As the Minoans expanded their trading empire across the Mediterranean from Crete, first to the copper and tin mines of Iberia and then on to northwest France, Britain and Ireland, Gavin comes to the conclusion that they built – or more probably modified – circular observatories based on the Nabta blueprint that they had studied in Egypt.
The circles we are interested in are found in differing parts of the western world. Those mentioned so far may have varied in shape and size, but they had many important things in common. They were often accompanied by cursi; ceremonial pathways marked out by megaliths, that led the way into the stone circle. Built using a common measurement, the megalithic foot, they were constructed to record the same astronomical events – usually the rising or setting of the sun at equinoxes or solstices; the moonrise; moonset and the moon’s eclipse; and occasionally the rising and setting of Venus. Because of the different latitudes of these stone circles, different layouts were adopted to record astronomical events.
There is another common factor. All building on European stone circles ceased by 1450 BC, when Thera’s volcano erupted, destroying the Minoan civilisation.
Further reading:
The research of Thomas G. Brophy:
http://www.thomasgbrophy.com/
