Existing comment:
Woodhenge: A prehistoric solar calendar:
At least five large post-circle monuments were built at this location from AD 1100 to 1200, each with a different diameter and number of posts. Woodhenge III is the circle most extensively excavated and is the one reconstructed here, in the original location.
The sun rising above the bluffs to the east aligns with certain posts on the perimeter, as viewed from the central observation post. The most important alignments are the winter and summer solstices, marking the southernmost and northernmost sunrise positions, and the fall and spring equinoxes, when the sun rises due east, midway between the solstice posts. Also, at the equinoxes the rising sun appears to emerge from the front of Monks Mound, perhaps confirming a link between the sun and the chief who ruled from the top of the mound.
The excavations also revealed hundreds of houses and pits, showing this was a residential area before and after the construction of the Woodhenges. Fragments of wood in some of the holes indicate that red cedar, a sacred wood for most Indians, was used for the posts. |