar events with moon events is more common.

Ponting, M.R. and G.
Decoding the Callanish complex. Some initial results
Article out of B.A.R. 88, 1991; Astronomy and society in Britain during the period 4000 - 1500 B.C., editor Ruggles, C.L.N. and Whittle A.W.R., ISBN 0 86054 130 4
Comment:

Ponting G. and M.R. & Curtis M.R. and G.R.
The stones around Callanish: A guide to the minor meglithic sites of the Callanish area (II to XIX)
Stornoway Gazette, 2000, ISBN 0 903960 67 2
Comment:

Rackard, A., O'Callaghan L.
fishstonewater: holy wells of Ireland
Atrium, Cork, ISBN 0 9535353 1 2, 2001
Comment:

Reijs, V.M.M.
Passage mounds in The Netherlands
1997, Video tape, private label.
Comment: provides an overview of the Dutch passage mounds

Reijs, V.M.M.
Maeshowe's Megalithic Month alignment,
1998, 3rd Stone, October-December, pp. 18-20
Comment: see the electronic version of this article

Reijs, V.M.M.
The Megalithic Fathom
2002, 3rd Stone, Spring, pp. 67
Comment: see the electronic version of this article

Reynders, M.
Onder het oog van de zonnegod
Het Sprecturm,  The Netherland, 2003, ISBN 90 806759 2 X
Comment: A good and consistent book about how the Eqyptian dynasties changed over time, with the relation between gods and kings well explnined.

Royal Irish Academy
Discovery programma reports: 6
Royal Irish Academy, W&G Baird, ISBN 1 874045 95 X, 2002
Comment:

Richer, J.
Sacred geography of the ancient Greeks: Astrological symbolism in art, architecture and landscape
State university of New York, 1994, ISBN 0-7914-2024-8
Comment:

Roberts, J.
The stone circles of Cork & Kerry: An illustrated map and astronomical guide.
Bandia, Ireland, 1996, ISBN 1 9010 83 51 9
Comment: Most of the stone circles of Cork&Kerry are describe (including info how to find them). It also gives an overview of several old traditional calendrical divisions and detailed info on Drombeg stone circle. A good guide to have with you (a small comment: missing long./lat. or OS references).

Rock, I.
Perception
Scientific American library, New York, 1995, ISBN 0-7167-6011-8
Comment: A very good overview of the perception cue related to stereo.

Ross, H.E. and Plug, C.
The mystery of the moon illusion
Oxford university press, 2002, ISBN 0 19 850862 X
Comment: provides insight why the moon and sun can appear larger near the horizon

Rudgley, R.
The lost civilizations of the stone age.
1999, Touchstone, ISBN 0-684-85580-1
Comments: A great book that provides insight that stone age people were not stupid and that they could have gotten their knowledge (not by writing but by oral information passing) from ancient times (as far back as 10000 BCE)

Ruggles, C.L.N. editor
Records in stone, papers in memory of Alexander Thom
ISBN 0-521-33381-4, 1988, Cambridge University Press
Comment: Lots of paper about the work based on the ideas of A. Thom. It has an overview of all A. Thom's papers and his ground plans of megalithic sites. The papers range from: calendar, stone alignments, cluster analysis, ring geometry (according to this paper a diameter construction of a ring is more likely than a radial construction), metrology of cup-and-ring carvings (Megalithic Inch), Americas and Egypt.

Ruggles C.L.N. and others
Megalithic astronomy: a new archaeological and statistical study of 300 western Scottish sites
1984, British Archaeological Reports, Oxford (BAR British Series 123), ISBN 0-86054-253-X.
Comment: This is really an important document! It describes some 300 sites in the Inner Hebrides and mainland Argyll region.
In my opinion it is a better database for doing statistical analyses on than the Thom books. It provides clear rules how sites are selected for being studied for astronomical alignments and it gives an idea about the accuracy of the methods used. At the end, 189 sites are studied (and thus of them the altitudes of the horizon are given for the important azimuths).
The clearness of rules how sites are selected is in my opinion a major break through.
Statistical analyses were used to see if there was some preference on azimuth (not really present) or declination (preference found between -31^o and -19^o and between +27^o and +35^o, slight preference between +1^o and +18^o and an avoidance between -15^o and +15^o).

Ruggles, C.L.N.
Archaeoastronomy in the 1990's.
3rd Oxford International Symposium on Archaeoastronomy, Papers. 1993, British library: 93/21920, ISBN 1874152012

Ruggles, C.L.N.
Astronomy in prehistoric Britain and Ireland.
Yale University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-300-07814-5
Comment: Like the books of Thom it is another must. It place some critical remarks to that book and it gives lots of hits how to do it better in a scientific way.

Ruggles, C.L.N., Prendergast, F. and Ray, T.
Astronomy, cosmology and landscape
Ocarina books, 2001, ISBN 0-9540867-0-8
Comments: Proceedings of the SEAC98 meeting, Dublin, Ireland, Sept. 1998.

Rudolph, P. and Middents, P.
Lunar alignments. An analysis of two petroglyphs at the Willow Creek site
19??, month ???, Battle Point astronomical Association, pp. ???-???
Comment: interesting theory on full moons around winter solstice, furthermore it has a nice method on analyzing the sun/moon path in a building.

Santillana, G. de, and Von Dechend, H.
Hamlet's Mill: An Essay on Myth and the Frame of Time
Gambit, 1969, David R. Godine, 1977, ISBN 0-87923-215-3, LC 69-13267
Keywords: religion, myth, folklore, cosmology, astrology, prehistoric, ancient, Africa, Asia, Australia, Crete, Egypt, Europe, Greece, Meso-America, Middle East, North America, Pacific Islands, Rome, South America, world survey
Comment: An extremely important book on archaeoastronomy which takes the unusual tack of eschewing mention of archaeological observatory sites in favor of an exposition of the thesis through a study of cross-cultural astronomical mythology. Recommended and back in print, having been recently reprinted by David R. Goodine. CY

Schaefer, B. E.
Astronomy and the limits of vision
Archaeoastronomy, Volume XI [1989-1993], pages 78-90
Comment: This paper gives a lot of information on the visibility of stars and shadows. The 'Sky brightness' formula seems to be overtaken by other formula's, see Schaefer [2000].

Schaefer, B.E.
New methods and techniques for historical astronomy and archaeoastronomy
Archaeoastronomy, Volume XV [2000], pages 121-135
Comment: This paper gives an overview of celestial visibility (visual limiting magnitude, extinction angle, heliacal rise, refraction near the horizon and crescent visibility), 3D analysis (my work on VRML is quoted) and statistical analysis (touching Bayesian techniques).
The formula's have some small errors [pers. comm. Schaefer, 2001], but the 'Sky brightness' formula's seems to be correct.

Schaefer, B.E.
Case studies of three of the most famous claimed archaeoastronomical alignments in North America
Keynote address, Oxford VII conference, Flagstaff Az, June 2004.
Comments: Gives a very good idea how to evaluate archaeoastronomical studies. A must!

Scheffer, M.
Critical Transitions in Nature and Society
Princeton University Press (21 Jun 2009), ISBN 0691122040
Comment:

Shilling, G.
Prisma van de sterrenkunde: Ruim 2000 begrippen van A tot Z
Prisma, 1992, ISBN 9027428913
Comment:

Seglie, D.
Prehistoric Art: Guide to good practise
CeSMAP, Italy,  EC Culture 2000 programme, 2001
Comment: This is part of the EuroPreArt CD-ROM: European prehistoric art database: Past signs and present memories.

Shennan I., Lambeck K., Flather R., Horton B., McArthur J., Innes J., LLoyd J., Rutherford M., Wingfield R.
Modeling western North Sea palaeogeographies and tidal changes during the Holocene
From Holocene Land - Ocean interaction and environmental change around the North Sea, Geological Society, London, 166, page 299-319, 2000

Skyvova, P.,
Fingallian holy wells
Fingal county libraries, 2005, ISBN 0-954-91030-3
Comment:

Smith, J.
The Callanish dance: The cycle of the year celebrated in the sacred landscape of the Western Isles
Capall Bann Publishing, 2000, ISBN 1861631057 (on page 2 of the book a wrong ISBN number is stated)
Comment: This book provides an insight in the experiences of Jill Smith when leaving for 10 years on the Isle of Lewis.

Spathari, E.,
Mykene: Histortischer und archaologischer Fuehrer
ESPEROS Verlag, Athen, 2001, ISBN 960-8103-07-X
Comment: This one has a correct map of the location of the tholos tombs, the directions of them is though wrong. The facade of Treasury of Atreus seems to be over taken by knowledge (see Mylonas [1959, 1972].

Sprockhoff, E.
Atlas der Megalithgräber Deutschlands, Teil 1, 2 and 3
G. Körner, Bonn, 1966, 1967 and 1975.
Comment: An good overview of some 1000 German passage mounds in the Schleswig-Holstein (Teil1), Mecklenburg-Brandenburg-Pommern (Teil 2) and Niedersachsen-Westfalen (Teil 3, ISBN 3-7749-1326-9) are described. Including pictures and road maps where the passage mounds are. It also includes separate volumes on the ground plans for 800 passage mounds (1:100). One passage mound is very interesting.

Stephenson, F.R.
Historical eclipses and earth's rotation
Cambridge University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-521-46194-4
Comment: All you need to know about eclipses.

Stout, G.
Newgrange and the bend of the Boyne
Cork University Press, 2002, ISBN 1 85918 341 7 (reprint 2003)
Comment: This book provides a lot of information of the the Boyne Valley, but pre-history or comnempary times.

Streit, J.
Sun and cross. From megalithic culture to early christianity in Ireland
Floris books, 1984, ISBN 0-86315-157-4 (German version 1977)
Comment: This book provides some insight in possible meaning of megalithic art, looking at Cairn T, Newgrange and Knowth.

Stuart, J.
Notice of excavations in the chambered mound of Maeshowe in Orkney
Proceedings of the society of Antiquity of Scotland, 5, page 248-278, 1965
Comment: Another report (see also here) of the opening of the Maeshowe mound. This report though discussed also in full detail the findings and translations of the Maeshowe runes. A discussion of the similarities between Maeshowe and Newgrange is also made.

Swerlow, N.M.
The Babylonian theory of th eplanets
Princeton university press, 1998, ISBN 0-691-01196-6
Comment:

Thom, A.
Megalithic sites in Britain
Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1967, ISBN 0198131488
Comment: A MUST
A must to get the idea what archaeoastronomy means. So information on all the principles: statistical ideas, (megalithic) astronomy, megalithic yard, types of circles, the calendar, etc.
The histograms of declinations will have to re-examined due to new methods found for the recalibration of the radiocarbon dates after this book was published (see remark page 5 of the book: Megalithic remains in Britain and Brittany).
The formula for the terrestrial refraction and the horizon dip seem to be overridden by new formula in Megalithic lunar observations.
The book of Brown, P. L. gives a good compilation all the Thom books.

Thom, A.
Megalithic lunar observations
Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1973 (some errors are corrected with regard to 1971 version), ISBN 0198581327
Comment:
The book of Brown, P. L. gives a good compilation all the Thom books.

Thom, A. and Thom, A.S.
Megalithic remains in Britain and Brittany
Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1978, ISBN 0-19-858156-4
Comment: A MUST
This book provides a lot of new sites in Britain (Avebury, Brogar, Stonehenge, Shetland, etc.) and Brittany (Le Menéc, Kermario, Kerlescan, Petit Menéc, Carnac, etc.) that are based on the megalithic yard. He also introduces through cup marks and rings on stones (art), the megalithic inch.
The book of Brown, P. L. gives a good compilation all the Thom books.

Thomas, N.L.,
Irish symbols of 3500 BC
1988 (reprints in 1996 and 2000), ISBN 0-85342-856-5, The Mercier press
Comment: This books provides a possible meaning to the art found in Knowth, Newgrange and Loughcrew. It is of course just a try to explain it. His view looks nice, and it is well worth! Most drawings are copies of Brennan, 1983. He also tries to prove that the year has 16 months (like Thom) and weeks of five days.

Thomas, N.L.,
Stonehenge calendar
2000, ISBN 0 95782 820 9
Comment:

Toussant, M.,
Les megalithis en Wallonie.
1997, ministere de la Region wallone.

Twohig, E.S.,
The megalithic art of western Europe
1981, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0 19 813193 3
Comment: The books holds a lot of pictures of art (some 250 pages!) coming from all over Brittany, Britain, Ireland , France and Iberia. Although the book discusses the art at Knowth and Newgrange, it does not hold the pictures of them (because the book was made at the time the excavations still took place). Pictures of Knowth and Newgrange can of course be found in the books of O'Kelly and Eogan.

Twohig, E.S.
Irish megalithic tombs
Shire publications, 2005, ISBN 0747805989
Comment:

Vergara, M.A. Calleros
Chichén-Itzá: Astronomical light and shadow phenomena of the great pyramid
Centro de investigacion Maya, Ediciones Alducin, Mexico
Comment:

Verner, M.
The pyramids: The mystery, culture and science of Egypt's great monuments
Grove Press, New York, 2001, ISBN 0-8021-1703-1
Comment:

Wace, A.J.B. and others,
Excavations of Mycenae,
Annual of the British School of Athens, XXV, 1921-1923
Comment: has detailed maps of the tholos tombs around Mycenae.

Wace, A.J.B.
Mycenae: An archaeological history and guide
Princeton University Press, 1949
Comment:

Waugh, A.E.,
Sundials: Their theory and construction
Dover Publications, New York, ISBN 0-486-22947-5, 1973
Comment: A lot of information about building sundials and their theory.

Werf van der, S. Y.
Ray tracing and refraction in the modified US1976 atmosphere
Applied optics, Vol. 42, No. 3, Jan 2003, page 354-366
Comment:

Williamson R.A.
Living in the sky: The Cosmos of the American Indian
Oklahoma, 1987, 1991, 366 pages, soft cover, illus., biblio., ISBN 0806120347

Williamson, R. A.
Archaeoastronomy in the Americas
1981, 1861.0273.no22
British library: X.805.2409

Wilson, R.
Astronomy through the ages. The story of the human attempts to understand the Universe.
Taylor&Francis, 1997, ISBN 0-691-05836-9
Comment: A book that provides input on when important astronomy issues (length of year, precession, sun as centre, etc.) where discovered (in writing, so oral discoveries before writing are not part of the book...). (Because of this?) In the chapter Ancient Astronomy not much talk is spend on the possible astronomy use of passage mounds/cairns, it is more oriented towards Greece, Mesopotamia, etc.

Wood, F. & Wood, K.
Homer's secret Iliad.
John Murray, 1999, ISBN 0-7195-5780-1
Comment: Another view how you can read the Iliad. It provides the idea that all the people in the Iliad are representations of the stars/planets/etc. in the sky. So the sky was a way to memorize the Iliad (or the other way around).

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