CivilizationOne

PreviousbooksbyChristopherKnight(co–authoredwithRobertLomas)

TheHiramKeyTheSecondMessiahUriel'smachineTheBookofHiram

PreviousbooksbyAlanButlerTheBronzeAgeComputerDiscTheWarriorsandtheBankersTheTemplarContinuumTheGoddess,theGrailandtheLodge

ChristopherKnighthasworkedinadvertisingandmarketingforoverthirtyyears,specializinginconsumerpsychologyandmarketresearch.Hiswritingcareerbeganalmostbyaccidentafterhehadinvestedsevenyears

conductingresearchintotheoriginsofFreemasonicritualsandhehaswrittenfourbookstodate,co-authoredwithRobertLomas.Hisfirstbook,TheHiramKeywaspublishedin1996anditimmediatelywentintotheUKtopten,best-sellerlistandremainedinthechartforeightconsecutiveweeks.Ithassincebeentranslatedinto37languagesandsoldoveramillioncopiesworldwide,becomingabestsellerinseveralcountries.Henowdivideshistimebetweenmarketingconsultancyandhistoricalresearchforwritingbooks.

AlanButlerqualifiedasanengineer,butwasalwaysfascinatedbyhistory,andmadehimselfintosomethingofanexpertinastrologyandastronomy.Since1990,hehasbeenresearchingancientcultures,paganbeliefsandcomparativereligionandhaspublishedfoursuccessfulbooksonsuchtopicsastheKnightsTemplarandtheGraillegend.Heisalsoapublishedplaywrightandaverysuccessfulradiodramatist.

CIVILIZATIONONE

THEWORLDISNOTASYOUTHOUGHTITWAS

ChristopherKnightandAlanButler

Contents

Introduction

Chapter1TheGreatWallofHistoryChapter2TheTurningEarthChapter3TheHarmonyoftheSpheresChapter4SumerianDegreesChapter5TheRebirthoftheMetricSystemChapter6TheJeffersonReportChapter7GrainsofAncientTruthChapter8TheWeightoftheWorldChapter9TheMissingLinkChapter10WideningtheSearchChapter11MusicandLightChapter12Sun,MoonandMegalithicMeasureChapter13ANewParadigmofPrehistory

Appendices1EarthDaysandProvingtheMegalithicYard2TheFormulaforFindingtheVolumeofaSphere3MoreaboutMegalithicMusic4MusicandLight5ThePhaistosDiscandtheMegalithicYear6TheAmazingBarleySeed7TheMegalithicPrincipleandFreemasonry

DEDICATIONS

FormygrandchildrenSam,IsabelleandMax(plusothersyettoarrive).Mayyourchildhoodwonderandquestioningstaywithyouforlife.

CK

FormyFather,JohnButler,andinmemoryofmyMotherMary.

AB

ACDofMegalithicmusichasbeencomposedandperformedbyDeLoreantoaccompanythisbook.SamplesofCivilizationOne–TheAlbumcanbeheardandcopiesboughtatwww.civilizationone.com.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

KateButler,forherinvaluablehelpwiththeindex.FredCameron,forhisimportantcommentsregardingtheSumerians.FionaSpencer-Thomas,foreffortsaboveandbeyondthecallofduty.MichaelMann,whoseclosecooperationandadvicewasessentialtothisbook.PennyStopaandtheEditorialteam.TonyCrerar,forhiswelcomecontributions.HilaryNewbigin,forhermostwelcomeadvice.PeterHarwood,ourtechnicalexpert.

Introduction

Thesuper-cultureWasthereasuper-advancedcultureinprehistory?Ifnot,howcanitbethatthesupposedly unsophisticated people of Stone Age Britain possessed a fully-integrated system ofmeasurement based on a deep understanding of the solarsystem?Thehistoryofhumandevelopmentfromhunter-gatherertocitydwellersonce

seemedcomfortableandpredictable.Alloftheavailableevidencesupportedtheacceptedpictureofasmoothsocialevolutionlargelydrivenbytheingenuityofpeople living in theMiddle East. But then, over several decades, an eminentprofessorofengineering,AlexanderThom,annoyedtheworldofarchaeologybymakingastartlingclaim.HemaintainedthathehadfoundthatthestructuresleftbylateStoneAgemanhadbeenbuiltusingastandardunitofmeasurethatwasso precise that he could identify its central value to an accuracy thatwas lessthan the width of a human hair. The idea that these simple people fromprehistory could have achieved such accuracy flew in the face of all theworldview of most archaeologists. Not surprisingly, Thom’s findings werealmostuniversallydismissedassomekindofmistake.ProfessorThomcalledhisdiscoveredunitthe‘MegalithicYard’,buthedied

(in 1985) without ever being able to explain why people from the NeolithicPeriod,orlateStoneAge,circa3500BCmighthavebeenmotivatedtoestablishsuchameasureorhowtheycouldhaveconsistentlyreproducedsuchincredibleaccuracy.Even today there are many tens of thousands of these Megalithic stone

structuresstrewnacrosstheBritishIslesandthewesternfringesofEurope.Ourinitial quest was simple: we wanted to find out if Thom really had found aprehistoricmeasure or if he had been deluded by the huge amount of data hecollectedfromhissurveyingofsitesfromtheislandsofnorthernScotlanddowntoBrittanyonthewestcoastofFrance.WereasonedthatifThom’sMegalithicYardwas imaginary, it should be ameaningless value, but if itwas indeed a

genuineNeolithicmeasure, it should have somephysical reality behind it andsomekindofscientificmeansofreproduction.

TheconsequencesofknowledgeOur investigation ledus toa rediscoveryof the sciencebehind thisprehistoricunit: we can now demonstrate both its mathematical origin and its means ofreproduction, using themass and spin of the Earth. In identifying the preciseoriginofThom’sMegalithicYard,however,wesoonfoundthatwehadnudgedopenthedoorofavirtualtreasurechestoflostknowledge.Ourapproachhasbeen toapply forensic techniques toarchaeologyacrossa

span of cultures from prehistory (before 3000 BC) and the earliest times ofwritten history (after 3000 BC). We have found that there is a completelyidentifiable‘DNA’associatedwiththeoldestandpurestsystemofsciencethatappearsinthemostunexpectedplaces.Evenunitsofmeasurethatarebelievedtoberelativelymodern, fromthepoundand thepint to thegramand the litre,turnout tobe thousandsofyearsoldand linked to theverydimensionsof thesolarsystem.We have tried to keep our story as short and as clear as possible. A basic

knowledge of arithmetic is all that is required to follow our investigation indetail,sopleasehaveyourcalculatortohandifyouwishtocheckourfindingsstep by step. Additional information, frequently asked questions and newdevelopmentsareavailableonourwebsite:www.civilizationone.com.If you feel comfortable with the old idea that human development was a

smooth evolutionary journey from ignorant caveman to urban sophisticate, bepreparedtobeshocked.Theworldisnotwhatyouthoughtitwas.

CHAPTER1

TheGreatWallofHistory

TheinventionofwritingForget the wheel – it was the invention of writing that changed our worldforever.The firstwheelswere used for turning clay pots andwere later attached to

axlestoimprovetheefficiencyofmovingacrossdrygroundforagricultureandwarfare.Thiscertainlyhelpedintheproductionoffoodandaideditsdistributiontothegrowingcommunitiesthatbecametheearliestcities,butmajormovementsof people and goods relied mainly on sea lanes and inland waterways forthousands of years. The use of writing, however, had an immediate effect oncommerce.Someof theearliestdocumentscreatedwereconcernedwithships’manifestsandotherdocumentsoftrade.Lunarcalendarsexistedfromasearlyas20000 BC, carved on bone or antler, but ‘real’ writing developed extremelyquickly in Sumer and Egypt circa 3000 BC. It was this ability to recordinformation without relying on the honesty and memory of others that reallydrove mankind forward to begin an age that we define as the beginning ofcivilization,circa3200BC.The first great breakthrough in communication had happened nearly two

million years earlier when our distant ancestors, Homo erectus, developed alarynxposition lower in the throat thanotherprimates.Thispieceofevolutioncost these creatures their ability to breathe and drink at the same time, but itallowedthemtogenerateafarwiderrangeofsoundsthanhadpreviouslybeenpossible.Withavocabularyofthousandsofdiscerniblesounds,spokenlanguageisthoughttohavedevelopedveryquickly.Thesimplestformofvocalcommunicationmayhavebeenahuntingploy,for

exampletoimitatethesoundofananimalandthenpointtoitsdirection.Overtimetruelanguagedevelopedasabstractsoundswereusedtorepresentobjectsandactionsandthenassembledintosentencestoexpresscomplexissuessuchashumanemotions.Language allowed for information tobepassedon fromone

person to another but the next stage of developmentwas tomake a record ofhuman knowledge and experience by drawing a representation of the subjectmatter.Wecanseethatthedrawingsonthewallsofprehistoriccavesareakindof proto-writing. Any mark that records a specific meaning, either to theoriginator or to others, can fairly be called basic writing. The first writingsystemsweremadeupofhieroglyphs,whichwereused likeacartoonstripofpicturestocontaininformation.Theseearlywritingmethodscameintousejustover 5,000 years ago and slowly developed into abstract notation where themarkshaveameaningthatcanonlybeunderstoodbythosepeopletrainedintheprocess of encodement and decodement – reading. But it seems thatsophisticated meaning has been communicated by ‘writing’ for a great deallongerthanhasbeenthought.Dr Michael Rappenglueck of the University of Munich has shown how a

16,000-year-olddrawingofahorseinthecavesatLascauxinFranceisactuallya carefully recorded lunar calendar.1 What, at first view, looks like a veryattractivedrawingofhorse,isnowthoughttobeameansofkeepingtrackofthephasesoftheMoon.Thissurelyqualifiesaswriting.This level of intelligence in Palaeolithic Man is hardly surprising. As a

species, Homo sapiens has not changed significantly either mentally orphysically, forwell over 100,000 years.Wemay havemoved from the StoneAge to the Internet Age but each human being is no different today to theirforebear500generationsinthepast.Wemustalsorememberthatwhilemostofus have lives that have been shaped by the technological revolution, there aresomegroupsofpeoplearoundtheworldwhostillliveassimplehunter-gatherersin a genuinely Stone Age existence, for example someAustralian AboriginesandtribesinsomepartsofSouthAmerica.

TheremarkableSumeriansGiven that speech has been around for so long, it would be surprising ifcommunication through drawn symbols only arrived so very recently. Theearliestformofwritingthatisgenerallyacceptedassuchemergedmoreorlessatthesametimeasthewheel.BothwereinventedbytheremarkableSumarianpeople,whoarrived in the landnowknownas Iraq fromanunknown locationmore than 5,000 years ago. The Egyptians devised their earliest hieroglyphicsystemveryshortlyafterwards(probablywithin200years),justwhenUpperandLowerEgyptwereunitedintoasinglekingdom.Theso-calledcuneiform(fromtheLatincuneusmeaning‘wedge’)characters

developed by the Sumeriansweremade by pressingwedge-shaped sticks into

wetclay.TheseSumeriantabletsmaylookratherunimpressivetoustodaybutthese‘talking’patternswerethoughttohavepowerfulmagicbyordinarypeople.At first, the content of these documents was very basic, but as time went byimprovements added layers of sophistication until around 800 BC when theGreekscreatedafullalphabeticwritingsystemthatfinallyseparatedconsonantsfromvowels.TheperiodimmediatelybeforetheseearlyrecordswereleftbytheSumeriansandtheAncientEgyptianshasbecomeavirtualwall,separatingwhatwe call ‘history’ from everything that happened before – which we label‘prehistory’.Everything thatoccurredbefore theadventof truewriting isnowconsideredtobemythandlegendbecauseeverypieceofhumanknowledgehadtobetransmittedbywordofmouthfromgenerationtogeneration.

TheGreatWallofHistoryThis‘wall’effectactuallysaysagreatdealmoreaboutcurrentthinkingthanitdoes about the people who occupied our world before history began. Beinghuman,wetendtoviewourselves,andoursociety,asbeingsomehowdefinitive–themeasureof‘rightness’bywhichtogaugeothers.Duringthe19thandthefirsthalfof the20thcenturies, therewasanegocentricworldviewinacademiawherebywhite,Christian,maleexplorerswouldtraveltoseethe‘inferior’raceswho did not live ‘properly’. One English naturalist wrote of his disdain for agroupinTierradelFuegowhoshoutedathimfromacanoe:

‘Viewingsuchmen,onecanhardlymakeoneselfbelievethattheyarefellow creatures, and inhabitants of the sameworld.We often try toimaginewhatpleasures in life someof the lower animals can enjoy:how much more reasonably the same questions may be askedconcerningthesebarbarians.’

These were the words of the young Charles Darwin, a man who went on torealizehowallhumanityhassprungfromloweranimals.Today,academiaismuchmoreobjectiveandlessjudgementalthaninpreviousgenerations,buttheidealofanythingapproachingrealempathyisfrequentlyasdistantasiteverwasformuchofarchaeology.But,wewouldargue,ifwereallywant tobring intofinerfocus the landscape that liesbeyondtheGreatWallofHistory,wemustundergosomethingofafundamentalshiftinourmind-set.The subject matter of this book requires readers to open their minds to a

softer,more yieldingworldview that dissolves preconceptions and temporarilyallows the mind to roam freely over the subject matter, thereby allowingconsiderationofpossibilitiesthatmightotherwisebemissed.Theprinciplethat

appears to underpin standard academia these days can reasonably be called‘steppingstone’logic,wheredeductionsareoftenonlyencouragedinastrictlylinear fashion.By thismodeof reasoningonecanonlyproceedbyconfirmingeach step before looking for an incremental way forward. While it soundsentirely sensible, it can blind the researcher to factors that are outside theirexpectations. Albert Einstein is famously said to have observed that‘Imaginationismoreimportantthanknowledge’.Surelythegreatmanhastoberight:trueinsightscomefromthinkingoutsidetheboxratherthansimplytickingproceduralboxesinaneatrow.AveryfamousarchaeologistoncesaidtoAlanthatallofhisfindingsmustbe

dismissed because his starting pointwas, in his opinion,wrong.How foolish.Even ifsomeonedoesstartwithanerror it isentirelypossible thatsubsequentdiscoveriescouldberightifvalidatedwithoutrelianceontheoriginalpremise.Themodeofreasoningthatweinviteyou,thereader,toadoptwhilereading

this book is one we call the ‘tepee method’. This is a multi-dimensionalapproach to logical deduction rather than a classical linear ‘stepping stone’process. It simply requires that eachpieceof evidence is seen in itsown rightandisnotforcedtoconformtoanypreconceivednotionofwhatshouldbe.Evenwhere different elements of evidence appear to be mutually exclusive, wesuggest that they shouldbeallowed tocoexistuntil the timecomes fora finalanalysis.With the tepeemethod each strandof evidence is considered to be apotentialsupportingstick–andonlyifthereareeventuallyenoughofthemthatworktogetherdoestheargumentstand.Webelievethatthisistheonlyapproachtoexaminingthedistantpastthatislikelytoproduceacogentpicture,onethatdoes not pick and choose which facts it prefers to accept as ‘real’. As weconducted our research there weremany occasions where we felt the urge torejectafindingasacoincidencebecauseitdidnotfitwithwhatweexpectedtosee.Wesuspendedourjudgementandeventually,asanewpictureemerged,wewereverygladthatwehadnottriedtoforceourpreconceptionsontheevidence.Anyreaderswhofeelunabletoopentheirmindsrightupatthispointshould

closethebooknow.

TheAncientEgyptiansTheGreatWallofHistoryhasdistorted thewaymostpeopleviewthepastbytelescopingeventssothattheAncientEgyptiancivilizationisoftenthoughtofasbeing extremely distant, whereas in terms of the span of the existence of ourfully-developedspecies,itwasactuallyextremelyrecent.ThehugearrayofartefactsandrecordsleftbytheAncientEgyptiansprovides

a wonderfully strong picture of their lives and achievements. We know thenamesofkings rightback toKingMeneswhounified the two landsofUpperand Lower Egypt in approximately 3100 BC and ruled from the capital ofMemphisat theheadof theNileDelta.Thisgreatcivilization leftusbeautifulstructures such as the Giza pyramids and the Sphinx – and we can evenmedicallyexamine thephysical remainsofEgypt’s rulersand leadingcitizens,carefully preserved by skilful mummification. Archaeologists have estimatedthattheEgyptiansembalmedhugenumbersofbodies.Thoughseemingtobeamassivenumber,someclaimthatasmanyas730millionpeoplemayhavebeenmummifiedbetweenthetimeofKingMenesandthe7thcenturyAD,whenthepracticewasended.2AlthoughmanymummieshavenotsurvivedthescorchingheatofnorthernAfrica,itisbelievedthatseveralmillionarepreservedinyet-to-be-discoveredtombsandburialplaces.AsrecentlyasJune1999aburialgroundcontaining almost 10,000 mummies was discovered near the town of Bawiti,southwestofCairo.Weknowwhatthesepeopleate,withwhomtheytraded,aswellaswhenand

against whom they went to war. One 5,000-year-old Egyptian mace headcontainsarecordofagreatvictoryinwhichnolessthan120,000prisonersweretaken,togetherwith400,000oxenand1,422,000goatsthatwereliberatedfromtheenemy.3KingKhufu,whobuilttheGreatPyramid,wasevenkindenoughtoleaveusadismantledboatthathasnowbeenrebuilt.Asaresult,wecanbesurethattheEgyptiansusedonlywood,rope,reedsandthelikefortheircraft,whichcontainednometal.These people also left detailed records of their gods and their religious

practices.The famousBookof theDead is a largecollectionof funerary textsfromvarious dates, containingmagical formulae, hymns, andprayers believedby the ancient Egyptians to guide and protect the soul of the deceased on itsjourneyintothelandofthedead.Thetextstellusofabeliefthathappinessinthe afterlife was dependent on having led a life in keeping with a principleknownas‘Maat’–whichmeantdoinggoodtoallothers.

ThedarksideoftheWallThese examples make the point that our knowledge of the Ancient EgyptianpeopleonthissideoftheGreatWallofHistoryisveryextensive–butweknowonlyvery limitedamountsofwhathappenedon thedark sideof thewall.Forexample,theGreekhistorianHerodotus,referredtoasthe‘fatherofhistory’forhisnine-volumeworkwrittenintheearly5thcenturyBC,observedofEgyptthat‘there is no country that possesses somanywonders, nor any that has such a

number of works which defy description’. Herodotus is considered to be thestarting point ofWestern historicalwriting, although the accuracy of his factshas often been doubted bymodern scholars because they seemed to be ladenwithexaggeration.However,archaeologicalfindshavebeguntoshowthat thisGreekchroniclerwasextremelyaccurate.Forexample,HerodotushaddescribedthegreatcitywallofBabylonashavingbuildingsplacedontopofitandyetstillhaving ‘enough space between for a four-horse chariot to turn’. This seemedunlikelytoexpertsbutremainshavebeendiscoveredindicatingthatthewallwasofsuchawidth.Thanks to early scribes and historians like Herodotus we have a rich

knowledge of the last 5,000 years, but what do we know of cultures thatblossomedbeforethistime?After 100,000 years of what is assumed to be virtual stagnation, humans

began a completely new way of life in what is known as the NeolithicRevolution. It began approximately 12,000 years ago when people across theMiddleEast,EuropeandAsiaquitesuddenlyabandonedtheirnomadichunter-gatherer existence and began to opt for permanent settlements. They began tocultivate rice, wheat, rye, peas, lentils and other plants, and to domesticateanimalssuchascattle,sheep,pigs,andgoats.Technologyalsobeganaroundthistimewiththemanufactureofpotteryvesselsforcookingandstoringfood,stonesickles,andgrindingstonestoturngrainintoflour.Theterm‘Neolithic’meansnewStoneAge,anditreferstothetimewhenthe

firstfarmerstilledthesoil,planted,wateredandharvestedtheircropsandcaredfortheirnewly-domesticatedanimalsalltheyearround.IntheBritishIslestheNeolithic Period can be said to span from approximately 6000–1500BC. Thisnewlifestylewasmorelabourintensivethanhuntingandgatheringbutalsomorecertain,anditmaybethecasethattheNeolithicRevolutionwascausedbytheneedtoproducemorefoodasaresultofanincreaseinpopulation.Accordingtostandard interpretations of the available evidence, the world had created theplatform upon which civilization would eventually be built, but from ourperspectivetheseearlyfarmerswerestillverycrudeandunsophisticatedbecausetheyexistedonthedarksideoftheGreatWallofHistory.However,therewasoneStoneAgeculturethatappearstodramaticallyupsetsuchaneatparadigm.

BuildersandartistsOnthewesternfringesofEuropetherewasaculturethatlefttensofthousandsof structures that still stand today. From parts of Scandinavia and the Baltic,down tonorthernSpain andespecially throughout theBritish Isles these long-

departedpeoplebuiltwithenormousstonesandarethereforerememberedastheMegalithic builders – a name that literally means ‘giant stones’. The terms‘Neolithic’ and ‘Megalithic’ tend to be used interchangeably because it wasthesenewStoneAgepeoplewhobuilt thegiantstonemonuments. In the fifthandfourthmillenniaBCthesesupposedlyprimitivebuilderscreatedhugecirclesand other structures using stones weighing up to 350 tonnes, such as the 20-metre-high ‘Le GrandMenhir Brisée’ in Brittany. On the banks of the RiverBoyne in Ireland they left a beautiful circular construction now known asNewgrange,amassivestructureand1,000yearsolderthantheGreatPyramidinEgypt.Butthesepeopleleftverylittleelsetotellusabouttheirlivesandbeliefs.Theyhadnowritingassuch,whilemostoftheirartefactsthatwerenotstoneorpotteryhavelongsincerottedtonothinginthedampEuropeanclimate.ParticularandhighlyimportantmembersoftheMegalithicbuildershavebeen

named after the pottery fragments found around their encampments. They aresometimessimplycalledthe‘GroovedWarePeople’onaccountofthegroovedpatternstheychosetoetchintothewetclayoftheircookingutensils.For thousands of years the massive stone structures these people so

painstakinglycreated stood in silence.Theywereknownas ‘fairymounds’byruralfolkorsometimesuprootedbymorepragmaticfarmerstoclearthelandorto use the stone for their own building requirements. Few people gave anythoughttotheageorpurposeofthesegiantsinstone,untilarchaeologyevolvedas a serious discipline in the late 1800s. Even then,most early archaeologistsweremore interested in theexcitingpotentialofferedbyexcavations inplacessuchasEgyptandMesopotamiathanintheBritishIslesandEurope.

TheheavenlyarchitectsIt isnowknown that thesemysteriouspeople from theother sideof theGreatWallofHistoryhadasignificantinterest inastronomy,andmanyofthelargerMegalithic sites have been shown to have solar, lunar and stellar alignments.FromtheRingofBrodgarinOrkneyinthefarnorthofScotland,toStonehengeinsouthernEnglandandtothestonerowsofBrittanyinFrance,specialistshavecometorecognizethatthesepeoplespentalotoftimeobservingthemovementsof theheavens.Newgrange in Ireland, forexample,hasasingleshaft thatwascarefullyconstructedtoallowthelightofVenustopenetrateacentralchamberonceeveryeightyearsonthewintersolstice,shortlybeforedawn.4Venusmovesinsuchawaythatithasapredictable40-yearcycle,madeupoffivepatternsofeight years, giving the engineers who designed and built the Newgrangeobservatoryacalendarsoaccuratethatitcanonlybebeatentodaybytheuseof

atomicclocks.

AlexanderThomandArchaeoastronomySo, it is possible to understand something of the abilities and interests of theNeolithicculture,evenwithoutthebenefitofwriting.Onemanaboveallotherswasthepioneerofadiscipline that isnowknownas‘archaeoastronomy’–hisnamewasAlexanderThom.Alexander Thom was born in Scotland in 1894. He became a student at

GlasgowUniversity and later returnedas a lecturer in engineering.During theSecondWorldWarheworkedfortheBritishgovernmentbutin1945hemovedtoOxfordUniversity,wherehebecameProfessorofEngineering,aposthehelduntilhisretirementin1961.HisinvestigationsintoMegalithicsitesspanned50yearsanddidnotenduntilveryclosetohisdeathin1985.Thom’s interest inMegalithicstructuresbegan inhisnativeScotland,where

henoticedthatsuchsitesappearedtohavelunaralignments.Intheearly1930shedecidedtostudysomeofthesitesandbeganaprocessofcarefulsurveyingthatwastotakehimalmostfivedecades.Inadditiontohislecturing,AlexanderThom was a highly-talented engineer in his own right and he taught himselfsurveying,whichenabledhimtolookatmoreMegalithicsites–andingreaterdetail–thananyonebeforeorsince.From his first survey at Callanish, in the Hebrides off the west coast of

Scotland,Thomrealizedthatfarfrombeingcrudelyerectedthesestructureshadbeen carefully designed.He began to appreciate that the prehistoric engineershad an advanced knowledge of geometry and astronomy andmust have beenhighly-skilledsurveyors.Thomcontinuedhiscarefulsurveyingbeforepublishinganarticlein1951in

the Journal of the British Astronomical Association entitled ‘The solarobservations of megalithic man’. The results of his careful measuring ofMegalithic siteswere also published in three articles over several years in theJournalof theRoyalStatisticalSociety, thefirstappearing in1955andalso inhisthreebooks.TheapproachtakenbyProfessorThomwasentirelydifferenttothatadopted

by any archaeologist. Looking at the scale and obvious planning involved inMegalithic sites, Thom had been forced to conclude that the planners andbuildersmusthavebeenveryable engineers– just likehimself.Heknew thattheir levelofknowledgewasfarbelowhisownbuthehadnoreasontodoubttheir intellectual ability and ingenuity. He therefore carefully analyzed whatremainedofeachsiteandthentriedtoimaginewhatitwasthatthebuildershad

setout toachieve.Oncehehadapicture inhismindofwhathe thought theirplanhadbeen,hewentawaytocreatehisownsolutiontotheassumedproblem.Havingdrawnuphisowndesignhethenreturnedtocomparethesitelayouttohisownblueprint.

Mind-setandvisionThis simple yet radical approach was a stroke of genius. Thom quicklydevelopedatotalempathywiththeMegalithicbuilders.Afterall,whoelsecanbetterunderstandthemind-setofanengineerthananotherengineer?HerewasaleadingacademicwhohadchangedhisthinkingtolookattheothersideoftheGreat Wall of History. Thom did not assume anything about the Megalithicbuildersother thantoacknowledgethat theymusthavebeenskilledengineers.Unlike the archaeologists of the day he was not searching for more clues toconfirm existing theories and he had gathered data for many years before heevenattemptedtomakesenseofit.Thomdevelopedanunderstandingof theMegalithicmindandfoundthathe

could predict the location of missing stones; on further inspection, he wouldusuallyrevealthesocketholethatconfirmedhisexpectation.Thisengineerhada view of the landscape beyond theGreatWall ofHistory thatwas denied tostandardarchaeologistswhowerelimitingthemselvestoincreasingnumbersofsimilar excavations. Reassembling broken pots and analyzing discarded fooditemsinrubbishheapscanindeedbeveryrevealingabouttherealitiesofday-to-day life in the Neolithic Period, but it tells us virtually nothing about theaspirations of the builders and sheer enthusiasm for knowledge that appear tohaveemanatedfromthesoulsofthesepeople.

TheMegalithicYardThom made detailed studies of every site he explored and developed a newstatistical technique to establish the relative positions of the stones. Slowly,something totallyunexpectedemerged from theamasseddata. It appeared thatthevastmajorityoftheseprehistoricsites,fromtheislandsoffnorthernScotlanddown to the coast of Brittany, had been constructed using a standard unit ofmeasurement.According to Thom, the units he discoveredwere extraordinarybecausetheywerescientificallyexact.Virtuallyallknownunitsofmeasurementfrom the Sumerians and Ancient Egyptians through to the Middle Ages arebelievedtohavebeenbasedonaveragebodypartssuchasfingers,hands,feetandarms,andwerethereforequiteapproximate.Thomidentifiedaunitthathadbeen used in an area that stretched fromnorthernScotland towesternFrance,

and appears inNeolithic structures built during the 4th–2ndmillenniaBC.Hisdefinition of this unit of length was that it was equal to 2.722 feet/82.966centimetres.5Henamedthisunita‘MegalithicYard’becauseitwasonlyafewinches less thana standardyard.He found that thisMegalithicYardhadbeenusedinmultiples,includinghalfanddoubleformsaswellasbeingdividedinto40sub-unitsthathecalled‘MegalithicInches’.In1955,afteranalysingthedatafromthesurveyingof46circularstonerings,

Thomconcluded that theyhadbeen laidoutasmultiplesofa standardunitofmeasurement thathadbeenused throughoutBritain.6AlexanderThomandhissonArchie, who had begun to assist him in hiswork, eventually arrived at adefinitive length for the Megalithic Yard of 2.722 feet +/– 0.002 feet(82.96656cm+/–0.061cm).7Thom found small variations in the length of his Megalithic Yard but the

distributionoferrorwasutterlyconsistent,centringonatinyrange–notafuzzyzoneaswouldbeexpectedfromanancientmeasure.Thedistributiongraphofvariationskeptpowerfullycentringonasinglepoint.The engineerwas utterly perplexed, since he could not begin to explain his

ownfindings.Hewaswellaware thateven if therehadbeenapriesthood thatcut poles to the required length and then passed them on over the tens ofthousandsofsquaremilesinvolvedandacrossmanygenerations,suchuncannyaccuracycouldnothavebeentheresult.In1968hewrote:

‘This unitwas in use from one end ofBritain to the other. It is notpossible to detect by statistical examination any differences betweenthevaluesdeterminedintheEnglishandScottishcircles.Theremusthavebeenaheadquartersfromwhichstandardrods[arodcouldbeoftwotypes,butinthiscontexttheyarepiecesofwoodcuttorepresenttheMegalithicYard]weresentout…The lengthof rods inScotlandcannot have differed from that in England by more than 0.03 inch[0.762 mm] or the difference would have shown up. If each smallcommunity had obtained the length by copying the rod from itsneighbour to thesouth theaccumulatederrorwouldhavebeenmuchgreaterthanthis.’8

AtthattimeThom’sdatacouldnotbeexplainedbyanymechanismknowntobeavailabletothepeopleofthelateStoneAgeotherthantoassumethatallrodswere made at the same place and delivered by hand to each and everycommunityacrossScotlandandEngland.Eventuallyhewould find theunit inusefromtheHebridestowesternFrance,whichmakesthecentralrulerfactory

theory lookmost unlikely. He also found it impossible to imagine why theseearlycommunitieswantedtoworktoanexactstandardunit.Although he could not explain it, Thom stood by his data. While he was

puzzled,manypeoplewithinthearchaeologicalcommunitywerenot.Formostarchaeologistsitwasasimplecaseofanengineerplayingwithsomethinghedidnot understand and getting his facts wrong. This was not an unreasonableresponsebecausetheculturethatproducedtheMegalithicstructureshadleftnoother signs of such sophistication. Thom’s data was accepted but itsinterpretationwasalmostuniversallyrejected.However,whentheRoyalSocietyundertheauspicesofProfessorKendalwasaskedtocheckhisworkinordertofindtheerror,itrespondedbystatingthattherewasonechanceinahundredthatThom’sMegalithicYardhadnotbeenemployedonthesitessurveyed.Despite the fact that a number of leading archaeologists has subsequently

identifiedaccumulationsclosetowholenumber(integer)multiplesofaunitofapproximately 0.83metres.9 Thom’swork is still largely ignored on the basisthatitiswhollyinconsistentwithscholarlyopinionoftheabilitiesofNeolithicMan.Afailuretoexplainhowthisculturecouldhaveachievedsuchanaccuratesystemofmeasurementhascausedthearchaeologicalcommunity todisbelieveThom’s findings and put them down as some kind of statistical blunder. Asuggestion was put forward that Thom’s extensive data might reveal nothingmorethantheaveragepaceorfootstepofallthepeopleinvolvedinthebuildingofthesestructures.Afterall,ifenoughdataiscollectedandexamineditisboundtoproduceanaverage,assumingthatpeoplepacedoutlargedistancesandusedtheir palm-widths for smaller ones. At first this explanation sounds veryreasonable,evenprobable.ButProfessorThomwasnotafool–andhewouldhavebeenaverypoormathematiciantomakesuchabasicmistake.Therealityis that the ‘human pace’ theory is not a possible solution to the finding of astandard unit for two reasons. First, because the human stride varies farmorethanthesmalldeviationsfoundandsecond,becausethedistributioncurvewouldbeanentirelydifferentshape.This‘solution’tothedataissimplywrong.The difference in approach between Thom and the general archaeological

community is fundamental. In simple terms, archaeologists are experts in therecovery and cataloguing of manufactured artefacts that allows them tounderstandratesofdevelopmentandinfluencesbetweengroups.Theydiguptheremainsofhuman settlements andpiece together some ideaof the communityinvolved fromwritten records and from lost or discarded items. This processworkswellinplacessuchasEgyptwherethereisanalmostboundlesssupplyofartefacts and documents to give us an insight into the lives of its people.However,theprocedureislessthansatisfactorywhenconsideringthestructures

of Megalithic Europe because there are few artefacts to be retrieved and nowrittenrecordsatall.Dr Aubrey Burl, the highly respected archaeologist whom Thom quoted

extensively, confirmed to us that he did not believe in the reality of theMegalithicYard, stating that he had excavatedmanyMegalithic sites but hadnever found themeasurement.This statement reveals a collisionof techniquessince it isdifficult to itemizeone specificMegalithicYardat anyancient site.ThisisbecausetheunitinthesenseThomoftenfounditonlyrevealsitselffromthecarefulgatheringofhugeamountsofdataextractedfromeverysite.Although individual standing stones have been shown by Thom to have

moved very little over the centuries, an entire site must be meticulouslycataloguedbeforetheMegalithicYardreallymakesitspresencefelt.Douglas Heggie of Edinburgh University gives the arguments against the

validityoftheresultsclaimedbyThomintheirmostcompleteforminabook,where he questions the validity of the statistical approach.10Heggie suggestedthathaving‘found’whathethoughtwastheMegalithicYard,ProfessorThom,particularly in his later work, might have had his findings coloured by theexpectationofcertainresults.HealsoquestionedhowThomhaddecidedonthepointonanygivenstoneinanystructurefromwhichtotakehismeasurements.From his own approach to assessing Thom’s work Heggie came to theconclusion that if theMegalithicYardexistedat all it probablyonlydid so inScotland, and even then to a much less accurate degree of tolerance thanProfessorThomhadclaimed.DouglasHeggieisahighlyrespectedprofessorofmathematicsandAlexander

Thomwasahighlyrespectedprofessorofengineering–sowhoisright?Mostarchaeologists prefer to side with Heggie, almost certainly because the wholeideaofaprehistoricunitofmeasurementisatoddswiththeirviewofNeolithicachievements.ButarchaeologistswhohavecarefullyreviewedThom’sworkinthe field have a different view. For example, Tony Crerar, a researcher andengineer in Wales and Euan Mackie, an honorary Research Fellow at theHunterian Institute in Scotland are strong supporters of the concept of theMegalithicYard.DrMackiehasrecentlysaidofThom:

‘By exact surveying and statistical analysis he (Thom) demonstratedthatmoststonecirclescouldhavebeensetoutmuchmoreaccuratelythan previously supposed.Most are truly circularwith diameters setoutinunitsofa‘megalithicyard’of0.829metresor2.72feet.Othercircles had more complex shapes like ellipses and flattened circles,whose dimensions appear to be based on pythagorean triangles, also

measuredinmegalithicyards.Bysimilarmeansheshowedthatmanystanding stone sites pointed at notches and mountain peaks on thehorizonwhere theSunorMoon rose or set at significant times.Notonlydoesasophisticatedsolarcalendarseemtohavebeeninuse,buttheMoon’smovementsmayhavebeen studied carefully, evenup tothelevelofeclipseprediction.’11

TherewerequestionmarksovertheMegalithicYardbutthechallengelaiddownbythelateProfessorAlexanderThomstillremained.Inouropiniontherewereonlytwomainpossibilities:

1.Thom’sdatagatheringand/orhisanalysiswereflawed,andtheMegalithicbuildersdidnotusetheMegalithicYardasastandardsystemofmeasurement.

2.Thom’sdataandhisanalysiswerebothcorrect.TheMegalithicbuildersdidusethisstandardunitofmeasurementanditwasappliedwithgreataccuracy.

‘SticktoFacts,sir!’Itisamatterofrecordthattheacademicestablishmentprefersagentleevolutionto revolution in its thinking. No academic authority enjoys having its finely-tunedparadigmchallenged.ButitistimetoputtheMegalithicYardtothetest.So,wasthereawayforwardtoresolvetheauthenticityorotherwiseofThom’sfindings? Was it possible to investigate the suggested Megalithic Yard? Theproblemwasthattherewasstillarelativeabsenceofinformedopinionregardingthissubject.ThesituationbroughttomindthewordsofMrGradgrindinCharlesDickens’HardTimes:

‘Now, what I want is, Facts... Facts alone are wanted in life. Plantnothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form theminds of reasoning animals uponFacts: nothing elsewill ever be ofanyservicetothem…SticktoFacts,sir!’

Factscanbetrickythings,asthepointofviewoftheobserverwillalwayshaveabearingonthem.However,wecametotheviewthattheonlywaytoresolvethematterwastotrytoputsomemorefactsonthetable:facts thatcouldhelpeveryoneconcernedtohaveamoreinformedview.TodothiswedecidedthatweneededtotryanddiscoverhowtheNeolithicpeoplecouldhaveproducedtheMegalithicYardtosuchahighdegreeofaccuracyacrosssolargeageographicalareaandoversuchalongperiodoftime.Ifwecouldfindarealisticexplanation

of how the Megalithic unit of 0.8296656 metres could be created, it wouldjustifyareappraisaloftheexistingparadigmofprehistoryandpotentiallyrepairasubstantialholeintheGreatWallofHistory.

1http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/975360.stm2http://nabataea.net/items.html3http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/Ancient-Africa/mad_ancient_egypt.html4Knight,C.andLomas,R.:Uriel’sMachine.Arrow,London,2000.5Thom,A.:MegalithicSitesinBritain.ClarendonPress,London,1967.6ThomA.:‘AstatisticalexaminationoftheMegalithicsitesinBritain’.(1955)JournaloftheRoyalStatisticalSociety,A118,275-91.

7ThomandThom:MegalithicRemainsinBritainandBrittany.OxfordUniversityPress,Oxford,1978.Chapters3,4,6,7&8.

8Thom,A.:MegalithicSitesinBritain.OxfordUniversityPress,Oxford,1968.9Heggie,D.C.:MegalithicScience:AncientMathematicsandAstronomyinNorthwestEurope.ThamesandHudson,London,1981.Seealso:Renfrew,C.&Bahn,P.G.:Archaeology:Theory,MethodsandPractice,SecondEdition.ThamesandHudson,London,1996.

10Heggie,D.C.:MegalithicScience:AncientMathematicsandAstronomyinNorthwestEurope.ThamesandHudson,London,1981.

11Mackie,E.W.:July30th2003,see:http://www.dealbhadair.co.uk/athom.htm

CHAPTER2

TheTurningEarth

Does it reallymatter ifProfessorThomwas right about theNeolithicbuildershaving used the finely-defined standard unit of length that he called theMegalithicYard?Yes–itmattersagreatdeal.Ifhewaswrong,thesubjectofstatisticsneedsa fundamental reappraisal;but ifhis findingswere reliable, thesubject of archaeology needs equally careful reassessment. Further – if Thomwasright,thedevelopmentofhumancivilizationmayhavetoberewritten!Wewantedtoknow,onewayortheother:wereAlexanderThom’sfindingsreal?

ThetruthandtheEarthThere were two possibilities: either Professor Thom’sMegalithic Yard was agenuineunitonceusedbyNeolithicbuildersoritwasanaccidentalconsequenceofstatisticalmanipulationwithoutanyhistoricalvalidity.Wesawthattheonlyhopeofresolvingtheissue,onceandforall,wastoattempttofindareasonwhythis lengthofunitwouldhavehadmeaningforNeolithicbuilders,and then toidentify amethodology for reproducing such a length at different locations. Itwas a tall order, and failure to find a potentially meaningful origin of theMegalithicYard and a feasiblemeans of reproductionwould still not confirmthat it was a fabrication. Conversely, we recognized that success would notsufficientlyprovethatthemeasurementwasreal.WehavetoadmitthatwehadastartingpointthatsuggestedthatThomwas

correct, because Alan’s previous research had led him to believe that theMegalithic Yard was, and is, a geodetic unit. This means that it was derivedfrom the geometry of theEarth itself – specifically, itwas based on the polarcircumferenceof theplanet.1After studyingevidence from theMinoanculturethathaddevelopedontheMediterraneanislandofCretesome4,000yearsago,AlanhadconcludedthattheMinoanastronomer-priestshadregardedacircleashaving366degreesratherthan360degreesthatweusetoday.TheevidencealsosuggestedthattheMegalithiccultureofBritainhaddonethesame.Chrisstudied

Alan’s earlier findings closely and could see a logical reason why anyastronomically-basedculturemightconsiderthatthereshouldbe366degreesinacircle–fortheverygoodreasonthatthereare366rotationsoftheEarthinayear.Chris’s reasoning was straightforward. Everyone accepts that there are

approximately365¼solardaysinayear,andbecausewecannothaveaquarterofarealday,ourmoderncalendarhas365days to theyearwithanextra leapday at the end of February every fourth year. There are also other subtlecorrectionalmechanisms (forexample,addinga leapyear inmillenniumyearsbutnotincenturyyears)designedtosmoothouttheodditiesoftheastronomicalsystemthatgovernstheprogressofperceivedtimefordailypurposes.Whileweareallrelaxedabouthavinga365-dayyear,mostpeopledonotrealizethattheEarthactuallymakesjustover366turnsonitsaxisduringthesameperiod.Such devoted Sun, Moon and star watchers as the Neolithic people of the

British Isles and surrounding areas would have been acutely aware of thedifferencebetween the365-dayyearand the366 turnsof theplanet inayear.OnedifferencewasthedayoftheSunandtheother,ofthestars.

SolarandsiderealdaysTherearevariouswaysofdefiningadayand the twoprincipal typesarewhatwenowcalla‘solar’dayanda‘sidereal’day.Asolardayisthatmeasuredfromthezenith(thehighestpoint)of theSunontwoconsecutivedays.TheaveragetimeoftheSun’sdailypassageacrosstheyeariscalleda‘meansolarday’–itisthistypeofdaythatweuseforourtimekeepingtoday.Asiderealdayisthetimeittakesforonerevolutionoftheplanet,measuredbyobservingastarreturningto the same point in the heavens on two consecutive nights. This is a realrevolutionbecauseitisunaffectedbythesecondarymotionoftheEarth’sorbitaroundtheSun.Thissiderealday,orrotationperiod,is236secondsshorterthanamean solar day, and over the year these lost seconds add up to exactly oneextra day, giving a year of just over 366 sidereal days in termsof theEarth’srotationaboutitsaxis.Inshort,anyonewhogaugedtheturningofEarthbywatchingthestarswould

knowfullwellthattheplanetturnsalittleover366timesinayear,soitfollowsthat this numberwould have great significance for such starwatchers. If theyconsideredeachcompleteturnoftheEarthtobeonedegreeofthegreatcircleofheaven,withinwhich the Sun,Moon and planetsmove, then theywould alsologicallyacceptthatthereare366degreesinacircle.There really are 366 degrees in themost important circle of them all – the

Earth’s yearly orbit of the Sun. Anything else is an arbitrary convention. Itseemedtousthatthiswassologicalthatthe360-degreecirclemayhavebeenalateradjustmenttomakearithmeticeasier,asitisdivisiblebyfarmorenumbersthan the ‘real’ number of degrees in a year. In other words, the circle ofgeometryhasbecomesomehowdetachedfromthecircleofheaven.Howrightwewere,andthetruthof thesituationwouldbecomeall tooclear tousasourresearchprogressed.Having satisfied ourselves that Alan’s conclusion about a 366-degree

Neolithiccirclewas,atleast,tenablewereturnedtotheissueoftheMegalithicYardbeingageodetically-derivedconcept.Ifitwasindeedgeodeticinoriginitwas implicit that the Neolithic peoples of western Europe had measured andunderstood thepolar circumferenceof theEarth.At first view thismay soundfar-fetched–butitisnot.Inouropinionitisnotunreasonabletoassumethattheastronomer-priests of this period did indeed achieve this feat. Few, if any,experts deny that manyMegalithic sites were created for sky watching. Anyculture thatspentdozensofcenturiesstudying the interplayofsolar, lunarandstellarmovementsmustsurelyhavecometounderstandthattheEarthisagiantball. In the process it could quite readily have gained sufficient knowledge togaugetheEarth’ssize.Given that the human brain has enjoyed its current level of intellectual

processingpowerfortensofthousandsofyears,ithastobeacknowledgedthatprehistory must have had its share of individuals with the imagination andinsight of Isaac Newton or Albert Einstein. It is not outlandish, therefore, toassumethattheMegalithicbuilderswouldhaveestablishedthetruenatureoftheEarth, including measuring its dimensions using simple observationalastronomy.Indeed,theGreekmathematicianEratosthenesissaidtohavesingle-handedly calculated the polar circumference of the Earth in 250 BC to anaccuracyof99percentwithouttheconsiderablebenefitofthousandsofyearsofconcentrated observational astronomy known to have been conducted by thepeoplewhobuiltsuchsitesasStonehengeinEngland.Allthisdeductionseemedfairbutonetroublesomefactdidcauseustowince

alittle.Havingdecidedthattherewasnoinsurmountabledifficultyinmeasuringthepolarcircumferenceoftheplanetinordertosubdivideitintointeger(wholenumber)units,wehadtoacceptthatthepeopleconcernedmusthavepossessedareliable unit of linear measure prior to the Megalithic Yard. Some presentlyunknown unit simply had to be in place to measure the polar circumferencebefore this great distance could be recalibrated into a more useful geodeticsubdivision.Aftersomethoughtwerealized that thiswasnotaproblematall.Allwehadtodowastothinkabouttherelativelyrecentpasttounderstandhow

the history of human endeavour repeats itself if facts become lost. The 18th-centuryFrenchteamthatdevisedthemetricsystemhaddoneexactly thesamething in that theymeasured thepolarcircumferenceof theEarth inoldFrenchlinearunitsbefore theycouldcreate themetre,whichwas thendefinedasoneforty-millionthofthecircumferenceofthecirclethatpassedthroughbothpoles.What18th-centuryEuropeans couldachieve, so toocould the starwatchersofthe Neolithic Period. But the realization does add another level of surprisingexpertisetotheseotherwiseapparentlyunsophisticatedpeople.

BeautifulequationsOurnextquestionwas,‘Whatisthemodernestimateofthepolarcircumferenceof theEarth?’Given that our planet has an uneven surface and is not entirelyregular in every north-south cross-section, it would appear to be almostimpossible togiveanabsolutelyprecisemeasurement for itspolardimensions.Inevitablyestimatesvaryslightly,butthemostcommonvaluequotedis40,008kilometres,2adistancethatconvertsto48,221,838MegalithicYards(MY).Our hypothetical 366-degree polar circumference would therefore give us

131,754 Megalithic Yards per degree – a number that does not sound veryspecial. But Alan had reasons to believe that these early mathematicians hadsubdivided each degree into minutes and seconds of arc (part of thecircumference of a circle), just as we do today. In this instance however, itappears they fixed upon 60minutes to each degree of arc and 6 seconds to aminuteofarc.Thisproducedthefollowingresult:

fullcircleoftheEarth=

48,221,838MY

Well,thatdidnotlooktooexciting.Nordidthenexttwosteps:

onedegree(a366thpart)=

131,754MY

oneminute(a60thpart)=

2,196MY

Butthefinalbreakdownwastrulyremarkable:

onesecond(a6thpart)=

366MY

According to thisassumedsystemof366-degreegeometry,eachsecondofarcof theentireplanet is anamazinglyprecise366MY in length! It is incrediblyneat,butisitreal?

Anastoundingcoincidence:the‘Minoanfoot’TakingThom’sMegalithicYardof0.8296656metreswecouldreverse-engineertheprocessbymultiplyingitby366x6x60x366,givingasupposedplanetarycircumferenceofalittleunder40,010kilometres.Thisislessthan0.005percentawayfromourmodernestimateanditissocloseastobenegligible.WhiletherearenodecipherablerecordsfromtheNeolithicPeriodtoconfirmtheuseofthismethodofgeometry, there isstrongcircumstantialevidencetosuggest that the366x60x6principleofgeometrywasusedbytheMinoanculturethatexistedontheMediterraneanIslandofCrete4,000yearsago,whichoverlappedthetimeoftheNeolithicculturesofBritainandFrance.Canadianarchaeologist,Professor J.WalterGrahamofPrincetonUniversity

discovered thata standardunitof lengthhadbeenemployed in thedesignandconstructionofpalacesonCretedatingfromtheMinoanperiod,circa2000BC.Grahamdubbed thisunit a ‘Minoan foot’,whichhe statedwas equal to30.36centimetres.3This lengthheldnoparticular significance forProfessorGraham,ashehadnoreasontocompareit totheunitsThomclaimedtohavefoundontheothersideofEurope.Itdawnedonus,aswelookedatProfessorGraham’sfindings,thattherewas

somethingmorethansignificantaboutthesizeoftheMinoanfoot,whenlookedat in conjunctionwith theMegalithicYard andMegalithic geometry. ImagineoursurprisewhenwerealizedthatonesecondofarcintheassumedMegalithicsystem(366MY)isequalto303.6577metres–whichisexactly1,000Minoanfeet(giventhatGrahamdidnotprovidealevelofaccuracygreaterthanatenthofamillimetre).Thisfitcouldjustbeavery,verystrangecoincidence–butithastobenotedthatseveralresearchersnowbelievethattheMinoancultureofCretehadongoingcontactwiththepeoplewhoweretheMegalithicbuildersoftheBritishIsles.4Itseemedhighlyunlikelythat366MYand1,000Minoanfeetshouldbothfit

ourhypotheticalMegalithicSecondof arc soperfectlyby sheer chance, giventhattheybothappeartospringfromthesamegeodeticallysoundprinciple.WewerenowfeelingincreasinglyconfidentthattheMegalithicYardwasarealunitof length andnot a statistical blip as suggestedby somearchaeologists –whounfortunatelyhavenevertakenthetimetothoroughlyinvestigatetheissue.HavingdeterminedthattheMegalithicYardhadapotentialreality,therewas

still the problem of how it could possibly have been reproduced at tens ofthousands of different sites over thousands of years.We formed a hypothesisthat a group of advancedNeolithic astronomers had calculated theMegalithicYard from a detailed knowledge of the circumference of the planet, but theywould need a means of formally recording the length of the unit and ofdisseminating it across time and distance for general use by the builders ofhundredsorthousandsofindividualprojects.As we have demonstrated, the modern metre was derived from the polar

circumferenceoftheEarthanditwasfirstrecordedasthedistancebetweentwofine lines engraved onto a bar made of platinumiridium alloy. Later it wasredefined in terms of the wavelength of red light from a krypton-86 source.Since1983themetrehasbeendefinedasthelengthofthepathtravelledbylightinavacuumduringatimeintervalofone299,792,458thpartofasecond.WereasonedthattheMegalithicYardneededtoberecordedinawaythatwas

accessible to every builder, yet for themajority of theMegalithic Period thisculture did not usemetals of any kind. It is possible that two fine lines couldhave been cut into a rock at some significant location but such a procedurewouldbeopentoerrorandcouldnothaveproducedtheamazingaccuracyfoundby Alexander Thom. As he himself observed, wooden measures would havebeensubjecttodamagefromahostofdifferentsources.Ratherthankeepinga‘sample’, what our Megalithic mathematicians needed was a method ofreproducing the Megalithic Yard that was simple to use, very accurate andavailable to people dispersed over a large distance and across a huge span oftime.

ArepeatableunitofmeasurementItseemedtousthatanyonewishingtoaccuratelyrecreatetheMegalithicYardrequired something in the natural world that would offer them a foolproofmethod of recreating the subdivision of the polar dimension of the Earth thattheyhadalreadyestablished.Andithadtobeaprocessthatensuredtheunitoflengthwouldnotchangeacrosstimeorphysicaldistance.Wecametantalizinglyclose to resolving this problem back in 1998 when Chris was putting thefinishing touches to the manuscript forUriel’s Machine, a book he was co-authoringwithRobertLomas.Atthattimethethreeofusgottogethertotryandfind a mechanism that could have allowed Neolithic builders to reproduce aMegalithicYard,withoutbeinggivenaruler,thatwasaccuratetolessthansix-tenthsofamillimetre.5We had reasoned that if builders separated by time and space could

consistentlygeneratetheMegalithicYard,itseemedcertainthateachindividualhad followed some well understood process in order to create their ownMegalithic Yard in isolation. We proceeded by considering a shortlist of thepossiblecandidatesfromnaturethatcouldconceivablyofferarepeatableunitofanymeasurementtoahumanobserver.Thislistwastoproveveryshortindeed.Wewere quickly able to dismiss all livingmatter as a source of consistent

length.Plantsandanimalparts(includinghumanlimbs)varyconsiderablyfromoneexampletothenext.Wediscountedmineralssuchascrystalsbecausetheyalsovaryinsize.Afteragreatdealofconsiderationtheonlyoptionseemedtolieintheheavens,whichdidappeartobealogicalpossibilitybecauseweknewthatMegalithic sites had been constructed using stones carefully aligned with theSun,theMoonandtheplanetVenus.So,intheend,ourshortlistofpossibilitiesforanynaturally-occurringunitof

measurecamedowntojustonecandidate:theturningoftheEarthonitsaxis–exactly the same phenomenon that we have now identified as the originaljustification for idea of a 366-degree circle! A real pattern was starting toemerge.Through this careful process of eliminationwe had concluded that the only

naturalphenomenon that canbeaccuratelymeasuredbyman is thepassingoftime – which, we reasoned, could best be judged by watching the apparentmovementofstars.Theslowmotionofthestarsacrossthenightskyissimplydue to the Earth turning on its axis –which is as predictable and constant asanyonecouldreasonablyneedforallpracticalpurposes.AsfaraswecouldseetherewasabsolutelynoalternativetotherevolvingEarthasthebasisofanyunitofmeasurement.Backthen,wehadcometotheopinionthatstarswereamoreaccuratemeans

of appreciating the turn of the Earth than any of the other heavenly bodiesbecause of the complexity of planetarymovementswithin the confines of thesolarsystem.Onlyfarlaterdidwerealizethattheassumptionwehadmadewasverywrong.Ourfirstchallengewastopuzzleovertheissueofhowanyunitoftimecould

possibly be converted into a linear unit. Here we took a leaf from ProfessorThom’sbookandattemptedtodesignourownsolutiontotheproblemthatweassumedonceconfrontedtheMegalithicbuilders.Ifwecouldproduceamethodthatworkedforus,wereasoned,wecouldthencompareourresultwithevidencefromtheMegalithicsites.In order to become acclimatized to the problem we ventured out onto the

Yorkshire moors in northern England on a cold, starry night to soak up thedramaticmajestyoftheheavensthatswingovertheheadsofallhumanityonce

each day. The human eye is a remarkably adaptable light detector, able tofunction in bright sunlight and still pick up faint starlight.With practice it ispossibletoseedeepspaceobjectssuchastheAndromedagalaxy,andindoingsowe are observing light that left that faint smudge in the heavens some twomillion years ago – a period before our distant ancestors,Homo erectus, firststoodupright!We pondered the difficulty of turning the apparentmotion of the stars into

unitsof timewithout thebenefitofastopwatch.Todaywetaketheconceptoftimeforgrantedbecausewehaveclocksandwrist-watches tosynchronizeourlives, but most of us forget that the hours, minutes and seconds we use arethemselves only a convenient and artificialway ofmonitoring the spin of ourplanet.

ThependulumMeasuringtimeisarealproblemtoday,letalonemorethan5,000yearsago.WenowneededtotryandworkouthowtocreateunitsoftimefromthespinningoftheEarthonitsaxis,usingonlythetechnologyavailabletothepeopleofthelateStoneAge.Itseemedtough,butweeventuallyrealizedthattheanswerlayinapendulum.At theheartofa traditionalclock lies thependulum.Thewind-upspringor

electricalmotorismerelyamechanicaldevicetoprovideapowersourcetokeepthependulumswingingratherthanhavetoswingitbyhand.Andthedialontheclockfaceissimplyaconventiontogiveusastandardizedmeansofreadingoffagreed units of time. When we stripped away the modern aspects of amechanicalclockwerealizedthatitis,inessence,nothingmorethanaswingingpendulum.Wecould imagine thatahypotheticalMegalithicclockcouldworkperfectly

wellwithoutaclockworkmechanismoradial.Allweneededtocreatesuchatimepiecewasfortwoofustotaketurnstoswingapebbleontheendofapieceoftwinewithourhandswhiletheothercountedoffgroupsofcompletedbeats.Forexample,asmallstonecouldbeputinalineforevery100beats.This‘man-clock’ would work well enough to allow for very accurate astronomicalcalculationstobecarriedoutoverseveraldaysifnecessary.Thetimethatittakesapendulumtoswingisgovernedbyjusttwofactors:the

massoftheEarthandthelengthofthependulumfromthefulcrum(thepointatwhichitisheldandpivots)tothecentreofgravityoftheweight.Nothingelseisof significant importance. The amount of effort that the person holding thependulumputs into the swinghasnobearingon the timeper swingbecausea

more powerfulmotionwill produce awider arc and a higher speed of travel,whereas a low power swingwill cause theweight to travel less distance at areducedspeed.Equally,theheavinessoftheweightoftheobjectontheendofthe line is immaterial – a heavier or lighter weight will simply change thespeed/distanceratiowithouthavinganyeffectonthetimeoftheswing.ThemassoftheEarthisaconstantfactor,althoughtherearetinyvariationsof

the acceleration due to gravity at different latitudes and altitudes because theEarthbulgesslightlyattheequator,causingaminutechangeintheangletotheEarth’score.However,inanareathesizeoftheBritishIslesanyoneswingingapendulum for a known number of swings in a fixed period of timewill havealmostexactlythesamependulumlength.Pendulumscertainly seemed likeprimecandidates. Itwas self-evident tous

that thebuildersof thestonecirclespossessedsuchobjectsbecausetheycouldnothaveerectedtheirperfectlyverticalstandingstoneswithoutthem.A pendulum is nothing more than a swinging plumb line. All that was

required was a regular-shaped weight on the end of a piece of twine – andcertainlymanypebbleswithholesdrilledthroughtheircentreshavebeenfoundattheseancientsites.Theseareusuallydescribedas‘loom-weights’usedintheweavingofcloth,butsomecouldequallywellbetheremnantsofplumblines.

Asimplependulum

Whenwefirst lookedat thisproblemwithRobertLomaswehadoutlinedatechniqueofmeasuring the rotationof theEarthbystanding in thecentreofalargecircleandwatchingastarpassbetweentwopillarsthatwerespacedtobe

one 366th of the circle of the horizon. We found that we could produce apendulumlengththatwasveryclosetoahalfMegalithicYardbyswingingthependulum366 times during the passage of the star.The swings requiredwereactually closer to365½butwe reasoned that theuserwouldhavecounted thelastswinginfull.

ThemorningstarLongafterourjointinvestigationwithRobertLomasinthisexercisewasover,we returned to the issue of the small discrepancy betweenThom’sMegalithicYardandourpendulum-basedresult.Theprocesswehadidentifiedseemedtooclose to be plain wrong and yet what amounted to a half pendulum swingniggledawayatthepairofus.Themorewethoughtaboutit, themorewefeltwe had missed something very significant. We decided to investigate everypossibleoptionincludingtheuseoftheSun,Moonandtheplanetsasindicatorsofthepassageoftime.Ultimatelywefoundourcandidateand,oncewedid,wekickedourselvesfornothavingrecognizeditallalong.ItwastheplanetVenusthat our ancient ancestors had used to calibrate their pendulum and thereforekeepthesizeoftheMegalithicYardabsolutelyaccurate.Astar,beingmillionsofkilometresdistantfromoursolarsystem,willalways

appeartooccupythesameplaceintheskywhenseenfromEarth(exceptovervast amounts of time, which need not concern us here). But planets are adifferentmatter.Like theEarth,planetsareorbiting theSunandsowhenseenfrom the Earth, they havemovement that is independent of what we call thefixedstars.Thissituationissimilar toastageonwhichaplayisgoingtotakeplace.Thestage,withitsscenery,islikethestarrybackdropweseeeverynight,whiletheactorscanbeequatedwiththeplanets,whichcanmoveindependentlyofthestagescenery.AstheEarthturnsonitsaxisonceeachday,sothestarsappeartoturnover

our heads. There is one band of stars, known as ‘the plane of the ecliptic’,throughwhich theSun,Moonandplanetsof thesolarsystemappear to travel.Historically,thisbandwassplitinto12sections,knownasthezodiac.Patternsor‘constellations’ofstarsineachofthesectionswerethoughttolooklikesomeanimal,personorobjectanditisfromthiswederivethedifferentnamesofthezodiacsigns.Wemightstandandlooktotheeastonaparticularnightintheyearandsee

theconstellationofAriesrisingovertheeasternhorizon.AsthenightprogressesitwouldbereplacedbyTaurus,thenGemini,Cancer,Leoandsoon,untilonesidereal day later, when Aries would appear again. Against this backdrop we

wouldseetheplanetswhich,inadditiontoseeminglyfollowthestars,arealsoslowlyprogressingthroughthezodiacconstellations.ThespeedwithwhichtheplanetsappeartoustopassthroughthezodiacdependspartlyontheirdistancefromtheSunbutisalsomodifiedbythefactthatweareontheEarth,whichisalsogoingaroundtheSun.Becauseofthis‘lineofsight’effect,theplanetscansometimesevenappeartomovebackwardswithinthezodiac.Planetarymovementscanseemtortuouslydifficulttounderstand,particularly

those of a planet such asVenus,which is closer to theSun than is theEarth.FromourperspectiveVenuscanbeeithera‘morningstar’inwhichcaseitrisesbefore dawn and therefore ahead of the Sun, or it can be an evening star, inwhichcaseitisstillvisibleintheskyaftertheSunhasset(thoughofcourseitisn’tastaratall,evenifitlookslikeone).Butnomatterwhetheritisamorningoreveningstar,itstillmovesthroughthezodiacsigns,independentofthestars.ThereareperiodsineachVenus‘cycle’whenitachievesaspeedwithinthe

zodiac of as much as 1 degree and 16 seconds of arc per day. Since thismovementisoppositetothemovementofthestarsthemselves,Venuswilltakemorethanafullsiderealdaytopassfromaparticularpointonthehorizontothatsamepointagain.Wethenhad to thinkaboutouroriginalMegalithicpendulumexperiment in

whichweobservedastarpassingbetweentwopillarswiththesidesangledtobeat90degrees to thepathof thestars. IfweusedVenus insteadofastar, therewouldbetimesineachofitscycleswhenitwouldtakelongertopassbetweenthepoststhanwouldastar.Wediscoveredthatthis‘time-lag’wasjustenoughtoaccountforthemissinghalf-swingofourpendulum.

ThebracedframeworkforVenustrackingagainstapendulum.

TheVenus-trackingframeworkinposition.

The technique required was very straightforward. A circle had to beconstructed froma centrepoleusing a ropebeforedividing theperimeter into366 sections. This could be done by trial and error or by using a trick ofgeometry: making the diameter 233 units across (any unit will do) and thenmeasuring off 2 units on the circumference. The pendulumbearerwould thenstand in themiddleof thecirclewhileacolleagueerecteda square frame thathad an internal dimension equal to one Megalithic degree. The square wasadjusted until the pendulum bearer confirmed that its top and bottom werealignedwiththepassageofVenus.Thebearer thenstartedswinging thependulumwhenVenusappeared inside

the square and stoppedwhen it disappearedagain.Therewasno likelihoodoferrorsinceitisclearthattheseskywatchersknewtocheckVenusonaregularbasis. BecauseVenus sometimesmoves fasterwithin the zodiac than at othertimes, the very longest halfMegalithic Yard pendulum achievable within theVenuscyclewastheonetheywerelookingfor.Ifthebearerhadbeenabletocountexactly366swings,theyknewtheyhad

confirmed their pendulum as being a half Megalithic Yard. If the count wasshort, they repeated the process after reducing the length and, conversely, thelengthwouldbeincreasediftoomanyswingshadoccurred.There is no doubt about it. Our Megalithic ancestors calibrated their half

MegalithicYardpendulumnot using a star, but the planetVenus.Weberatedourselves for not hitting upon the Venus method earlier because both of ourrespectiveearlierresearcheshaveinvolvedthisplanet.Chrishadalreadyshownthat, in a ritualistic sense, Venus had been of stunning importance to the

Megalithic peoples as well as later groups such as the Babylonians, theCanaanitesandlatterly,theJews.6

TheimportanceofVenusWorkingwithRobertLomas,Chrishaspublishedfindingsthatdemonstratethehuge importanceofVenus to thebuildersof theMegalithicsites in theBritishIsles.Thegiganticandverybeautiful5,000-year-oldobservatoryatNewgrangewaspainstakinglydesignedtoletthelightofVenusintothecentralchamberforonlyminutesonceeveryeightyearsonthewintersolstice.7ThisandothersiteswouldhaveenabledtheNeolithicastronomerstomaintainacompletelyaccuratecalendar.ChrishadalsoarguedthattherewasreasontobelievethatthelightofVenuswasconsideredtobeinvolvedwithbirthandresurrection.Thisisbecausethe internaldesignofNewgrangeappears tohavebeenconstructed toemulatefemale reproductive organs and the light of Venus penetrates the passagewaylike a celestial phallus. Such mating between heaven and Earth was not anuncommonconceptinancienttraditionsandaccordingtotheRomanhistoriansthelaterCeltsaresaidtohaveconductedcopulationritualsatthespringequinoxandwomengavebirthatthewintersolstice–justasashaftoflightfromVenusexploded into the centre of the huge structure. At that very point is a lonecarvingdepicting three interlacedspirals,which representedninemonths– thegestationperiodofahumanfemale.Meanwhile,webothknewjusthowimportantVenushadbeentoarangeof

ancient civilizations, not least because the orbits of Venus act as a naturalcalendarreferencefortheEarthitself.ThereisarelationshipbetweenEarthandVenus that was always seen as being deeplymystical, in that five periods ofVenusarethesameaseightEarthyears.From Alan’s point of view, the realization that Venus could act as the

necessarypendulum-settercameasdirectproofofthevalidityofhisownearlierdiscoveries regarding the Phaistos Disc. The Phaistos Disc is a 6 centimetrebakedclaydisc,foundintheruinsoftheMinoanPalaceofPhaistosinCrete.ItdatesbacktotheMinoancivilization(circa2000BC).Appendix5givesagreatdeal more information about the Phaistos Disc and includes drawings of theartefact.For themoment it is sufficient to say that thisamazing littledisc isamultifacetedcalculatingmachine,basedontheMegalithic366-dayyear.Oneofthejobsitperformsistoindicatetothoseusingthisyearwhentocompensateforthe difference between the ritual year of 366 days and the true solar year of365.25days.However,thediscdoesmorethanthisbecauseitalsoprovidesthemathematicalframeworkforestablishingthepositionofVenusinthezodiacon

anyday–ever.Itdoesthisinaverysimpleway,explainedinAppendix5,butthe fact remains thatVenus tracking is an essential part of the abilitiesof thislittlecalculator.WhentheVenusexperimentwasundertakeninOrkney,Scotland,wheresome

ofthemostmagnificentoftheMegalithicmonumentsaretobefound,thesizeoftheresultingpendulumwasverysignificant.ThependulumwouldprovetobeahalfMegalithic Yard, the full length of whichwould deviate fromAlexanderThom’sfindingsbyastaggering1partin2,700.Allowingforthehumanfactor(thatsomeonehastoholdthependulumanddecidewhentostartandstopit)theVenus-basedhalfMegalithicYardpendulumwasperfect.OurresultwaswithintheveryfinemarginoferroridentifiedbyProfessorThom.This method of reproducing theMegalithic Yard was so simple it was not

evennecessaryforthemastermasontocountthenumberofbeatsinanymodernsense.Countingdoesnothavetobepartofatieredsystemsuchasthebasetenmethodusedtoday,inwhichweaddupinmultiplesoftenbyaddinganoughtafterthedigit.Anurseryrhymeoraseashantyisagoodwayofcountingoutaset number without understanding arithmetic. For example, reciting thefollowingpassagewhilepointingatasheepforeachwordwilltellyouwhetheryourflockof20isstillintact:

‘Eeny,meeny,miney,mow,catchamonkeybythetoe.Ifhesquealslethimgo.Eeny,meeny,miney,mow.’

Itfollowsthatmeasuringsomethingassimpleasthiscouldbeasoldaslanguageitself.Indeed,thewords‘eeny,meeny,miney,mow’arethoughttobeanancientBritishcountingtechniquefrommorethan4,000yearsago.

BeyondreasonabledoubtThere is no doubt that the Megalithic Yard is a superb integer of the polarcircumferenceoftheEarth–rightdowntoasecondofarcthatisanincredible366MegalithicYards in length.Once thisunithadbeendefinedbyobviouslygifted astronomers, these early scientists appear to have created a foolproofmethod that everymastermason could use to generate an accurateMegalithicYardstick.Thiswholeprocess isbrilliantlysimple,memorableandunerringlyaccurate.

Ofcoursetherewillhavebeenerrorsofjudgementwhentransferringthelengthfrom the pendulum to ameasuring stick but that is the kind of distribution oferror thatAlexanderThomfound.Because therewasaphysical realitybehindthe process, all errors deviated from a central point of 82.96656 centimetres.

PureNeolithicgenius!After several years of intense investigation we had come to a point where

therewereonlythreebasicpossibilitiesforAlexanderThom’sMegalithicYard:

1.TheunitthatThomthoughthehaddetectedathundredsofMegalithicsiteswasanerrorofstatisticalmanipulation.Thefactthattheunithedefined,towithina10,000thofamillimetre,justhappenedtosopreciselyfittheEarth’scircumferenceandwasreproducibleusingtheastronomicallykeynumberof366werebothcoincidences.Itfollowedthatthehypothetical366-degreegeometrysystemoutlinedwasnotrealandtheprecisefitof366MegalithicYardsand1,000Minoanfeettoanassumedsecondofarcwasafurthercoincidence.

2.Thom’sMegalithicYardwasrealinsomestillunknownwayandourinterpretationonlyfittedthefactsbysheercoincidence.

3.WehadrediscoveredthewonderfulsystemthatwasusedtodefineandrecreatetheMegalithicYard.

Itisuptoeachreadertocometotheirownconclusionastowhichoptionismostlikely to be correct. At this stage we were fully convinced that the first twooptions were not correct because of the number of outrageous coincidencesrequiredtosustaineitherview.However,littledidweknowthatwehadbarelyscratched the surface of a system that makes all modern approaches tomeasurementlooksimplycrude.Wehadjustbegunonajourneythatwastotapintotheveryfabricoftheuniverse.InsolvingtheriddleoftheMegalithicYardwebelievewehavemadeiteasy

for archaeologists to at last accept Thom’s findings without any fundamentalcontradiction of their existing views on the abilities of the builders of theMegalithicstructuresofwesternEurope.Butnowitlookedasthoughtherewasa fardeeperunderstandingof astronomybehind thecreationof theMegalithicYardthananyonecouldhaveimaginedandtheworldofacademicarchaeologyislikelytoresisttheideathattheNeolithicastronomerscouldhaveachievedsomuch. We share their surprise, but the balance of probabilities makes thecontinued rejectionofThom’sconclusionunscientificandmerely the resultofpersonalprejudice.One leading academic was brave enough to be generous about our early

attempt tosolve themysteryof theMegalithicYard. InSeptember2000ChrisandRobertLomasattendedtheOrkneyScienceFestivalwheretheysharedourfirst,albeitslightlyflawedexplanationoftheMegalithicYardwithArchieRoy,EmeritusProfessorofAstronomyatGlasgowUniversity.ProfessorRoy isnot

onlyadistinguishedastronomerbuthehadalsoworkedwithProfessorThominidentifying the archaeoastronomy present in Megalithic sites. He spent theevening checking themathematics involved inouroriginalmodel, baseduponthemovementofstars,andthenextmorningheannouncedthatthemethoddidworkinprinciple.HethenjoinedChrisandRobertinapublicdemonstrationofhowtheMegalithicYardmighthavebeencreated.ProfessorRoyaddedthathebelievedwe had opened up a new chapter in the understanding ofMegalithicMan.AlexanderThomhadneverattemptedtojustifyhisfindingsinculturalterms.

He did not believe it was for him to explain how or why the Neolithicinhabitants of western Europe developed the Megalithic Yard – like the trueengineerhewashesimplyreportedwhatthedatashowed.Thosewhowantedtoconstruct a smooth model of prehistory were not happy because of theconsequences of accepting that the Stone Age builders were actually verysophisticated.Itwassimplytooinconvenienttoevenconsiderare-evaluationofthestandardcredoconcerninghumandevelopment.The result is that few people of reputable scientific standing have looked

afresh at the late StoneAge and earlyBronzeAge cultures in and around theBritish Isles. The archaeologists gaze at their recovered physical artefacts andthey see a consistent picture – but maybe it is only consistent because theyignoreevidencethatdoesnotsuittheirmodel.NowwehaveestablishedthattheMegalithic builders were, beyond all reasonable doubt, using a highlysophisticated systemofmeasurementdespite the fact that everyotherpieceofevidencesuggeststhattheywerenotgenerallyveryadvanced.Thereseemedtobetwopossiblescenarios:eithertheseNeolithicpeoplewere

veryaccomplishedsurveyorsandastronomersortheyhadaccidentallystumbleduponsome importantnaturalphenomenonwhen theybased theircommonunitoflinearlengthonthedimensionsoftheEarth.Perhapstheydidnotunderstandwhatwashappening–butthenhowcouldtheMinoanshaveemployedthesameprincipleinadifferentapplicationifthewholethingwasanaccident?

Thisisreal!Averystrangepicturewasbeginningtoemergeanditseemedsensibletosearchfor any other evidence thatmight be available. If theMegalithic peopleweresmartenoughtodevelopacomplexsystemofgeometry,wehadtoassumethattheycouldhavedonemore.Havingcreated theirunitof length fromaunitoftime, the next obvious steps would have been to create units of weight andcapacity. Such amovewould have been an important building block towards

trade,whichwasinturnakeysteptowardstruecivilization.Itseemedtousthatifanintegratedsystemofweightshadonceexistedaround

the ‘366’ concept, thebest route forwardwouldbe to continue touseThom’sprinciple of asking the question, ‘What would I have done to achieve theassumed goal?’ Taking this simple philosophy Chris began a series ofexperiments that gave results thatwere to be as shocking as theywere totallyperplexing.

CONCLUSIONS

WehavebeenabletodemonstratethattheMegalithicYardwasreal,beingderiveddirectlyfromthepolarcircumferenceoftheEarthusingasystemofgeometrythatwasbasedonthenumberofrevolutionsoftheplanetinayear.

WhenwecomparedProfessorThom’sfindingswiththoseofProfessorGrahamrelatingtotheMinoanfoot,wefoundthatbothappeartobebasedonthishighlysophisticatedsystemofEarthgeometrythatassumedacircleof366degrees.Theprecisionofthegeometriccorrelationbetweentheseapparentlyunrelatedancientunitscausesustotakeasproventhepre-existenceofthesystemwhereasecondofarcofthepolarequatorisrespectivelyequalto366MegalithicYardsand1,000Minoanfeet.

WealsoidentifiedasimplemethodwherebyanyonegivensimpleinstructionscouldrepeatedlyandaccuratelycreatetheMegalithicYardusingonlybasictoolsandstraightforwardobservationalastronomy.

1Butler,A.:TheBronzeAgeComputerDisc.Quantum,London,1999.2See:www.earth-sci.com/Earthnmaps.html.

Seealso:www.hightechscience.org;www.earth.rochester.edu3Graham,J.W.:ThePalacesofCrete.PrincetonUniversityPress,London,1962.

4Castleden,R.:TheMakingofStonehenge.Routledge,London,1994.5ThomandThom:MegalithicRemainsinBritainandBrittany.OxfordUniversityPress,Oxford,1978.Chapters3,4,6,7&8.

6Knight,C.andLomas,R.:TheBookofHiram.Arrow,London,2004.7Knight,C.andLomas,R.:Uriel’sMachine.Arrow,London,2000.

CHAPTER3

TheHarmonyoftheSpheres

MegalithicsocietyWehavetoconcedethatthesocietythatexistedatthebuildingoftheMegalithicstructures in the British Isles does seem too primitive to have developed aprecise system of measurement. The lives of these people must have beendifficult, involving a permanent struggle to produce food and keep warm. Solittleisknownabouttheinhabitantsoftheseislandsinthesetrulyancienttimesthat they are remembered by the style of the pottery they left behind. Someearlier groups are now known as theGroovedWare people andUnstanWarepeople,withlaterrepresentativesoftheMegalithicculturedesignatedtheBeakerFolk.Allthesetermsrefertospecificdesignsorshapesofvesselscreatedbytheculturesorsubculturesinquestionandarchaeologicalfindsareoftendatedwithreferencetopotteryshards.The main upsurge in building began around the middle of the fourth

millenniumBCwhentheclimateoftheBritishIsleswaswarmerandwetterthanitistodayandwithaslightlylongergrowingseason.Itisknownthatinhabitantsof the regioncultivatedwheat andbarleybecause impressionsof thesecerealshavebeen foundonpottery fragments.Suchprintings are evident in examplesfrom across much of Europe and Asia and the cereal grains may be beendeliberatelyusedtoaddpatternstoprehistoricpottery.Weweretodiscoverthatgrain seeds, and those of barley especially, had a practical aswell as a ritualsignificancetoourancientancestors.Theseearlyfarmersploughedthegroundwithanimalbonesandplantedseeds

using a simple kind ofmattock or hoe before harvesting their cropswith flintsicklesandusingflatquerns(grindingstones)togrindthegrain.Expertsbelievethat it must have been a very wasteful process by any later standards. TheGroovedWarepeopleknewnothingofcroprotationandwhenthegroundwasexhausted,thefarmersmovedon,clearingthenextpatchofwoodlandwithstoneaxesandburningofftheremainingscrub.

Huntedspecies includeddeerandwildcattleandavailablemarine resourcescomprised freshwater and sea fish, especially shellfish including oysters,winkles, cockles, crabs, and razor-shells. Besides planted crops, wild plantresources, includingfruits,roots,hazelnutsandacornsweregathered,andropewas manufactured from fibrous plants such as heather, which was twisted.Husbanded livestock included sheep, cows, goats, pigs and dogs, which arebelievedtohavebeenintroducedfrommainlandEuropebetween4200–3500BC.Theevidencefromallthesettlementsitessuggeststhatsheeporgoatsandcattlewerekeptinapproximatelyequalproportionsbutpigswererelativelyrare.Movementacross thecountrysidefor thesefirstBritishfarmerswasdifficult

duetothickforestcoverandmarshesand,significantly,becausethewheelwasunknown inwesternEurope at this time.Heavy loadsweremovedusing landsledges and rafts.Water must have provided the best means of transport andexpertshavesuggestedthatsmallanimal-skinboatsratherliketheInuitwhalingumiakortheIrishcurraghwereused.Stone toolsmade from flint, chert beach pebbles and rum bloodstonewere

used and polished stone axe headsweremanufactured in Ireland from around4000 BC, before spreading to the rest of the British Isles. The dwellingsexcavatedfromtheperiodarerectilineartimberstructureswithstonebasesandturf roofs, typically about 6 x 6metres, although they were sometimesmuchlarger.

Theastronomer-priestsThelivesthesepeopleledwerebasicbutitisalmostcertainthatamongstthemexistedaclassthatwasdifferentfromthenorm.Itsexistencewasmadepossiblebecauseofsurplusfoodproductionandspecializationofcraftsandtrades.Thesepeople, thinkers and proto-engineers, doubtless supervised the building of theimpressive Megalithic structures that Alexander Thom could understandthousandsofyearslater.Ashunter-gatherers,thewholecommunitywouldhavebeen involved in thedaily struggle to find food andmakenewhomes as theymovedfromplacetoplace.Withtheadventoffarming,theculturecouldaffordtocreatetheconsiderablesupportstructureneededtocutdeephenges(circularditches), sometimes out of solid rock and to construct giant structures likeNewgrangeinIreland.Bythisstage,manypeoplemusthavebeenpermanentlyinvolvedwithbuildingandtheseindividualshadtobefed,clothedandhousedbytheeffortsofothers.Thenatureofthefinishedsitesclearlydemonstratesthatanelitehademergedwhichrepresentedthearchitects,thescientists,thethinkersand, no doubt, the poets.Thesewere the ‘magi’ – the astronomer-priestswho

hadresponsibilityfordesigningandbuildingtheMegalithicsitesthatProfessorThomstudiedsoclosely.It also appears that theremight havebeen a national networkofMegalithic

observatorieswithdifferentonesbeingusedforvaryingastronomicalpurposesdependent on the location of each. Had these structures beenmade to satisfypurelylocalorreligiousneeds,onewouldexpecttoseelesscommonalityinthestyleandlayoutthanisevidentacrossaveryextensivearea.One archaeological site found at Skara Brae in Orkney is particularly

interestingbecauseitmaywellhavebeenaMegalithic‘university’fortrainingastronomer-priests.Radiocarbondatinghasshownthatitwasoccupiedbetweenapproximately 3215–2655BCwhen it provided a series of linked rooms, eachwithmatchingstone-built furniture includingdressers,beds,cookingareasandsealedstonewatertubsforwashing.Archaeologistshaveidentifiedthatsecrecy,securityandplumbingarealsoapparentatthesite.Asecrethidey-holehasbeenfoundunderthestonedresserandaholeforalockingbarwaslocatedonbothsides of doors. In addition, a lavatory drain designed to run excrement alongwoodenpiping and into the seahas alsobeen excavated.Curiously, thehousedesignated by archaeologists as ‘number seven’was isolated and its doorwasbarred from the outside suggesting that it was designed to house an occupantbeingkeptagainsttheirwill.ThearchaeologistEuanMackiefirstputforwardtheideathatSkaraBraehad

beenakindofprehistoriccollegewhenhenoticedthattheremainsofthesheepand cows eaten there had far too few skulls for the number of carcasses. Heconcluded thatpre-butcheredmeathadbeen imported to the island,alongwiththe firewood required to cook it.1Because the islandhadnothing to trade, theonlyreasonableanswertothisarchaeologicalpuzzleis that theinhabitantshadbeen an elite group who where supported by the goodwill of a broadercommunityatadistance.Skara Brae also revealed some artefacts that have proved impossible to

understand. Small stone objects that have been exquisitely carved include twoballs: one 6.2 centimetres and the other 7.7 centimetres in diameter. TheirpurposeisunknownandthedeepdecorationappearstobeimpossibletocreatewithoutmetaltoolsasengineerJamesMacauleydiscoveredwhenheattemptedtoreproducethemusingtheknowntechnologyofthetime.

WeightsandmeasuresIfwehadbegunour quest by creating intellectual boundaries relating towhatwasandwasnotfeasibleforthisculturetoachieve,wewouldneverhavefound

thesolutiontotheMegalithicYard.However,wehadbeenveryimpressedwiththeunit,themethodforprovingitandalsoitswidedistribution,whichindicatedcommon values and perhaps religious beliefs. With this in mind Chris tookanotherspeculativestepforwardandbegantoconstructatheoreticalweightandcapacitysystemtoaccompanythatof time,distanceandgeometrythatwehadalready established. He started at the point in history at which many moremoderncultures appear tohave startedwhencreating suchunits;bymakingacubeandfillingitwithwater.Chrisknewthatthosecreatingthemetricsystemhadoptedforalengthofonetenthofametre,whichtheycubed.Thevolumeofwater in such a 10 x 10 x 10 centimetre cubewas designated a litre, and theweightofsuchabodyofwaterwasnamedakilogram.In our case, the linear units would have to be inMegalithic Inches, which

Thom identified as being one fortieth of aMegalithicYard, equal to 2.07415centimetres.TakinghisleadfromthemetricsystemChrisfirstconsideredacubewithsidesofatenthofaMegalithicYard–i.e.fourMegalithicInches(MI).Inmetric terms this turned out to have a capacity of a little over half a litre, at571.08cubiccentimetres.

The‘imperialsystem’AsheperformedthesimplesumonhiscalculatorChris thoughtherecognizedthe number produced and he quickly converted it into imperial units (thestandard measuring system still used in Britain). His brow furrowed and herepeated the calculation twicemore to confirmhis result.SomethingveryoddwashappeningbecausethetheoreticalMegalithicunitofcapacitywasequalto1.005pints–farclosertooneperfectBritishpintthananypublandlordachieveswhenpullingaglassofdraughtale!Ofcourse,thishadtobeacoincidence,butitwasareallysurprisingonenonetheless.Next,hedoubledthelengthofthesideof the cube to 8MI and the shock of the first coincidence was compoundedbecausethiscalculationproducedacapacityofoneimperialgallontothesameincrediblelevelofaccuracy.Adoublingagainproducedaunitequivalenttoanobsoletebushel,whichwasusedasadryweightuntilasrecentlyasthe1970s.AsChris stopped to think about the calculations he realized that the gallon

would have to fit the sameway as the pint because there are eight pints to agallon and a doubling of the side of a cubewill create a capacity eight timeslarger.Butthisfactdidnotdetractfromtheodditybecausetheimperialsystemisnotknowntobebasedoncubes.Theseresultswereoddintheextremeandalllogic said that they had to be a coincidence. We had already learned not todismissanyinformationsimplybecauseitdoesnotfitourownpreconceptions.

So,insteadoftossingthecalculationinhisofficebinChrispickedupthephoneandtoldAlanaboutthestrangecorrespondence.

‘What?’Alanresponded.‘That’scrazy!’

‘I’m not saying there is a connection – it has to be a coincidencebecausethepintandthegallonasweknowthemtodayaremedievalunits at best, and they have probably been restandardized severaltimes,’Chrisexplained.

Buthewentontosuggestthatwecouldnotsimplyignoretheresults,just because they seemed ridiculous. We should not rule out thepossibilitythattherewassomesortofoddballconnectionbetweentheMegalithicYardandtheimperialmeasurements,andadded,‘ThoughIhavenoideawhatitmightbe.’

Wequicklyestablishedthat thepintandthegallonhadhadavarietyofvaluesbefore the standardizationof imperial units in thevariousBritishWeights andMeasuresActsof the19th century, so the correspondencewith theMegalithiccubemightnotbemeaningful.However,welookedatexamplesofthepintfromearlierperiodsandfoundonlysmallvariations.OnethatwasalmostthesameastheimperialpintdatedfromthereignofHenryVII(1485–1509)andcheckingthisagainstthe4MegalithicInchcubeshowedthatitwasevencloserthanthemodernpint.Itwasalmostaperfectmatch,withadeviationoflessthan1partin1,000. Closer still was the standard pint identified for the Exchequer of theBritishgovernmentintheyear1601becauseithadanamazingcorrespondencewiththe4MegalithicInch–beingoutbylessthan1partin5,000.ToallintentsandpurposesthisElizabethanpintandthevolumeoftheMegalithiccubearethesamething.The pint had turned out to be much older than we imagined and early

examples show an almost incredible correspondence to our Megalithic cube.Whatitmeantwedidn’tknow,butweagreedtoacceptthevolumetricfindingswithoutjudgementandcontinuedtolookatthesubjectingreaterdepth.

ThenextdayChrisrangAlanagainwithsomeimportantnews.

‘You knowwe agreed to look at this area of theoreticalMegalithicvolumeswithoutself-imposedboundaries,don’tyou?’

AlanhadlearnedtoanticipateChris’spuzzlementorexcitement.

‘Yes,’heconfirmed.‘Sowhathaveyoufoundnow?’

‘Well, I thought for thoroughness Iought toconsider thevolumesofspheres with Megalithic dimensions in addition to the cubes. Thissoundsreallycrazy,andIwantyou tocheck thisout,but I thinkwehaveaproblem.’

‘Whatsortofproblem?’Alanwantedtoknow.

‘Theproblemofexplaining theapparently impossible,’ saidChris. ‘Istarted by checking out spheres with diameters of 5, 10 and 20MegalithicInchesandtheyalsoproducevolumesthatarequiteclosetothepint,onegallonandthebushel.Theaccuracylevelisn’tquiteasgoodasthecubesbecausethe5MIsphereheld1.027pints,whichisstillascloseasanyoneintherealworldwouldeverneed.Butaquickcheck of the rules that govern the relationship between cubes andspheresrevealedthattoanaccuracyof99.256percentacubewithasideof4unitswillhavethesamevolumeasaspherewithadiameterof 5 units, which made the findings odd but mathematicallyunderstandable.’

Alanwasintriguedbutpuzzled.

‘Ifthereisnomysteryaboutthepintsphere,whydidyousayyouhadtoexplaintheimpossible?’heasked.

‘WhatI’vetoldyousofaristheeasypartofthisconversation,becausemy next test took me from the rather weird to the downrightridiculous.Whatdoyouthinkthata6MIanda60MIdiameterspherewouldholdintermsofweightofwater?’

‘I can’t guess. What do they hold?’ Alan asked, with not a littleimpatience.

‘Well, the6MIsphereholdsa litreandweighsakilo, so the60MIsphere,10x10x10timesasmuch,holdsacubicmetreandweighsametrictonne.Andit’sincrediblyaccuratetoo.’

Alanlaughedalouddownthephone.

‘Haha,veryfunny...’Hepaused.‘Youarejoking,aren’tyou?’

‘No.Youcheck itout,Alan.Thenumbersdon’t lie.The fit isbetterthan99percentaccurateandwhenItestedthesameprinciplesusingmodern inches and centimetres for the spheres, there were nomeaningfulresultsatall.Somethingtrulyweirdisgoingonhere.’

Alan ran through thecalculationsduring theconversationandagreed that theywerecorrect.ThefactthatunitsofMegalithiclinearmeasurementsoaccuratelyproducemodern imperialmeasures of capacity when cubedwas a fascinatingcoincidence, but the spheres were something else altogether. For it to be afurther massive coincidence seemed almost impossible, yet for there to be aconnectionseemedevenmoreunlikely.The possibility of a random event in this case seemed minute because the

formula for finding the volume of a sphere (see Appendix 2) involves theconcept of pi (π), which is the relationship between the diameter andcircumferenceofacircle.Piisanirrationalnumber(thatis,onethatcannotbeexpressedasawholefraction)equalto3.14159265359…,butthenumbersafterthe decimal point apparently go on forever in a seemingly random stream ofdigits. This makes it very odd indeed that there could be a correspondencebetween the metric system and spheres that have Megalithic dimensions, notleast because the metric system was not developed until the end of the 18thcentury!At thispoint,wehadtwooptions:either toforget thewholematterassome

bizarrechanceevent,ortocontinueinvestigatingthewholeareawithoutpassingjudgement.Wechosethelattercourse,managingtoconvinceeachotherthattheresultsmightmakesensewithmoreevidenceandthepassageoftime.

TheMegalithicpintcubeAlan started to wonder what substances the Megalithic people might havewantedtoweighiftheyhaddevisedasystemofweightsandmeasures.Heknewthat it was within the bounds of the available technology of these people tocreateasquarevesseltoformacubebecausesealedwatercontainershadbeenfound at Skara Brae. Having manufactured his own 4 x 4 x 4 MI cube theobvious first thoughtwasgrain, specificallybarley andwheat.Hemanaged toget hold of some seeds of ancient strains and began to conduct practicalexperiments with his ‘Megalithic pint cube’. He quickly discovered that allgrains,whether barley,wheat or unpolished rice, behave in a very predictablewaywhenpouredintoacubecontainer.Thepointed,ellipsoidshapeoftheseedscausesthemtooccupyavolumethatis125percentthatofthesameweightofwater,bearinginmindthattherelativedensitiesofwaterandseedaredifferent.

Alan filled his pint cube with barley grains as carefully as possible and thentippedthemoutontothepanofapairofscalestoweightheresult.Thebarleygrainsweighedexactlyoneimperialpound!Furtherexperimentswithan8x8x8MIcubefilledwithbarleyconfirmed

thatitweighed8poundsandthe16x16x16weighed1bushel–aknowndryweightof64pounds.Thiswastrulyincredible.Apintofwaterandapoundofgrainbothappeared

tobederivedfromacubewithsidesonetenthofaMegalithicYardlong.Likeeveryoneinoursociety,wehavebeentaughtthatthepoundandthepint

are old units.However, nobody suggests these are ‘ancient’ units ofmeasure,andwewerealsoawarethatstandardizationtoprecisecurrentvaluesofboththepound and the pint is a relatively recent event. Yet, if we put aside our ownprejudicesandlookedat theevidenceasanobjectiveoutsidermight,wecouldseetheconclusionstaringusintheface.Stretchingcredibility,wecouldimaginewhatmighthavehappenedinNeolithicBritain.At some point in the distant pastwhen tradewas developing, someone had

created a system of weights and measures using the Megalithic Yard andMegalithic Inches as a starting point. Taking a length of one tenth of aMegalithicYardastheinternaldimensiontheycarefullycutfivethinpiecesofslateandsealedthejointswithfineclay.Thisinnovatorhadthenfilledthecubewithwateruntil themeniscuswasbowingat therim.Next theypouredoff thewater into a clay beaker and marked the water line on the inside to create astandardunit of liquid that just happens tobe the sameas an imperial pint.Afurtherprocedurewastofillthesamecubewithgrain,gentlypattingthetoptoensure that itwasas levelaspossiblewithin thecube.Our imaginaryscientistthenpouredthegrainontoasimplebalanceandchippedshavingsfromastoneon the opposite side until the scales were in equilibrium. This stone wasthereafterastandardunitofweightthat,onceagain,justhappenstobethesameasanimperialunit–themodernpound.Thishypotheticalearlytraderthuscouldhave created accurate and repeatable units of liquid measure and dry weightsimplybywatchingthemotionofVenuscrossingtheheavens.Whatamagicalthought!If the pound and the pint were reallyMegalithic, the parallels between the

Megalithicandthemetricsystemswerequiteastonishing.Bothbasiclinearunitswerebasedona subdivisionof thepolarcircumferenceof theEarth, andbothunitsofweightandcapacityweredefinedbyacubewithsidesonetenthofthelinearunit.The pound and the pint could be recreated anywhere by anyone with the

necessaryknowledgetowatchVenustravelacrossone366thpartoftheskyand

swing their pendulum the required number of times. By any reasonabledefinition these were divine units taken straight from heaven. There was nomagic in this, just science, andwhat ismore, scienceaspureandperfect as itwouldeverbeneedtobetocreateaspringboardforcivilization.Now,weaskedourselvesagain,isallthisperfectionjustchance?Anynormal

academicwouldhaverunawayfromthesefindingslongbeforetheyhadreachedthispoint,infearofsomuchridiculefrompeersthatitcouldspelltheeffectiveendofacareer.Butwearenotconstrainedbysuchpressuresandwehadarrivedatapointatwhichitwouldhavebeenunreasonabletorejectthethesisthathadunfoldedinfrontofus.

Howcouldthisintricateanddelightfulparadigmbeanillusion?Wenow felt thatwehad almost accidentallyopened an ancient door thatwaslettinginsomebrilliantlight.DespitethefactthatwecouldnotbegintothinkofamechanismthatcouldconnecttheMegalithicbuilderswithmodernunitssuchas the pound and pint, and the kilogram and litre,we felt sure that therewassomethingveryspecialhappeninghere.Themodernpoundiscorrectlycalledthe‘avoirdupoispound’.It isbelieved

tohavebeenfirstintroducedbythecountsofChampagneforuseatthefairsin12th-century France. The meaning of the word ‘avoirdupois’ is somewhatobscurebut itcouldrelate toOldFrenchandsimplymean‘objectsofweight’.For more than 150 years, approximately 1140–1320, the fairs of Champagneconstituted the internationalcentreofEuropeancommerce,creditandcurrencyexchange.Champagnewasanagriculturally-richregionnorthandeastofParis,withalargeandaffluentpopulation.Theprincipalfairswereheldinfourcitiesinthesouthwestoftheprovince:Lagny,Provins,Troyes,andBar-sur-Aube.Thefairsweremostlywholesaleoperationswithmerchantsbuyingandselling

among themselves, rather than selling in a retail sense. They are furtherdistinguished from normal markets by their great duration and by theirinfrequency.These great fairs lasted fiveweeks ormore, and only the city ofTroyes had more than one in a year. Many of the products traded wereagricultural in nature and the term ‘avoirdupois’ is thought by some to haveindicatedanythingsoldbyweight,suchasspices,metalsanddyes.

TherodWherethecountsofChampagneobtainedtheiravoirdupoispoundisnotknownandweagreed to return to this issuewhenwehadgatheredmore information.Chrisdecided to lookmorecloselyatallmodernmeasurements tosee if there

wereanyothernotablecorrelationswithMegalithicunits.Theimperialsystemissaid to have evolved from disparate units from the past, involving body partssuchaspalmwidths, feetandoutstretchedarms.Thestandard imperialunitsoflengthstillinuse,orusedinveryrecenttimes,formthefollowingtable:

12inches =1foot3feet =1yard5½yards =1rod4rods =1chain10chains =1furlong8furlongs =1mile

AsChrislookedatthisnowalmostredundantlistforthefirsttimesinceheleftprimaryschool,hefeltthatthesequenceappearedchaoticandthattherodstoodoutasbeingparticularlyoddat5½yardsor16½feet.Whiletheotherunitswereneatintegernumbers,therodgavetheimpressionofbeingalien–asthoughithadcomefromsomewhereelse.Asheconsideredtherod(alsoknownasapoleoraperch)henoticedthatitwasveryclosetosixMegalithicYards.Infacttherod is 6 Megalithic Yards to an accuracy of 99 per cent. Could it be, Chriswondered, that the rod was an ancientMegalithic unit? For thoroughness, hetriedtherodasapotentialmetricunitandthesurprisescontinuedbecauseitwas5metres–toanaccuracygreaterthan99.5percent.Bothofthesecouldeasilybe a coincidencebut thequestion that sprang tomindwas, ‘Had the rodoncebeenanancientunit thatwas tidiedup toequal16.5 feet at somepoint in therelatively recent past?’ He could see a hypothetical underlying Megalithicpatternthatwouldmakealotmoresense:

40Megalithic =1MegalithicYardInches6Megalithic =1MegalithicRodYards4rods =1chain10chains =1furlong(40rods=1furlong)8furlongs =1mile(320rods=1mile)

Asequenceof40–6–4–10–8lookedfarmorelogicalthanthestandardexplanationanditrequiredonlyatinyadjustmenttothemoderndefinitionoftherodtoachieveit.Thiswashighlyspeculativethinkingbutitwasproducingsomeveryinterestingresults.NextChristriedintroducinghistheoreticalMegalithic

veryinterestingresults.NextChristriedintroducinghistheoreticalMegalithicRodintothemetricsystem:

10millimetres =1centimetre100centimetres

=1metre

5metres =1rod200rods =1kilometre

ThehypotheticalMegalithicRodwasamazinglyaccurateinitsfitandentirelylogical.Nevertheless,wehadtoremindourselvesthatitsrelationshipwiththemetrecouldnotberealbecausethemetricsystemwasnotinventeduntiltheclosingyearsofthe18thcentury.Orsowethoughtatthetime!Theresultssuggestedthatthemileandthekilometrecouldbothbeunitsthat

developedfromthehypotheticalMegalithicRod:

1mile =1920MY =320MegalithicRods1kilometre =1200MY =200MegalithicRods

SoboththemodernmileandthekilometrearerelatedtoeachotherbytheuseoftheMegalithicYardandanassumedMegalithicRod.(NottobeconfusedwiththelengththatAlexanderThomcalledaMegalithicRod.AlexanderThomhadidentifiedaunitof2.5MegalithicYards,usedonmanyofthesiteshesurveyed.Hehadchristenedthis theMegalithicRod.)Accordingtostandardconversionsthere are 1.6093 kilometres to a mile and this Megalithic approach gives arelationshipbetweenthetwothatisalmostperfect.NextChrisconsideredtheimperialunitofarea–theacre,whichisdefinedas

4,840squareyards.HequicklyfoundthatitmadeagreatdealmoresensewhenviewedinMegalithictermsbecauseitrepresents5,760squareMegalithicYardswhichisaverylogical4x40MegalithicRods.Itcanalsobeexpressedas360packetsoflandeach4x4MY.Looking into now obsolete imperial units Chris also discovered that until

recentlytherewassomethingknownasa‘squarerod’whichisdefinedasbeingaratheroddball30¼squareyards.TheMegalithicRodonceagainmadesenseofitbecauseitwasanexact36squareMegalithicYards.

ThekeytoalostrealitySuddenly the imperial method was looking like a specially designed systembasedon theMegalithicYard,not the inch, footandyard.He lookedcloseratmetricunitsofareaandthesamepatternsemerged.Thehectare ismadeupof

10,000 square metres or 100 ares, each being 10 x 10 metres. In Megalithictermsthesecouldbeseenas:

1are =2x2MegalithicRods(12x12MY)

1hectare

=100unitsof2x2MegalithicRods

1hectare

=1kilometrex2MegalithicRods

Studyingotherobsoleteunitsprovedtobeveryinteresting.TheoldIrishacreof7,840squareyardsisastrangemeasureoflandthatturnsouttobe40MegalithicYardsx40MegalithicRodstoanaccuracygreaterthat99percent.Next,theoldScottish acre of 6,150.4 square yards appeared particularly bizarre until Chrisconsidered it in Megalithic terms and found that it is actually 75 MegalithicYardsx100MegalithicYardstoanaccuracygreaterthan99.6percent.WastheMegalithicYardreallytheunderlyingkeytoalostrealitybehindthe

modernmeasurement systems – both imperial andmetric?Wegot together todigestthisnewinformationandaskedourselveswhethertherewasapossibilitywewerebeginningtoseepatternsthatwerenotreallythere.Thenextprocedurewas to assess whether the relationships we had found using the assumedMegalithicRodwerereallyasremarkableastheyseemed.Thestartingpointhadbeen toconsiderwhether the rodof16½feet (198 inches)hadoriginallybeendefinedassixMegalithicYards.Wethennoticedthatthemetrealsofitsintothepattern. We looked again at all three potential versions of the rod in metricterms:

imperialrod =16½feet =5,029millimetres(100percent)

metricrod =5metres =5,000millimetres(99.42percent)

MegalithicRod =6MegalithicYards

=4,978millimetresYards(98.99percent)

They were close – very close – but any observer could be forgiven fordismissingthemasacoincidentalfit.ThewaythattheassumedRodmadesenseofsomanyoldunitssuchastheIrishandScottishacreswasenoughtostopusthrowing away the notion. But for the moment, we could only view these

observations asbeingofpotential interest if future findingswere to lend themfurthersupport.Ifnot,evenatthisstagewewerequitepreparedtodismissthewholeidea.WeremainedsomewhatscepticalaboutthevalidityoftheMegalithicRodbut

wenowhadnodoubts regarding theMegalithicweightsandmeasureswehadrecreated. Perhaps the best way forward would be to look at another, better-understoodculture,toascertainwhetherMegalithictechniqueswerebeingusedelsewhereintheworld,eitheratthesametimeasthewesternEuropeanfarmers,ormorerecently.

CONCLUSIONS

Acubewithsidesofone-tenthofaMegalithicYardholdsoneimperialpintofwaterandoneimperialpoundofgraintoaveryhighlevelofaccuracy.Doublingthelengthofthesidesproducesacapacityofoneimperialgallonanddoublingagainproducesaweightofonedrybushel.

SphereswithdiametersofsixMegalithicInchesholdalitreandweighakilo,whileaspherethatmeasuresoneandahalfMegalithicYardsacrossholdsonecubicmetreofwaterandweighsametrictonne.Itseems,atfirstview,thattheimperialandmetriccorrespondencemustbecoincidencebecausebothsystemsarerelativelyrecentconventions.

Investigationintotheoldunitoflengthknownastherodshowsthatitisextremelyclosetobeingequalto5metresand6MegalithicYards.Assuchitappearstounitethetwosystemsacrossallunitsoflengthandarea,evenmakingsenseofpeculiar,obsoleteunitssuchastheIrishandScottishareas.

Themathematicsareeasytocheckandthepatternthatemergesispowerfulandsimpleyet,accordingtostandardhistories,itshouldnotexist.Allofthismaybeacoincidenceofanunbelievablyhugekindbutwewerenotpreparedtomakethatassumptionatthatstage.

1Mackie,E.:TheMegalithicBuilders.PhaidonPress,London,1977.

CHAPTER4

SumerianDegrees

Wehaddetectedaverysurprisingsystemofweightsandmeasuresthatstemmeddirectlyand logically from theMegalithicYardandcouldhavebeen inuse inandaroundtheBritishIslesduringthelateStoneAge.Thishypotheticalsystemusesacommon-senseapproachandverysimpletechnology.Iftheseunitswereknown to theMegalithic builders itmeans that pounds and pintswere knownand inuse5,000yearsago.Ofcourse,wecanneverknowforcertainwhetherthese units existed because theMegalithic people had nowriting.However, itwouldhavebeenverystrangeforagroupofpeopletohaveusedveryaccurateunits of length for over 1,000 years and never to have adapted such units toestablishweightandvolume.Withoutameansofgaugingweightandvolume,traderemainsatabartering

levelwhereeachtransactionhastobeassessedbyvisualevaluationalone.Theability to identify a known quantity makes buying and selling a much morescientific process since it can be accurately repeated time after time. Usingmutually accepted units of weight meant deals could be done at long rangebecause it would be unnecessary to see the merchandise first to assess itsquantity.Forexample,twopoundsofdeermeatcanbeagreedtohaveavalueofonepintofbeer.Information is power, and it rarely just disappears. Indeed, the fact that the

Megalithicunitshaveanalmostperfectrelationshipwithmodernmeasurementsstronglysuggests that therehasbeenacontinuityof thisknowledgeacross theGreat Wall of History. We therefore decided to bring our investigation backacross that wall, to the first major civilization, to establish whether we coulddetectanyconnectionwith theMegalithicwayof thinking.Thatbroughtus tothe inventorsofwritingand the firstknownnationof international traders, theSumerians,who lived in a number of powerful and historically important citystates.

TheSumeriancivilization

Theregionoccupiedby theSumerianswasbetween theTigressandEuphratesriversinwhatisnowIraq/Kuwaitand,untilrecently,hasalwaysbeenknownasMesopotamia.PrehistoricpeoplesknownastheUbaidianshadoriginallysettledin theareaestablishingsettlements thatgraduallydeveloped into the importantSumerian cities ofAdab,Eridu, Isin,Kish,Kullab,Lagash,Larsa,Nippur andUr.Asthelandprospered,SemitesfromtheSyrianandArabiandesertsmovedin, both as peaceful immigrants and as raiders. Then circa 3250 BC theSumerians arrived and began to intermarry with the native population. Thesesmall, dark-haired newcomers were intellectually and technologicallysophisticatedandspokeanagglutinativelanguagethatisunrelatedtoanyotherknown language. (Agglutinative languages contain words formed through thecombination of smaller morphemes [units that cannot be further divided] toexpresscompoundthoughts.)AstheSumeriansgainedcontrolthecountrygrewrich and powerful, and art and architecture, as well as religious and ethicalthought,flourished.TheSumerianlanguagewasadoptedbythoseintheregionandeven inother lands itwasconsidered the languageof the intellectual.ThecuneiformsystemofwritingthattheSumeriansinventedevolvedintothebasicmeansofwrittencommunicationused throughout theMiddleEast for thenext2,000years.ItisalsobelievedthattheSumeriansinventedthewheel.The first recorded ruler of SumerwasEtana,King ofKish,who reigned in

approximately 2800 BC. The various city states frequently fought amongthemselvesandbythe23rdcenturyBCthepoweroftheSumerianshaddeclinedto such an extent that they could no longer defend themselves against foreigninvasion. The Semitic ruler Sargon the Great conquered the entire area andfounded a new capital at Agade, in northernmost Sumer, which became thewealthiest and most powerful city in the world. The indigenous people ofnorthernSumerandtheirconquerorsgraduallymergedtobecomeanethnicandlinguisticgroupknownastheAkkadians.TheAkkadiandynasty lastedaboutacentury,afterwhichapeoplefromthe

ZagrosMountainsknownastheGutianssackedthecityofAgadeandeventuallylaid waste to the whole of Sumer. After several generations the Sumeriansfinally threwoff theGutianyoke,and theonce-importantcityofLagashagainachievedprominenceduringthereignofGudea,between2144–2124BC.Gudeawasanextraordinarilypiousandcapablegovernorwholeftnumerousstatuesofhimselfthatstillsurvive.

TheBabyloniancivilizationFromabout2000BCtherewasaslowchangeofphasethatsawthedeclineofthe

Sumerian culture and the rise of what is called the Babylonian civilization,which flourished until the 6th century BC. The Babylonians modified andtransformedtheirSumerianheritagetosuittheirowncultureandethos,resultinginawayoflifethatwassoefficientthatitunderwentrelativelylittlechangeforabout1,200years.TheareacalledMesopotamiabytheGreeksisknownas‘thecradleofcivilization’andwashometotheSumerian,Babylonian,Assyrian,andChaldean cultures across thousands of years. It is difficult to isolate whichachievementsweremadebyeachgroupbecausetherewasacontinuousstreamofdevelopment,particularlybetweentheSumerianandtheBabyloniancultures.Inmanyrespectsitisunnecessarytoattempttoputcleardivisionsbetweenthesecivilizationsbecausetheyrepresentanevolutionofthesamemind-set.

Base10andbase60TheSumeriansareattributedwiththedevelopmentofmathematics.Theyusedacombination of the base 10 and base 60 (sexagesimal) systems of counting asopposed to the simple base 10 or decimal system we use today. We areaccustomed to thinking of 60 seconds to aminute and 60minutes to an hourbecauseoursystemoftimederivesfromthatoftheSumerians/Babylonians.Bygeneralconsensus, theSumeriansarealsoattributedwith inventing the ideaofhavinga360-degreecircle,witheachdegreebeingsubdividedinto60minutesandeachminuteinto60seconds.Ourfirstthoughtatthispointwasofhowsimilarthebreakdownofthecircle

was between the Megalithic 366 degrees and the Sumerian 360 degrees. Wewondered whether the Sumerians originally used the 366-degree system butmadeasmalldownwardadjustmentwhentheyinventedtheirbase60arithmetic.Afterall,beingabletodividethecircleinto6lotsof60musthavebeenmuchmoreuseful to them.However,wesoon found that therewasmuchmore to itthatasimpleroundingdownofsomeoneelse’ssystem.We had to remember that the number 360 was already important to the

Megalithic builders because they had ‘6 lots of 60’ in their Earth-relatedgeometry,inwhich366degreeswassubdividedinto60minutesandtheninto6seconds. This had been themethod that had produced a second of arc of thepolarequatorthatwas366MegalithicYardsinlength,whichwasalsoequaltoprecisely 1,000 Minoan feet. So, we already had some sense of continuitybetween the Megalithic people of Britain and the Sumerians, who existed ataboutthesameperiodbutwerethousandsofmilesdistantfromeachother.

Barleyseed

The next logical step was to look into what is known of Sumerian units ofmeasurement,beginningwithlength.Todaywehavehundredsofdifferentunitsforallkindsofspecializedpurposes,andtheSumerianswerenotsodifferenttoourselves.Also, aswithourcivilization,units changedoverhundredsofyearsbutdespitethesecomplicationstherewasalwaysoneunit thatwascentral toacultureinthesamewaythatthemetreistoEuropeandthefootistotheUnitedStates. The Mesopotamian cultures used a range of linear measurements atvarious times, depending on the item being measured, but there is a generalconsensusthatalinearunitknownasthe‘kush’or‘barleycubit’wasthemainunitoflengthduringSumeriantimes.Thekushwasmadeupof180‘se’(believedtobepronouncedsomethinglike

‘shay’)meaning‘barleyseed’.Sixseequalledone‘shu-si’,orhand,and30shu-siequalledonekush.Itisknownthatthekushwasveryclosetohalfametreinlengthandthereisnowanalmostexactdefinitionoftheirkush,thankstotwoofthestatuesoftheSumerianKingGudea,mentionedabove.AnumberofdioritestatueswereunearthedinMesopotamiabyErnestdeSarzecin1880andtwoofthese statues show King Gudea in a seated position with a tablet on his lapinscribed with plans for a temple. Along the side of the statue, opposite thefigure,isagraduatedrule,carefullyexecutedandclearlyintendedtobeahalf-kush. The length of this first-hand example of a Sumerian half-kush has beengaugedtobeapproximately24.97centimetres,whichwouldmeantheSumeriankushwasequivalentto49.94centimetresandtheoftenuseddouble-kush,whichProfessorLivioStecchinibelievedshouldbe99.88centimetres.1Unfortunately,we do not have a finely-honed definition of the double kush

because therearenot enough samplesavailable (compared toThom’sworkoreven that of Professor Graham) to extract one. We therefore took ProfessorStecchini’svalueaspossibly thebestestimate thatexists.However,wecanbecertainthatthedouble-kushwasremarkablyclosetobeingamodernmetreand,whilewemightoncehaveignoredthisasacoincidence,wewerenowopentoconsideringthattherejustmightbeaconnection.The fact that the kush was composed of 180 se, or barley seeds, was of

immediate interest, bearing in mind our discoveries about grain and theavoirdupoispound.Thisalsomeant that therewere360se in thedouble-kush,whichwasvirtuallyametre.Weaskedanexpert(seep.243–244)if therewasany available information regarding the smallest unit of Sumerian linearmeasurement. The expert, a professor ofmathematics, told us that ‘the barleyseedreferredtoasasewasnottobetakenasagenuinebarleyseedbecauseitwasmerelyaconvenientterminologyusedbytheSumerianscribes’.Hewentonto suggest that genuine barley seeds would be a fairly useless basis for any

measuring system.Wedecided to see if thiswas the case.As far aswecouldascertain, the barley seed has not changed a great deal since ancientMesopotamiantimes,sowestuckanumberofbarleyseedstogetherinrows,onadhesivetape,toseewhattheywouldmeasure.Withtheseedsendtoend,therearecertainlyfarfewer than180barleyseeds toabarleycubit.However,whentheyarearrangedsidebyside(seeColourPlatesection) theymeasureexactlywhattheseissupposedtomeasure,180barleyseeds(onaverage)tothekush.Wemention this little exercise to demonstrate the folly of failing to take thewordsofourancientancestorsseriously.Thesepeoplemostcertainlywouldnothave referred to a barley seed if they had been talking about somethingcompletelydifferent.(SeeAppendix6formoreinformationonourexperimentswith barley seeds.)This alsomeant that therewere 360 se (barley seeds) in adouble-kush and, if the double-kush were turned into a circle, each se wouldthereforebeequaltoonedegree.TheSumerianshadbeenfamiliarnotonlywiththekushorbarleycubit,but

hadalsoregularlyusedthehalf-kush(asdepictedontheGudeastatues)andthedouble-kush–justastheMegalithicbuildershadregularlyusedhalf,wholeanddoubleMegalithicYardsintheirconstructions.Itisstandardpracticetoassumethatallunitsoflengthusedpriortothemetric

systemwereapproximatemeasuresbasedonbodyparts,and thecubit isoftensaidtohavebeenthelengthfromtheelbowtothetipofthemiddlefinger.Whilethismayhavebeenusedasamarkettrader’sroughmeasureitseemedpatentlyabsurd to believe that such a consistently accurate unit was derived fromanyone’sbodyparts.Suchanideaisaninsult toapeoplewhowereobviouslyhighly talentedand intelligent individuals.Thequestion thenarose: ‘Whatwastheoriginofthehalf,fullanddouble-kush?’

TheVenustechniqueHavingalreadyidentifiedafoolproofprocessunderpinningtheMegalithicYard,thenaturalstartingpointwastoconsidertheVenusmethod.ItisknownthattheSumerians were great astronomers and they certainly invented geometry(attested toby themathematicalproblemswritten intohundredsofclay tabletsfrom theperiod), so they certainlyhad the ability touse theVenus technique.Again, we were in the happy position of being able to reverse-engineer theprocess. We could start with the supposed length of the half-kush from theGudeastatueforourhypotheticalpendulumandworkbackwardstofindoutthepossibleequationthatwouldhaveproducedthedesiredresult.Firstweneededto know atwhat rate a half-kush pendulumwould beat and, by nowwewere

very familiarwith the formula for arriving at theperiodof time taken for anypendulum of a given length to swing. Alan looked at the half-kush, ran thependulumformulathroughhiscalculator,thendiditagainbeforepickingupthephonetoChris:‘I’vejustcheckedouttheswingofahalf-kushpendulum,’AlanannouncedwithoutanypreamblewhenChrispickedupthephone.

‘Isitinteresting?’Chrisenquired.

‘Interesting? You want interesting – I’ll give you somethinginterestingalright.’

‘Goonthen,’saidChris.

‘One second! The pendulum period is one second!’ he shoutedtriumphantly. ‘Assuming thatStecchini’s lengthof99.88 isbangon,thetimeintervalisactually1.003seconds,whichisprettydamnclose,don’tyouthink.’

‘Wow!’ Chris replied. ‘The Sumerians invented the second of time,anditnowseemswemayhaveuncoveredthewaytheydidit.’

Tocomeoutwithafigure awayfromamodernsecondseemedmuchmorethan a mere coincidence. The double-kush of 99.88 centimetres also returnedexactly the same near-perfect fit, though in this case for one beat of thependulum. (Theperiod of apendulum is the swing fromone side to theotherandbackagain,whereas thebeat is the singlemovement fromoneside to theother.)WefeltjustifiedinrejectinganynotionthattheseSumerianprimaryunitsof length coincidentally produced such a good fit to the Sumerian-devisedsecondoftimewhenusedasapendulum.Itlookedasthoughthekushandthesecondwere two halves of the same phenomenon: the time period and lengththatwerebroughttogetherbytheacceleration(duetogravity)oftheEarthatthelatitude of Sumer. This realization is of great significance. Modern physicsaccepts that time and space (meaning linear distance) can be seen as differentexpressions of the same thing, which both the Megalithic peoples and theSumeriansseemtohaveknown,atleastatamathematicallevel.It did indeed seem that the Sumerians must have used the Megalithic

techniqueofmeasuringthespinoftheEarthbytrackingandtimingVenus.Thequestion was: ‘What part of a circle was used and how many beats werecounted?’ThisshouldbeeasytoworkoutbecauseweknewagreatdealmoreabouttheinhabitantsofthelandofSumerthanwedoaboutthoseoftheBritishIslesat that time.Westartedwith the logicalassumption that theywouldhave

usedoneSumerian/Babyloniandegreeandtherefore partofacircle–justaswewould today. Itwas then a straightforward calculation to establish that thedouble-kush pendulumwould achieve 120 periods or 240 beats in the time ittookVenus tomove throughone degree.Therefore, a Sumerian builder couldcheckhishalf-kushordouble-kushemployingexactlythesamemethodologyastheMegalithicbuilder,thoughinputtingthenumbersthatwereimportanttohisowncivilization.The resultwas todefine thesecondof time that is incrediblyclosetotheonethatwestillusetoday,producingaresultthatwastoallintentsandpurpose,thesameasthemetre.Thenumberswereonceagaintooneattobearandomevent.Thisexperiment

using the half-kush and one degree of the Sumerian circle could easily haveproduced in any odd number. However, this was not the case, and the resultclearly showed that the originators of the system had employed the Sumerianbasenumberof60.Thiswasevidentbecause120istwice60and240is4times60.Addedtogethertheyproduce360–thenumberofdegreesinacircle.While thiscalculationmadeperfect sense tous,weneeded toknowif there

was any record of the Sumerians/Babylonians using a period of time equal to240secondsasmarkedoutby240beatsofadouble-kushpendulum.Wesoonfoundthattheirbasicdivisionofadaywasknownasa‘gesh’and–amazingly–itwas240secondsinlength!Everythingfittedlikeabeautifuljigsawpuzzle!WehadearlierusedThom’stechniqueofreverse-engineeringtoworkoutthe

Venus and pendulum techniques used by the Megalithic people, though ofcourse in the absence of written records from this period and geographicallocation, we could not know whether the period of time during which theirpendulumswunghadbeengivenaname.ButtheSumerianshadkeptrecords–thegesh–andremarkablytheyhadanameforpreciselytheperiodoftimewehad deduced as being necessary for the method of making a half-kush and adouble-kush–thegesh.Therecouldbenodoubt–liketheMegalithicpeoplestheSumerianshadusedtheVenuspendulummethod!VenusisknowntohaveaveryspecialplaceinSumerianculture.Theplanet

was first known to the astronomer-priests or ‘baru’ as ‘Inanna’, whichmeant‘QueenofHeaven’.Later,Venuswasalsoknownas‘Ishtar’.HerewasfurtherevidencetosupportouroriginalhypothesisoftheMegalithictechnique.HavingappliedamethodologyfromMegalithicBritainwehadarrivedatamatrixthatinterweaves the second of time, the Sumerian kush, the Sumerian base 60system, the Sumerian 360-degree circle and the gesh (the basic Sumeriandivisionoftheday).Thechancesofallthishappeningwithsuchperfectionareasclosetozeroasanythingcouldeverbe!

TheSumeriancalendarThe existenceof the second and thegeshof 240 secondsmadeus thinkmoreclosely about the whole structure of Sumerian timekeeping. All experts areagreed that the Sumerians invented the 360-degree circle, which matched thenumberofdaysintheirritualyear.TheSumeriancalendarisknowntobelunarin origin and had probably sprung from roots so old they are lost to uscompletely. But we can be sure that the astronomer-priests of Sumer knewperfectlywellthattherewasasignificantdiscrepancybetween12lunarmonthsofjustover29½daysandthetruesolaryearof365¼days.The most important festival for the Sumerians was the barley festival, at

which timeChristiansnowcelebrateEaster.Then, asnow, itwas symbolicofdeathandresurrectionanditwascalculatedinthesamewayasEaster–asthefirst fullMoonafter thevernalequinox (oneofonly two timesayear that theSunrisesdueeastandsetsduewest,andthedayandnightareofequallength)whichfallsonoraround21stMarch.TheSumerianscalledthisfestival‘Barag-Zag-Gar’, and it represented the start of their year. The 12monthswere thencountedoffintolunarmonths,roundedupto30dayseach,givingthema360-dayyear.Theproblemofthedifferencebetweenthe360-dayyearandthetruesolaryearof365dayswassolvedbyallowingthesparedaystoaccumulateuntilthere were enough of them to add an intercalarymonth to the calendar. ThisextramonththeSumerianscalled‘Itu-diri’.ThisprocedureensuredthatthefirstfullMoonafter thebarleyharvestwas thatofBarag-Zag-Gar, as it shouldbe,andthebalancebetweensolarandlunaryearswasperiodicallyrestored.Just as the Sumerians had 360 days in a year, they split each day into 360

units known as ‘gesh’. Contemporary records show that the Sumerianastronomer-priestsoriginallyhad12ratherthan24hoursinaday.Theydidthisprimarilybecausetheyloved‘wheelswithinwheels’andtheysawthedayasamicrocosmoftheyear–astherewere12monthsintheyearthereshouldbe12hoursinaday.Afurtherreasonrelatestothezodiac.The Sun,Moon and all the planets of our solar system,when viewed from

Earth, keep to the same path across the heavens known as the ‘plane of theecliptic’.Fromanunknowntime indistantprehistory thisbandof theheavenshas been split into 12 sections associated with zodiac signs. Each section isnamed after groups of starswithin it,which have been interpreted as patternsthat became memorable to the stargazers over countless generations. TheSumerians,whousedtheconceptofthezodiac,weregreatMoonwatchers.TheyobservedtheEarth’scompanionplanetpassingmonthbymonthfromonezodiacsign to the next, with full Moons occurring in successive zodiac signs. In

addition, theywouldhavebeen aware that theSun appears tomove fromonezodiacsign to thenextduring theperiodofamonth.Thesesamezodiacsignspassed over their heads each day as the Earth turned on its axis between onesunriseand thenext.SinceSumerianssplit theyear into360daysand thedayinto 360 gesh aswell as dividing the day and the year into 12 equal units, itfollowsthattherewere30geshduringeachzodiacsign.The Sumerians were aware that the seasonsmoved through the full zodiac

once each year and the zodiacmoved overhead once each day. So here againwas a potentially deliberate ‘wheel within a wheel’ effect because they hadadopted the following pattern:

TheEarthrevolvesaroundtheSunonceperyear.ThebackgroundstarsareeffectivelystationaryandtheSunappearstomovebyoneMegalithicDegreerelativetothem.Afteroneyearthestarswillappeartohavereturnedtotheirstartingpositions.

year =12monthseachmadeupof30days

day =12hourseachmadeupof30gesh

OurnextstepwastolookatthebehaviouroftheMoonbecauseitoccurredtousthatthesegeshmightalsohavebeenconsideredtobealunarphenomenon.WeknowfromhistoricalrecordsthattheSumeriansjudgedtheperiodfromonefullMoon to the next as being 30 days,which is not too far away from its exactperiod of 29.53059 days and is, in any case, the nearest integer numberavailable.So,herewasanother‘wheelwithinawheel’.

TheturningEarthandthezodiac.

year=

360days

month=

360hours

day=

360gesh

Each of the Sumerian hours represented one degree of the Moon’s journeyaroundtheEarthandeverydegreeoftheMoon’sjourneywassplitagain,by60,togiveminutesofarcandby60againtogivesecondsofarc.After ten years of research, the answer came to us in a flash.Minutes and

seconds of time in the Sumerian 12-hour day wereMoonminutes andMoonsecondsofarc.Westillemploythemtoday,withoneexception.TheSumeriansareknowntohaveusedhalvesanddoublesofalltheirmeasuringunitsandfordifferentmathematicalpurposes.Theastronomer-priestsalsoconsideredadaytobe composed of 12 ‘double’ hours, which ultimately became 24 hours in theBabyloniansystem.TheEgyptiansalsouseda24-hourday,which is theroutebywhich the24hourshaspasseddowntoourowntimes.Whenthe lengthofthe hour was halved, knowledge of the minutes and seconds remained andbecausetherehadtobe60minutestoanhour,theseunitswerealsohalved.

TheSumerianminutesandsecondsoftimewereoriginallytwicethelengthoftheonesweusetodaybutwecannowseethattherewasarealconceptbehindthe secondof time: thepurposeof the secondwas to turn sky time into linearlength!ThefullSumeriantimesystemisutterlysensational!Notonlyisitbasedon

theSunandthestarsofthezodiac,italsotakesinthecyclesoftheMoon.Inanintegersense,theMoontakes30daystocompleteitscirclearoundthe

Earth.Thatcircleissplitinto360units,whicharehours.Eachofthesehoursissplitby60and60againtocreatesecondsoftime.Allofthisfitswitheverythingwe know about number usage. The main difference between the Sumeriansystemandourpresentdecimalsystemis that theSumeriansuseda60and10basecombined,whereasthedecimalsystememploysa10baseinallcases.TheSumeriansrecognizedthat360isaveryusefulnumber,sinceitisdivisiblebysomany other numbers. Most importantly it equals 6 x 10 x 6. As a result theSumerianpriestsusedacountingsystemthatalternatedbetweenmultiplesof6and 10 with symbols as shown below:

Sumeriansymbols.

Tensmallwedgesequalled1smallcircle,6smallcirclesequalledone largewedge,10largewedgesequalled1largecircle,andsoon.Thenumbersworkedasfollows:

Step Multiple Value1. 1

=1

2. x10=

10

3. x6=

60

4. x10=

600

5. x6=

3,600

6. x10=

36,000

7. x6=

216,000

8. x10=

2,160,000

9. x6=

12,960,000

10. x10=

129,600,000

ReligiousconnotationsIt is surely the case that there was also a deeply religious aspect to both thenumbersandthephenomenatheymeasured.Eventhesecondoftime(relatedastheSumeriansbelievedittobetotheMoon)probablyhada‘mystical’feelwhenassociatedwiththemagicofthedouble-kushpendulum.WecangetsomeideaofthiswhenwelookatSumerianmythology.Wehavealreadyobservedthatthefirst and therefore the most important month of the year was known by theSumeriansasBarag-Zag-Gar.ThismonthcommencedonthedayofthefirstfullMoon,afterthebarleyharvest.Thisperiodoftheyearcouldhavebeensacredtoonlyonedeity.Hernamewas‘Nisaba’,oneofthemostimportantdeitiesintheSumerian pantheon, and a goddess with very special responsibilities. Nisabawas, first and foremost, the barley goddess. We were intrigued to discover,however, that among her many attributes she was said to be the goddessresponsiblefor:‘Themeasuringlinestomeasuretheheavens.’2

AswelookedmorecloselyatthehumblebarleyseedweweresoontofindthatitheldspectacularpropertiesfortheSumerians.HavinglookedattheSumeriancivilization in the light of the principles used by the Megalithic builders wecould see a clear pattern to their units of length and those of time.We nowneededtolookattheirunitsofweightandcapacity.

WeightandcapacityWhenwe had deduced possible units ofweight and capacity fromMegalithic

units of length, they had turned out to be the same asmodern imperial units.NowweneededtoapplythesamelogictotheSumeriansituation.Becausethedouble-kushwassoclosetothemetre,wedidnotneedacalculatortotellusthatif theSumerianshadfollowedthesamerouteofmakingacubewithsidesonetenthofadouble-cubit,theymusthavebeenusingunitsalmostidenticaltothekilogramandthelitreforweightandvolume.Unlike theMegalithic situation, contemporary records of Sumerianweights

andmeasures still exist, so allwehad to dowas to lookup the units that areknown to have been used some 4,000 years ago inMesopotamia.Despite ourprevious discoveries, we were nevertheless stunned to learn that theSumerians/Babylonians had indeed used units that were effectively the half-kilogramand the litre!TheSumerianunit ofmass, the ‘mana’, is consistentlydescribedbyarchaeologistsasbeing‘abouthalfakilogram’,whilethe‘sila’,thebasicunitofvolume,hasbeenshowntobeveryclosetoalitre.The double-kush is said to be something very close to 99.88 centimetres in

length, so a cube with sides of one-tenth of this would have sides of 9.988centimetres.Thevolumeofwater that suchacubecouldholdwouldbe996.4centilitres, less than4centilitresshortofa litreof1,000centilitres,Thesila istherefore equal to the amount ofwater thatwould fit into a one-tenth double-kushcube.Theweightofthewaterinsuchacubeshouldrepresentthestandardunitofmass.However, themanaweighsaroundhalfakilogram,whereas it isclear that the trueweight of one litre ofwater should be a full kilogram.TheSumerians, like the Megalithic people, regularly used halves and doubles ofprincipal units andwewonderwhether the Sumerian texts have been slightlymisinterpretedandamanadidoriginallyweighakilogramor,morelikely,thattheSumeriansfoundthisunitcumbersomeandsohalveditformostday-to-daypurposes.WefoundthatwewerenotthefirstresearcherstosuggestthattheSumerians

usedcubestoturnlinearlengthintomassandvolume.ThelateProfessoroftheHistoryofScience,LivioC.Stecchini,remainedconvincedallhislifethatitwasobvious that theoretical cubes had been used by theSumerians to createmassand volume measures from the kush and double-kush. Present orthodoxydisagreeswith this premise, preferring to believe that thesemass and volumeweights were somehow tortuously derived from Sumerian units of area. ThegeneralargumentagainstStecchini’sideaisbaseduponthefactthatnocubesoftherightsizehaveeverbeenfound inSumer.The learnedprofessordismissedthisobservationbynoting that in thecaseof themetricsystem, ‘originalunitsforcubingone-tenthofametrewere,andstillare,cylindersandnotcubes’.Inany case, even if the cubes had existed, they would have been very few in

number and cannot reasonably be expected to automatically turn up in thearchaeologicalrecord.Our research has shown that the Megalithic people of the area around the

BritishIslesusedaunitoflengththatimpliesthattheycouldhaveandprobablydid use the equivalent of the imperial pound and pint. Now, using the samemodelwehaddiscoveredthatthepeopleofancientMesopotamiausedunitsoflength,weightandcapacitythathavearemarkablecorrespondencetothemetricsystem.Howcouldthisbe?The recorded origins of the units within the imperial system are just about

impossibletotracebutthemetricsystemwasdesigned‘fromthegroundup’byateamofscientistsworkinginFranceduringthelate18thcentury.Thechancesofthepoundandthepintsurvivingforthousandsofyearsseemremote,butdidtheFrenchdeliberatelycopytheSumerianunits?

ComparisonoftheMegalithicandSumeriansystemsofgeometryandtheconsequencesforweightandcapacityunits.

CONCLUSIONS

TheSumerians/Babyloniansusedasystemofmathematicsthatusedbase60,whichisthereasonwhywestillhave60secondstotheminuteand60minutestothehour.Theyalsoinventedthe360-degreecircle,whichwasalsosubdividedintominutesandseconds.Inaddition,theyusedastandardunitoflengththatisbelievedtobe99.88centimetres–almostexactlyequivalenttothemodernmetre.

TheSumerians’/Babylonians’double-kushof99.88centimetreswasreproducedbymeansofswingingapendulumwithabeatofonesecond240timestodefineaunitoftimetheycalleda‘gesh’.

TheSumerians/BabyloniansalsodevelopedanelaboratesystemofritualtimekeepingbasedonthemovementsoftheMoonwith360daysperyear,360hourspermonthand360gesh(240seconds)perday.

FromtheirunitoflengththeSumeriansderivedunitsofweightandcapacitythatareincrediblyclosetothekiloandthelitre.Toallintentsandpurposesitisfairtosaythatthemetricsystemwasinusemorethan3,000yearsbeforetheFrenchinventedit.

1Stecchini,L.C.:www.metrum.org/measures/index.htm2Fryman-Kensky:IntheWakeoftheGoddesses.FawcetColumbine,NewYork,1992.

CHAPTER5

TheRebirthoftheMetricSystem

The age of greatMegalithic building began before 3000 BC andmany of themajor siteshadbeenabandonedby themiddleof the3rdcenturyBC.The lastremnantsoftheMegalithicbuildersseemtohavedisappearedbyabout1500BC,whichmeansthattheycertainlyoverlappedwiththeMinoanculturethatclearlyusedthesame366methodofgeometry.FromtheIronAgeuntiltheriseoftheRomanEmpire,muchofwhatisnowtheBritishIslesandFrancewasinhabitedbytheCelts.ThereisnorecordofwhethertheCeltsinheritedanyoftheweightsand measures that had been used by the Megalithic builders but it is notunreasonabletoconsiderthattheoldunitsmayhavesurvivedinanoriginalorinamodifiedform.

FrenchweightsandmeasuresOnly with the spread of the Roman Empire did these far western regions ofEuropegainarecognizableuniformityintermsofweightsandmeasures.RomeheldswayoverGaul(France)andBritainuntilthebeginningofthe6thcenturyADwhentheRomanlegionswererecalledandtheareafellintothathistoricallymurkyperiodknownasthe‘DarkAges’.Thewithdrawalofthelegionsledtoapower vacuum in both Britain and Gaul which, through the peculiar set ofcircumstances prevailing, gave way to feudalism, a system under whichinternational tradewas not especially desired or encouraged. However, if anycountry was going to prosper and grow strong, a degree of cross-bordercooperation was inevitable. The process was helped somewhat by thedevelopmentofimportantsitesofcommerce,particularlyintheareaofnorthernFrancewhicheventuallybecameknownasChampagne.Inthe12thand13thcenturiestheChampagnefairs,heldregularlyinspecific

towns and cities in the region, positively encouragedmerchants from all overEuropeandbeyondtoexchangegoods.Thesewerehugetradefairs(ratherthanmarkets for consumers) that were held under the authority of the dukes of

Champagneandnew,orapparentlynewweightsandmeasuresappearedatthistime.ManyBritishpeoplewillbesurprisedtolearnthattheirmuch-lovedpoundandouncemadetheirfirstknownappearanceasFrenchunitsatthesefairs.It iscertain thatbothunitsof lengthandweightwerecreateddeliberately to

serve the fairs in an attempt to offer common measures that everyone couldunderstand and use without confusion. With the gradual demise in theimportance of the fairs and with so much fighting taking place between theemergingnationstatesoftheregion,unitsoflengthandweightoftenbecameastrictlylocalmatter,thoughfrequentlywithunderlyingaspectsoftheoldRomansystem. Britain struggled but somehow managed with a seeminglyincomprehensiblemuddleofdifferentunits,thoughthecountrywenowknowasFrancewasinanevenworsestate.Prior to theearly14thcentury,Francewasaseriesofdifferentstateswhich

hadnotbeenunitedsinceRomantimes.Thesewereonlyweldedtogetheragainas a result of conquests and dynastic unions resulting in virtual chaos,with awealth of different length, weight and volume unit names and sizes existingsimultaneously across the new country. Matters were made even morecomplicated by the fact that some units retained a common name in differentregionseventhoughtheydifferedinsize.ThechaoscontinueduntilsomenewdataonthecircumferenceoftheEarthwaspublishedin1670byJeanPicard,apriest and an astronomer living in La Flèche. Picard accurately assessed thepolarcircumferenceoftheEarthusingthedistancefromSourdonnearAmiens,toMalvoisinesouthofParis,ashistestarea.Thisgaveanotherpriestaninspiredthought.

AnewsystemFatherGabrielMoutonofStPaul’sChurchinLyonputforwardthesuggestionthatFranceshoulddesignacompletelyoriginalsetofdecimalizedweightsandmeasuresbaseduponanagreedfractionofthelengthofoneminuteofarcofthenewly-measuredpolarcircumferenceoftheplanet.Theideaimmediatelycaughtthe imagination of leading thinkers, but Picard did not agree with Mouton’ssuggestion for the means of devising a new linear measure. Instead, togetherwith astronomer Ole Römer (a distinguished scientist from Copenhagen whospentlongperiodsinFranceandGermany),Picardproposedthatthenewunitoflinearlengthuponwhicheverythingelsecouldbebased,shouldbepreciselythelengthofapendulumwithabeatofonesecondoftime.

The‘secondspendulum’

Theconceptofa‘secondspendulum’hadbeenfirstidentifiedbyGalileoearlierin the same century when he became the first recorded European to activelyexperimentwithpendulums,thoughitwaslefttotheEnglishmanIsaacNewton(1643–1727)tolaterestablishcorrectdimensionsforthesecondspendulum.ThedevicehadaparticularfascinationforNewton,whoexperimentedextensivelyinallmatters pertaining togravity.Newtonhad calculated that a freely-swingingpendulum,atalocationof45degreeslatitude,withabeatofexactly1second,would measure 39.14912 inches in length which was correct to within onetwenty-fivethousandthofasecond.(Whilethisisallofgreathistoricalinterestwe demonstrated in the last chapter that the Sumerians had achieved all theseobjectivessome3,500yearsearlier.)ItwasknownbythetimeofPicardandRömerthatgravitydidnotactequally

onallpartsoftheplanetbecausetheEarthisanobliquespheroidratherthanaperfect sphere. The astronomers seem to have favoured basing the new linearunit on the seconds pendulummeasured at Paris, thoughNewton’s 45-degreelatitudewasalsoconsidered,aswasasecondspendulumsetfortheequator.Despitethedebatesaboutthebestwayforwardnothingfurtherseemstohave

happened regarding the newFrench systemuntil the 14th July1789when theBastillewas stormed, ignitinga revolution thatwas tochange that country forever. The problem of the disparate weights and measures had been toleratedbecause there were always greater problems to be confronted but after therevolution,withthebeginningofacompletelynewregime,thepopulacecouldbe persuaded to change everything it had known for generations in terms ofweightsandmeasures.OnlyayearafterthestartoftheFrenchRevolution,in1790,theConstituent

AssemblyofFrancewasonthereceivingendofareportfromCharles-MauriceTalleyrand Perigord, Bishop of Autun. Talleyrand was a larger-than-lifecharacterandcertainlynoscientist,yetheresurrectedthepropositionofanewsystem of weights andmeasures, based on a standard to be derived from thelength of a pendulum at 45 degrees north (45 degrees being exactly halfwaybetweentheequatorandthepoles.)The reason for Talleyrand’s interference in suchmatters probably stemmed

fromhissuccessasadiplomat.AtalmostexactlythesametimeasrevolutionaryFrancewasthinkingintermsofanewmeasuringsystem,acrosstheChannelinEngland scientific minds were also turning in the same direction. Talleyranddesperatelywanted to achieve a lasting peace between France andBritain, anheroic effort thatwas doomed to failure. It is also known that he had friendswithintheBritishRoyalSocietyaswellasinLondon-basedmasoniclodges.Hewent so far as to suggest collaborationbetween theAcadémiedesSciences in

ParisandtheRoyalSocietyofLondoninordertotryandestablishthelengthofa seconds pendulum to the very highest level of accuracy.At the time, LouisXVIwasstill clinging to theFrench throneand theAssemblypassedadecreeaskingLouis towrite to theBritishking,GeorgeIII.The letterwas tosuggestthat:

‘Parliament shouldmeetwith theNationalAssembly for the fixationofnationalunitsofweightsandmeasuressothatcommissionersoftheFrench Academy could meet with an equal number from the RoyalSocietyinthemostconvenientplacetodetermineat45°latitudeoratanyotherpreferredlatitudethelengthofthe[seconds]pendulumandproduceaninvariablemodelforallweightsandmeasures.’

It isunlikely that the requestof theFrenchAssemblywasever acteduponbyLouis because no trace of such a letter exists inBritish archives.Louiswas aworried man and doubtless thought that to force an entirely new measuringsystem on a country already so troubled might be the last straw. Almost intandemwiththesuggestedlettertoBritain,theAssemblysetupacommissiontolook intoanewmetricsystem. Itwascomposedof fivebrilliant scientistsandmathematicians. These men were Laplace, Lagrange, Monge, Borda andCondorcet.ThereportproducedbythiscommissionwaspresentedtotheFrenchAcademyon19thMarch1791.Itwasatthistimethattheconceptofthesecondspendulumwasmoreorless

abandonedasthepreferredunitforthenewlinearmeasurementbecauseitwasreluctantlydecidedthatnotimepieceexistedthatcouldaccuratelymeasureonesecondoftime.ThecommissionwasleftwithnooptionbuttoreturntoFatherMouton’s original suggestion that the new unit should be derived from anextremely accurate assessmentof thedistancebetween theNorthPole and theequatorandtomakethenewlinearunitasubdivisionof thisdistance.Despitethis decision, the seconds pendulum was far from forgotten. One of thecommission’srecommendationswas:

‘Tomakeobservationsat latitude45° fordetermining thenumberofvibrationsinaday,andinavacuumatsealevel,ofasimplependulumequal in length when at the temperature of melting ice, to the ten-millionthpartofthemeridianquadrantwithaviewtothepossibilityofrestoring the length of the new standard unit, at any future time, bypendulumobservation.’

Thesubdivisionofpolarcircumference

Sothesecondspendulumwasretainedasasafetybackupshouldthenewunitoflengtheverbelost.ThisindicatesthattheFrenchteamhadchosenasubdivisionofpolarcircumferencethatwasasclosetothesecondspendulumastheycouldachieveusingaveryroundnumber.Theysettledononeten-millionthpartofthemeridianquadrant–whichmeantthatthenewunitwasoneforty-millionthparttheofthepolarcircumferenceoftheEarth.Thisunitwaseventuallytobenamedthe ‘metre’. It is clear from the wording of the report presented by thecommissionthatitwasawareoftheveryslightdifferenceinlengthbetweentheestablishedsecondspendulumandtheproposedlinearunit.Thesecondspendulumwasstillnotforgotten,eveninthelaterstagesofthe

drive towards the metric system. The report of the fieldwork was dated 30thApril1799.AmongitsobservationsasreportedbyR.D.Connorwasthis:

‘ThelengthofasecondspendulumatParisat0°Cinvacuumatsealevel is 0.99385 metres’. (This last is equivalent to a period of apendulumof length 1mbeing2.00618 seconds atParis, latitude 48°52.)

The seconds pendulum corrected metre came into official existence on 10thDecember 1799. However, the metric system in its entirety did not becomeobligatoryuntil1stJanuary1840.It issurprisinghowmanysourcesstillquotethe Emperor Napoleon as having instigatedmetrication, but nothing could befurther from the truth. Napoleon disliked the entire metric system and he isreportedtohavesaid:

‘Icanunderstand ofaninchbutnot ofametre!’

Havingsetthelengthforthemetrethecommissionidentifiedtheirlongestunitoflengthasthekilometreat1,000metres,andtheshortestwasthemillimetreat

ofthemetre.Inbetweentheyaddedthecentimetre,beingtentimeslargerthanamillimetreand100 timessmaller than themetre.Next they turned theirattention to the basic units of capacity and mass, which they derived in thesimplest manner possible. They took a length of one tenth of a metre (tencentimetres)andusedittodictatethesidesofacube.Thiscubewasthenfilledwith distilled water (under very strict temperature and pressure requirements)and thevolumeoccupiedby thewaterwascalleda litre,while itsweightwasdesignatedthekilogram.

The‘metric’systemSuddenlythemetricsystemhadbeenresurrected.Becausetheinspirationforthe

metre had originally been the seconds pendulum and because the Frenchscientistshadfollowed thesamelogicas theirSumerianforebears, thedouble-kushwasbackunderanewname!It appears that none of these French scientists questionedwhat a second of

time actuallywas orwhere it had come from, except that it representedpartofameansolarday.TheyknewithadoriginatedfromancientMesopotamiabut theSumerianculturehadnotbeenidentifiedat the time.ItwasmuchlaterthatarchaeologicaldigsinthesandsofMesopotamiabegantoturnupscoresofcuneiform tablets and slowly some people began to notice the amazingsimilaritiesbetween theSumerianmeasurement systemand themetric system.Professor Stecchini has shown how there was distinct embarrassment inacademic circles at the convergence of a new and scientifically-based systemwiththatofthemostancientdocumentedcultureontheplanet.Therewas once a great deal of controversy regardingMesopotamian linear

lengths,weightsandmeasuresandtheir‘fit’withthemetricsystem.Ithasnowbecome standard academic form to deny that either the Sumerians or theBabylonians could, or would have wanted to, create cubes or one-tenth thedouble-kush,inordertoproduceafullyintegratedmeasuringsystem.Thefactsareself-evidentandthereasonwhythemetricsystemissosimilar

totheMesopotamianmodelisnopuzzle.Themetrewaschosenonthegroundsthat it was a provable geophysical unit, adopted because it so closelyapproximatedthesecondspendulum,whichitselfwascaptivatingscientistsfromNewton’stimeonwards.Indeed,whentheImperialWeightsandMeasuresActsofthe19thcenturywerepassedinBritain,instructionsweregiventhatthesetooweretobecheckedagainstthesecondspendulumifthecreatedunitswereeverlostordamaged.TheFrenchteamthatdidnottrusttheirlate18th-centurytimepieceswouldno

doubt be amazed to learn that one day their metre would be defined as thedistancetravelledbylightinavacuuminatimeintervalof second.Wenowhavethesciencetomeasuresuchtinyeventsbutitremainsafactthatthetrue seconds pendulum lies behind this definition. Bearing in mind that apendulum length changes somewhat according to the latitude at which it ischecked,theastronomer-priestsofoldmadeanextremelygoodjobnotonlyofdefiningthesecondoftime,butalsoofshowingwhat itmeant inlinearterms.Thedouble-kushpendulumticksawaysecondswithanerrorofonlyone five-thousandthofasecond,anerrorthattoanyoneexceptthemostfastidiousGrandPrixracingdrivermeansnothing!We had been more than perplexed when we discovered that spheres with

diametersmeasuredinMegalithicunitsproducevolumesthatconformtocubic

metres, litresandmetric tonnes. Ithadseemed ridiculous in theextreme–butnowwecouldseeanunderlyingpatternemerging.Theuseofthesecondandthependulum had drawn the French team into the ancient matrix that held somedeeprealityfromtheturningoftheEarth.Wereallyneededtounderstandbetterwhatasecondof timeactuallyis,butfirstwedecidedtoseeif therewereanyotherrecentmeasurementsystemsthatmayprovideanadditionalpieceforourgiantjigsawpuzzle.

CONCLUSIONS

FollowingtheFrenchRevolutiontheAcadémiedesSciencesdecidedtointroduceanewsystemofdecimalweightsandmeasuresthatwastobebasedonthelengthderivedfromapendulumthatproducedatimeintervalofonesecond.UsingthisancientMesopotamianmeasureoftimewouldhaveautomaticallyreinventedthedouble-kushwithoutthefactbeingrealized.EventuallytheyhadtoconcedethattheirtimepieceswerenotaccurateenoughtomeasureaprecisesecondandtheythereforeusedasubdivisionoftheglobefromtheequatortotheNorthPoleasthebasisofthenewmetricsystem.Themetrethatwassettleduponwasone10,000,000thpartoftheEarth’squadrantandextremelycloseinlengthtothesecondspendulumthattheyhadoriginallywantedtoachieve.

Thesecondspendulumwasusedasabackupmeansofrecreatingthemetreandeventheimperialsystemusedthissametechniqueforpossibleemergencies.Havingreinventedthedouble-kushtheFrenchthenproceededtoreincarnatetheancientMesopotamianunitsofweightandcapacitybymeansofcubesthatwereonaone-tenthsubdivisionofthemetre.ProfessorLivioC.Stecchinihasshownhowtherewasalaterrealizationthatthissupposedlynew,scientifically-basedsystemwasvirtuallyidenticaltotheMesopotamianoneusedseveralthousandyearsbefore.

WehadstillnotexplainedwhysphereswithdiametersofMegalithicdimensionsproducevolumesfromthemetricsystem–butwehadestablishedthatthe‘metric’systemwasfarfromarecentinventionasisgenerallyclaimed.

CHAPTER6

TheJeffersonReport

The social cauldron that was the French Revolution had given rise to thedevelopmentofascientificmeasuringsystemfitforanambitiousnewrepublic.On the other side of the Atlantic another fledgling nation was steadilyestablishing itselfafteraneight-yearwarfor independence thathadfinishedin1783.TheAmericanWarofIndependencehadseen13Britishcolonieson theeasternseaboardofNorthAmericarejecttheirparentcountryofGreatBritaintoformtheUnitedStatesofAmerica.

ThomasJeffersonOneofthearchitectsofwhatisnowtheworld’sonlysuperpowerwasThomasJefferson. This Virginian aristocrat was one of the most brilliant AmericanexponentsoftheEnlightenment,apoliticalphilosophythatheappliedtothetaskof nation-building. It was Jefferson who drafted the famous Declaration ofIndependence that was signed on 4th July 1776, in his capital city ofPhiladelphia.The4thJulywas tobecomeasignificantdate in the lifeof thisoutstanding

statesman.NotonlywashisDeclarationofIndependencesignedonthatdaybuthealsodiedon4thJuly1826.Ofspecial interest tous is thefact thatThomasJeffersondraftedaparticularlysignificantdocument,onceagainonthe4thJuly–thistimeintheyear1790.1

Jefferson’sdecimalsystemWehadbeenlookingforothermodernsystemsofmeasurementandfoundthatThomasJeffersonhadcreatedhisownversionofadecimal systemofweightsand measures just ahead of the French. The report on the metric system,prepared by Pierre Simon Laplace and his colleagues, was presented to theAcadémie des Sciences on 19thMarch 1791, but Jefferson had submitted hisreport to theHouse ofRepresentatives inPhiladelphiamore than ninemonths

earlier.Jefferson’s revolutionary concept of unified decimalmeasures, weights and

coins was brilliant but was never adopted, except for his currency idea, thedollar,whicharrivedtwoyearslater.ItiscertainthatJeffersonknewabouttheevents unfolding in France because he was the American representative inFrancebetween1784and1789,beforereturningtotheUnitedStatestobecomeSecretaryofStateinGeorgeWashington’sgovernment.ThedocumentJeffersonsubmittedconfirmshisawarenessofEuropeanideasofthesameilk:

‘…aprintedcopyofapropositionmadeby theBishopofAutun, tothe National Assembly of France, on the subject of weights andmeasures;andthreedaysafterwardsIreceived,throughthechannelofthepublicpapers,thespeechofSirJohnRiggsMiller,ofApril13th,intheBritishHouseofCommons,onthesamesubject.’

Jefferson may have been influenced by the French idea of a nationalmeasurementsystembutitisclearfromthenatureofhisrecommendationsthathehaddevelopedhismethodologythroughatrainoflogic.Aswereadhiswordsweweregladdenedtodiscoverthatthisgreatmanhad

shared our own deductions regarding a starting point for any standard linearlength,morethantwocenturiesbeforeourtime.Hisopeningwordssetoutthefundamentaltruthsashesawthem,whichconfirmedallourownthoughtsaboutthestartingpointforcreatinganynaturalunitofmeasurementatall.

‘There exists not in nature, as far as has been hitherto observed, asinglesubjectorspeciesofsubject,accessibletoman,whichpresentsoneconstantanduniformdimension.’

Jefferson clearly stated his belief that nobody in known history had everidentifiedanaturally-occurringobjectoreventthatprovidesarepeatableunitofmeasurement.He thenwent on to clarify that there is only one candidate.Hecametothesameconclusionwehad:

‘The globe of the earth itself, indeed, might be considered asinvariable in all its dimensions, and that its circumference wouldfurnishaninvariablemeasure;butnooneofitscircles,greatorsmall,isaccessibletomeasurementthroughallitsparts,andthevarioustrialstomeasuredefiniteportionsofthem,havebeenofsuchvariousresultsastoshowthereisnodependenceonthatoperationforcertainty.

Matter, then,byitsmereextension,furnishingnothinginvariable,

itsmotionistheonlyremainingresource.The motion of the earth round its axis, though not absolutely

uniform and invariable,may be considered as such for every humanpurpose.Itismeasuredobviously,butunequally,bythedepartureofagivenmeridian from the sun, and its return to it, constituting a solarday.Throwingtogethertheinequalitiesofsolardays,ameaninterval,or day, has been found, and divided, by very general consent, into86,400equalparts.’

Here Jefferson referred to the second of time, taking for granted that it is anacceptedstartingpoint.Hethereforehadnointentionofchangingtheacceptedmethodofmeasuringtime.HethenfollowedtheexactprocesswehadidentifiedasbeingtheprincipleusedbytheStoneAgeBritons:

‘A pendulum, vibrating freely, in small and equal arcs, may be soadjustedinitslength,as,byitsvibrations,tomakethisdivisionoftheearth’smotioninto86,400equalparts,calledsecondsofmeantime.

Such a pendulum, then, becomes itself ameasure of determinatelength,towhichallothersmaybereferredtoasastandard.’

Jeffersoncouldnothaveknownit,butherehewasdescribingaprocessthathadbeen used by humankind for more than 5,000 years. He next identified thecharacteristicsofthependulumtechnique:

‘Both theory and experience prove that, to preserve its isochronism[uniformityintime],itmustbeshortertowardstheequator,andlongertowardsthepoles.Theheightofthesituationabovethecommonlevel,asbeinganincrementtotheradiusoftheearth,diminishesthelengthofthependulum.’

Belongingtoamechanicalage,Jeffersonidentifiedthepotentialfortheenginethatswingsthependulumtointerfereintheprocess.However,ifswungbyhandtherewouldbenosuchproblemandwedoubt thatanenginewouldaffect thependulumlengthunlessitwasclumsilyapplied:

‘Tocontinuesmallandequalvibrations,throughasufficientlengthoftime, and to count these vibrations, machinery and a power arenecessary,whichmay exert a small but constant effort to renew thewaste ofmotion; and the difficulty is so to apply these, as that theyshallneitherretardnoracceleratethevibrations.’

Jefferson’srodHenextput forwardasuggestion foran improvement to themethodusing thelatesttechnologyavailableatthetime:

‘In order to avoid the uncertainties which respect the centre ofoscillation, it hasbeenproposedbyMrLeslie, an ingenious artist ofPhiladelphia, to substitute, for the pendulum, a uniform cylindricalrod,withoutabob.

Couldthediameterofsucharodbeinfinitelysmall,thecentreofoscillation would be exactly at two-thirds of the whole length,measured from the point of suspension. Giving it a diameter whichshall render it sufficiently inflexible, the centre will be displaced,indeed;but,inasecondrodnotthesixhundredthousandthpartofitslength,andnot thehundredthpart asmuchas ina secondpendulumwith a spherical bob of proper diameter. This displacement is soinfinitelyminute,then,thatwemayconsiderthecentreofoscillation,forallpracticalpurposes,asresidingat two-thirdsofthelengthfromthe centre of suspension. The distance between these two centresmightbeeasilyandaccuratelyascertained inpractice.But thewholerod is better for a standard than any portion of it, because sensiblydefinedatbothitsextremities.’

The‘rod’describedbyMrLeslieisaridgedstripofmetalwithoutaweightonthe end. This means that the weight of the rod itself responds to the Earth’sgravityrather than thestoneat theendofapieceof twine. It ismoreaccuratethanapendulumbutJeffersonpointedoutthatsucharodwillalwaysbe50percentlongerthanapendulumtoproducethesametimeinterval.Asthesecondspendulumisatinyfractionlessthanametre,theroddescribedhereisafractionunder 1.5 metres, at 149.158 centimetres. It is also almost exactly threeSumeriankush.Next, Jefferson considered the effect of using the rod at different latitudes,

which will result in small variations. He discussed using 45 degrees northbecauseitismid-waybetweentheequatorandtheNorthPole,butcuriouslyhealsochose31degreesnorth,whichisalatitudethanrunsthroughthelandthatwasancientSumer:

‘Thedifferencebetweenthesecondrodfor45°oflatitude,andthatfor31°,ourotherextreme,istobeexamined.

The second pendulum for 45° of latitude, according to Sir Isaac

Newton’scomputation,mustbeof39.14912inchesEnglishmeasure;and a rod, to vibrate in the same time, must be of the same lengthbetween thecentresofsuspensionandoscillation;and,consequently,its whole length 58.7 (or, more exactly, 58.72368) inches. This islongerthantherodwhichshallvibratesecondsinthe31°oflatitude,by about part of itswhole length; a difference sominute, that itmight be neglected, as insensible, for the common purposes of life,but,incasesrequiringperfectexactness,thesecondrod,foundbytrialofitsvibrationsinanypartoftheUnitedStates,maybecorrectedbycomputationforthelatitudeoftheplace,andsobroughtexactlytothestandardof45°.

Bymakingtheexperimentintheleveloftheocean,thedifferencewillbeavoided,whichahigherpositionmightoccasion.’

Jeffersonthenmakeshisrecommendationthatthestandardofmeasureoflengthshouldbederivedfromauniformcylindricalrodofiron:

‘…ofsuchlengthas,inlatitude45°,intheleveloftheocean,andinacellar, or other place, the temperature of which does not varythroughout the year, shall perform its vibrations in small and equalarcs,inonesecondofmeantime.’

ThesolutiontoallmeasurementsHavinginnocentlyadoptedtheSumeriansecondastheunitoftime,Jefferson’snewunithadtoberelatedtotheMesopotamiankush–andtheMegalithicYard.Thishesawasthesolutiontoallmeasurementsincludingcoinage,whereeachcoinwassimplyaknownweightofpreciousmetal.Hecontinuedbysaying:

‘Astandardofinvariablelengthbeingthusobtained,wemayproceedto identify, by that, the measures, weights and coins of the UnitedStates.’

At this point in his report, Jefferson referred to the origin of theweights andmeasures then currently in use in the United States. He wanted to betterunderstandtheirorigin:

‘Thefirstsettlersof theseStates,havingcomechieflyfromEngland,brought with them themeasures andweights of that country. Thesealonearegenerallyestablishedamongus,eitherbylaworusage;andthese,therefore,arealonetoberetainedandfixed.Wemustresortto

thatcountryforinformationofwhattheyare,oroughttobe.This rests, principally, on the evidence of certain standard

measures and weights, which have been preserved, of long time, indifferentdeposits.Butdifferencesamongthesehavingbeenknowntoexist,theHouseofCommons,intheyears1757and1758,appointedcommitteesto inquire intotheoriginalstandardsof theirweightsandmeasures. These committees, assisted by able mathematicians andartists, examined and comparedwith each other the several standardmeasuresandweights,andmadereportsonthemintheyears1758and1759.Thecircumstancesunderwhichthesereportsweremadeentitlethemtobeconsidered,asfarastheygo,asthebestwrittentestimonyexistingofthestandardmeasuresandweightsofEngland;andassuch,theywillbereliedonintheprogressofthisreport.’

Jefferson thengave thecurrentunitsas follows, referring to thepoleorperch,whichwasalsoknowninEnglandastherod:

‘Theleagueof3miles,Themileof8furlongs,Thefurlongof40polesorperches,Thepoleorperchof5½yards,Thefathomof2yards,Theellofayardandquarter,Theyardof3feet,Thefootof12inches,andTheinchof10lines.

Onthisbranchoftheirsubject,thecommitteeof1757–1758,saysthatthestandardmeasuresof lengthat thereceiptof theexchequer,areayard, supposed to be of the time of Henry VII, and a yard and ellsupposedtohavebeenmadeabouttheyear1601.’

It is interesting that Jeffersonstated that theyardwas ‘supposed’ todate fromthe timeofHenryVII–whichmeans the secondhalfof the15thcentury.Heappearedtodoubtthis.Thenhesaidthatin1743membersoftheRoyalSocietyhaddefinedEnglishmeasuresfromthe‘line’(atenthofaninch)throughtotheleague,byexpressingtheseunitsasaknownpartofa‘secondsrod’swungatthelatitudeofLondon.Interestingly,therewere10linestotheinch,12inchestothefoot and 3 feet to the yard, which meant that the yard contained 360 of thesmallest units. This was a rather odd reflection of the Sumerian double-kush

whichwasmadeupof360barleyseeds.

MeasuresofcapacityWhenJeffersonturnedtomeasuresofcapacityhedefinedthevolumetricrulesforarrivingatthespecificamount.

‘Themeasurestobemadeforuse,beingfoursided,withrectangularsidesandbottom.

•Thepintwillbe3inchessquare,and3¾inchesdeep;

•Thequart3inchessquare,and7½inchesdeep;

•Thepottle3inchessquare,and15inchesdeep,or4½,5,and6inches;

•Thegallon6inchessquare,and7½inchesdeep,or5,6,and9inches;

•Thepeck6,9,and10inches;

•Thehalfbushel12inchessquare,and7½inchesdeep;and

•Thebushel12inchessquare,and15inchesdeep,or9,15,and16inches.

Cylindricalmeasures have the advantage of superior strength, but square oneshavethegreateradvantageofenablingeveryonewhohasaruleinhispocket,toverifytheircontentsbymeasuringthem.Moreover,tillthecirclecanbesquared,thecylindercannotbecubed,noritscontentsexactlyexpressedinfigures.

Letthemeasuresofcapacity,then,fortheUnitedStatesbe:

Agallonof270cubicinches;

Thegallontocontain2pottles;

Thepottle2quarts;

Thequart2pints;

Thepint4gills;

Twogallonstomakeapeck;

Eightgallonsabushelorfirkin;

Twostrikes,orkilderkins,acoomborbarrel;

Twocoombs,orbarrels,aquarterorhogshead;

Ahogsheadandathirdonetierce;

Twohogsheadsapipe,butt,orpuncheon;and

Twopipesaton.’

HarmonyinthesystemThe document also records Jefferson’s surprise that when he studied the oldEnglishmeasures, that were always described as haphazard and unrelated, hefound a curious underlying pattern.He found that the two systems ofweights(theavoirdupoisandthetroy)arethesamething,apartfromonebeingbasedontheweightofwater and theotheron theweightof the samevolumeofwheatgrain.TroyweightswerestillusedalongsideavoirdupoisweightsinJefferson’stime and like the avoirdupois weights it is thought that troy weights hadoriginated in the Champagne Fairs, most probably named after ‘Troyes’, thecapitalofChampagne.TwodifferingsystemshadbeenveryconfusingandtheEnglishgovernmenthasalreadytriedunsuccessfullytogetridofoneofthem:

‘This seems to have been so combined as to render it indifferentwhether a thing were dealt out by weight or measure; for the drygallonofwheat,andtheliquidoneofwine,wereofthesameweight;andtheavoirdupoispoundofwheat,andthetroypoundofwine,wereofthesamemeasure.’

Thestatesmanrealizedsomethingtrulyremarkable.Hewasabrilliantmanandhisdocumentrevealedhowhehadsurmisedthatimperial(oravoirdupois)unitswerenotmedievalroughmeasuresaswasgenerallyassumed.Hewasextremelypuzzled:

‘Another remarkable correspondence is that between weights andmeasures.For1000ouncesavoirdupoisofpurewaterfillacubicfoot,withmathematicalexactness.’

Jeffersoncouldnotdismiss thisasanamusingcoincidence.Everythinghehaddiscovered about old measures was revealing a pattern which showed thatsomeoneavery,verylongtimeagohaddesignedthismathematicalrelationship.Thethoughtsofthisextraordinarymanmakeforfascinatingreading:

‘Whatcircumstancesofthetimes,orpurposesofbarterorcommerce,

calledforthiscombinationofweightsandmeasures,withthesubjectsto be exchanged or purchased, are not now to be ascertained. But atriple set of exact proportionals representing weights, measures, andthe things to be weighed and measured, and a relation so integralbetween weights and solid measures, must have been the result ofdesign and scientific calculation, and not a mere coincidence ofhazard.

It proves that the dry and wet measures, the heavy and lightweights, must have been original parts of the system they composecontrarytotheopinionof thecommitteeof1757,1758,whothoughtthattheavoirdupoisweightwasnotanancientweightofthekingdom,noreverevena legalweight,butduringasingleyearof thereignofHenry VIII; and, therefore, concluded, otherwise than will be hereproposed,tosuppressitaltogether.Theiropinionwasfoundedchieflyon the silence of the laws as to this weight. But the harmony heredeveloped in the system of weights and measures, of which theavoirdupois makes an essential member, corroborated by a generaluse, from very high antiquity, of that, or of a nearly similar weightunder another name, seem stronger proofs that this is legal weight,thanthemeresilenceofthewrittenlawsistothecontrary.’

Jeffersonhadnodoubtthattheofficialexplanationforthechaoticoriginoftheold English weights and measures was completely wrong and based onignorance of what was obviously once an integrated and precise system. Herealized that someone highly advanced from the very distant past must havecreated a scientific system that had been fragmented, so that its elegance hadbeen lost.We can only speculate onwhat Jeffersonmeant by the term ‘fromhighantiquity’butitseemsreasonabletoassumethathewasthinkingabouttheearliestmomentsofrecordedhistory–orperhapsevenbeforethat.Hecontinuedtomuseoverthefindingsthathadsurprisedhimsomuch.

‘Be that as it may, it is in such general use with us, that, on theprinciple of popular convenience, its higher denominations, at least,mustbepreserved.It isbytheavoirdupoispoundandouncethatourcitizenshavebeenused tobuyandsell…But itwillbenecessary torefer these weights to a determinate mass of some substance, thespecificgravityofwhichisinvariable.Rainwaterissuchasubstance,andmaybereferred toeverywhere,andthroughall time.Ithasbeenfoundbyaccurateexperiments thatacubicfootofrainwaterweighs

1000ouncesavoirdupois,standardweightsoftheexchequer.Itistruethat among these standard weights the committee report smallvariations;butthisexperimentmustdecideinfavorofthoseparticularweights,betweenwhich,andanintegralmassofwater,soremarkableacoincidencehasbeenfound.Torenderthisstandardmoreexact,thewater should be weighed always in the same temperature of air; asheat,by increasing itsvolume, lessens its specificgravity.Thecellarofuniformtemperatureisbestforthisalso.’

Jefferson’srecommendationsHaving discovered this inexplicable underlying pattern behind old measuresThomas Jefferson continued with the business of creating new ones. He nextdefinedthedollar:

‘Let it be declared, therefore, that the money unit, or dollar of theUnitedStates, shall contain371.262Americangrainsofpure silver.’[Agrainisaminutesubdivisionofthepound.]

The units of decimal length that Jefferson recommended were based on hisseconds rod but constructed so that theywhere close to familiarmeasurementunits:

‘Let the second rod, then, as before described, be the standard ofmeasure;andletitbedividedintofiveequalparts,eachofwhichshallbecalleda foot; for,perhaps, itmaybebettergenerally to retain thenameofthenearestpresentmeasure,wherethereisonetolerablynear.Itwillbeaboutonequarterofaninchshorterthanthepresentfoot.

Letthefootbedividedinto10inches;

Theinchinto10lines;

Thelineinto10points;

Let10feetmakeadecad;

10decadsonerood;

10roodsafurlong;

10furlongsamile.’

While Jefferson’s exercise ismost impressive, it does showhoweasy it is for‘improvers’ofoldsystemstolosethecoreidea.Hisunitsoflengths,weightandvolume were all based on the Sumerian second of time – but without anyunderstandingof the second’s role as ameasureof the size andmotionof theEarth.Theunitsheproposedwouldhavebecome totalabstractionsbymovingawayfromthegreat,originalidea.However,becauseheusedthesecondsrodashisbasis,hecouldnotavoidbeingtiedintothe‘greatunderlyingprinciple’.Jefferson’s new foot based on one-fifth of the seconds rod was equal to

29.831629centimetres.Hesaidthattherewouldbe1,000feettohisfurlongand10,000 to his mile – which is 2,983.1629 metres. This creates the followingcorrespondence:

1,000Jeffersonfeet =360MegalithicYards

WhatwouldThomas Jefferson have thought if he knew that the prehistoricstandingstonesscatteredacrossthemoorsoftheBritishIsleshadbeenbuiltwithunitsthatweretheoriginalmirrorimageofhis‘new’invention?Hewouldhavebeenevenmoreamazedtolearnthefollowing:

366Jeffersonfurlongs

=1MegalithicDegreeofarcoftheEarth

3662Jeffersonfurlongs

=exactcircumferenceoftheEarth

The United States of America did not adopt Jefferson’s measures, and thatcountryisnowalmostaloneinusingtheancientmeasurementsthatsopuzzledthemanwhowastobecomeitsthirdpresident.WeconsiderthatthisworkbyJeffersonprovidesuswithawinningpieceof

evidence because the Megalithic ‘DNA’ is completely present – without theinventoreverrealizingit.TheMegalithicYardisrealandit istheprecursortovirtuallyallmajorunitsfromhistory.It was increasingly obvious to us that the second of timewas of great and

fundamentalimportance.Ithasbeenuniversallyadoptedyetno-oneknowswhatitis,andfewpeoplerealizewhereitcamefrom.WedecidedtoreturntothelandofSumer togainaclearer insight into themindsof thepeoplewhodevelopedtheseunitsoftimekeeping.

CONCLUSIONSInthelate18thcenturyThomasJeffersonsetouttocreateanewsystemofweightsandmeasuresforthenewnationoftheUnitedStatesofAmerica.HerecordedhowtheonlyconceivablestartingpointforthemeasureofanydimensionwastheturningoftheEarth–justaswehadconcluded.Then,justliketheMegalithicpeopleandtheSumeriansbeforehimhedecidedthatapendulumwastheonlywaytomonitorthespinoftheplanet.

BecauseJeffersonadoptedasecondasthetimeintervalforhispendulumhe,liketheFrench,wasautomaticallylinkinghimselfwiththeunderlyingstructureoftheSumeriansystem.HethenmadeamajorimprovementintheprocessbyfollowingthediscoveryoffellowcountrymanMrLeslie(‘aningeniousartistofPhiladelphia’),whoidentifiedthatafine,ridgedrodusedinsteadofastringonapendulumwouldhavemuchmoreaccurateresults.Sucharodwouldnotneedaweightontheendanditwouldhavetobehalfaslongagainasastringpendulumtoproducethesameswingperiod.Thisledtoarodthatwasafractionunder1.5metres,at149.158centimetres–almostexactlythreeSumeriankush.Jeffersonthendividedthisrodintofivepartstocreateanewunithecalleda‘foot’.Hethenstatedthattherewouldbe1,000suchfeettohisproposedfurlong.

Unbeknowntothemanwhowastobecomethirdpresidentofhisfledglingnation,hisfootandfurlongtakenfromthesecondoftimewasdirectlyrelatedtotheMegalithicandSumeriansystems;366JeffersonfurlongsarethesameasaMegalithicDegreeofarcoftheEarthand3662JeffersonfurlongsdescribetheexactcircumferenceoftheEarth.HehadneverconsideredthesizeoftheEarth,soitisnowclearthatthesecondoftimeis,insomeway,intrinsicallyrelatedtothedimensionsofourplanet.

ThenextstepwasforJeffersontodefinenewweightsandcapacitieswhichhedidbymeansofcubinghislinearunits.Inthecourseofconductingthisworkhestudiedexistingmeasuresand,indoingso,detectedthattherewassomeancientpatternunderpinningunitswhich

werepreviously(andstillare)thoughttoberandomaccidentsofhistory.Infindingthatacubicimperialfootheldprecisely1,000ounceshededucedthatthiswasnotcoincidencebutduetosomeextremelyancientdesign.

Healsoidentifiedthatthetwosystemsofweights(theavoirdupoisandthetroy)werenotseparatesystemsasgenerallyassumed,buttwohalvesofsomesingleancientsystem–onebasedontheweightofwaterandtheotherontheweightofthesamevolumeofwheatgrain.Jeffersonmusedonwhatfar-distantcircumstanceshadledtothecreationofsuchanancientintegratedsystem,sayingthatitwastheresultof‘designandscientificcalculation’ratherthancoincidence.

OneofthegreatmenofAmericanhistoryhad,likeus,foundthattherewasonceahighly-developedsystemofweightsandmeasuresthathadbecomefragmentedoverthecourseofaverylongperiodoftime.

1AfullaccountofwhatJeffersonhadtosaycanbefoundathttp://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/jeffplan.htmandonanumberofotherwebsites.

CHAPTER7

GrainsofAncientTruth

Wefelt strongly thatwewouldhaveworkedwellwithThomas Jefferson.Hisapproachtohistorywasaspragmaticasitwasopen-mindedandheclearlyhadnoreservationsaboutpublishinghisobservations.Buthiscalculationsregardingthe relative weight and volume relationship between cereal grains and waterweredistinctlydifferenttoourown.Wehadfoundthatallgrains,whetherbarley,wheatorricebehaveinavery

predictable way when poured into a cube-shaped container. Experiments hadshownthattheshapeoftheseedscausesthemtooccupyavolumethatis125percent that of the same weight of water, which in reverse meant that an equalvolumeofseedsweighs20percent less thanwater.The4x4x4MegalithicInchcubeprovedtoholdanimperialpintofwaterbutwhenthesamecubewasfilledwithbarleygrainsitweighedexactlyoneimperial(oravoirdupois)pound.Wealsofoundthatthesamecubefilledwithwheatalsoproducedaquantityofwheatthatweighedonepound,eventhoughtheseedswereadifferentshapeandsizethanthebarley.Successive experiments demonstrated that the process alsoworkedwith rye

andwithwholerice,althoughnotwithpolishedriceorpearlbarley(inwhichtheshape of each seed has been altered by polishing). Our practical experimentswereverysimpleandtheresultswereveryclearandyetJeffersonhadreportedadifferentrelationshipbetweenwaterandwheat.ThiswasadilemmabecausewecouldnotseewherewecouldhavemadeanerroranditseemedunlikelythatamanofJefferson’sabilitieswaswrong.Couldthedifferencesbereconciled?

AvoirdupoisandtroyweightsJefferson’s report identifies that therewere twoseparatesystemsofweights inuseintheUnitedStatesatthattime,theonecalledavoirdupois,theothertroy.Jeffersonexplainsthemasfollows:

‘IntheAvoirdupoisseries:

Thepoundisdividedinto16ounces;

Theounceinto16drachms;

Thedrachminto4quarters.

IntheTroyseries:

Thepoundisdividedinto12ounces;

Theounce(accordingtothesubdivisionoftheapothecaries)into8drachms;

Thedrachminto3scruples;

Thescrupleinto20grains.

Accordingtothesubdivisionforgoldandsilver,theounceisdividedintotwentypennyweights,andthepennyweightinto24grains.

So that the pound troy contains 5760 grains, of which 7000 arerequisite tomake thepoundavoirdupois;ofcourse theweightof thepoundtroyistothatofthepoundavoirdupoisas5760to7000,oras144to175.’

Then,asnow, itwasnormal toassumethat the twosystemswereaccidentsofhistory,fromdifferentoriginswithnorelationshipbetweenthem,butJeffersoncouldsee that therewasa rather interestingratioof144:175.Heexplainswhythiscaughthisattention:

‘ItisremarkablethatthisisexactlytheproportionoftheancientliquidgallonofGuildhallof224cubicinches,tothecorngallonof272;for224isto272as144to175.’[ThegallonofGuildhallwasanancientstandardgallonkeptattheGuildhallinLondon.]

Here Jefferson had identified that the relationship between the avoirdupoispound, as used today, and the troy pound exhibit the same relationship asbetweenliquidandgrainmeasures.Hewashighlysurprisedtodiscoverthisandwentontoexplainthatthislinksupvariousmeasuresfromthepast:

‘It is further remarkable still, that this is also the exact proportion

betweenthespecificweightofanymeasureofwheat,andofthesamemeasureofwater;forthestatutebushelisof64poundsofwheat.Nowas 144 to 175, so are 64 pounds to 77.7 pounds; but 77.7 pounds isknowntobetheweightof2150.4cubicinchesofpurewater,whichisexactly the content of the Winchester bushel, as declared by thestatute…[Winchester weights and measures were very ancient andthough from a different city, had been used in London when theLondon standards had been lost or became corrupt.] That statutedeterminedthebusheltobeacylinderof18½inchesdiameter,and8inches depth. Such a cylinder, as nearly as it can be cubed, andexpressedinfigures,contains2150.425cubicinches…Wefind,then,inacontinuedproportion64to77.7as224to172,andas144to175,thatistosay,thespecificweightofameasureofwheat,tothatofthesame measure of water, as the cubic contents of the wet gallon, tothoseofthedry;andastheweightofapoundtroytothatofapoundavoirdupois.’

So,Jeffersonhadidentifiedarelationshipbetweenwheatandwaterthatisaratioof144:175,whichmeansthathediscoveredthatwaterisjustover21.5percentheavier than grain for a known capacity. Yet our practical experiments withcubes of a givenvolumehad revealed a relationship betweenwheat grain andwaterof4:5–i.e.wateris25percentheavierthanwheatgrain.UsinghisanalysisJeffersonthencommentedastohowtheseunitsmustonce

havebeenusedbeforetherelevancebecamelost:

‘This seems to have been so combined as to render it indifferentwhether a thing were dealt out by weight or measure; for the drygallonofwheat,andtheliquidoneofwine,wereofthesameweight;andtheavoirdupoispoundofwheat,andthetroypoundofwine,wereofthesamemeasure.Waterandthevinousliquors,whichentermostinto commerce, are so nearly of a weight, that the difference, inmoderate quantities, would be neglected by both buyer and seller;someofthewinesbeingalittleheavier,andsomealittlelighter,thanwater.’

Whowasright–ThomasJeffersonorourselves?

CubesandcylindersWe rechecked our cube calculations once again and could find no errors. ButJeffersonhadtoldusthatheusedcylinders(‘Suchacylinder,asnearlyasitcan

be cubed.’)We therefore conducted the experiment with cylinders instead ofcubesandfoundthathewasquitecorrect.Theconclusionisthatgrainbehavesverydifferentlyinacube-shapedcontainerthanitdoesinacylinderofthesamevolume.Strangely,acubeholds3.47percentmoregrainthanacylinderandweassumethismustbeduetothewaythegrainsinterlockdifferentlywherecornersareinvolved.Understanding the volumeof a cylinder requires a knowledgeof pi and the

useofanarithmeticalcalculation,which impliesamore recentorigin than theuseofcubes.TheMegalithicpeopledidnothaveanotationsystemandwouldhavebeenobligedtousecubesbutpeoplesfromtheSumeriansonwardscouldeasilyhaveusedcylinders.Therearethereforetwotraditions,bothofwhicharederivedfromtherelativeweightsofwetanddrygoodsbasedongrainandwater–oneusingcubesandtheotherusingcylinders.Buttheimportanceofgraininallmeasurementsystemsisnowveryclear.Sumerian mythology has passed into numerous cultures and sacred texts,

including the Bible. Over the last decade, Chris has researched these verycarefully.Inparticular,hehasmadeanin-depthstudyofEnoch,acharacterwhoappearsintheOldTestamentoftheBibleandinthe2ndcenturyBCdocumentknownasTheBookofEnoch.The Book of Enoch tells us that this great-grandfather of Noahwas taught

highly-advancedastronomybyapersonknownasUriel,apparentlyat thetimethat theMegalithic builders were at their peak. In another apocryphal Jewishbook,knownasTheSecondBookofEsdras, one sectiondealswith thedead,askinghowlongtheyhavetowaitintheir‘secretchambers’beforetheywillberesurrected and can be delivered up from their hidden places. Uriel answersthem:

‘Evenwhenthenumberofseedsisfilledinyou:forHehathweighedtheworldinthebalance.BymeasurehathHemeasuredthetimes,andbynumberhathHemeasuredthetimes;andHedothnotmovenorstirthem,untilthesaidmeasurebefulfilled.’

Wecanbeconfidentthatthisdatesfromanextremelyarchaicperiodbecauseitisacceptedthatitwasanoraltraditionlongbeforeitwasactuallywrittendown.HereUrieltalksofweighingtheworldandmeasuringtimeandquantity.Barleygrainswere of great importance to theSumerians and to all cultures

thereafter as a means of measurement – something our newest Americanassociate clearly understood.After some experimentation,wehad successfullyresolved the potential problem of our ‘disagreement’ with Thomas Jefferson

regardingtherelativeweightofwheatgrains.

CONCLUSIONSThomasJeffersonhadidentifiedarelationshipbetweenwheatandwaterthatwasaratioof144:175–wherebywaterisjustover21.5percentheavierthangrainforaknowncapacity.Thiswasatoddswithourpracticalexperimentswithcubeswhichhadshownarelationshipbetweenwheatgrainandwaterof4:5,withwaterbeing25percentheavierthanwheatgrain.ThiswasreconciledbythefactthatwehadusedcubesandJeffersonhadusedcylindersofknownvolumes.Barleyandwheatobviouslycompactquitedifferentlyinthetwokindsofcontainer.Thisindicatesthatcylindershavebeenusedforestablishingcapacitiesandweightsforaverylongtimeindeed.

TheSumerians/Babyloniansusedthebarleyseedastheirsmallestunitofweightandoflinearmeasure.Ancientdocumentstalkoftheworldbeingmeasuredinbarleyseeds.

CHAPTER8

TheWeightoftheWorld

Alan began to feel somewhat haunted by the words of the angel Uriel in theancientBookofEnoch:

‘…forHehathweighedtheworldinthebalance.’

He began to reflect on the idea of ‘weighing the world’ and decided to runthroughsomeratherunusualcalculations.HebeganbylookingupthetotalmassoftheEarthandfoundthatthisisnowgenerallyquotedasbeing5.9763x1024kilograms.1 Written as a conventional number this would be:5,976,300,000,000,000,000,000,000kg.Alan then converted the number into Sumerian units of weight. We had

alreadyestablishedthatthisunitofweightwasarrivedatbytakingone-tenthofthe length of the double-kush or barley cubit and bymaking a cubewith thisdimension. The weight is determined by filling such a cube with water. ThemassofthewaterthenbecomestheSumerianunitofmass–thedouble-mana.Thedouble-manaweighed996.4gramssothereare5.9979x1024double-manasin theplanet’smass,whichcanbeseenas5,997,600,000,000,000,000,000,000double-mana.Thisnumberisascloseto6followedby24zerosastostandoutas being very odd indeed, particularly bearing in mind that we could not becertainastothe‘exact’intendedsizeofthedouble-kush.Ofcourse,itcouldbeacoincidencebutitremainsafactthattheweightoftheworldisonlyonepartoutin2,850frombeingprecisely:

6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000Sumeriandouble-manas.

If it were not for the fact that this number conforms so spectacularly to theSumerian/Babylonianbase60systemofcountingwewouldnothavereportedit.Butitisatantalizingthoughtthatthisancientunitmayhavearelationshiptothemassof theEarth,eitherbysomebrilliantcalculationordue tosomepracticalexperimentthatproducedtheresultbyamechanismunknowntotheoriginators

–ortothemodernworld.Furthermore,weknewthattheSumeriansconsideredthattherewere21,600barleyseedstoonedouble-manasowecanalsoventuretosay that theentireplanet isequal to1,296x1026barleyseeds–which thengivesthefollowingresult:

OnedegreesliceoftheEarth

=360x1024barley

seeds

OneminutesliceoftheEarth

=6x1024barley

seeds

OnesecondsliceoftheEarth

=1023barleyseeds

So, a one-secondwide sectionof our planetweighs the same as an incrediblyneat100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000barleyseeds.Simplyastonishing!Again,allofthisisentirelyconsistentwiththenumberingsystemusedbythe

Sumeriancivilization.

ThemassoftheEarthItlookedtousasifthiswasasystemofmeasurementthatwasdesignedwiththemassof theEarthas its startingpoint.We thereforedecided to try theprocessfromthebeginning,asthoughwewerecreatingnewunitsfromsomeprogenitormeasurementsystem:

Step1:DividetheknownmassoftheEarthinto6x1024units.Thisgivesusatheoreticalunitthatequals996grams.

Step2:Establishasizeforacubethatholds996gramsofwater.Suchacubewouldhavesidesof9.986648849centimetres.

Step3:Takethelengthofthecube’ssidetobeone-tenththatofanewlinearunit.Thisunitwouldthereforebe99.86648849centimetres.

NowwehavedesignedourownnewunitoflengthderivedfromtheexactmassoftheEarthandusingtheSumeriandecimal/sexagesimalprinciple.Howdoesitcomparetoreality?Thebestestimateof theSumeriandouble-kushwas takenfromstudying the

rule carved into the statue of King Gudea which gave a length of 99.88centimetres.Thedifferencebetween thedouble-kushandourhypotheticalunitoflengthistherefore0.1351151ofamillimetre–lessthanahair’sbreadth!This

amazingfitmaywellsaymoreabouttheskillsofthearchaeologistswhostudiedGudea’sstatuethananythingelse.We had to remind ourselves that this could still be a coincidence, however

wonderfulthefitwithSumerianmathematics.Butthenwetriedanotheroddballcalculation:‘How’,wewondered,‘wouldtheimperialpoundfitintothemassofthe Earth?’ – remembering that the pound was produced by a one-tenthMegalithicYardcubefilledwithbarleyseeds.Starting again with the mass of the Earth at 5.9763 x 1024 kilograms we

convertedintomodern(avoirdupois)pounds,whichgaveafigureof1.31,754x1025 pounds. This was another large and apparently meaningless number, soAlandivideditby366tofindthenumberofpoundsinaoneMegalithicdegreeslice of the Earth. Alan’s calculator threw up the answer –35,998,360,655,737,704,918,033pounds.Thiswas a startling result.Alan divided again by 60 to get the result for a

‘minute’slice.Thenumeralsthistimeread:599,972,677,595,628,415,300.Now he completed the sequence by dividing by 6 to find the number of

poundsinaMegalithic-secondsectionoftheentireplanet(whichwouldbe366Megalithic Yards wide at the equator). The result was:99,995,446,265,938,069,217.Suddenlytheentirelyrandomnumbersfromthemetricsystemhadblossomed

intobeautifulnear-perfectintegers–wholenumbersofextraordinaryroundness.TheweightoftheworldisdefinedbytheMegalithicsystemcombinedwiththeimperialpoundbecausethefollowingisabsolutelytrue!

1Megalithic-degreesectionoftheEarth

=360x1020

pounds

1Megalithic-minutesectionoftheEarth

=6x1020pounds

1Megalithic-secondsectionoftheEarth

=1020pounds

The bottom line is that the modern pound weight is one100,000,000,000,000,000,000th part of a slice of the Earth one Megalithic

secondwideat theequator!Theaccuracyisasgoodas itgets,since there isacorrespondencegreaterthan99.995percent–whichboilsdowntoadeviationof one part in 20,000 against science’s modern estimates for the mass of theEarth(5.9763x1024kilograms).What ismore,whenthemassofourplanet isviewed in terms of imperial pounds, the result reveals an exact fit with theMegalithic geometry we have already established, just as the result for theMesopotamian calculation was a classical sexagesimal pattern such as theSumeriansdevised.Thiscouldstillbeadouble,outrageouscoincidencebuttheoddsagainstboth

systemsfittinglikeanear-perfectgloveandbearinginmindtheSumerianbase60methodofcalculation,madeitseemimpossible.SomebodyinthedistantpastappearstohaveknownthemassoftheEarthtoaveryaccuratenumber.

The‘Watchers’Takingstockofwhatwehad foundwasverychallenging.OurconcernsabouttheimprobabilityoftheSumerianshavingbeenabletocreatesuchaholisticandelegantsystemwerebecomingverystrongatthispoint.Therelationshipofthepound weight and the double-mana (virtually a kilogram) to the mass of theEarth did not seem compatible with the level of sophistication of either theMegalithic people or the Sumerians. Could some other unknown group havedeveloped theprincipleswesee inuseand then taught themto these fledglingcultures?Ismankind’sleapacrosstheGreatWallofHistoryduetosomesuper-culture that has left no other trace of itself? For the first time we began totheorize about the strange possibility of a groupwhose existence can only bededucedbytheknowledgetheyleftbehind.Forwantofaprecisetermwebegantocallthemsimply‘CivilizationOne’.These may sound like foolish thoughts to some, but we have to wonder

whether ancient records are true – because they say that is exactly what didhappen! Early Sumerian texts, including the famous poem ‘The Epic ofGilgamesh’, talk repeatedly of very tall, god-like people who came to liveamong them whom they called ‘the Watchers’. Ancient Jewish documents,including versions of the Bible, also make references to these SumerianWatcherswhoare again referred to asgods, angels and ‘sonsofheaven’.TheBook of Enoch tells of how these curious people would send teams fromunknownpointsoforigin to teachmennewskills beforemysteriously leavingagain. Uriel, the ‘angel’ who taught Enoch about complex astronomy, isdescribedasoneoftheseWatchers.2The Dead Sea Scrolls also make many references to the Sumerian oral

tradition of the Watchers including an episode where Noah’s father Lamechbecomesconcernedthathischildissobeautifulthathiswife,BitenoshmayhavehadintercoursewithaWatcher.3Chapter6ofTheBookofEnochevennamessomeoftheWatchersandgivestheirspecialistsubjects:

‘Semjaza taught enchantments, and root-cuttings, Armarous theresolving of enchantments, Baraquijal astrology, Kokabel theconstellations,Ezeqeeltheknowledgeoftheclouds,Araqielthesignsoftheearth,Shamsielthesignsofthesun,andSarielthecourseofthemoon.’

Could it be that once again these ancient documents mean exactly what theysay? Did some unknown group act as a catalyst for the world’s first knowncivilization?Throughoutourinvestigationwehavetriednottoprejudgewhatis,andisnot,

possibleforanancientculture toachieve.Wehavesimply tried to let thedataleadustowhereverittakesus.Butatthispointwewerestartingtogetcoldfeet.We seemed tobeuncovering complexities that surelymust have come fromahighly-developed society with advanced scientific abilities. With thisuncomfortable thought in ourmindswe decided to try themost obvious nextexperimentinvolvingthemostfundamentalpropertyoftheuniverse–thespeedoflight.

ThespeedoflightCouldtheSumerianspossiblyhaveunderstoodhowfastlighttravels?Accordingto current knowledge light travels at 299,792,458 metres per second in avacuum,whichtranslatestoSumerianunitsas600,305,283kush.However,wecannotbecertainthattheSumeriansusedexactlythesecondthatwedotoday.Itwouldonlyhavetohavedriftedbyeightten-thousandthsofasecondtogiveaperfect fit to the speed of light. Here again is a Sumerian-styledecimal/sexagesimal construction that fits our modern measurements soincredibly closely. The margin of error was almost exactly the same tinydeviationwe had foundwith themass of the Earth and the Sumerian unit ofweight.WerememberedthattheSumerianshadoriginallyhadadouble-secondand it followed that the same number of double-kushes would apply to thedouble-second.Onceagain, in isolation this result couldbe a coincidence andnormal logic

would demand that it has to be a coincidence because the Sumerians simplycouldnotknowasmuchaswedo.Butwesoonfoundgoodgroundstoaccept

thatthisresultwasnomerehappenstance.We decided to look atwhat is known of the speed of our own planet as it

orbits the Sun and found that the near-perfect circle of the Earth’s path is938,900,000,000 metres, which is covered in a year of 365.2596425 days. 4These numbers look remarkably unimpressive but the next calculation left usstaringatthecalculatorindisbelief.Wewerestunnedtofindthatwealltravelonouryearlyjourneyatspeedof60,000kushpersecond.Asafurtherlevelofstrangenessthisspeedisaneatoneten-thousandthofthespeedoflight.Thestandardresponseofmathematicianstonumbersthatlookincrediblyneat

is toyawn,because theybelieve thatallnumbersareequallyprobableand theactual digits are dependent on the numerical base and the measurementconvention employed. They are quite right. But they assume that allmeasurement units are merely a convention without any underlying physicalreality.AndthatisnotthecasewitheithertheMegalithicortheMesopotamiansystems.In this case the second and the kush appear to be very much more than a

convenient abstraction because they have all of the characteristics of beingfundamental to the realities of the Earth’s environment. They have value at alevelnever conceivedofbymodern science.Wehave come to the conclusionthat it ismorethanreasonable tobelievethat theSumerians,ormoreprobablytheirunknownteachers,understoodboththemassoftheEarth,itsorbitalspeedand even the speed of light, and they designed units that had an integerrelationshipwiththemall.‘CivilizationOne’ wasmoving up our scale of probability from an outside

shottothemostreasonableexplanationwecouldimagine.

CONCLUSIONSWehadfoundthattheancientMesopotamianunitofmeasurecalledthese(barleyseed)wasa360thofadouble-kush,justasSumerianrecordsclaim.

TakingourleadfromancienttextsthatrefertoweighingtheworldwewereamazedtofindthatthemassoftheEarthisalmostperfectly6x1028Sumeriandouble-manas.ThiscouldbeacoincidencebutitisaperfectnumberintheMesopotamianbase60systemofnumbers.ThisalsomeantthatonesecondsliceoftheEarthcontains1023barleyseeds.

WenextlookedattheimperialpoundasapotentialMegalithicweightandcomparedittothemassoftheEarth.Thisproducedtheastonishinglyaccurateresultwherethemodernpoundweightisone1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000thpartofasliceoftheEarthoneMegalithicdegreewideattheequator.

ForboththeSumarianandtheMegalithicsystemstoproduceresultslikethisputcoincidenceoutofthewindowandforthefirsttimewebegantotheorizeaboutthestrangepossibilityofanunknownprogenitorgroupofsuper-scientistswecalled‘CivilizationOne’.

Wethenlookedatthespeedoflightthroughtheatmosphereandfoundthatitisalmostexactly600,000,000kushpersecond.NextwelookedatthespeedoftheEarthinitsmotionaroundtheSunandfoundthatitwasincrediblycloseto60,000kushpersecond.Onceagain,aperfectSumeriannumber.Thegreatmechanismofthesolarsystemmusthavebeenmeasuredaverylongtimeagoandancientunitswerederivedfromthissuper-knowledgefromprehistory.

CHAPTER9

TheMissingLink

Our suspicions about a possible progenitor civilization had to be put asidebecausewedidnotwanttobuildupunnecessaryscenariosthatmightcolourourdata-gathering.Atthispointwehadidentifiedtwoancientmeasurementsystemsthathave remarkablepropertiesbutwhichwereboth instantlyavailable toanyuser by simply marking out the turning Earth. The fundamental differencebetweenthemwasthattheMegalithicpeopleemployeda366-degreecircleandthe Sumerians a 360-degree circle. We now needed to understand better therelationshipbetweenthetwogeometricsystems.There were very strong mathematical links between the two systems,

especiallythefactthatthenumber360isthesecondmostimportantnumberintheMegalithicprinciplebecausethereare360MegalithicSecondsofarctotheMegalithicDegree.Althoughwe did not yet have grounds to assume a directconnection between the two systems it seemed highly unlikely that two suchsimilarconceptswouldhavedevelopedindependently.

TheMinoancivilizationWe decided we needed to know whether the systems were two independententities or whether the Sumerians had designed their approach as animprovementontheMegalithicprinciple.Theonlyavenueopentousseemedtobe a closer examination of theMinoan system ofmeasurement used inCrete.TherewaseveryreasontobelievethattheMegalithic366-degreecirclehadbeenadoptedandusedasthebasisoftheMinoanfoot.MinoanCrete iswidely acknowledged to beEurope’s first true civilization.

Theisland,whichis locatedtowardstheeasternendof theMediterraneanSea,hasgivenrisetomanyfolkstoriesofafabulousculture.Beforethebeginningofthe20thcentury,mostofthesetaleswerethoughttobenothingbutmyths.ItispredominantlydowntotheeffortsofEnglisharchaeologistSirArthurEvansthattheMinoanssteppedoutofthestorybookandbecameahardandfasthistorical

reality.Evanswasbornin1851inNashMills,England.HewaseducatedatHarrow

and then Brasenose College, Oxford, before settling down to a career as ahistorian and archaeologist. Evans was fascinated by the heroic accounts ofGreek literature and was particularly captivated by constant references to apeopleofobviousintelligence,politicalinfluenceandeconomicpowerwhohadsupposedlyflourishedinCrete.EvansvisitedCreteforthefirsttimein1894andwasabletoobtainandstudyanumberofunknownscriptsthathadcometolightinvariousplaceson the island.Hewas told local folk talesaboutawonderfulpalacethathadexistednearthenorthcoastofCrete,closetothemoderncapitalofHeraklion.TheGerman-bornHeinrichSchliemannwasalreadyfamousforhisdiscovery

ofTroy, atHissarlik,Turkey in about1870.His appetitewhetted,SchliemannwasalsoonthetrailoftheancientCretancivilization.Heattemptedtopurchasealargeareaofgroundonanimportanthillnotfar

fromHeraklion,butwasunabletoreachanagreementwiththeowners.Perhapsit is fortunate for archaeology that thiswas thecase,because themorepatientand less destructive Arthur Evans eventually took possession of the site inquestion and uncovered the Palace ofKnossos. Thework Evans undertook atKnossosfortheremainderofhislifewaslongandhardbutslowlyandsurelyhewas able to resurrect the lost culture, throwingmore light on a generally dimEuropeanprehistory.SubsequentdiscoverieselsewhereinCretehaveproducedan evengreater understandingof theMinoan civilization– a name thatEvanshadgiventothispeopleonaccountofitsfabledkingMinos.We now know that theMinoan culture was thriving during the period that

corresponds to the later Neolithic Period in the British Isles and that thecivilization reached its peak shortly after 2000 BC. The archaeological recordreflects a strong, vibrant, freedom-loving and fiercely independent people thatdeveloped strong international trade andwhose sailorswere possibly themostaccomplished seafarers of their day. The Minoans were also tremendouslycreative. They made fine pottery and adorned the walls of their palaces withcolourful frescoes. They exported honey, pottery,wine and craftwork in greatquantities,establishingsettlements inmanyplacesalong thenorthcoastof theMediterranean and into the Aegean. Imports included copper, tin and othermetalsnotavailableonCreteitself.Lifeontheislandwasgood,withapopulacethatseemstohavesupporteda

religious and civil elite that held its power through common consensus ratherthanthroughmilitarystrength.AlthoughtheMinoannavyswepttheseasaroundits shores free of pirates,Crete never seems to have had a standing army and

none of the excavated buildings from the period possessed any form offortification.Most of theMinoans appear to have been free and independent,merely paying a tribute in goods to the several palaceswhere vastmagazines(storehouses) havebeen excavated, indicating storageof all thenecessities oflifeonagrandscale.Inareligioussense,itisclearthatthepeopleofCretehadadoptedthenature-

basedbeliefsthatseemtohavebeencommonplaceinEuropeandpartsofAsiasincetheNeolithicdawn.Thepredominantdeityappearstohavebeenan‘Earthgoddess’whoseplaceinreligionwasparamount,thoughshehadaconsortwhowasfirsthersonand thenherhusband.Thegodwasborn,grewanddied inacyclicway,whereas the goddesswas perpetual. Perhaps as a response to thisform of religion, Minoan women seemed to have had some power in theirsocietyandithasevenbeensuggestedthattheciviladministrationwasgearedintheirdirectionratherthaninthatofmen.ItisnowrecognizedthatMinoanCretewasthecradleofthereligiousthinkingthatwouldeventuallypredominateontheGreekmainland, thoughbythat timeithadchangeditsnaturetoamuchmoremale-dominatedbeliefpattern.How far Minoan civilization might have come and the part it could have

played in building the modern world is somewhat academic, because tragedystruck this culture. About 60 miles to the north of Crete was an importantMinoan settlement on the small, volcanic island of Santorini, also known asThera. In approximately 1450 BC the island exploded with such ferocity thatmuchofitsimplyceasedtoexist.Undoubtedlytheexplosionledtocatastrophictidalwaves and also to a fall of ash thatwould have rendered the fields of atleastnorthernCretebarrenforasmuchasadecade.1ItwasataboutthistimethatCretefellundertheinfluenceandultimatelythe

rule of a very different culture which had been developing on the Greekmainland.Thiswas a civilization thatwould come to be calledMycenae.TheMycenaeans were far more warlike than the Minoans and, over a prolongedperiod,theyhadcapturedanumberofcitiesaroundtheirownbaseatMycenae.Eventually their dominance of Crete changed the gentle and more creativeMinoanwayoflifeintosomethingfarmoreaggressive.Influenceworkedbothways,however.MinoansensibilityisreadilyobviousinMycenaeanculture,art,building techniques and religion. Since theMycenaeans offeredmuch towhatwouldbecome thepeopleweknowas theAncientGreeks, it isnow taken forgrantedthatMinoanideaslastedlongafterthecivilizationitselfhadfallenintodecay.During the 1960s, Canadian archaeologist J. Walter Graham conducted a

seriesofexperimentsattheruinsoftheMinoanpalacesofCrete.Thesewereat

Knossos,PhaistosandMalia,whereGrahamwastryingtoestablishwhetherornottheMinoanshadusedabasicunitoflinearmeasurementintheirbuildings.AswehavealreadydiscussedinChapter2,Grahamwasable toshowthat theMinoanbuildershadusedastandardunitthatwas30.36centimetres–aunithedubbedthe‘Minoanfoot’.

ThePhaistosDiscAlanhadbecomeparticularlyinterestedintheMinoansduetoasmallclaydiscfoundintheruinsofoneoftheMinoanpalaces,whichwasdatedascirca2000BC.This artefact, knownas thePhaistosDisc,was carefully analysedbyAlananditwastheresultsofthisstudythathadledtohisfirstobservationregardingthe use of a 366-day year and 366-degree circle. The disc is a rathersophisticatedready-reckonerwithaprimaryfunctionthatseemstohavebeentosynchronizetheritualyearof366dayswiththetruesolaryearof365.25days.There are drawings of the Phaistos Disc and a longer explanation of Alan’sfindingsinAppendix5.Alan had already seen a potential connection between the mathematical

principlesevidentinthePhaistosDiscandthoseassociatedwiththeMegalithicYard before he came across Graham’s work on the Minoan foot. It was astartling revelationwhenwe realized that 366MegalithicYardswas the samethingas1,000MinoanFeet.

Megalithic,MinoanandOlympicmeasurementsSince366MegalithicYards also represents 1MegalithicSecondof arc of theEarth’spolarcircumference,itseemedsafetosuggestthattheMinoanshadusedMegalithicgeometrywhencreating thisunit.That theculturehadcontactwiththeirMegalithiccontemporaries to thewest, isnotacontentiouspointas therearemanyartefactsthatpointtoatradingrelationshipbetweenthetwolands.AnumberofartefactshavebeenfoundinthesouthofEngland,someonSalisburyPlain close to Stonehenge, which include cups, rings and other examples ofjewellerywhichwereoriginally identifiedasbeingMycenaean inorigin.LaterinvestigationsshowedthattheMycenaeanculturehadnotexistedintheperiodto which these artefacts were dated. Since much if not all Mycenaean art isMinoan in origin, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that these artefacts weremadeinCreteduringMinoantimes.TheMinoanswouldhavehadverygoodreasontovisittheshoresofBritain,

mostparticularlythetinminesofCornwall.Itwasoneoftheveryfewsourcesof tin available to them, and theyneeded significantquantitiesof themetal in

ordertocreatebronze.ButevenwithouttheevidenceofcontactbetweenBritainandCrete,thefitbetween366MegalithicYardsand1,000Minoanfeetishighlyunlikelytobeacoincidence.Theculturewenowsimplycall‘theAncientGreeks’begantoformcirca700

BC,followingwhatisoftencalled‘theGreekDarkAge’thathadoccurredafterthedestructionoftheMycenaeanEmpire.BoththeMinoanandtheMycenaeancivilizationswere large components of the foundation blocks for the religiousand general cultural heritage of theAncientGreeks,which in turn has alwaysbeenseenasperhapsthegreatestinfluenceonourownWesterncultureoftoday.BythetimetheAncientGreekcivilizationreachedmaturityitsscholarshadalsobeeninfluencedbybothBabylonianandEgyptianmathematical thinking.Asaresult,theirexperimentsintomathematicsandgeometrywerebasedonthesame360-degreegeometricalmodels favouredbybothBabylonandEgypt. ItmightthereforebeexpectedthatalltracesoftheMegalithic-influencedMinoansystemwouldhavevanishedfromGreececompletely.However,acloselookatGreekunitsofweightsandmeasuresstronglysuggeststhatthiswasnotthecase.Wediscovered that therewereseveral formsof footandcubit inuseduring

theperiodof theAncientGreeks.However,oneexamplestandsoutabove therest,not leastbecause itwas thebasicunitused inarchitecturalmeasurement;even today its true nature cannot be doubted. This unit was known as the‘Olympian’ or ‘Geographical’ foot. By general consent, the Olympian footmeasuredwhatmight at first seem like ameaningless 30.861 centimetres.Weimmediately noticed something special about the relationship between theMinoan foot and the later Greek foot. To an accuracy of an extremely close99.99percent,adistanceof366Minoanfeetisthesameas360Greekfeet!Thiswasincredible,andwefeltcertainthatitwasnotacoincidence.Thetwounitsdidnotneedtohaveanyintegerrelationshipatall–yettheyrelatetoeachotherinaMegalithictoSumerianmanner:

Minoanfootof30.36centimetres x366=111.1176metresOlympianfootof30.861centimetres x360=111.0996metres

Overadistanceofmorethan111metresthedifferencebetweenthe366/360fitisjust18millimetres.Wasthisthemeetingpointofthechangeoverfromtheold366systemtoanew360approach?ManyotherresearchershavealreadyputforwardtheideathattheGreekfoot

was a geodetic unit, that is, related directly to the size of the Earth. Such

suggestionsarenotusuallyevendiscussedinthecorridorsofacademiabecausetheexistingconventionasserts,quiteunreasonably, thatabsoluteknowledgeoftheEarth’sdimensionsdidnotcomeaboutuntilmorerecenttimes.Suchisthepowerofdogma:itblindstheeyesofeventhosewhoaresupposedlytrainedtohavetheclearestvision.Ourapproachisnottobeboundbyacademicfashionorcurrentconvention,andsowelookedwithanopenmind.Ittakesonlysecondswithacalculatortograspthefactthattherearecloseto

360,000Greek feet to 1 degree of the polar circumference of the Earthwhenusingthe360-degreecircle.

ThepolarcircumferenceoftheEarthisaround40,008kilometres,whichis40,008,000metres.Adegreeisone360thofthis,whichis111,133.33metres.TheGreekfootis30.861centimetresinlengthandthisdividesinto111,133.33metres360,109times.

The360degreesof theEarth’s circumferencegiveus a figureof 129,600,000Greek feet. Since we have done nothing to massage either the size of theOlympianfootorthedimensionsoftheEarth,thesuggestionthatthiscouldbeacoincidencehastoberejectedbyanyobjectiveperson.ThepatterncanbefullyappreciatedwhenitisobservedhowtightlytheGreek

footwouldfitbothEarthgeometryandtimemeasurement.

1Greekfoot

=30.861centimetres

100Greekfeet

=30.8metres

=1secondofarcpolarcircumference

6,000Greekfeet

=1.85222kilometres

=1minuteofarcpolarcircumference

360,000Greekfeet

=111.1333kilometres

=1degreeofarcpolarcircumference

129,600,000Greekfeet

=40,007.988kilometres

=ThepolarcircumferenceofEarth

Intermsoftime,theGreekfootisalsomorethanuseful.AstheEarthspinsonitsaxisafixeddistancepassesattheequatorforaknownperiodoftime:

1modernsecondoftime=

1,500Greekfeet

1modernsecondoftime=

1,500Greekfeet

1modernminuteofTimes=

90,000Greekfeet

1modernhouroftime=

5,400,000Greekfeet

1day=

129,600,000Greekfeet

TakingtheseobservationsinconjunctionwiththeSumerianandtheMegalithicsystems,thisconfirmsourpreviousconclusionthatthedimensionsofourplanethave been known for thousands of years longer than previously thought. TheGreek foot divides into the polar circumference of the Earth in a perfectlyrationalsetofintegernumbers.We know from our own extensive research that the geodetic nature of the

GreekOlympian foot has been appreciated for a very long time. The fit is soaccurate that it cannot be doubted that those designing this unit of linearmeasurementnotonlyknewwhatitcoulddo,buthaddeliberatelymanufacturedittodothatjob.Justassurelyas366MegalithicYardsarethesameas1,000Minoanfeet,so

366 Minoan feet are equal to 360 Greek feet. Now we really could see thetransition between the two systems.But anothermajor issue suddenly becameobvious: The Sumerian numerical system tells us that the following is true:

Sumerianscript.

Thenthefollowingappliestoidentifythetenthstageofthenumericalsystem:

Sumerianscript.

(These symbols were those actually used by Sumerian scribes.We know fullwellwhat theywere intended to represent in termsofnumbersbecauseof themathematical problems played out on many clay tablets found in the region.Only the last symbol is of our own invention and is a natural consequence ofwhat goes before.) The result here is the very important tenth place in theMesopotamian decimal/sexagesimal counting system, with a value of129,600,000,which confirms that thiswas anEarthgeometry-based approach.This is the case because, as we have seen above, 129,600,000 is exactly thenumber of Greek feet in the polar circumference of the Earth. It is probablycoincidence but the hieroglyph for this huge number even looks like a globeviewedfromabovewithapoleinthecentre,theequatorattheedgeandthe45-degree latitude in themiddle.While the symbolmay be coincidence, nobodycould seriously dismiss this carefully-crafted system as a being a chanceoccurrence.Musing over these findingswe found the story of theGreekmathematician

Eratosthenes particularly interesting as he is supposed to have been the firstpersontomakeareasonableestimateoftheEarth’scircumference.EratostheneslivedinGreekAlexandriaabout250BC,andthestorygoesthathelearnedthattheSun,onthedayof thesummersolstice,shoneabsolutelyverticallydownawell in a town called Syene, south ofAlexandria. Eratosthenes knew that theSunneverrosehighenoughtoshinestraightdownawellinAlexandriaonthesameday,andheworkedoutthatitfailedtodosobyanangleofsevendegrees.From these facts, Eratosthenes was able to deduce that the Earth must be asphere andhe then calculated the sizeof the terrestrial globe.Considering thepotentialproblemsinvolved,hisestimationwassurprisinglyaccuratebecausehesuggestedthattheEarthwas130,650,335Olympianfeet.PoorEratosthenesclearlydidnotrealizethattheOlympianfootonlyexisted

becausesomeone,maybethousandsofyearsbeforehim,hadmeasuredthesize

of the Earth and divided it into precisely 129,600,000 parts. He had theninnocentlyandpainstakinglyreverse-engineereditwithhisownexperiment.ItisclearthattheGreekculturehadalreadylostcontactwiththeprehistoricoriginsoftheknowledgeitpossessed,andtodayhistorytextbookserroneouslydescribeEratosthenesasbeingthefirstmantomeasuretheglobe.The onlymajor truly ancient civilizationwe had not yet looked at in detail

wasthatoftheEgyptians.WeknewtheEgyptiancubitwassomewhatdifferentto the Mesopotamian kush, so we did not really expect to find significantcorrespondenceswithourexistingresearch.Howwrongwewere.

CONCLUSIONSHavingalreadyestablishedthat1,000Minoanfeetarethesameas366MegalithicYards,wefoundthatthemuchlaterOlympianfootcreatedbytheGreeks(30.861centimetres)isalsorelated.Toanaccuracyofanincredible99.99percent,adistanceof366Minoanfeetisthesameas360Greekfeet.

Thismeansthatthereare100GreekfeetinasecondofarcoftheEarth’spolarcircumferenceand360,000inasingledegree.

1NewYorkPublicLibrary:ScienceDeskReference.Macmillan,NewYork,1995.

2TheBookofEnoch:Chapters72–823Vermes,G.:TheDeadSeaScrolls:1QapGen.Penguin,London,1998.4Microsoft®Encarta®,PremiumSuite2003.thenextcalculationleftusstaringatthecalculatorindisbelief.Wewerestunnedtofindthatwealltravelonouryearlyjourneyatspeedof60,000kushpersecond.Asafurtherlevelofstrangenessthisspeedisaneatoneten-thousandthofthespeedoflight.

5Phillips,G.:ActofGod.SidgwickandJackson,London,1998.

CHAPTER10

WideningtheSearch

Thestandardviewofhistoryisbasedontheassumptionthatthefurtherbackintimeonelooks, thegreaterwillbethedisorganization.Wehavefoundthat theoppositeisthecase–thedeeperwepeerintothepastthegreatertheharmony.Againstalifetimeofconventionaltrainingthissoundscounterintuitive.Itwouldtakeabraveacademictochallengethestandardparadigmofhistoryandithasbeen largely left to interested amateurs such as Graham Hancock or RobertTemple(writersandbroadcasters)tochampionalternativeworldviews.Hancockand Temple and others like them are working at the fringes of academicacceptability by looking for newways to interpret how humanitymight havearrivedatitspresentposition.Inevitablythesepeoplemakemistakes,sometimessizable ones, which give their opponents a stick with which to beat them.WhetherGrahamHancockiscorrectinhisassertionthatarchaeologicalrecordsindicatetheexistenceofalost,ancient,globalcivilizationwecannotsay,butweareaware thatourown,unrelated research isnowpointingverypowerfully inthatdirection.Itisnowcertainthatpeopleinthedistantpastwereagreatdealclevererthan

anyonehassofarasumed.However,theprocessofunravellingtheideathattheinhabitants of the British Isles were ignorant and unsophisticated has takendecades, and the battle still lumbers on. More than 40 years ago radioastronomerProfessorGeraldHawkins(lateProfessorofPhysicsandAstronomyatBostonUniversity,Massachusetts) used a computer to show that the stonesandotherarchaeologicalfeaturesatStonehengeformedapatternofalignmentswith12majorlunarandsolarevents,suggestingthatitwasusedasaNeolithicobservatory and astronomical calendar. He identified 165 key points in thecomplex and found that many were strongly correlated with the rising andsettingpositionsoftheSunandMoonoveran18.03-yearcycle.HearguedthatStonehengehadonceallowedtheuserstopredicteclipsesoftheMoonaswellasthepositionsoftheSunandMoonatthesummerandwintersolstices.

Hawkins published his findings in an article, ‘StonehengeDecoded’, in thejournalNature in 1963 and in a book of the same title two years later. Butmainstreamarchaeologistscouldnotaccept thefindingsbecause theirpreviousevidencehad indicated that the levelof sophisticationsuggestedbyHawkins’stheorywastooadvancedforasiteofthisdate.Insteadofconsideringchangingtheir worldview to accommodate new evidence, the natural reaction of theexperts was to protect their old ideas by ignoring Hawkins’s material orimmediatelyseekingreasonstofaultit.Archaeologists have an absolutely vital role in the academic world andwe

certainlydonotwish tobedisrespectful regarding theexcellentwork theyputintounderstandingpastcultures–butisitcoincidencethatsomeofthereallybigbreakthroughs have come from people outside the discipline? This seemsparticularly truewhenoneconsiders thatHawkinswasa radioastronomerandAlexanderThomanengineer.

TheholisticstudyoflanguageStandard archaeology is highly compartmentalized and connections betweencultures divided by time or geography are not approved of without writtencontemporary evidenceor crossoverphysical artefacts.Theonlyholistic studyofwhichwe are aware is that relating to the development of language,whichmapsoutatreeofconnectionsforworldlanguagesastheyappearnow.Today,the people of the world speak more than 6,000 distinct languages, which aregrouped into 11main language families.The Indo-European family representsabout 1.6 billion people and includes most of the languages of Europe andnorthernIndia,Australia,theUnitedStatesandpartsofSouthAmerica.In the 18th century the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

suggested that all ancient and modern languages diverged from a singleprotolanguage.Thisidea,called‘monogenesis’,soundsveryoddbutitistakenvery seriously by many leading scholars. Anthropologist and writer RichardRudgelyhassaidtheconsequencesofacknowledgingarootlanguagearemind-boggling. Such a language must be more that 10,000 years old and probablynearerto15,000yearsold.ItisamazingthatcorrespondencesinlanguageexistasfarafieldasthedesertsofsouthernAfrica,theAmazonrainforest,theArcticand Europe. Linguist andwriterMerrit Ruhlen has called the ancient originallanguage,‘Proto-Global’.1Even academics as revered as Lord Colin Renfrew, Disney Professor of

ArchaeologyattheUniversityofCambridge,haveconcludedthateverygroupofhumans in theworldoncespoke thesame language–and that thedateof this

convergence was as recent as 15,000 years ago. These experts follow thepatternsofwordsthataresharedbypeopleswhohavenoknownconnection,yettheystopshortofaskinghowsuchathingcanbetrue.Surely,ifeveryonespokethesamelanguagetheremusthavebeenahighlevelofregularcontactbetweenpeoples around the world, at a time when, in the modern comprehension ofprehistory,thiswouldhavebeenimpossible?We have taken a similar approach to that used for tracing the origin of

language, but using measurements, astronomical methodologies and geometryinsteadofwords,andtheseindicateaconvergencesomethingover5,000yearsago.We had built on Thom’s invaluable work to detect strong links in the

astronomy-basedmeasurement systems of theMegalithic people of the regioncentred on theBritish Isleswith theMinoans onCrete, and the Sumerians ofpresent-day Iraq andKuwait.We nowwonderedwhether the same principlesthat we had come to call the ‘Great Underlying Principle’ had been usedelsewherearoundtheworld.

The‘GreatUnderlyingPrinciple’aroundtheworldWeturnedfirst to India,where therewasaunitofmeasurementknownas the‘gaz’, the origins ofwhich are no longer known. Itwas regularly used in theplanningandbuildingofsacredstructures,suchastemplesasfarbackintimeasthe Indus Valley Civilization which is usually dated as 2800–1750 BC. AlsoknownastheHarappaculture,itcoveredatriangularareaofsomehalfamillionsquare miles centred on the Indus River that runs from the Himalayas to theArabian Sea. The time frame of this culturemeans that itwas at its height ataboutthesametimeastheAncientEgyptiansandtheSumerians,butalittlelaterthan theMegalithic people. It also had a substantial overlapwith theMinoanculture.ThegazwasstillinuseatthetimeBritishrulewasimposedonIndiain1765.

TosavetheBritishany‘confusion’thegazwaslaterstandardizedtomatchtheBritishyard,butearlyrecordssuggestthatithadoriginallymeasuredsomethingcloser to 33 inches – which is 83.82 centimetres.2 This approximate lengthwould bring it extremely close to the Megalithic Yard, which is 82.96656centimetres. More recent excavations have brought to light a number ofmeasures,oneofwhichisthe‘Indusinch’.Thiswas3.35centimetres,andtherewere 25 Indus inches to the gaz – suggesting a length of 83.75 centimetres,which is even closer to the definition of the Megalithic Yard. This wasinteresting,butthisnearfitcouldeasilybeacoincidenceandwewerenotaware

ofanyfurtherevidencetosupportalink,soitmayormaynotbeconnectedtotheMegalithicsystem.However,justafewweekslateranarticleappearedinthemagazine Scientific American which rekindled our interest in the Harappanculture. It stated that excavations at oneof theoldest sites had shownhowaneconomic culture had existedduring theKotDijianPeriod (2800–2600BC).Aparticularly interesting artefact was a tiny limestone cube that scientistsidentifiedasaweight,possiblyusedfortaxortributepurposes.3Itweighed1.13grams,whichdirectlyrelatedittoaseriesofstandardweightsusedinlaterIndusvalleycities.Theinterestingpointtouswasthatthisweightisone400thofanimperialpoundtoahighdegreeofmathematicalexactitude.No-oneelsewouldhaveconsideredtryingtotestforamatchwithmodernunitsofweightbecausethere is no known reason to even suspect that there could be a relationship.However,ourresearchhadtaughtusthatthefurtherbackonelooksthestrongerthelikelihoodofaconnectiontotheGreatUnderlyingPrinciple.We looked up the official website associated with the archaeology of the

Harappansites. It showedapictureof such stonecubesarranged in sizeorderandthecaptionread:

‘…themostcommonweightisapproximately13.7grams,whichisinthe 16th ratio. In the large weights the system becomes a decimalincreasewherethelargestweight is100timestheweightof the16thratio…’4

It follows that this ‘largestweight’ referred to is 1.37 kilograms –which justhappenstobethreeimperialpoundstoagreatlevelofaccuracy.Wehadlongsinceidentifiedthatthepoundweightcanbederivedfromaone-

tenthMegalithicYardcubeandhereweseeasystemthathassmallweightsofonefour-hundredthofapoundandlargeoneswhichare1200timesthatamount,atthreepounds.Coincidence?Possibly–butitseemsveryunlikelywhentheoldunit of length known as the gaz is brought back into the picture. There is noevidence thatweareawareof thatgivesaprecisemeasure for thegazbutweknowitwasveryclosetotheMegalithicYard,whichwasstillinuseinBritainwhen the earliest Indus Valley cities were established. Could internationalcommunicationshavebeensoadvancedastoallowasouthernAsianculturetotakeitsmeasurementsystemfromtheMegalithicbuildersofthewesternfringesofEurope?Orisitmorelikelythatalltheancientcultureswehavelookedathadthesameteachers?Couldanotherwiseunknowngroupofsuper-scientists, thatwehavedubbed‘CivilizationOne’havetrainedindigenouspeoplesaroundtheworldtoaccelerateglobalcivilization.Itisstillveryspeculativebutitisavery

convincingsolution toaproblemthatsoundsodd toconventionalistears,eventhough it is not in the least improbable, let alone impossible. We make noapologyforsharingsucharadical,evenheretical,thought.Vocalizing these ideas would be highly dangerous for any academic who

values their career and peer-group esteem. In academia, only the world ofquantum physics has learned that reality is far, far stranger than any sciencefictionwritercouldeverimagine.Continuingour investigation ofmeasurement used byother ancient cultures

wenextturnedawayfromIndiaandbacktoEurope.TherewasonceaCastilianSpanishunitofmeasurementknownasthe‘vara’,whichalsobecamepopularinSpanish Central America. The vara is generally considered to be equal to83.5905centimetres,5making it about0.75per cent larger than theMegalithicYard.ThereareMegalithicstructuresinCastilebutAlexanderThomdidnotsurvey

them,sowedonotknowwhethertheMegalithicYardwasemployedthere.OldCastile was originally a province of the kingdom of Leon with Burgos as itscapital. Today it is central and northern Spain, traditionally divided into OldCastile and New Castile, and now split into Castile-La Mancha and Castile-Leon. It does seem possible that this region could have retained a unit fromprehistory but the Spanish vara cannot be confidently consideredmore than acoincidence without further corroboration, but the strong possibility of aconnectionremains.We lookednext to theFarEast and found that theoldest Japanesemeasure

wasknownasthe‘shaku’,whichisbelievedtohavebeenimportedfromChinamore than 1,000 years ago. At 30.30 centimetres this unit is almostindistinguishable from aMinoan foot, which is just 0.6 millimetres larger. Itfollows therefore that 366 Megalithic Yards are almost the same as 1,000Japaneseshaku,withafitaccuracyof99.8percent.Connectionorcoincidence?Itcouldbeeither,sowedecidednottodevelopthisareaofinvestigationunlesssomethingnewoccurredtostrengthenthepossibilityofaconnection.Theonlyrelatonshipswith theMegalithicbuildersof theBritishIslesandotherculturesthatcouldbedescribedasconclusivearewiththeMinoans, theSumeriansandnowtheHarappanculture.Thenextcivilizationwe turned to is themost famousof themall–Ancient

Egypt.TheAncientEgyptianshavelongfiredtheimaginationbecausetheyleftsuchstunningartefactsbehind them–both in termsofscaleandbeauty.TheybegantheirdevelopmentjustonoursideoftheGreatWallofHistoryandtheyappearedtoblossomfromnowhere.TherearemanypyramidsinEgyptbutthethreesplendidonesontheGizaPlateauarebyfarthemostfamous,alongwith

themysteriousSphinx,whichsitsnearbyonthesandsofthedesert.Thelargestof the three pyramids is associated with King Khufu and has an estimatedvolumeofsome2.6millioncubicmetres.Itisbelievedthat2.5millionblocksofstone,eachweighinganaverageof2.5tonnes,wereusedtobuildit.Eachsideof this pyramid is approximately 230metres long and its height is about 146metres.Unquestionably, these 4,300-year-old structures represent an almost

superhumanfeatofengineeringandthisobviousskillhascausedmanypeopletowonderifsuchbuildingsweremorethangrandburialmounds.ItisuniversallyagreedthatEgyptiansweregoodpracticalastronomers.Ithas

been suggested that some of themysterious ‘shafts’ deliberately built into thesidesof theKhufupyramidwerespecificallyangledtocosmologicalevents. Ifthis were the case, it undoubtedly had a religious meaning, because theEgyptianswereobsessedwithdeathandtheafterlife.

AncientandmodernmathematicsItmightbethoughtthatpeoplewhocouldbuildonsuchacolossalscalewouldalsobeexcellentmathematiciansandthisistrue,thoughonlyuptoapoint.Mostexperts agree that Egyptian expertise with mathematics dealt mainly with thepracticalaspectsoflifeanddidnotveermuch,oroften,intotheareaoftheory(whichwouldbecomesoimportanttotheAncientGreeks).TheEgyptianshadaformofgeometry,knewhowtomakerightanglesandappeartohavefollowedbroadly similar principles to their contemporaries, the Sumerians, thoughwithoutsomeoftheflairexhibitedbythemathematiciansofMesopotamia.It is worth repeating here the fundamental difference between modern

mathematicsandthemathematicsoftheancients.ThevarietyusedintheBritishIsles,Mesopotamia, India and Egyptwaswhat is now known as ‘algorithmicmathematics’ and that used today (invented by theGreeks) is called ‘dialecticmathematics’. The following definitions are provided by Emeritus ProfessorsPhilip J. Davis, Brown University, and Reuben Hersh, University of NewMexico.Algorithmicmathematicsasusedbytheancientcivilizationsrepresentsatool

forsolvingreal-worldproblems.Itisconcernednotonlywiththeexistenceofamathematicalobjectbutalsowiththecredentialsofitsexistence.Thisapproachallowsmathematicstovaryaccordingtotheurgencyoftheprobleminhand.Dialectic mathematics is a rigorously logical science where statements are

either trueor falseandwhereobjectswith specifiedproperties eitherdoordonot exist. It is an intellectual game played to rules about which there is

widespread consensus. Throughout the 20th century mathematics becameincreasingly dialectic and many amateur mathematicians have mistakenlyassumeditisthebest,oreventheonlyformthesubjectcantake.NASA could never have put aman on themoon if the trajectories had not

beencomputedwithdialecticrigourcombinedwithalgorithmicpragmatism.Inshort, dialectic mathematics invites contemplation while algorithmicmathematicsinvitesactionanddeliversresults.Webelievethatit isfair tosaythatbothapproacheshavetheirvalueandmostgreatachievementsrequiredtheuse of both, though there is also some tension between them. Leadingmathematicians Professors Davis and Hersh believe that there is sometimes aconflictinthemindsofusers:

‘There is a distinct paradigm shift that distinguishes the algorithmicfromthedialectic,andpeoplewhohaveworkedinonemodemayverywell feel that solutionswithin the secondmode are not “fair” or not“allowed”.Theyexperienceparadigmshock.’6

TheAncientEgyptianscreatedthepyramidsusinganalgorithmicapproachanditisalsotruetosaythattheywerefantasticatlogistics.Theyhadtobe,becausegatheringperhapstensofthousandsofpeopletogetherinoneplace,forexampletobuildahugepyramid, involvedplanningonagrandscale.Notonlyhadthecraftsmenandworkgangstobeorganized,butalsotheirrawmaterialshadtobesourcedandprepared,andamassivesupport teamwouldhavebeenneeded tofeedandwatersuchhugenumbers.What theEgyptiansseemtohavebeen lessgoodatwasbuildingacalendar

that could be said to show a high degree of accuracy to the actual year. Thereason for this was no lack of intelligence on the part of the Egyptianastronomer-priests,butratherthatitwastiedtonecessity.ItrarelyrainsinEgyptand the region isnotparticularlysubjected toseasons in theacceptedsenseoftheword.EgyptoweditsprosperitytotheannualfloodingoftheNile,thegreatriverthatwasthelifebloodofallthetownsandcitiescomprisingthecivilization.TheRiverNile risesmanyhundredsofkilometresbeyond theboundariesof

Egypt itself, in areas that do experience significant changes in rainfall. TheEgyptians themselveswere almost certainly unaware of this fact but they hadnoticed that the floodingof theNile tookplaceeachyear just after thehelicalrising(firstvisible,briefappearanceontheeasternhorizonbeforesunrise)ofthestarSirius.TheNilefloodbroughtwithitextremelyfertilesilt,whichranacrossthefieldsalongsidetheriver.Whenthefloodhadreceded,cropswereplantedinthe silt andwere simply harvestedwhen they had reachedmaturity.All crops

would be harvested well ahead of the next flooding of the Nile, eventuallycreatingasocietythatwasreallynotatallconcernedabouttremendousaccuracyintermsofthelengthoftheyear.ThebesttheEgyptianseverachievedintermsofacalendar,atleastuntilthe

timeofAlexandertheGreat,wastocelebratea360-dayyear,with5extradayseachyearaddedasholidays.Thetruesolaryearis365.2564daysinlength,soeveryyear theEgyptian calendarwas out byover a quarter of a day.Nobodycaredmuch, just as long as those dedicated towatching for the event saw thehelicalrisingofSiriusandalertedeveryonetothefact.It is certain that Egyptian scholars were good at dealing with areas and

volumes, in fact anyaspectofmathematics that hada sound,practical reason,though themethods used developed early and did notmove forward for wellover2,000years.Byinference,theEgyptiansprobablyknewabouta360-degreecircle,thoughtheyneverseemtohaveunderstooditssignificanceinthewaytheSumeriansdidbecausetheyoptedveryearlyintheirhistoryfora24-hourday,whichessentiallydivorcesthemeasurementoftimeandEarthgeometry.ThereisnoevidenceweareawareoftosuggestthattheEgyptiansknewof,orcaredabout,theSumeriansecondorminuteoftime.

The‘DNA’oftheGreatUnderlyingPrincipleWhatwewantedtoknowwaswhetheranyaspectofEgyptianmeasurescarriedanyofthe‘DNA’oftheGreatUnderlyingPrinciplewehadidentifiedamongtheMegalithic folk and the Sumerians. Looking at the available information itseemedasthoughneitherMegalithicgeometrynoritslinearmeasurementswereknowntotheAncientEgyptians.ThebasicunitoflinearmeasurementinusefornearlythewholeofEgyptian

historywas the ‘royal cubit’.Opinionsvaryvery slightlyon the lengthof thisunit,someputtingitat52.372centimetresandothersat52.35centimetres,whileProfessor Livio Stecchini considered it to be about 52.4 centimetres. Heconcluded that the length of the sides ofKhufu’s pyramid (also known as thePyramidofCheops)wasintendedtobe230,560millimetresandafterexhaustiveresearchhewentontostate:

‘It isagreedamongst serious scholars that the sidewascalculatedas440 Egyptian royal cubits. Borchardt drew the conclusion that thecubit had a length of 523.55mm, but inmy opinion, onemust takeinto account the difficulty of proceeding in a perfectly straight linewithouttelescopicinstruments.Cole,asanexperiencedsurveyor,callsattention to this factor. Since other dimensions, such as those of the

King’sChamber,indicatetheuseofacubitverycloseto524mm,onecanassumethatthetheoreticallengthofthesidewas230,560mm.

The length of 524 mm for the cubit of the Pyramid has beenconfirmed by the endless measurements that have been applied toeverydetail.’7

Therangeofopinions iswithinafractionofamillimetreandwearehappytotake Stecchini’s highly authoritative opinion and consider the Egyptian royalcubit as being 52.4 centimetres. It did not take us long to arrive at our firstassumption that this cubit did not appear to have any direct connection witheithertheSumerianorMegalithicsystems.WethenturnedtoanotherAncientEgyptianunitcloselyrelated to theroyal

cubit called the ‘remen’.The remen had a relationshipwith the royal cubit inthatifasquarehadsidesofoneroyalcubitthediagonalfromoppositecornerswillbeoneremen.len

ThisAncientEgyptianrelationshipbetween twomajorunitsof lengthuses thegeometricprinciplesupposedlyinvented1,500yearslaterbyPythagoras,whoiscredited with observing that ‘the square of the hypotenuse of a right-angledtriangleisequaltothesumofthesquaresoftheothertwosides’.Asimpleexampleofthisprincipleistheclassic3,4,5triangle.Ifthetriangle

has a 3-inch base, a 4-inch high side and a sloping side of 5 inches, andwecreateasquareoneachside, the result is threesquaresof9,16and25squareinches.Adding thefirst twotogethergives25square inches,which isequal tothethirdside.TheattributionofthisveryancientprincipletoPythagorasappearstobeanothercaseoftheGreeksunwittinglyreinventingoldknowledge.It is now accepted that this geometric principle was also important to the

Babylonians(andpossiblythereforetheSumerians).

THEORIGINOFPYTHAGORAS’THEORUM

The basis of this so-called Pythagorean relationship is actually thestudy of the square root of two. This is because the length of thehypotenuse (the corner-to-corner diagonal) in a square is the squareroot of the sum of the squares of the other two sides. TheSumerian/Babyloniansolutionwaswrittendownas1,24,51,10intheirbase60notation,whichwouldbewrittentodayasthedecimalnumber1.414212963.

Iftheroyalcubitwasindeed52.4centimetres,thentheremenmusthavebeenalength equal to 74.1 centimetres. Once again, however, we could find noapparentconnectiontotheMegalithicorSumerianprinciples.Butwecontinuedto look at the patterns of the cubit/remen relationship. Like the MegalithicpeopleandtheSumerians,theAncientEgyptiansconsideredhalvesanddoublestobeasvalidasthefulldimensionofmostunits.Theprincipleofusingthesideofasquareanditshypotenuseleaddirectlytoasequenceofdoublingorhalving.Thiscanbeseenwhenaseriesofsquaresisdevelopedusingthehypotenuse.Ifthesmallestsquarehassidesofaroyalcubit,thesecondsquareformedon

thediagonalwillhavesidesofoneremen,andathirdsquarebuildonthenextdiagonalwillhavesidesofadoubleroyalcubit.ThenextobviousstepseemedtobetointroduceacirclebecausetheMegalithicandSumeriansystemsworkedwithcircles.We could draw an infinite series of squares and circles and they would

produce an alternating series of cubit and remendimensions, doubling as theymoveoutwards,andhalvingastheygoinwards.

Squaresonthehypotenuseofaroyalcubit.

Acirclewithinacubit.

Thepowerofthecircle.

Allof thiswasverybasic,althoughitwasbeautifulandintriguing.Herewehad thepowerof thecircle thatcouldbesaid todefine the twomajorunitsofEgyptianmeasurement.Thenextobviousquestionwas, ‘What is the lengthofcircles created by a royal cubit and remen series?’ The answer was veryinteresting.Takingasquarewithsidesofonequarter-remen(18.526centimetres)wefind

that the circle that encloses it is very close indeed to a Megalithic Yard incircumference!At82.31centimetresitwas99.2percentofThom’sMegalithicYardfoundintheBritishIsles.Thenextsquarehassidesofahalf-cubitandthenextoneahalf-remen;thecirclethatencompassesthissquareistwoMegalithicYardsincircumference.Thereisasmalldiscrepancybetweenthequarter-remensquareandtheMegalithicYardcirclearoundit,butwehadtorememberthatapendulumswingisinverselyproportionaltogravity,whichreducestowardstheequatorandcausesapendulumwiththesameperiodforitsswingtobeshorterin length. This boils down to the fact that anyone following the rules for aMegalithic Yard would get a noticeably smaller result at the latitude of thepyramidsthantheywouldinOrkney,forinstance.AlexanderThom’sMegalithicYard was an average derived from all of his measurements taken fromMegalithicsitesfromnorthernScotlanddowntoBrittany,andthevastmajoritywerederivedfromnortherlysites.Ourconclusionisthatthetinyvariancesinthe

availabledataaregreaterthantheinaccuracyfoundintheprincipleoftheroyalcubitandtheremendefinedbyaMegalithicpendulum.A Megalithic Yard made in Egypt according to the Megalithic pendulum

methodwouldbe82.7centimetreslong.ThisshowsthatthependulummethodofreproductionmustoriginallyhavebeenintendedtoworkonlyinandaroundtheBritishIsles.At thissouthern latitude thesameprocessdoesnotproduceacorrectgeodeticunit.However,forthetheoreticalEgyptianMegalithicYardtobe thecircle in the remen/cubit series the royalcubitwouldhave tobe52.648centimetres–lessthanhalfapercentlargerthanStecchini’sestimate.When our manuscript was being checked for scientific accuracy by Peter

Harwood, he had been very surprised and eventually impressed with ourfindings. Peter was doing a great job for us, pointing out some errors in ourcalculationsanddrawingourattention to issueswehadmissed.Whenhe readthissectiononthepossibleuseoftheMegalithicYardtodefinetheroyalcubithesuggestedthatweappearedtohaveinferredasignificantdiscoveryabouttheKhufu pyramid that we hadmissed in fact. He reminded us of John Taylor’sbook The Great Pyramid, written in 1859, where it is observed that if onedividestheheightofthepyramidintotwicethesizeofitsbase,theresultispi.While some people believed this demonstrated that the ratio we now call pi,musthavebeensacredtotheEgyptians,othershadamoreprosaicexplanation.Critics of the ‘sacred pi’ theory pointed out that if awheel had beenmade

withadiameterthatwasasubdivisionoftheheight,anditwasusedtorolloutacertain number of revolutions along the sides, the height and sides wouldautomaticallyhaveapirelationshipwithoutthebuildersevenrealizingit.PeterHarwood’semailwentontosay:

‘Ifyouhaveawheelafootindiameter,say,thenconstructapyramidbymakingeachsideof thebasesquareexactlyonerollof thewheellong,andtheheighttwodiametersofthewheel,youhaveyourpiratiowithoutactuallyknowingwhatpi is.But supposing insteadofa footyouuseahalfcubitdiameterwheel.Youwillendupwithacopyofthe great pyramid 1 cubit high, with the length of each base side 1MY!Nowthatmademypulserace.Ican’tbelieveyou’dmisssuchasexyresult.’

Peter was quite right; we had missed a very significant point. The use of aMegalithic-Yardwheelwouldexplainaveryoldmystery.Wecheckedout theheightofthepyramidandfoundthatitisestimatedtobe146.59metresandthesidesareestimatedtobe230.56metres.Becausealloftheestimatesoftheroyal

cubit vary a tiny amountwe decided to standardize andmake the assumptionthat theMegalithicYard principle, used inEgypt, had been the starting point.So,takingaMegalithicYardas82.7centimetresandahalfroyalcubitas26.324centimetres,wefoundthefollowingfortheGreatPyramidofKhufuatGiza:

height =279royalcubits

sideofbase =279MegalithicYards

cornertocorner =279remens

AllofthemeasuringunitsappearedinthesamenumberwhenusedinKhufu’spyramid.Wecouldonlyassumethatsomekindofancientnumerologyhadmadethevalue‘279’deeplymeaningfultothearchitects.Checkingotherpyramidswefoundtheyallappeartohavebeenmadetodifferingrequirements,althoughtheothertwopyramidsatGizahadperimetersthatappeartohavebeenmeasuredinEgyptianMegalithicYards:

Menkaurepyramid(allsides)

=500MY

Sahurepyramid(allsides)

=380MY

CoulditbethattheAncientEgyptianscreatedtheirownunitsbyusingthesame‘sacred’principleastheworld’sfirstworkersinstone?Theymusthaveknownthat there is nootherway to create a repeatable unit ofmeasure other than tocalibratethespinoftheEarthusingtheapparentmotionofVenusorthestars–andtheEgyptianswereunquestionablyfascinatedbytheheavens.TheiruseofVenusandstarsinhieroglyphsshowshowcentraltheyweretothepriesthood.ThepriestsofRa,theSungod,mayhavesoughtanextralayerofencryption

tohidethesecretsofthemastermasonfromthecommonman.Onecanimaginehowtheyconsideredthelengthofthependulumtobethecircumferenceofthesun and then put a square around it. They would here be using the knownEgyptian principle of ‘As above – so below’ as well as the ‘Russian Doll’principlethatwascentraltomanyearlycultures,includingthatoftheMegalithicbuilders. This meant that the same geometric principle would give them aninfinitesequenceof½MY,1MY,2MYtorevealmultiplesofroyalcubitsandremens.

ThehieroglyphforVenus,whichliterallymeans‘DivineStar’

Thehieroglyphforthepriesthood,showingVenusabovethesun

We checked onwhether there were any further grounds to believe that theEgyptianshadusedtheprinciplesoftheMegalithicmeasuringsystemtocreatetheirownunits.Wefoundthem.In the Egyptian numbering system the circle was used as a hieroglyph to

denote the fraction one quarter. In the sequence of circleswithin squares, thesquare that contains the circlewith a circumference of aMegalithicYard hassidesthatmeasureonequarter-remen.Furthermore,theAncientEgyptianshadaprinciple unit of area they called the ‘setat’ (later known to theGreeks as the‘arouna’).Thiswasmostcommonlyusedinitsquarterform.Wewereamazedto find that the area of a setat is exactly 4,000 MY2 and the quarter-setat istherefore precisely 1,000 MY2. The chances of this being a coincidence areinfinitesimallysmall.The theory that therewas interactionbetween theMegalithicbuildersof the

BritishIslesandtheAncientEgyptianswasstartingtolookextremelyprobable.Ithasalreadybeennotedbyotherresearchersthattheinneredgeofthecircle,orSarsenRing,atStonehengeinsouthernEnglandhasadiameterof1162.8inches(2953.51 centimetres), which means that it has an area exactly equal to anEgyptianquarter-setat.CouldtheEgyptiansalsohaveadoptedtheirunitsofareafromtheNeolithicpeopleofBritain?ItappearsthattheearlyEgyptianswerestronglyinfluencedbytheMegalithic

buildersoftheBritishIsles.Suchconnectionshavebeenmootedbeforebuthavebeen rejected by mainstream archaeology because of the absence of cross-culturalartefactsatarchaeologicaldigsites.Theassumptionthatancientculturescouldnothavehadcontactunlesstheyleftevidenceappearstobeunwarranted.

The movement of a small number of master mason/magi priests between theBritish Isles and theNileDelta couldnot reasonablybeexpected to showanytraceofartefacts.Thediscoveryoftheseinterrelatedmeasurementprinciplesisfar more conclusive evidence of a deep level of influence of one people onanotherthanthediggingupofMegalithicobjectsinthesandsofEgypt.Hidden within the working practices of all Egyptian mathematicians and

builders theMegalithicYardhadbeenpresent,probablyfromtheverystartofthecivilization.Megalithic‘DNA’insosignificantaplaceasthissurelypointsto the Egyptian system of measurements also possessing strong traces of theGreatUnderlyingPrinciple–whateveritsorigin.

TheplanofStonehengeisdesignedonanareaofaquarterEgyptiansetat.

CONCLUSIONSManyleadinglinguistsacceptthattherewasasinglegloballanguageapproximately15,000yearsago.Ourfindingsareshowingthatmanyculturessharedanapproachtomeasurementandgeometrythatcomesfromanapparentlysinglesourcemorethan5,000yearsago.

TheIndusValleycivilizationorHarappacultureoftheIndiansubcontinentdatingfromabout2800BChadaunitoflengthcalledthegazthatisverycloseindeedtotheMegalithicYard.Wedismissedthisasaprobablecoincidenceuntilwebecameawareofthecube-shapedstoneweightsthatthiscultureused.Theseweightscorrespondalmostperfectlytotheimperialsystem.Thelargestweightweighed3poundsandoneofthesmallestweighedjustonefour-hundredthofapound.Thiswasespeciallyinterestingaswehadalreadyidentifiedthatthepoundweightisderivedfromacubewithsidesofone-tenthofaMegalithicYard(4MegalithicInches).

TheSpanishvaraisveryclosetobeingaMegalithicYardasistheoldJapanesemeasureknownastheshaku.ThisisbelievedtohavebeenimportedfromChinamorethan1,000yearsagoandisalmostindistinguishablefromaMinoanfoot.Itfollows,therefore,that366MegalithicYardsisthealmostthesameas1,000Japaneseshaku,withafitaccuracyof99.8percent.

LookingatAncientEgypt,wenotedthatthebasicunitoflinearmeasurement,inusefornearlythewholeofitshistorywastheroyalcubit.ArelatedunitoflengthwastheremenwhichhadaPythagoreanrelationshiptothecubit.Thiswasbasedonthesquarerootof2,whichtheSumerians/Babylonianswrotedownas1,24,51,10(intheirbase60notation)butwouldbewrittentodayasthedecimalnumber1.414212963.

WefoundthattheGreatPyramidofKhufuwasbuiltusingameasuringwheelwithacircumferenceofoneMegalithicYardandadiameterofahalfroyalcubit.AllofthepyramidsmaindimensionsareacombinationofMegalithicYards,royalcubitsandremens,alltothevalueof‘279’.

TheAncientEgyptiansalsohadaprincipalunitofareacalledthesetatthatwasmostcommonlyusedinitsquarterform.Theareaofasetatisexactly4,000MY2andthequarter-setatisthereforeprecisely1,000MY2.Thechancesofthisbeingacoincidenceareminutelysmall.Further,ithasalreadybeennotedbyotherresearchersthattheinneredgeofthecircle,orSarsenRing,atStonehengeinsouthernEnglandhasadiameterof1,162.8inches,whichmeansthatithasanareaexactlyequaltoanEgyptianquarter-setat.

1Ruhlen,M.:‘LinguisticEvidenceforHumanPrehistory’.CambridgeArchaeologicalJournal,5/2,1995.

2Mackie,E.:TheMegalithicBuilders.PhaidonPress,London,1977.3Kenoyer,J.M.:‘UncoveringthekeystothelostIndusCities.’ScientificAmerican.Vol.289,No.1,July2003.

4http://www.harappa.com/indus/21.html5http://unicon.netian.com/unitsys_e.html#france16Davis,P.J.andHersh,R.:TheMathematicalExperience.PenguinBooks,London,1990.

7http://www.metrum.org/measures/dimensions.htm

CHAPTER11

MusicandLight

We had found that Megalithic ‘DNA’ is present in measurement systemsspanningabroadperiodfromtheSumeriansandAncientEgyptiansthroughtothosedevisedattheendofthe18thcentury.Thefirstculturestocompilerecordsoftheircivilizationshavemadeitrelativelyeasytounderstandmuchabouttheirlives and knowledge but the Megalithic builders left us little to puzzle overexcepttheirmagnificentstructures.Generations of investigators have assumed that stone circles and other

prehistoricmonumentswerebuilt forsomeunknownpaganritualisticpurposesby otherwise unsophisticated Stone Age tribes. People with a more romanticbenthavesometimesconfusedmattersbyspeculatingonwhatlittleisknownofthemuchlaterCelticpeoplesandattributingallkindsofinappropriatemagicandmystery to the Megalithic monuments. These romanticists assume that greatwisdomwasheld,almostinstinctively,withinthemindsofalostcultofnatureworshippers. The evidence of Thom’s Megalithic Yard has demolished anynotionofthenaivetyofitscreatorsassumedbymostarchaeologists.Wehavetorespecttheseforgottenpeopleforthegreatastronomersandgeometricianstheycertainlywere.The level of science achievedby theSumerians, theAncientEgyptians and

theGreeksiswellunderstood,buttheknowledgeoftheMegalithicbuildersofthe area around the British Isles can only be reconstructed from a forensicinvestigation of their artefacts. Sadly, we can never know what myths andlegendstheyhandedondownthegenerationsandwewillneverhearthemusictheyplayedorthesongstheysang.

FurtheraccomplishmentsoftheMegalithicpeopleAswehaveseen,however,itisentirelypossibletoreconstructthemathematicsthesepeopleunderstoodandused,andthisinturnmightjustgiveussomecluesastotheirotheraccomplishments.Wehaveestablishedthatthenumber366was

centraltotheMegalithicsystembecauseitisthenumberofEarthrevolutionsinasingleorbitaroundtheSun(ayear)andbecauseone366thpartofadayisthedifferencebetweenasolarandasiderealday.Thesecondimportantnumberinthesystemwas360,whichwasthenumberofsecondsinaMegalithicDegree.Megalithicgeometryworksonacombinationofthesetwonumbers.AlexanderThomhadobservedthatthosewhobuiltthestonecirclesandother

monumentshe studied seemed tohaveunderstood the concept thatwecall pi,the ratio of the diameter of a circle to its circumference. The length of thediameter of a circle fits approximately three and one-seventh times into itscircumference. To be more exact we can express the number as 3.14159265,althoughthestringofdigitsafterthedecimalpointappearstobeinfinite.Thomdescribedhowsomestoneringsweremadeupofcarefullycalculated

parabolas thatappearedtobedesignedtohavearatioof3:1, insteadofpi, fortheirprincipaldiameter.Inothercases,thebuildersofthecircleshad‘flattened’thesidesofcirclesorhadcreated‘eggshapes’inanapparentattempttoforcepiintoanintegerrelationshipof3:1thatitreallycannotpossess.In order to explore more fully the long-dead builders’ knowledge of such

matters,wedecidedtolookcloseratthekeyMegalithicnumberof366toseeifithadanyrelationshipwithpi.Rathertooursurprise,wequicklyfoundaveryimportantlink.Imaginethefollowingscenario:

1.Acirclewithacircumferenceof366MegalithicYardsisconstructed.2.TheperimeterofthecircleisthendividedintohalfMegalithicYards,giving732unitsaroundthecircle.

3.Thediameterofthecirclewillthereforebe233halfMegalithicYards(732dividedbypi).

A surprising fact about such a circle is that it comes just about as close aspossibletohavingbothanintegernumberofunitsforitscircumferenceandforitsdiameter.Thedifferencebetweenatrulyintegercircumferenceanddiameterin this case is one five-thousandth of a millimetre, across a circle with acircumferenceofover260metres.Thistinyfractionisfar lessthanthehumaneyecandiscern.Toanymathematicianfromthealgorithmicschool,thiswouldconstituteaperfectfitforallreal-worldpurposes.We found it fascinating that theseMegalithic numbers could produce such

near-perfectintegernumbersforthecircumferenceanddiameterofacircle.Soisthisresultingdiameterof233specialinanyway?

TheFibonacciSeries

Theansweristhatitisveryspecialindeed.WhiletheGreekletterpiisusedtodenotetheratioofthediameterofacircletoitscircumference,theletter‘phi’isused to denote the ratio found in a number sequence known as the FibonacciSeries.LeonardoPisanoFibonacci (1170–1250) studied thematingpatternsofrabbits and almost accidentally discovered the amazing ratiowenowknowasphi. The series is where each ascending number is equal to the value of theproceedingtwonumbersaddedtogether:1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144,233,etc.Thesequencequicklysettlesdowntotheratioscientistscallphi,whichis1.618033989.Phiisphenomenallyimportantbecauseitistheratioassociatedwithgrowth.

Fromflowerstohumanembryosandfromseashellstogalaxies–everythingintheuniversethatgrowsexpandsoutwardsaccordingtothisfundamentalrhythm.TheFibonacciSerieswasknowntotheGreeksandtomanyotherearlycultures,thoughitwasFinonaccihimselfwhofirststudiedtheratioinascientificsense.In the fine arts the Series is often referred to as the ‘golden section’ or the‘goldenmean’whereitisusuallyexpressedasa5:8relationship.Theanalysisofmany Renaissance paintings will show how rigorously this principle wasapplied. Artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo for example,wouldhavelearnedaboutthegoldenmeanasapprenticesandusedtheprincipleinalmostalltheirlaterartisticcreations.The Fibonaccian number of 233 from our 732 circle is composed of the

numbers89and144addedtogether.However,wehadtofacethepossibilitythatthe number 233 turning up in a Megalithic context was simply anothercoincidenceandwecertainly felt thatwehad to investigate thematter further.Thenwenoticedsomethingratherpeculiarwhenwebrought the twoirrationalratios of pi and phi together. Multiplying these numbers leads to anotherunimpressivelookingnumber:

3.14159265x1.618033989 =5.08320369

Butifwedivideourcircleof732halfMegalithicYardsbypixphiwegetanalmostperfectresultof144.Andthisisthenumberbefore233intheFibonacciseriesandagainitisanincrediblyaccurateresult.However,thisisonlyacross-proofofthefirstobservationthatacircumferenceof732halfMegalithicYardswillproducevirtuallyperfectFibonaccianresultsforitsdiameter.Wedidfinditveryoddthatthefollowingistruetoanastonishingdegreeofaccuracy:

360dividedby5 =72

366dividedby(pixphi)

=72

phi)

ItappearsthatthereisacuriouspropertyofthenumbersusedbytheMegalithicpeoplethatmakespiandphiworktogethertodefinethedifferencebetween360and366.Thetinydiscrepancyinthemathematicsdescribedhereisjustonepartin400,000–farbeyondanyengineeringtolerance.Bysomemechanismwestilldo not understand, it appears that theMegalithic builders were in touch withnature and reality in a way that modern science is yet to achieve. We haveextrapolated this relationship fromMegalithic principles, but one questionwehadtoaskourselveswas, ‘Is thereanyevidence tosuggest that theMegalithicbuilders knew about this mathematical principle made famous in the 13thcentury by Leonardo Fibonacci?’ Our research had produced results thatappeared to confirm their awareness of phi and our own observations werebolsteredbythetotallyindependentdiscoveriesofMonaPhillipsfromOhio.Inthe1970sDrPhillipshadlookedatThom’soriginaldatafromMegalithicsitesasacentralpartofherPhDthesis.Shetooidentifiedtheexistenceofphiwithinthe Megalithic structures and she contacted Professor Thom, asking that hecheckherfindings.Thomreportedbackthatherresultswereindeedcorrectandhesaidthathefoundherobservationstobequiteamazing,callingthem,‘almostmagical’.WearesurethatDrPhillipsandProfessorThomarecorrectinsuggestingthat

some Megalithic sites do exhibit the ratio of phi. But did the buildersdeliberatelyuse itorwas it simplyanaturalconsequenceofusing thenumber366 in the building of circles?Wehad to face the possibility that phimaybesimplysomehowinherenttothemanipulationofthenumber366,whichappearstohaveallkindsof‘magical’properties.WehadsomedifficultyinimaginingNeolithicpeopleworkingwithphi,but

we decided to investigate other areas where there might be examples of thenumber 366, in conjunction with the Megalithic Yard, producing results thatresonatewithnature.Afterconsideringafewideasweelectedtolookcloselyatthesubjectwheremathematicsmeetsart–music.

MathematicsmeetsartScientific interest in music goes back a long way. Pythagoras, the GreekrememberedprimarilyforPythagoras’Theorem,livedbetween569BCand475BCandspentyearsexperimentingwithmusic.Heiscreditedwithbeingoneofthe first individuals to produce a really harmoniousmusical scale. Pythagorasexperimentedwithstringedinstrumentstoseewhichnotessoundedbetterwhenplayedtogether.Bywayofaningenioussystemofwhatareknownas‘musicalfifths’,heworkedouthowtotuneanyinstrumenttoproducegoodharmony.He

knewthatstringlengthwasveryimportantanddealtwithmusicasanexerciseinmathematics.As ever, it seems that theGreeksweregreat re-inventorsof alreadyancient

knowledgeanditisnowacceptedthatPythagoraswasfarfrombeingthefirsttocarry out such experiments. Sumerian texts indicate that scholars from theculture understood musical scales and tuned by fifths long before the Greeknation came into existence.We are particularly indebted to Fred Cameron, aCalifornian computer expert with a background in astronomy, who has spentyears reconstructing Sumerian scales and then composing music that may betantalizinglyclosetotheoriginal.ItseemedreasonabletoassumethatastheSumerianshadsophisticatedmusic,

the Megalithic people probably did as well. With this thought in mind wedecided to take a completely new approach by returning to the basics ofMegalithic mathematics, particularly the half Megalithic Yard pendulum, notjustintermsofitslinearlength,butalsowithregardtoitsfrequency.Itwasnotlongbeforewefoundourselvesbeingdrawnintothefascinatingworldofsoundandlight.Itwouldnotbepossibletoperformpracticallybutifwetheoreticallyfastened

a pen to the bottom of aMegalithic pendulum and allowed it to swing freelywhilemovingapieceofpaperunderneath it,wewouldendupdrawingasinewave(seebelow).

Atypicalwaveshowingfrequencyandlength.

Thependulum‘wavelength’isthedistancebetweentwopeaksortroughsonthesinewave and thiswould depend on how fastwemoved the paper under thependulum.‘Frequency’isthenumberofpeaksandtroughsoveragivenperiodoftime.Todaywemeasure frequency in cycles per second, known as hertz, usually

shortened to Hz. A simple example is a child banging a toy drum where arhythmofonebangeverysecondcreatesa frequencyofprecisely1Hz. If the

childdoublestherhythmtotwobeatspersecondthefrequencywouldbe2Hz,andsoon.Thehumanearcandetectfrequenciesuptoanamazing20,000Hz.When we hear a note played on a musical instrument, both frequency and

wavelength are involved inwhatour ear registers.Thenotewechoose to call‘A’onamodernpianokeyboard,threenotesbelowmiddleC,hasafrequencyof440Hz,whichmeansthereare440peaksand440troughs,ofthesortshowninthe diagram above, for every second of time. The note A also produces awavelength,whichinthiscaseis78.4centimetres.Thenextnoteuponthepianokeyboard, B flat, has a frequency of 466.16 Hz and a wavelength of 74centimetres.Asthefrequencyincreases,thewavelengthdecreases.Wehadpreviouslydiscoveredthatthemodernsecondoftime(plusitsdouble

counterpart)was firstusedby theSumerians,butwecouldequallywell adoptMegalithic units of distance and time to specify musical notes in exactly thesameway.TheEarth turnsonceeverysiderealdayof86,164secondsandaccording to

Megalithic geometry the equator can be divided into 366 degrees, 60minutesand 6 seconds of arc. Because the planet bulges a little at the equator itsequatorialcircumferenceislargerthanthepolarcircumferenceandthereforethedistanceofonesecondofarcislonger,atjustunder366.6MegalithicYards.Itfollows that the Earthwill rotate through oneMegalithic second of arc every0.65394657 seconds – which is a period that we might reasonably call a‘Megalithic Second of time’. Therefore, if we had a musical note with afrequency of 366 cycles for everyMegalithic Second of time, itwould be ‘intune’ with the turning Earth because there would be one vibration for everyMegalithic Yard of planetary turn at the equator. In reality it is very slightlymore than aMegalithic Yard because of the equatorial bulge. The differencebetweenthepolarandequatorialcircumferencesisequivalentto36.6MegalithicMinutesof thepolarcircumference!Wedecided tocall this theoreticalunitofMegalithic sounda ‘Thom’ (abbreviated toTh) inhonourofAlexanderThomwhoseworkisattherootofourinvestigation.Instandardterms,afrequencyof366Thwould be 560Hz,which places ourMegalithic note slightly aboveCsharpinmodernconcerttuning.Oncewe had our primary note, it would then be possible to tune an entire

instrument,orevenanentireorchestra,tothatnote.Sinceallthenotesinascaleareharmoniousandthereforehaveamathematicalrelationshipwiththestartingor‘root’note,andbecausetheMegalithicYardisgeodetic,itwouldfollowthatany piece of music played in this Megalithic C sharp would enjoy amathematical relationshipwith the turningEarth, both in termsof theplanet’sdimensionsanditsspin.

TheheartbeatofEarthAlan,akeenmusician,beganbuildingaseriesofmusical instruments tunedtothisMegalithicrootnote.InparticularhedecidedtocreateaMegalithicCsharpdidgeridoo,thenativeAustralianinstrumentwhichisbasicallyjustalong,fairlywide tube varying between three and eight feet in length. The didgeridoo isessentiallyalow-pitcheddrone-pipewheretheplayermaintainsthedroneusingcircularbreathing.OriginallytheyweremadefromstraighteucalyptusbranchesthathadbeenhollowedoutbytermitesbutasAlandidnothaveaccesstoeithereucalyptusbranchesor termites,heusedbambooinstead.TheexerciseworkedverywellindeedandtheresultingsoundhadaveryauthenticfeeltoitsoAlancreatedaseconddidgeridootogivetoChris.Chris had been to Australia, where he had noted a number of ancient

Aboriginalmyths for his researchwhenwritingUriel’sMachine. It is knownthatsomeofthesemythsare10,000yearsold–nearlytwiceasoldasSumerianstories. Chris suggested that we should try and find out if this particular‘Megalithic’didgeridooreallyexistedamongsttheaboriginesandwassurprisedwhenAlanrepliedthathehadagoodfriendwhowasanauthorityonthesubject.Gordon Hookey, an indigenous Australian, had stayed at Alan’s house for anumber ofweekswhenhewas visitingBritain to give talks onAboriginal artand music. Unfortunately, every attempt to contact Hookey for researchpurposes failed, asheappeared tobepermanentlyon themove.Byaquirkoffate, at almost exactly the same time as Alan had given up hope of trackingdownhisfriendthedoorbellrangandoneofthosemagicalmomentsofbeautifulserendipity occurred.AsAlan opened the door a beaming stranger introducedhimselfsayingthathehadcometoborrowthekeytothelocalCivicCentre,heldby Alan and his wife. As the conversation developed Alan was soon open-mouthed.

‘I’ll come and open up the Centre for you with pleasure. Are yourunningsomecourseorother?’askedAlan.

‘Yes.I’mjustbeginningamusiccoursewithadifference–Iteachthedidgeridoo.’

‘What?!’

Alanstoppedinhistracks,staringatthestrangerindisbelief.

‘Iknowitsoundsprettyweirdbutit’sactuallyafascinatingsubject,’repliedthestrangerinself-defence.

‘No,no,Idon’tthinkit’sstrangeatall.It’sjustthatIcan’tbelievethatyouhaveturneduponmydoorstepatthisprecisemomentintime,’Alansaid,shakinghisheadfromsidetosideindisbelief.

Thevisitorwascarryingalongbag,whichhethentoldAlancontainedanumberof authentic didgeridoos. It transpired that he had spent considerable periodsliving in theAustralian bushwithAborigines. There he hadmanufactured hisowninstrumentsandhadultimatelybecomeoneofBritain’sfewnon-Aboriginalexpertsonthesubject.Alandivedrightinwiththe$64,000question.

‘Youwouldn’thappentoknowifnativeAustralianseveruseadidgeridoothatproducesanotealittleoverCsharp,wouldyou?’

ThereplystunnedAlan.

‘SomethingalittleoverCsharp?’

Hookeypausedmomentarilyashethought.

‘Yes,theycertainlydo–it’sconsideredtobethemostsacredofalltuningsandisreservedforplayingmusictotheEarth.’

‘PlayingmusictotheEarth!’Alanshoutedbackatthesurprisedstranger.‘That’sincredible.Whenyousay‘Earth’–doyoumeanthegroundortheentireplanet?’

‘It’sthesamethingtonativeAustralians.Thenotefromthatdidgeridooharmonizesthemtoeveryaspectoftheirenvironment.Thesounditmakesthankstheworldforallitgivesthemandplayingitbindsthemtoallofnature.It’sakindofprayerofthanksoffereduptheplanetand,atthesametime,themusictheymakemergesthemintothewholeofcreation.’

Thiswasincredibleinformation.Ithadbeenalongshotthatsuchaninstrumentexistedatall,buttofindoutthattheAustralianAboriginesusedan‘Earth’notewithafrequencyof366Thwassimplywonderful.Oneagainitcouldbeahugecoincidence and it seemed completely impossible that there would be anycalculatedconnectionwithMegalithicmathematicalprinciples.Theonlyreasonableexplanationwecouldcomeupwithwasthatthenotewas

producednaturally bymeansof some sort of instinctiveharmonybetween theAustralianAboriginesandtherevolvingplanet.NativeAustralianshaveadeepspiritual relationship with their environment and their mind-set is completely

differenttothatofthewesternizedworld.Thisisaracethatwascutofffromtherestofworldmorethan40,000yearsagoandwhichhasfoundithardtocometotermswiththematerialismoftheEuropeansthatarrivedontheirremoteshoresamere200yearsago.TheAustraliangovernmenthasnowrealizedthatitcannot,and maybe should not, necessarily assimilate indigenous Australians intomodernlifestylesandsohasreturnedlandto the tribessothat theycanlive intheirtraditionalmanneriftheysodesire.IfwearerightinthinkingthatAboriginalAustraliansinstinctivelyunderstand

thattheEarthresonatestoanoteof366Th,itfollowsthattheremustbesomekindofphysicalrealitytotheMegalithicgeometricdivisionsoftheplanet.Thisindicated that the utterly brilliant systemof theEarth breaking down into 366degrees,60minutesand6secondsofarc–eachawhiskerover366MegalithicYards – was much more ‘authentic’ than we ever imagined. To test this‘intuition’theorywebegantocastaroundtheworld,tryingtofindrecordingsofindigenousmusic that have not been affected by the specific requirements ofWesternmusicorwhatisnowknownasconcerttuning.Weweretryingtofindoutiftherewasacommonusageofmusicalpiecesset

in the key that we called ‘Megalithic C’, otherwise known as C sharp in theconcertscale.Inaddition,wewerelookingforspecificrhythmpatternsthatalsofell within expected Megalithic parameters. In particular, we were seeking arhythmof91.5beatspermodernminute,because91.5beatsinamodernminutemeansthateverybeatisexactly1MegalithicSecondapart.FromtherainforestoftheAndes,thewindsweptmountainsofTibet,andthe

frozenwastesofSiberia to therollingplainsofNorthAmerica,werecognizedtraces of ethnic music that corresponded with the ‘beat of the Earth’ almosteverywherewelooked.WefounditintraditionalIndianmusic,andamongtheindigenous peoples of Africa. It seemed that wherever a culture wasspontaneouslycreatingmusic,freedfromtheconstraintsoftherecordingstudioandstandardconcert tuning,Megalithicnotesandrhythmswereoncecommon(seeAppendix4).WebegantoacceptthatMegalithictuningsandrhythmswereprobablypartof

the‘heartbeat’oftheplanetandthathumanbeingsaresomehowlockedintoaninstinctiveknowledgeofthefact.Certainly,wecouldnotfindMegalithicnotesorrhythmsintheanimalworld,onlyinmusiccreatedbyourownspecies.Asapassing thought it struck us that it might not be entirely coincidental that anormalhumanheartbeatspreciselyinarangefromonceperSumeriansecondtoonceperMegalithicSecond(apulserateof60to91.5beatsperminute).

Soundandlight

In its preference for pigeonholing every subject, modern sciences such asmedicineandpsychologyseemtosometimesunderestimatethelinkagebetweenourspeciesandtheEarth.Welessliveontheplanetthanwearetheplanet.Justbecausewehavean intellect thatgivesusasenseof the individual shouldnothide the fact that we aremade of Earth dust and assembled according to thedynamicqualitiesthatgovernourworld.Withthisthoughtinmindwedecidedto look at other human senses – especially sight. The light we see is notdissimilar to sound in that it consists of extremely fast oscillations of anelectromagneticfieldinaparticularrangeoffrequenciesthatcanbedetectedbythe human eye. Different colour sensations are produced by light vibrating atdifferentfrequencies,rangingfromabout4x1014vibrationspersecondforredlighttoabout7.5x1014forvioletlight.Thevisiblespectrumoflightisusuallydefined by its wavelength, ranging from the smallest visible wavelength forviolet, at about forty-millionths of a centimetre to seventy-fivemillionths of acentimetreforred.Wewouldupsetmostscientistsifweweretosuggestthatsoundhasanything

todowithelectromagneticradiation,althoughsome‘maverick’academicshavemade claims that there is a definite relationship. One of these is Dr JacquesBenveniste, former Director at the Institute National de la Santé et de laRechercheMédicaleinFrance.Heisquiteconvincedthataudiblesoundshaveatangiblerelationshipwithbiologicalprocesses,themoleculesofwhichvibrateatafantasticrate.Unfortunately,JacquesBenvenisteispresently‘outinthecold’academicallyspeaking,sohisdiscoveriescarrylittleweightinorthodoxcircles.Generally speaking, stars and other objects in space are the source of

electromagnetic radiation which, travelling across space at the speed of light,constantly bombard our planet. Much of the electromagnetic radiation fallingupon us could be harmful to life and some of it, such as ultraviolet light, isfilteredoutbyourfriendlyatmosphere.We use non-visible electromagnetic radiation all the time. Devices such as

microwaves and cellular phones, electric fires, radar, radio and televisionsignals,allemployelectromagneticradiationandcouldnotfunctionwithoutit.Itiswithinanarrowsectionofthisverybroadspectrumthatwefindvisiblelight.We are able to ‘see’ things in the real world because our eyes have becomeadapted toacceptingavery small sectionof theelectromagnetic spectrumandtranslatingit,viaourbrain, intothesensationwecallsight.Whereaparticularcolourisreflectedfromanobject,forexamplegreenfrommostfoliage,itpassesintooureyes,wherethespecificfrequencyandwavelengtharerecognizedandtranslated,withtheaidofmemory,intowhatwe‘know’asgreen.Unlikeelectromagneticradiation,soundcannotexist in thevacuumofspace

because it is simply a disturbance in themedium inwhich it travels. Since itreliesontheatmosphere,orsomeothermedium,soundhasaverymuchlowerspeed than light.But because the electromagnetic spectrumhas frequency andwavelength, as does sound, we use the same unit, the hertz, to measure bothsoundandlight.Thenwediscovered,moreorlessbyaccident,thatthefrequencyofthebasic

Megalithicnoteof366Th(560Hz)hasanunusualproperty.Ifwedoublethisfrequency exactly 40 times, we arrive at 6.15726511 x 1014 Hz, which justhappenstobringustothevisiblespectrumandtothatpartofit thatweseeasthe colour blue. Even though, from the standpoint of physics, there is noapparent connection between a sound of 560 Hz and an electromagneticfrequencyof6.15726511x1014Hz, therehas tobe a ‘sympathetic resonance’betweenthetwo.Thisfactmay,insomesofarunknownway,beunderstoodbytheAborigineplayinghisdidgeridoounderthebrightblueskiesofAustralia.Thevisiblepartoftheelectromagneticspectrummoreorlessneatlycoincides,

infact,40octavesup,withonefulloctaveorscaleonamusicalinstrument.ItispossibletoseethenoteFasthestartofthecoloursequenceofvisiblelightatthelowerendoftheinfraredband;thesequencecontinuesthroughallthenotes,toE, which is resonant with ultraviolet. Traditionally there are seven colours tolight;red,orange,yellow,green,blue,indigoandviolet.Inreality,thereareasmanycoloursasonewishestoname,aseachcolourchangesimperceptiblyintothe next throughout the visible spectrum. The relationship between any givenmusical note and its corresponding resonant colour is described in detail inAppendix4.It appears quite remarkable that human beings can see almost exactly one

‘octave’ofcolour.Perhaps,tocreaturesthatseeinfrequenciesbeloworaboveourcapabilities,thecoloursrepeat,asdomusicalnotes.Afterall,thelastcolourinthevisiblespectrum,violet, iswellonthewaytobecomingred,thestartingpointofvisiblelightforus.ThereisnodoubtthatthenotewecallMegalithicC(justaboveCsharpinthe

international musical scale) has a sympathetic frequency resonance with thecolour we know as blue. Before any physicists reading these words begin tojumpupanddownwithrageatthelibertiesweappeartobetakinghere,letusstateagainthatwearenotsuggestinga‘direct’relationshipbetweensoundandlight, rather the possibility of a subtle harmony when viewed from a humanperspective.Nobody fully understands the way the human brain deals with information

relating to sound or light once the necessary signals have been created by theauditoryandopticnerves. It seemsveryprobable thatboth typesof signal are

processed,deepwithin thebrain inmoreor less the sameway.Weknow thismust be the case because of amysterious and sometimes debilitatingmedicalcondition known as synesthesia. This is an involuntary process in which onesensory experience is accompanied by another. It takes many forms, butprobablythemostcommonisthatinwhichthesufferergenuinely‘sees’acolouruponhearingaparticularsound.Thisconditioniswelldocumentedandhasbeenstudied extensively. The best explanation for its cause is some sort ofinvoluntarycrossoverwithinthecomplexcircuitryofthebrain,thoughthelatterisanunbelievablycomplexorganandtheprocessinvolvedisnotunderstoodindetail. Itwasthinkingabout thisbizarreconditionthatmadeusconsiderareallinkbetweenthefrequencyofsoundandthatoflight.Ithasbeenalongjourneyfromthesimple,single-celledcreaturesthatstartedlifeonEarthtothecomplexstructurethatisahumanbeingtoday,andonthatlongroadofevolutionwehavegraduallyaccumulatedthesenseswenowenjoy.Lightsensitivitymayhavebeenoneofthefirstofthesensestodevelopand,ultimately,itdidsowithinaverynarrowbandoftheelectromagneticspectrum.If,asmanybelieve,sensitivitytosoundcame later, itwouldsurelynotbe toopeculiar foradevelopingnervoussystem to concentrate on sounds that had frequencies with a sympatheticresonancetothelightfrequenciesithadalreadylearnedtointerpret.Thismightgosomewaytoexplainingtheoccurrenceofsynesthesia.If both of these frequency ranges of sound and light should also be

inextricably tied to the naturalmatrix of cycles present in our littleworld,wesurelycouldnotbetoosurprised.Afterall,wearepartofit.

MegalithicCandwaterInterpretingtheinformationinthismannershowsthatMegalithicCisrelated,intermsofresonance,withthecolourblue.Itisinterestingtonotethatthemajorityofthecolourbluevisibleonourplanetisrepresentedbyourvastoceans.Manypeopleassumethattheseasoftheworldarebluesimplyasaresultofreflectionfrom theskywhich, inacloudlesscondition isalsoblue.This isnot thecase.The sky is bluebecauseof particles in the atmospherewhich react in a ratherstrangewayandwhich,throughaprocessknownasRayleighScattering,giveacloudlessskyitscolour.Butevenif thewater inouroceansdidnotreflect thecolourofthesky,itwouldstillbeblue.Wethinkofwaterasbeingcolourless,butinreality,itisnot.InalaboratoryinKamioka,Japan,thereisanindoorpoolofabsolutelypurewaterwhichstandsunderasilverroof.Thewaterinthepoolisadeepandluxuriantshadeofblue.Water is the absolute basis of all life onEarth and, as far as is known, life

cannotexistinanenvironmentinwhichnowaterispresent.Beingcomposedoftwohydrogenatomstooneoxygenatom(H2O),waterremainsoneofthemostmysteriousandintriguingmoleculesknown.Wesuspect,butat themomentcannotprove,thatthesympatheticfrequency

relationshipbetween the fundamentalMegalithicCand thatof thecolourbluemayinsomewayberelated toourutterdependenceonwaterandthewaywehaveevolvedtotakeaccountofthatreliance.All of the above leads us to suspect that there is probably far more to the

linearlengthwecalltheMegalithicYardthanatfirstseemedtobethecase.SoneatlydoesthisunitfitintothematrixoftheturningEarth,andintopatternswehaveevolvedtoutilizeandappreciateit,itsimportancemayprovetobepivotaltoourverysurvival.It is almost certain that theMegalithic Yard is a physical manifestation of

patternsthatareinextricablylinkedtoourlifeonthisplanet.Despitethisfact,itslength cannot be ascertained instinctively but has to be produced through amechanicalmeans(i.e.apendulum).ThatanysupposedlyprimitiveculturewasabletodrawitforthfromthecomplexinteractionsofnatureinthewaythattheMegalithicpeopledidislittleshortofstaggering.

PostscriptAfterwehadfinishedwritingthisbookwedecidedthatitwouldbefascinatingtolayoutthedetailedrulesofMegalithicmusicthatwehadjustreconstructed.We then asked a youngLondon-based band calledDeLorean to respond to abrief to createmodernmusic that carefully followed the ancient principles ofsoundthatareassociatedwiththeMegalithicYard.JimEvans,AdamFalkus,PaulNewtonandWillSkidmore,whoareallhighly

talentedmusicians, took the brief andwent very quiet formanyweeks. Thentheycamebackwiththeirfirsttrack‘Heliotropic’.Itwaselectrifying!Over the followingmonths they went on to write and performmany other

piecesthatinterpretedtheMegalithicrulesinavarietyofways,creatingmusicthat seemed tous to synchronizewith the soul.Aswe listenedwe felt in tunewiththepoweroftheturningEarth.ThosereaderswhowouldliketohearsamplesofDeLorean’smusic,orbuy

the fullCD entitledCivilizationOne – TheAlbum should visit ourwebsite atwww.civilizationone.com.

CONCLUSIONS

WefoundthattheMegalithicnumbersproducedcirclesthatcombinedthemathematicalratiosknownpiandphi.Bothareirrationalnumbersyettheyproducedresultsthataresoclosetobeingperfecttobenegligible.InourinvestigationwefoundthatanAmericanPhDstudenthaddiscoveredtheexistenceofphiinThom’sdatabackintheearly1970s–afactconfirmedbythegreatmanhimselfwhenhedescribedthefindingas‘magical’.

Theall-importantnumbers366and360arecuriouslylinkedbyacombinationofpiandphibecause360dividedby5givesaresultof72and366dividedbypixphialsogivestheresultof72.ThissuggeststhattherelationshipbetweenthetwoMegalithicnumbershasafundamentalresonancewiththesetwoveryspecialratios.

WhenweturnedtothesubjectofmusicwefoundthatMegalithicmathematicsproducesitsownstructure.Soundisnormallymeasuredincyclespermodernsecond,knownashertz(Hz),butweconsideredusingcyclesperMegalithicSecond,whichwecalledThoms(Th).Afrequencyof366Thisthesameas560Hz,whichplacesourMegalithicnotejustslightlyaboveCsharpinmodernconcerttuning.Thisiseffectivelythe‘soundoftheEarthturning’becausetheplanetrotatesatarateofoneMegalithicYardperbeatattheequator.

WefoundthatindigenousAustraliansconsideradidgeridoowithanoteequalto366ThcapableofcreatingsacredEarthmusic.FurtherinvestigationofotherindigenousmusicalsorevealedMegalithicrhythmandpitchcorrespondences.Itappearsthatthereisaninstinctiverelationshipbetweentherotatingmassoftheplanetandhumanmusic.Itmayindeedhavebeenthis‘involuntary’sensethatthemysticandmathematicianPythagorascametocall‘theharmonyofthespheres’.

Whenwelookedathumansightwefoundthatthevisiblepartoftheelectromagneticspectrumformsanoctaveratherlikemusic.Whatismore,ifwemoveexactly40octavesupthefrequencyscalefromanoteof

366Thwegettobluelight.Whilenearlyallscientistsbelievethatlightandsoundarenotconnected,wetentativelyfeelthattheremightbearesonancebetweenthetwothatispickedupbyhumanperception.

1http://twm.co.nz/Benv_bio.htm

CHAPTER12

Sun,MoonandMegalithicMeasure

Itwasclearly time tositand takestockagain.Wehadaseriesof face-to-facemeetings inorder to reviewourdataandsomeof the remarkable findings thathad resulted from our investigation.Wewere agreed thatwe found ourselvesfacedbycertainirreconcilablefacts.Theassociationofthenumbers366and360hadprovedtobefarmorepuzzlingthanwecouldhavepossiblyexpected.Whatismore,wewerenowawarethatwewerenotthefirstinvestigatorstoassociateknowledgeofbothpiandphiwiththedataAlexanderThomhadcollectedinhislonginvestigationsoftheMegalithicsites.The challengewenow facedwas to try andunderstandhowNeolithicMan

could have devised a unit that was obviously central to a gloriously holisticsystem ofmeasurement that seems to emanate from theEarth itself.Did theyinventit?Wasitgiventothembysomeunknownpreviousbutmoreadvancedculture, or does everything come from the human condition, in which simpleobservation of our environmentwill intuitively link us to a natural rhythm of366?We had constantly tried to stand back to try and understand what sort of

‘magic’wasdrivingasystemthatwasinsomewaysfarinadvanceofthebestwehavetoday–yetexistingmorethan5,000yearsago.Wehadthefeelingthattherewasfarmoreherethansimplygoodastronomicalobservationorthefruitsoftheeffortsofagroupofearlyskywatcherswhojustgotoutrageouslylucky.AteachstagewehadfoundthattheGreatUnderlyingPrinciplehadastonishingpowers of cohesion tomake all aspects of lifework as one. Its existence hadbeenmadecleartouswhileothershadnotfoundit,probablybecausewedidnotimposethelimitationsofourexpectationsorpreferencesonthepossibilities.We had uncovered an integration of ancient units that had no right to exist

accordingtostandardopinionsofthepast.TherealityoftheMinoanfootanditscorrespondencetotheMegalithicYardindicatedasciencethatwasdeliberatelyand intentionally amended to meet new requirements. The Minoan foot is

nowherenear the same linearmeasurement as theMegalithicYard, yet itwasclearlyintendedthat1,000Minoanfeetshouldrepresentthesamelineardistanceas366MegalithicYards,whichitselfisexactlyoneMegalithicSecondofarcofthepolarcircumferenceoftheEarth.

Wheretostart?Butwhere,wemused,wasthestartofthispuzzle?Whereexactlywastheentrypoint for this impossibly brilliant system thatmade all modern approaches toworkingwithnature lookawkwardandentirelycompromised.Havingmoreorlessexhaustedourideasastowherewecouldturnnext,welookedoutwards–towardstheheavensthemselves.The first object we consideredwas Earth’s companion in space, that rocky

bodywesimplycalltheMoon.AsinhabitantsofplanetEarthweshouldallbeeternallygratefultotheMoonfororbitingourbeautifulblueplanetinthewayitdoes. Atypically for the solar system at large, Earth’s Moon has largedimensionsforaplanetarysatellitebutithasaverylowmassbecauseitcontainsalmostno ironorotherheavymetals.There isno theoryof theMoon’soriginthatfitsalltheavailablefactsbutitisgenerallyacceptedthatitiscomposedofthesamematerialsastheEarththoughwithouttheheavyelements.Thisgivesitadensitythatisaround60percentofourownworld.TheMoonisagreatdealmorethanashiningdiscthatconvenientlylightsup

thenightsky.Severalleadingbiologistsworkingwithastrophysicistswhostudyour nearest neighbour in space have come to the conclusion that life onEarthmay never have established itself at anything more than a primordial aquaticleveliftheMoonhadnotbeeninplace.TheEarthhasaveryactiveandunstablecoreandthereforewobblesinseveral

differentways as it spins. It is has been suggested by some scientists that theMoonactsratherlikethestabilizeronachild’sbicycle,inthatitsgravitationalpresenceprevents theEarthfromregularlytopplingoverinrelationtoitssolarorbit. If it did so, any complex life formwould bewiped out in the resultingturmoil.Inaddition,thestronggravitationalpullofsomassiveanobjectcreatesbyfarthelargestproportionofthetidesweexperience.Biologistshavearguedthatitwastheregularcyclesofthetidesthatallowed

aquaticlifetoeventuallytakeupresidenceonland.Forexample,somespeciesmayhaveoccupiedanevolutionarynicheprovidedbytidalpools.Ifsuchpoolsarecreatedduringaparticularlyhigh tide, itmaybesomedaysorevenweeksbefore the sea would replenish them. Natural evaporation would eventuallyremove the water in the pools, leaving their inhabitants either to die – or to

adapt.Creatures exploiting thisnichewouldhavebeen subject to evolutionaryforces,whicheventuallyledtotheformationofprimitiveorgansforbreathinginapart-air/part-waterenvironment.Ultimately, theseorganswouldhavebecomelungs,while fins for swimming evolved into proto-limbs.This is a persuasivetheoryofhowlifelefttheoceansandultimatelyevolvedintohumankind.Bysomeabsolutelyincomprehensiblequirkofnature,theMoonalsomanages

topreciselyimitatethemovementsoftheSunwhenbothareviewedfromEarth.PracticallyeveryphenomenonoftheMoonreplicates,inamonth,whattheSunappearstodoinafullyear.Inaddition,themagicoftheMooncausesittomoveinamirror imageof theSun, in that themidsummer fullMoonwill set at thesameangleandinthesameplaceonthehorizonasthemidwintersunset.ThenthemidwinterMoonsetswherethemidsummerSunsets,andat theequinoxestheMoontakesthesamesettinglineastheSun.Thisisvery,veryodd–butitisobservablytrue.1The realities of theMoon are highly improbable for many reasons but we

acceptthembecauseofwhatisknownasthe‘AnthropicPrinciple’.Thisstatesthatthingshavetobeastheyareorwehumanswouldneverhavedevelopedtowitness them – in other words, our environment exists in its current formbecauseweobserveit.Tousthisseemsarathercircularargumentthatappearstobeahandymechanismtostopusfromworryingtoomuchabouttheextremeimprobability of the human species existing at all. When one considers thenatureoftheMoon,ithastobeagreedthatno-onecouldhavedoneabetterjobiftheyhadsatdownandthoughtfullydesignedthething!

TheorbitoftheMoon.

ThemovementsoftheMoonWedecided to consider themovements of theMoonmore closely.Because italwayshas the same side facingEarth, one lunarday is exactly the sameas arotationaroundtheEarth.ThisisbecausetheMoonrotatesonceonitsaxisasitmakesoneorbitoftheEarth.Theso-called‘darkside’oftheMoonisnotactuallydark,itissimplythatone

sidealwaysfacesawayfromus,likeashot-putter’sweightontheendofaline.TheMoonorbits theEarthatanaveragedistanceof384,403kilometresandatanaveragespeedof3,700kilometresperhour,anditcompletesonerevolutioninanellipticalorbitabout theEarth in27.3217days.But this isaveryhumandescription of events, seen from an Earth-bound perspective. A better way ofdescribingwhatishappeningistosaythattheEarthexperiences27.3217meansolardaysforeveryoneoftheMoon’sdays,andthisleadstoaverysurprisingoutcome:

366lunardays=

10,000Earthdays

Whyshouldthisbe?ThisconnectionbywayofthekeyMegalithicvalueof366issurelynocoincidence?Itmustalsobeborneinmindthatthenumberofsecondsinameansolarday

(86,400) multiplied by 27.3217 is extraordinarily close to the difference insecondsbetween10,000meansolardaysand10,000siderealdays.TheMoonhad always been considered to be improbable – but now it was lookingimpossible!WeweretrulystunnedaswetriedtotakeinthisamazingmatrixthatstemmedfromwhatwehadcalledtheGreatUnderlyingPrinciple.

AnelegantandpreciserelationshipOur own questions demanded that we try to find an explanation for why themovementoftheMooncorrespondstotheMegalithicnumberof366soreadily.So we looked more closely at the Moon’s dimensions and found that itscircumference isalmostexactly3.66 timessmaller than theEarth’s.Then, justforthoroughness,weappliedtheprinciplesofMegalithicgeometryagainstlunardimensions.Earth’s Moon is usually quoted as having an equatorial radius of 1738.1

kilometres,2givingitacircumferenceof10,920,804metres.Thisdistanceseemsentirely arbitrary when viewed in metric units but when we converted toMegalithicYardstheprinciplesoftheassumedMegalithicgeometryareappliedandthepicturelookedstaggeringlydifferent.

lunarcircumference=

13,162,900MY

onelunarMegalithicDegree(366th)

= 35,964MegalithicYards

oneLunarMegalithicMinute(60th)

= 599.4MegalithicYards

oneLunarMegalithicSecond(6th)

= 99.9MegalithicYards

Thatisastaggeringlyaccurate100MegalithicYardstoasecondofarc!Allowingfortheimpossibilityofhavinganentirelyaccurateestimationofthe

its circumference, it appears that on the Moon there are 100 MY to a lunarsecondofarc.FortheMegalithicYardtohaveaperfectintegerfitwouldonlyrequire a tiny adjustment in the assumed radius of the Moon from 1738.1kilometresto1739.83kilometres–adifferencethatdoesnotexistastheoriginalfigurewasonlyintendedtobemoreorlesscorrecttoonedecimalplace.What was going on? How could there be precisely a hundred Megalithic

Yards to a lunar Megalithic Second of arc? It is an inescapable fact thatMegalithicgeometryworksontheMoonaswellastheEarth!WhyisitthattheMoonconformssoelegantlyandpreciselytounitsdevised

by theStoneAge inhabitants of theBritish Isles andBrittany?Aswe thoughtabouttheresultwecouldseethatthefactthattheEarthis3.66timeslargerthantheMoonwould produce this relationship – butwho could have foreseen theastounding level of accuracy.However, it seemed that someone in the distantpast had noticed the relationship. All this had to be part of the amazingimportanceofthenumberthattheMegalithicbuilderschoseastheirkeyvalue.But, in the light of the lack of sophistication of these people, is it rational tobelievethattheycouldpossiblyhaveunderstoodallthis,orhadtheysimplyhituponsomecosmicconstantthatisunknowninourpresentera?

TheMoonandtheSunAnother strange fact about the Moon is that when viewed from the Earth itappears tobe the samesizeas theSun.This iswhy it fits ‘exactly’across thediscoftheSunatthetimeoftotalsolareclipse.TheunderlyingreasonforthisisthattheSunis400timeslargerthantheMoonbut,byyetanotheramazingquirkofnatureitisalso400timesfurtherawayfromtheEarththantheMoon.The Sun, being 400 times larger than theMoon, means that the following

breakdownmustapply:

onesolarMegalithicDegree

=14,400,000

MegalithicYards

onesolarMegalithicMinute

=240,000

MegalithicYards

onesolarMegalithicSecond

=40,000Megalithic

Yards

ForthoroughnesswedecidedtocheckthisresultagainsttheSun’sradius,whichisnormallytakenas696,000kilometres.3Tofindacircumferencethishastobedoubledandmultipliedbypiandthenby1,000togivearesultinmetres.Thiscomes out at a very unimpressive 4,373,096,974 metres, but converting itaccording to the principles of Megalithic geometry does indeed produce aMegalithic Second of arc that is 40,004 Megalithic Yards long. That is onehundredth of one per cent different to the estimate of the Sun’s dimensions –which is certainly inside the range of error of the original estimate. The bestfigure of 696,000 kilometres for the radius is obviously rounded up, yet theactualfigurewearriveatbyusingMegalithicprinciplesis696,070kilometres.So theSun also conformsprecisely to theGreatUnderlyingPrinciple. Simplyamazing!

ThegranddesignAswe pondered these new revelationswe agreed that things like this are notgenerallyencounteredinreallifebutheretheywere–real,hardfacts.TheSun,theMoonandtheEarthallconformtoa‘granddesign’thatisalsoevidentintheMegalithic structures that are scattered across the British Isles and westernEurope.IstheresomethingabsolutelyfundamentalaboutthedimensionsofthesolarsystemthatmodernsciencehasmissedbutwhichtheStoneAgebuildersunderstoodeitherintuitivelyorintellectually?ThereisnotheoryofhowtheMooncameintobeingthatfitsalloftheknown

facts but these days it is widely accepted that theMoon is made of materialscoopedfromthesurfaceoftheEarth.Thisisknownasthe‘bigwhacktheory’and involves the theoretical catastrophic collision of the Earth with a planet-sized body. This theory also explains why the Moon has virtually no ironbecause such an impact would have blasted off chunks of the Earth’s outerlayers rather than its very dense core. If the bigwhack theory is correct, onecould imagine that the debris created might have coalesced in a manner thatsomehowreflectsthesame‘366-ness’oftheEarth,butitseemsverystrange.Asfaraswecandiscover, there isnosucheffectknowntoscience.Whatever theoriginofthisorbitinglumpofrock,itnowbecomesclearthattherelationships

between the Earth, its Moon and the Sun are far more complex andmathematicallyintegratedthananyoneinthemodernerahasrealized.Thenextstepwastolookatthedimensions,massandmovementsoftheother

planetsinthesolarsystem.WestudiedeachinturnandineverycasewefoundpreciselynothingthatcameanywhereclosetofittingtherulesoftheMegalithicprinciple.Thiswasreassuringononelevel,becauseitshowedthatthesesortsofnumbersandrelationshipsarespecial.Buttheconsequencesofthat‘specialness’wereworrying.Wehadtoadmitthatitseemsasthoughhumanity’senvironmenthas been exclusively engineered for our benefit using a standard measuringsystem.AgoodfriendofChris’s,DrHilaryNewbigin,whoisakeenmathematician,

suggestedthattheotherplanetsmayhavetheirownvaluebasedontheirspintoorbitratio.Thiscouldnotapplytosomeplanets,suchasVenus,whichturnsthewrongwayandhasadayslightlylongerthanitsyear.However,itcouldworkfor other planets such asMarswhichwould have the ‘magic number’ 688 tomatchEarth’s366.But this supposedMartianvaluedoesnot seem toproduceanyusablepattern,soitlooksasthoughtheEarthwasveryspecialinsomeway.Althoughtheotherplanetsdonotappear toconformtotheSun-Earth-Moon

values, there are two of them that are of special importance to our planet ingeneralandhumanityinparticular.First, if Jupiterwasnot thesize it isandoccupying theposition itdoes, the

Earthwouldbe regularlybombardedwithcometsandotherspacedebris.4ThegravityofthisgiantplanetdrawsinandconsumesmostofthesemissilesbeforetheyimpactonEarth,justasitdidinJuly1994whencometShoemaker-Levy9smashed into Jupiter, creating a fireball larger than our own planet. Quitesimply,nohigherspecieswouldeverhavehadsufficientcatastrophe-freetimetodevelopuponEarthifJupiterwasnotsocarefully‘guarding’us.ThenthereisVenus.Thisplanethasbeenworshippedbymoreculturesthan

any other in the solar system, mainly because it provides humanity with acalendar that is very accurate across a 40-year cycle. It is certain that theMegalithicbuildersusedVenustocalibratetheirlives,5anditwasusedtochecktimekeepingrightuptotheinventionofatomicclockshalfacenturyago.Fromthestartofourresearchouronlyrealintentionhadbeentoeitherprove

ordisprovethegenuinenessoftheMegalithicYard,asrediscoveredandnamedbyProfessorAlexanderThom.Clearly, thingshadnot stopped there, andnowwe found ourselves on the receiving end of an avalanche of information andfigures that showed exactly how important Thom’s 50 years of relentlessinformation-gatheringhadactuallybeen.TheMegalithicYarddividesintothepolarcircumferenceoftheEarthequally,

intoatotalof48,224,160units.Itcanfurtherbesubdividedintoincrementsof366MYfortheMegalithicSecondofarc,2,196MYfortheMegalithicMinuteofarcand131,760fortheMegalithicDegreeofarc.IftheMegalithicYardis,asThom suggests, 2.722 statute feet or 82.96656 centimetres, it fits the polarcircumference of the Earth as indicated here to an extremely high degree ofaccuracy.TheMegalithicYardis‘truly’geodetic.IntheworldoftheMegalithicsystem,asecondofarcofanEarth-turnatthe

equator isexactly thesame thingasa secondof time.Thismakesourmodernsystemlookhalf-baked,whereasecondofarcattheequatorisalittleunder31metresand it takesabout15secondsof timefor theEarth tospin through thisdistance. Stone Age Man has left us looking pretty stupid when it comes todevisinganintegratedsystemoftime,geometryanddistance!TheMegalithicYardnotonlyaccuratelybisectstheEarth,itdoesexactlythe

sameontheMoonandtheSun.Inthecaseofthesetwobodies,itmanagesonthewaytoturnthe366softheMegalithicsystemintofullyfunctionaldecimalintegers,withlongstringsofzeros.SotheMegalithicYardisnotonlygeodetic,it is also ‘lunardetic’ and ‘solardetic’ (if we are allowed to invent two newwords).TherecanbenodoubtwhatsoeverthattheMegalithicsystemofmeasurement

wasdesignedspecificallyfortheEarth,eventhoughit isalsoapplicabletotheSunandtheMoon.Thebeautyofthesystemisthatitworkssocompletely:eventhe difference between the Earth’s polar circumference and its equatorialcircumference is equal to36.6MegalithicMinutesofdistance.This fact alonecreatesaneatformoftrigonometrythatmakesestablishingthecircumferenceofthe Earth at any latitude a simple matter. And, we must remember how theMegalithic system produces a unit of weight that is the same as the modernpound.Withaunitofmassderivedfroma4Megalithic-Inchcube,itdescribesthemassof theEarth inMegalithicSecondsof arcwith the completely roundnumber of 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 pounds to one Megalithic-Secondsegment.TheMegalithicsystemwasprovidedwithasimplecompensationmechanism

that keeps the 366-day year in tune with the real solar year. This involvesremoving1dayfromthecalendarevery1year,4monthsand4days(492days).Ifthissimpleprocedureisfollowed,theritualyearandthesolaryearwillstayinharmony for well over 3,000 years without any other compensation beingnecessary.So,theMegalithicsystemdealseasilywithtime,distance,massandvolume

inawaythatisdirectlyproportionaltothesize,massandorbitalcharacteristicsof the Earth. It some ways it is superior to the metric system and clearly

representstheGreatUnderlyingPrinciple,sinceeverythingthatcameafterithasarelationshiptoitinonewayoranother.Meanwhile,theSumeriansystem,thoughworkinginaslightlydifferentway,

isliketheotherhalfofsomemagnificentoriginalframeworkthatdescribesthephysics of humanity’s environment from the speed of light to a kilogram ofapples. All measurements in the Sumerian system can be cross-checked withknownnumbersofbarleygrains,bothintermsofdistanceandmass,whiletimecanbecheckedagainstapendulumof thebasic linear lengthacrossone360thpart of turning Earth. The Sumerian system also defines the speed of light asbeing600,000,000kushperSumeriansecond.TheonlyapparentshortfallintheSumeriansystemisthat,unliketheMegalithicsystem,itisnotgeodetic.Our archaeological quest has thrown us headlong into something far, far

bigger than we could have ever imagined. It only remained to try and makesenseofeverythingwehadfound.

CONCLUSIONS

ItissuggestedthathumanswouldnotexistifitwerenotforthesizeandmassoftheMoon.TheMoonhasmanystrangepropertiesincludingthefactthatitsrisingsandsettingscompletelymirrorthoseoftheSunduringayear.

WelookedatthecircumferenceoftheMoonandfoundthatitconformstoMegalithicgeometrywithprecisely100MegalithicYardstoalunarsecondofarc.ThenwefoundthattheSunalsoconformstoMegalithicgeometrywith40,000MegalithicYardstoasecondofarc.Nootherbodiesofthesolarsystemconformtotheseprinciples.

WhenwelookedatthemovementoftheMoonwefoundthattheEarthexperiences27.3217daysforeveryoneoftheMoon’sdays(whichisthesameasonelunarorbitoftheEarth).Whilethenumber27.3217soundsentirelyarbitraryaquickcalculationshowedthattheMoonmakes366orbitsinjust10,000Earthdays!

AMegalithSecondofarcandasecondoftimewerethesamething,andareequalto366MegalithicYardsattheequator.Thismakesourmodern,non-integratedsystemlookpatheticallyunsophisticated.

1Heath,R.:Sun,MoonandEarth.WoodenBooksLtd,London,2001.2http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/moonfact.html3Microsoft®Encarta®,2003.4Gribbin,J.andPlagemann,S.:TheJupiterEffect.NewEnglishLibrary,London,1980.

5Knight,C.andLomas,R.:Uriel’sMachine.Arrow,London,2000.

CHAPTER13

ANewParadigmofPrehistory

TheinvestigationanditschallengetoscienceWe had set out to investigate a tightly defined question: ‘Had ProfessorAlexanderThombeencorrectinbelievingthattheMegalithicbuildershadusedastandardunitof82.96656centimetres?’Wewereabletoconcludethathewasabsolutely right by identifying the reasonwhy the unit was important and byreplicatingtheprecisetechniqueusedtomakeit.Having confirmed that Thom’s brilliant work was indeed valid, a harmless

littlefollow-upexperimentintopotentialMegalithicunitsofweightandcapacityproducedsuchoutrageousresultsthatwequicklyfoundourselvescatapultedintoa far broader and more complex investigation. This eventually led us on astrange journey that culminated in the rediscovery of an ancientmathematicalmatrixthatechoessomeofthedeepestpatternsofthesolarsystem.Scientifictheoriesarewaysofexplainingtheworldweseearoundusandthe

proofofatheorynormallycomesfrommakingapredictionthatissubsequentlydemonstratedtobecorrect.AlexanderThomdidnotmakepredictionsregardinghisMegalithicunitsbut,inidentifyingthemsoaccurately,helaidthegroundforthemtobesubsequentlyproven.Inaddition,thefactthatevenheacceptedthattherewasthennoplausibleexplanationforhowsuchexactunitscouldexistoversuchalargeareaalsoprovidesamechanismtodemonstratethathewascorrect.If Thom’sMegalithicYard and theHalfMegalithicYard had been nothing

morethanphantomserroneouslygeneratedfromhishugecollectionofdata,asmany archaeologists have suggested, then the lengths concerned should bemeaningless.The fact that thesepreciseunitsdefine the lengthof apendulumthatgives366beatsduringVenus’pathacrossone366thofadayisunlikelytobearandomchanceevent.The technique of replicating theMegalithicYard requires only simple tools

and minimal astronomical knowledge – and it provides an elegantly simpleexplanationofhowtheunitwassoconsistentlyaccurateacrosstimeandspace.

EachusermerelycreatedtheirownmeasuringrodbytimingtheturningoftheEarth.Our initial suspicion that a system of prehistoric geometry based on 366

degreeshadbeeninuseforthousandsofyearsandacrossalargegeographicalareawasconfirmedaswe lookedmorecloselyatknownandacceptedancientmeasuringsystems.Fortheretobeexactly1,000MinoanfeettotheMegalithicSecond of arc is as stunning as Thomas Jefferson’s observation that a precise1,000ouncesmakeupacubicfootofwater.Fromthisandotheropen-mindedobservations, America’s third president concluded that there must be someancient intelligence underlying the apparently arbitrarymeasuring units of hisday–andnow,sohavewe.From the previously available evidence the world had reasonably assumed

that humans first invented the crudest form of science and principles ofmeasurement some 5,000 years ago and that we have progressed from roughmeasures, based on paces or approximate body parts, to our refined modernmeasuresacrosstheinterveningmillennia.Buttheevidenceputforwardinthisbookturnsthisworldviewonitshead.We have found that the further back in time we go, the greater the

interconnection between units – and the deep science behind the very oldestmeasures makes modern systems seem arbitrary and trivial. It appears thatbefore history was written there was an apparently single approach tomeasurementunitsthatwasbasedonthephysicalrealitiesoftheSun,theMoonandtheEarth.Ofcourse,suchadescriptionofhistoryiscounterintuitive.Butitisimportant

torememberthatseveralleadingexpertsstudyingthedevelopmentoflanguagehave already surprised the academic community by concluding that thethousands of languages across the globe all stemmed from a single proto-language. In effect, the further back in time one looks – the greater theconformity.Theintuitive,butincorrect,assumptionhadalwaysbeenthereverse–thatthespokenwordbeganasthousandsoftribaltonguesthatslowlyevolvedintoregionalandthennationallanguages.If our observations are correct, even in part, then archaeologywill have to

throwawayitsoldparadigmofthedevelopmentofcivilizationandbuildanewpicture that will be very different. Furthermore, modern science will have toaccept that there is a great deal to learn about the way our world works bylookingcloselyatthislongforgottenGreatUnderlyingPrinciple.Thiswillnotbeeasyfortheacademiccommunity.Archaeologyhasheldout

againstacceptingAlexanderThom’stheoriesbyfailingtoputsufficientenergyinto confirming or disproving his data and his conclusions. The discipline’s

collective inactionhas allowedarchaeology to retain itsoldviews intact–buttheevidenceputforwardinthisbookisinfinitelymoresimpletounderstandandtocheckthanThom’sspecialistmethodologyandheavyweightdata.Scienceisregardedasaprocessgovernedbyrationality,logicandtruth.The

scientist is expected to carefully and objectively observe, collect and classifyinformationbeforeformulatingahypothesis inorder toexplainthedataandtopredictwhatmighthappenundervariousconditions.Alltheoriesaresubjecttomodificationorreplacementasnewknowledgeisgenerated.Ifitwerenotsowewould all still subscribe to the views of Thales who, in the 6th century BC,describedtheEarthasaflatdiscfloatingonwaterthathecalled‘theuniversalelement’.The informationwe have uncoveredmay be ignored bymany, but we feel

sure that the principles of science will cause it to be carefully examined byexpertsfromdifferentdisciplines.Wegreatlylookforwardtootherstakingourfindings and developing a bigger and broader picture of the origins ofcivilization.Wealsorealizethatitmaytakealittletime.Astronomer Professor Archie Roy once told Chris that academia follows a

three-point pattern when new information comes from an ‘out-of-discipline’source:

1.Firstitwillsuggestyouaremadandtrytoignoreyou.2.Then,whenyoudon’tgoaway,itwillsay,‘Okay,showmeyourthesisandIwillpointoutwhyyouarewrong.’

3.Finallyitwillsay,‘Well,yes–ofcourse,weknewthatallalong.’

WehopethatProfessorRoyisright.Weareconfidentofour factsbecauseallof theoriginal inputdatawehave

usedcomes fromentirely respectable sources–peoplewhoare expert in theirownfields.Thevastbulkofthedataused,fromthelengthoftheMinoanfoottothemassoftheEarth,isnotdebatedbyeveryone.Thesumswehavedoneareable to be checked by anyone with a calculator and a basic knowledge ofmathematics,sothecalculationsareeitherrightortheyarewrong.Ifthefactswequotearecorrectandourmathsisnotflawed,anydebateabout

ourthesiswillcentreoninterpretation.Wehavebeenascarefulaswecanbetoonlyassumeapotentialconnectionwhereanumericalfithasbeenverydefinedandwehavesecondarycorroboratingfactors.Forexample,wehavenotasyetfelt able to include the Japanese shaku or theSpanish vara in our big picture,despiteveryclosefits.We have soundly rejected the notion of a gigantic string of coincidences.

Consider, for instance,Thomas Jefferson’s brand newunits of length that justhappenedtohaveprecisely1,000suchunitsto360MegalithicYards.Hisuseofthe Sumerian second of time for a pendulum inadvertently tied him into theancientunderlyingpattern.

‘Patternseekers’Howeverconfidentwefeelaboutourfindingswemustfinallymakesurethatweare not fooling ourselves by creating patterns that do not really exist.Mathematicsiscertainlyanareawhere‘patternseekers’candeludethemselves.Indeed,thefirstreactionofmanyscientistswhentheyhearofourthesismay

wellbetoassumethatwearesimplypatternseekers.Itisanentirelyreasonableassumptionbefore the facts areviewed.So,havewedeludedourselves in thisway? Perhaps the best way to judge is to look at a couple of well-knownexamplesofdelusionalpattern-building.In1859JohnTaylorwroteabookentitledTheGreatPyramid, inwhichhe

observedthat ifonedividestheheightof thepyramidintotwicethesizeofitsbase,theresultisveryclosetotheratiowecallpi.Otherslaterobservedthatthebase of the Great Pyramid divided by the width of a casing stone equals thenumber of days in the year. And later still, it was discovered that if onemultiplies theheightof theGreatPyramidtothe109thpower, theresult is theapproximate distance from the Earth to the Sun. Taylor’s original point ismathematicallycloseandmayormaynothavebeenadeliberatedesignfeatureofthissinglestructure.Butinourviewtheotherpointsaresimplypoppycock.So,thereisnopatternhere,justaone-offobservationwithoutanyconnectiontoanything else, for example, the other two pyramids at Giza. This bears nosimilarity to the systematic fits we have been finding underpinning ancientweightsandmeasures.Another much-quoted case involved mathematician Martin Gardner, who

thought thatallpatternseeking is foolishness.Hesetout tomakehispointbyanalysingtheWashingtonMonumenttodeliberatelyproduceaspuriouspattern.He found that the number5 couldbe shown tobe inherent in the structure asfollows:

Theheightofthemonumentis555feetand5incheswhileitsbaseis55feetsquare.Thewindowsaresetat500feetfromthebaseandifthebaseismultipliedby60(5timesthenumberofmonthsinayear)theresultis3,300,whichistheexactweightofthecapstoneinpounds.Inaddition,hepointedoutthattheword‘Washington’hasexactly10letters(2x5).Finally,iftheweightofthecapstoneismultipliedbythesizeofthebase,thenumber181,500isproduced–whichisjust

thesizeofthebase,thenumber181,500isproduced–whichisjustunder3percentawayfrombeingthespeedoflightinmilespersecond.

Gardner’spatternwascreatedtodemonstratethefutilityofmakingpatternswithotherwise meaningless numbers. But he had no mathematical pattern at all.Therewas no reason for choosing the number 5 and there is nomathematicalrelationshipatallbetweentheareaofthebaseandtheheightoftheMonument.There is no reason for introducing the number of months in a year and it ismeaningless to multiply units of weight by units of area to produce a speedmeasured in miles per second. This ‘approximation’ to the speed of light iswildlyout,eveniftherewereanyreasonforintroducingitinthefirstplace.We are grateful to Martin Gardner for putting our minds at rest by

demonstratinghowdifficultitistoinventpatternsthatdonotexist.

TheastonishingtruthWestartedoutwith aworkinghypothesis that theEarthwasdivided into366degrees, 60minutes and 6 seconds to produce a second of arc on the Earth’scircumference that is 366MegalithicYards (and1,000Minoan feet).Thishasproducedsucharangeoffruitfulresultswebelieveithastobeacceptedasreal.We were stunned, and very confused, when we found the same geometricdivisionsareappliedtotheMoonandtheSun:

Alunarsecondofarcthatis100MegalithicYardslong

Asolarsecondofarcthatis40,000MegalithicYardslong

A good scientific theory is one that makes a prediction that is subsequentlyproven.These findingswerenotdirectlypredictedbyusbutwehadpredictedthat therewasaGreatUnderlyingPrinciple thatwasaphysical reality forourhumanenvironment.Thecircumferencesof theMoonandSunare10,927and4,373,097 kilometres respectively,which are perfectlymeaningless numbers –until they are converted into Thom’s Megalithic Yards and the principles ofMegalithic geometry applied. For all three of the solar system’s main bodies(from a human perspective) to conform to such total accuracy proves theexistenceofthepattern.

Howdidtheancientscometopossesssuchknowledge?Finally,wemust confront our greatest challenge: it is now time to attempt tomakesenseofallwehavediscovered.Wemusttrytoreconciletheexistenceof

such miraculous knowledge with everything else that is known about theNeolithicpeoplesofwesternEuropeandtheearlydynastiesinMesopotamiaandEgypt.No matter how hard we try, we find it impossible to believe that the

Megalithic366systemand itsclose360relative fromSumerwere invented inisolation.Theremust surelybea connection–andaverydirect connectionatthat.WhileitisentirelypossiblethatboththeMegalithicandSumerianpeoplescouldhaveestimatedthecircumferenceoftheEarthusingsimplegeometryandcareful observation, we do not believe that they could have calculated theplanet’smassoraccuratelyassessedthedimensionsoftheMoonandtheSun.The available archaeological evidence paints a picture of the Neolithic

population of the British Isles as being very primitive, without a writtenlanguage,metals or anykindofwheel.The pottery left by theGroovedWarepeopleisverycrudeandeverythingweknowaboutthesepeoplepointstoshort,hard lives. Despite these undeniable facts, this is the culture that built robuststructures, durable enough to have survived more than 5,000 years. Theexistence of theMegalithic Yard at the sites surveyed by Thom confirms anability towork to fine tolerancesand indicates that thepeopleconcernedwereawareoftheconceptsthatwelabelpiandphitoday.ButhowdidtheyarriveattheMegalithicYard,thatfascinating,andtomany

archaeologists,extremelyfrustratingunitof0.8296656metres?Wehavedescribedindetailhowtheindividualbuildercouldcreatearuleofa

knownlengthbyfollowingarelativelysimpleprocedureandwehaveexplainedwhy this length was seen as so special in terms of the Earth’s polarcircumference.TheMegalithicYardcanbeaccuratelydeterminedbyanyartisanwithaknowledgeoftheprescribedtechniqueofobservingtheturningEarthandswingingapendulum.IttakesnomorethananaverageIQtolearntoreproducea Megalithic Yard – but what can we deduce about the individuals whooriginatedthisunitthatsobeautifullyfitstheEarth,theSunandtheMoon?:thatwhenappliedtocubes,createsweightsandcapacitiesthatarepartofthemodernimperialsystem.Surely,noMegalithicastronomercumstonemasonknewanyofthis?Being as open-minded as it is possible to be, we cannot believe that the

MegalithicbuilderscouldhavedefinedtheMegalithicYardeitherbyaccidentordesign.Andyetsomeonedid.Thenthereisthekush,theSumerian/Babylonianunitthatdoesnothaveany

obviousconnection toEarth’sdimensionsbutwhichdoesdefine thesecondoftime and produces astounding decimal/sexagesimal integers when used todescribethespeedoflightandthespeedoftheEarth’smotionaroundtheSun.

Again, we simply cannot believe that the Sumerians had any more ‘true’understandingoftheimplicationsofthekushunitsthananAfricanbushmanhasregarding the innermost workings of his clockwork radio. So, how did theseancientcivilizationscometopossesssuchknowledge?

CivilizationOneFor all the world it feels as though both Megalithic Man and the Sumerianssharedthesameteacher.Thesuddendevelopmentofbrilliantculturesaftermorethan5,000generationsofhumanityand theabsenceofanyaudit trail stronglysuggeststheinterventionofathirdpartythatisnolongerknown.TheprincipleofformallogicknownasOccam’sRazorstatesthat‘entitiesare

nottobemultipliedwithoutnecessity’.Thismeansthatthatelaboratesolutionsshouldnotbecreatedwheresimpleoneswilldo.Andwecanthinkofnosimplersolution than to accept that the contemporary records of the first civilizationsactuallymeanexactlywhattheysay!UnfortunatelytherearenodocumentaryrecordsofNeolithictraditions–butweknowthat theSumeriansandancientEgyptiansspecificallystated thatagroupof people with, what appeared to them to be, god-like powers arrived fromsomewhere unknown to instruct them in the sciences and teach them skills inmanufacturing.These‘Watchers’werethoughtofasgods,butitissaidthattheylookedlikenormalpeopleandtheylivedanddiedjustlikeeveryoneelse.Whileit is fashionable today todismissoldmythand legendas littlemore thanfairystories,webelievethatthisexplanationholdsmorewaterthananyother.Is this solution so preposterous that we have to overlook the obvious?

Stepping back from the arrogance of the belief that our current civilizationsimply has to be the pinnacle of all human achievement leaves uswondering,‘WhyonEarthdowehavetoaccuseourforebearsofwritingdownnonsense?’Thefirstresponseofanyarchaeologisttothisthesiswillbe,‘Sowhereisthe

archaeological evidence to support the notion of such a group of advancedpeople?’This isanentirelyfairandreasonablequestionbutouranswer lies ininformation that we have brought forward from our forensic examination ofmeasurement systems. The evidence outlined in this book appears to havedemolishedthestandardideathattherewasaslow,incrementalimprovementofhumankind’s understanding of science and nature from Stone Age to InternetAge.LikeCharlesDickens’MrGradgrind,we love facts, andwe set out to find

morefactsthanhadpreviouslybeenavailable.Thewholeideaofa‘CivilizationOne’isnotgoingtoappealtomanyacademics–andwefullyunderstandwhy.

Thiskindofnotionhastobetreatedwithgreatcaution.Yetitdoesexplainhowthese fantastically sophisticated units existed in cultures that were otherwiseratherunsophisticated.Coulditbethattherewasonceasingle,highly-advancedgroupthatvirtually

kick-started theworld’s first civilizations? If so, it appears that it failed in thecaseof theMegalithicculturebecause it seems tohavediedout.Andyet inawayitneverwill,aslongasanypersonontheplanetordersapoundofapplesordownsapintofbeer.Others may identify a different solution, but in our estimation it would be

impossible to create this interrelated Megalithic/Mesopotamian measurementmatrixfromacoldstart.Inotherwords,theEarth,MoonandSunaswellasthespeed of light and the orbiting Earth would have to bemeasured using somearbitrary units before it would be possible to create units that produced suchwonderfulintegerresults.Ifwearecorrectregardingthispoint,theinferencehastobethatCivilizationOnewasasadvancedasthemodernworld,thoughfar,farbackintimeduringtheperiodwerefertoasprehistoric.Another important point to consider is the way that the numbers we have

foundwork.EverythingabouttheMegalithicsystemhingesonthevalueof366andtheSumerian/Babyloniansystemworksontheirsexagesimalprinciple.Buttherearemanyinstanceswheretheintegersfalloutindecimalterms:

1,000MinoanfeettoanEarthSecondofarc

100MegalithicYardstoalunarsecondofarc

40,000MegalithicYardstoasolarsecondofarc

We are well aware that some people will say that we have found meaningbecause we have seen big round numbers in base 10. They might argue thatdespite the bizarre ‘coincidence’ of all three solar system objects producingtheseresultswhenusingancientmeasures,allnumbersareequallyvalidandthattheywouldnotlookanythingspecialifweusedanotherbase.Thenumber100,forexample,would readas144 inbase8.Thispoint isvalid–butourwholeargument is that some human beings in the very distant past realized that theEarthwasprecisely3.66times larger thantheMoonandthat theSunwas400timeslarger.Having10digitsontheirhandstheyhadnaturallyworkedinbase10andsawtherelationshipasfollows:

Moon–

100

Earth 366

Earth – 366

Sun–

40,000

Havingobservedandunderstoodthisremarkablerelationshipthesepeoplealsorecognized that thevalue366was important to theEarthbecause thatwas thenumber of rotations it had on its axis in the course of one solar orbit. And a366th part of the day was the difference between the solar and sidereal day.Furthermore, therewas a reciprocal relationship because theEarth had 10,000daysto366lunardays.Havingdigestedthesefactsitislittlewonderthattheseearly astronomers considered the Earth to be a 366 phenomenon and thenproceededtoworkoutaunitofmeasurethatunifiedthisknowledge.Butthesepeople,whoevertheywere,alsounderstoodthemassoftheEarthin

greatdetailandrealizedthatthe‘366ness’ofourplanetgoesevendeeper.Theyusedapendulumtobeat366timesduringVenus’movementacrossa366thpartof thehorizon,andproducedapendulumlengththatcorrespondedprecisely tothe units that describe the circumferences of the Earth, Moon and Sun. Thissurelyvergesonthemagical.Everything here must be the result of some very smart calculations by the

surveyors from Civilization One. Equally, the Sumerian decimal/exagesimalresultsforthespeedoflightandtheorbitingEarthcouldhavebeencarefullyanddeliberately calculated. Nevertheless, no matter how bright the theoreticalscientistsofCivilizationOnemighthavebeen,therearesomeissuesarisingherethattranscendanyhumanpower.The speedof light is believed tobe a fixedphenomenonandanyoneclever

enoughcancertainlyuseittodefinemultipleintegerlengthagainsttime.Butno-onecanhaveinfluencedthespeedoftheEarth’sorbitaroundtheSun–itiswhatitis.So,thefollowinghastobeacoincidence:

Earth’sorbitalspeed=one10,000thofthespeedoflight

Furthermore, using NASA data, we found that the diameter of our planet’smotionaround theSun isalmostexactly600x106kushperSumeriansecond.ThisisaperfectSumeriansexagesimalnumberyetagainanditmeansthatlighttravelsacrossthediscoftheEarth’sorbitinastrangelyneat1,000seconds.Factorslikethesemustbecoincidences–theyareallsuchhumannumbers,as

thoughthevery‘blueprint’ofoursolarsystemwassaying,‘Recognizethatallthishasbeendesignedforyou10-fingeredhumans.’

Underanynormalcircumstancesthesekindsoffitwouldnotbedismissedasacoincidence.Butheretheconclusionmaybetoounsettlingformanybecause,if they are not random, then maybe our work does not really concernarchaeologists at all. Add these observations to the other well-knownimprobabilityoftheMoon’sveryexistenceandperhapsweshouldbespeakingto a scientifically-minded theologian! The consequences of these truths havecertainlyshakenourpreviouslyratheragnosticworldview.WehavediscountedtheideathattheNeolithicinhabitantsofwesternEurope

couldhavecreatedtheso-calledMegalithicsystemorthattheSumerianscouldhave devised the kush/second system. It has been necessary to assume that ahighly-developed civilization must have existed in prehistory – just as theworld’soldesthistorybooksstate.Buthowcleverisitpossibleforanyhumantobe?Wehaveagonizedoverthisformanymonths.Wearenotreligiouspeopleand

weknowthattoinvokeadeityisnormallyalazy‘copout’–awayofignoringaproblembystickinga‘God’labelonanythingwecannotexplain.Whileneitherof us would ever have denied the possible existence of a creative force thatpermeates the universe, turning chaos into order, we would never previouslyhaveseenanybasis foranythingapproachingadeliberateplan.Nowweareagreatdeallesssure.Maybeeverythingwehavefoundcanbeexplainedintermsofphysics–butthatwouldnotchangeanything.Freemasonsusetheterm‘GreatArchitect of the Universe’ and ‘Grand Geometrician of the Universe’ so thatpeople of all religions can come togetherwithout having to fall out about themythical name. These masonic designations appear to be particularlyappropriate.Wehaveresistedtheideaforaslongaswecanbutwehavehadtoconcede

thatitdoeslookasthoughourplaceinuniversehasbeendesigned,andthatthedesignerhaslaiddownsomeverydeliberatecluessothatwewillrecognizetheplan. Such thoughts amount to a form of ‘blasphemy’ to the atheist, whoseworldview requires absolute, cold rationality. But what happens to the ultra-pragmatistwhentheevidencesuddenlypointstheotherway?Considerthis:ifthe‘GreatArchitectoftheUniverse’hadaspecialplacefor

mankind–asmostworldreligionsbelieve–andthatArchitectwantedtorevealtheiractions toa10-fingeredcreature, theywouldsurelycommunicate inbase10.Thatwouldbeawayofsaying,‘Payattention–I’mtalkingtoyou’.When the chosen species had developed sufficiently it would begin to

understand its environment and measure it using units derived from theArchitect’schosenorderandcountedinbase10.These ‘chosenones’would realize that themessagewas timed, because the

Moonhasnotalwaysbeenonefour-hundredthofthedistancebetweentheEarthandtheSun,althoughithasalwaysbeenonefour-hundredththesizeoftheSun.Itwoulddawnon them that theEarthorbits theSunatone-tenth the speedoflightandthatthecircleoftheorbittakes100secondsforlighttotraverseit.We can hear the grinding of scientific teeth as we dare to print these

observationsandthatisexcusable,ifnotreasonable.Butweareequallysurethatsome who hold firm religious convictions will be outraged by these notions.Theywillstillwant tobelieve in theancientmyths,butfor themtheCreator’sdirect involvement inhumanmattersonlyhappened insomedistantpastwhenMoses, Gautama Buddha, Zoroaster, Jesus Christ or Muhammad walked theEarth.It seems to us that there must have been a Civilization One; an advanced

people who trained the rest of the world in science and technology, therebyleadingitoutoftheStoneAge.Butsurelytheseforgottenpeopleunderstoodthemessagethatwascallingtothemfromtheveryfabricofnature.ThepeoplethatarespokenofinancientrecordstaughttheworldaboutGodandthegreatplanofnature.Butthemessagebecamejumbledandalmostlostasmodernhumankindbegan to believe in its own importance as the pinnacle of all intellectualachievement. Perhaps fortunately, the essence of the message has never beentotally lost.Bysomemechanism,unitssuchas thepoundand thepint liveon,and thegiant stonesof theMegalithicbuilders stood sufficientlyupright toberead by at least one engineer with the genius to unravel their hidden secret.Thereisinfinitelymoretoallthisthanwehavetoucheduponasyet.Sofar,wehavenotdiscoveredhoworwhyMegalithicunitsoflengthshould

defineweightsandmeasuresthatmatchimperialunitssuchasthepoundandthepint.We are particularly interested in the families and institutions involved inthe emergence of thesemedieval French units andwe have a great dealmoreresearch to conduct, though there are tantalizing clues that offer awhole newlineofenquiryforthefuture.Webelievethatthisclosingchapterofourfirstinvestigativebooktogetheris

thebeginningofournextgreatchallenge.Therealworkbeginsnow.

APPENDIX1

EarthDaysandProvingtheMegalithicYard

TheEarthspinsonitsaxis(relativetoanystar)justover366timesinoneorbitof the Sun, one sidereal year, as against the solar year, which is shorter.Therefore, each rotation of the Earth also represents one degree of the greatcircle of the heavens that is the planet’s solar orbit. From an earthboundperspectiveitappearsthattheSunmovesjustunderonedegreealongtheplaneoftheeclipticeachday.Mostpeopleunderstandthat thereare365.2564daysinayear,butmanydo

notappreciate thereare366.2564 turnsof theEarthonitsownaxisduring thesameperiod.ThisapparentcontradictioncomesaboutbecauseafullrotationoftheEarthdoesnottakethesameperiodoftimeasthatbetweenonesunriseandthe next. Most of the angular movement of the Sun that we see as it passesacross the sky is indeed caused by the spinning of theEarth on its axis but asmallpartiscausedbytheEarth’sorbitabouttheSun.IftheEarthwasturningonitsaxisbutnotrevolvingabouttheSun,theSunwouldappeartoremaininafixedplacerelativetothebackgroundstarsandadayonEarthwouldbeexactlythesameasonespinoftheplanet.Conversely, if theEarthwasnot revolvingon its axis, but simply travelling

round the Sun, while facing the same direction in space, the Sunwould thenappeartogoroundtheskyexactlyonceayear–andwewouldhaveonedayperyear.AsthisapparentmovementgoesintheoppositedirectiontothespinoftheEarth it takes exactly one day off the ‘real’ year of 366¼ spins of our planetgivingusthefamiliar365¼-dayyear.

TheearthturnsonceonitsaxisforeachMegalithicdegreeofsolarorbit.

Insummary,accordingtoourearthboundviewoftheSun,thereappeartobejustover365solardaysof86,400secondsbut,accordingtothestars,therearejustover366siderealdaysof86,164secondseach.Itfollowsthata366-degreecircle is a very logical invention for an early culture that is interested inastronomy,astheNeolithicpeopleofwesternEuropeareknowntohavebeen.

TheMethodforEstablishingtheMegalithicYardWhen viewed fromEarth, themovements of theVenuswithin the zodiac areextremelycomplexyet,withanappropriatetechnique,anaccurateunitoflinearmeasurement can be achieved by appropriate observation of this planet’smovements.

Night1Astaralignswithafixedpointbeforemovingwest

Night2Thesamestarappearsfromtheeast

TheEarthhasrevolvedonceonitsaxisandtravelledthroughoneMegalithicdegreeofitssolarorbit

OneturnoftheEarthcanbegaugedbymarkingthepositionofastar.

Venus, after passing across the face of the Sun (known as the inferiorconjunctionortransit)risesaheadofitbyanythinguptotwohoursormore,andprecedes it across the sky. So bright is Venus (known in this form as ‘themorning star’) in the reflected light of the Sun that it can be seen during thelightest part of the day if one knows where to look. Eventually, afterapproximately72days, it reaches itsmaximumelongationas themorning star(thegreatest apparentdistance from theSunwhenviewed fromEarth). It thendropsbacktowardstheSunandcrossesinasuperiorconjunction,afterwhichitemerges as what is known as ‘the evening star’. In a repeat of its daytimemovement it gradually moves away from the Sun, eventually setting after it.Ultimately, it reachesmaximumelongation and then falls back towards to theSuntobeginitscycleagain.Duringthesemovements(whicharedirectlyrelatedtothefactthattheEarth

isalsotravellingaroundtheSun)Venustakesapeculiarpaththroughthezodiac.Forperiodsofabouttwoweeksatatime(andsometimesmore),Venusmovesquicklythroughthezodiac,betteringtheSun’s59minutesofarcperdaybyupto17minutesofarc.Atothertimes,becausetheEarthiscatchinguptoVenusasit too travelsaround theSun,Venuscanappear tostandstillorevenfallbackwithinthezodiac.Atsuchtimesitisreferredtoasbeing‘retrograde’.It is during itsmost rapidmovementwithin the zodiac thatVenus presents

itself as the perfect ‘clock’ against which to check the half Megalithic Yardpendulum. At these times a Venus day can exceed the sidereal day by 303seconds of time. (This Venus day being an Earth day that can be measuredbetweenVenus appearingat a specificpoint relative to apointon thehorizonand it doing so again the next day.) This makes such a Venus day 86,467secondsinlength,asopposedto186,164secondsforthesiderealday.WhenusingVenuspassingbetweenthesuggestedangledframeworkinorder

to check the pendulum across one 366th of the horizon or sky, it will beobservedthatthisplanetbehavesslightlydifferentlytoastar.BecauseVenusisalsotravellingintheoppositedirectiontotheturningsky,itwilltakelongertopassacross theoneMegalithic-degreegapthanwouldastar.Letus lookatan

example set for Orkney, Scotland, where we estimate such calculations musthaveregularlybeenmadebyourMegalithicancestors.

OneVenusday(withtheplanettravellingatmaximumspeedwithinthezodiac)isequalto86,467seconds

Thismeansthatinordertocomplete1MegalithicDegree,Venuswouldtake236.2486388seconds.One366thofthisfigureis0.64548807071secondsandthisshouldbetheperiodofonebeatofthehalfMegalithicYardpendulumifVenuswastoreliablydothejobweexpectofit.

Meanwhile,weneedtodiscoverthetimetakenforonebeatofahalfMegalithicYardpendulumof41.48328centimetresatOrkney.Theaccelerationduetogravityatthislatitudeis981.924centimetres/second2.Aquickcalculationtellsusthatonebeatofsuchapendulumwouldtake0.64572263956seconds.

ThedifferencebetweenthetheoreticaltimingforaVenuspendulumandthetruehalfMegalithicYardpenduluminthiscaseis0.00023456885seconds,whichequatestoadifferenceinthesizeofthefullMegalithicYardof0.05millimetres.AlexanderThomfoundthattheMegalithicYardwas82.96656centimetrestowithinatoleranceof+or–0.06millimetres.ThereforeVenusprovestobeanidealpendulum-settingclockinthiscase.

We are suggesting that theMegalithic Yard could be checked and set at anylatitudebetween60degreesnorthattheuppermostextreme,downtoaround48degreesnorthinitssouthernranges.Althoughaccelerationduetogravityaltersslightlyatdifferinglatitudes,wefoundthattheVenus-derivedhalfandthereforefull Megalithic Yard defined at any latitude from Orkney down to BrittanyremainedwithinProfessorThom’sfindings.It would be incredible to believe that the involvement of Venus, being so

perfectlytunedtothisexperiment,isnothingmorethanapeculiarcoincidence–particularlysincetheabilityoftheplanettoactasaclockonlyoccurswhenitistravellingasfastasitiscapableofdoingwithinthezodiac.Itisnotpossibletoobtain a Megalithic Yard by this method that is ‘longer’ than that found byAlexanderThom.ItcouldthereforebesuggestedthatifourMegalithicancestorshadcarriedout theirexperimentduringeverydayacrossthewholeofaVenuscycle,the‘longest’halfMegalithicYardpendulumtheycouldachievewouldbe

the correct one. In reality thiswould not have been necessary becausewe arecertaintheyknewexactlywhentotaketheirreadings(seeAppendix5).Remarkableasthesefindingsare,thetrulyamazingfactisthatthoseusingthe

methodmanagedtoremainsoincrediblyaccurate,sincethedeviationsfoundbyProfessor Thom are so very small. This is indeed a tribute to ourMegalithicancestorswhowerenotonlygreatnaked-eyeastronomersbutalsoverycarefulengineers.Thefullprocedureisitemizedbelow.

1.Createapendulumbytakingaroundpebbleandmakeaholeinthecentretopassapieceoftwinethrough(usedasaplumbbobtofindverticalsbyMegalithicbuilders).

2.Drawalargecircleontheground,inanareawithagoodviewofthehorizonandsky.Dividetheperimeterofthecircleinto366equalparts.ThisisquitesimplydonebytrialanderrorbutitisalmostcertainthattheMegalithicastronomersknewthatacirclewithadiameterof233unitswouldhaveacircumferenceof732ofthesameunits(732beingtwice366).Theycouldthereforearrangeadiameterof233units(anyunitswilldo)andthenmarkofftwounitsonthecircumferencetoidentifyone366thofthehorizon.

3.Buildabracedframeworkacrossone366thdivisionofthecircumferenceofthecircle,whichcanbeangledsothatitisat90degreestotheangleofthepathoftherising(orsetting)Venusatthatlatitude.

4.Observetheframeworkfromthecentreofthecircle.WhenVenuspassesintothebracedframework,beginswingingthependulum.Someinitialtrialanderroriscalledfor,butwhenexactly366beatsofthependulumtakeplacewhileVenusistraversingthe gap,thependulummustbeahalfMegalithicYardinlength.

5.Repeattheexperimentonsuccessivenightsifnecessary,toaccountforthedifferingspeedofVenuswithinthezodiac.ThelongestpendulumachievedduringthefullcycleofVenuswillbeexactlyhalfofthemostaccurategeodeticMegalithicYard.

Note:ThistechniquerepresentsonewayinwhichtheMegalithicbuilderscouldhavereproducedthehalfMegalithicYard.Timeandstudymightprovideothers.This horizonmethod could be subject to very slight inaccuracy as a result of‘refraction’ of the rising or setting Venus when it is close to the horizon.(Refraction is the distortion of the size or position of an object caused byatmospheric conditions and proximity to the horizon.) It is most likely that

Venus was tracked when it was above approximately 15 degrees above thehorizon,inordertoobviatedistortionduetorefraction.Our astronomical associate, Peter Harwood, considers that on balance the

settingVenusmayhavebeenused,rather thanVenusrisingasamorningstar,thoughhisconsiderationherehasmoretodowitheaseofobservationthanasaresultofanytechnicalconsiderations.

APPENDIX2

TheFormulaforFindingtheVolumeofaSphere

In Chapter 3 we discussed the capacity of cubes with sides of a length thatconformtotheMegalithicsystem,forexamplethe4Megalithic-Inchcubethatwouldholdoneimperialpintofwater.Butwealsoexperimentedwithspheres,bothofthesameandofdifferentMegalithicsizesasthecubes.Inorderforinterestedreaderstobeabletocheckourfindingsforthemselves,

wethoughtitmightbeusefulforthosewhoseschooldaysmaybenowfarbehindthemtoberemindedofhowthevolumeofasphereisachieved.

Theformulaisasfollows: πr3.So,forexample,ifwewanttoestablishthevolumeofasphereof5MegalithicInchesindiameter(10.37082centimetres)wefirstneedtoestablishtheradius,whichinthiscaseis5.18541centimetres.

Theradiuscubedis139.4277cubiccentimetres.

Multiplyingthisbyπwearriveat438.0252and ofthisis584cubiccentimetres.

Inthecaseofa6Megalithic-Inchdiametersphere(12.444984centimetres)theradiuswillbe6.222492centimetres.

Theradiuscubedwillbe240.931198cubiccentimetres.

Multiplyingthisbyπwearriveat756.9076and ofthisis1,009cubiccentimetres.

APPENDIX3

MoreaboutMegalithicMusic

Music appears to be not only interesting but also absolutely essential to ourspecies.Ourresearchcouldnotturnuponeculture,contemporaryorhistorical,that has been shown to be without music and rhythm. Indeed, experimentscarried out in prehistoric caves and the structures created by our Megalithicancestors seem to indicate that even the acoustic capabilities of natural andcreated structures have been important to humanity for many thousands ofyears.1 Archaeologists have also discovered percussive instruments andextremelywell-madeboneandantlerflutesofStoneAgedate.Developingcivilizationshaveclassifiedmusicinanumberofdifferentways.

In themodernwesternmethod ofmusical notation there are considered to beeightnotes toa scaleofmusic, allowing for the fact that the startingnoteandfinishingnotearethesame,butoneoctaveapart,forexampleC,D,E,F,G,A,BandCagain.Thetuningofmusicalinstrumentshaslongbeenaproblem.Ifthemethodof

tuning by fifths (supposedly credited to Pythagoras) is employed, it is notpossible to play a particular instrument in different keys without retuning itbecause some notes will sound discordant. In order to compensate for thisdifficulty, western culture has adopted a method known as ‘even temperedtuning’,whichallowsacompensationtobe‘writteninto’thetuningthatspreadstheaccumulatingpitchprobleminsuchawaythatmostearscannotidentifythediscrepancies.Themodernconventionofhavingeightnotestoanoctaveisbynomeansthe

onlypossibility.Acrosstheworldtherehavebeenandstillaremanyotherwaysofhandlingthemusicalscaleandnoneismorecorrectthananyother.Itfollowsthereforethatthepitchofspecificnoteswillalsovaryfromculturetoculture.The tuning of musical instruments was once a very local matter. All that

concerned the musicians was that their instruments were in tune, one withanother.Butassoonasmusicbegantocrossboundaries,localtuningswereno

longer possible, especially formanywoodwind and brass instruments that arenoteasilyretuned.Asaresult,muchoftheworldnowconformstointernationalconcert tuning, in which each note has a specific frequency, for example A,whichis440Hz.It was because of international concert tuning that we were able to define

Megalithicmathematicsandgeometryinmusicalterms.AstheEarthturnsonitsaxisthe366degreesoftheMegalithicdivisionsoftheEarthattheequatorpassacrossagivenpoint inonesiderealday.Ifwelookat thesituationintermsoftheMegalithicYard,weknow that oneMegalithicSecondof arcof theEarthhasa lineardistanceof366MegalithicYards.UsingMegalithicgeometry it ispossibletoworkoutthefrequenciesinvolved.AMegalithicSecondismorethanageometricdivisionasfarastheEarthis

concerned. It is also a finite measurement of time and is equal to 0.653946modern seconds of time. This is how long it takes the Earth to turn oneMegalithic Second of arc on its axis.We have called one beat perMegalithicSecondoftimeoneThom,orTh,andsincethereare366MegalithicYardstoaMegalithicSecondof arcof theEarth, there are366MegalithicYardbeats tooneMegalithicSecondof time (one 366Th). Ifwe translate this intomodernmusicalconventionsandmoderntimekeeping,366Thisequalto560Hz,whichininternationalconcerttuningwouldgiveanotealittleaboveC#(Csharp).Butthisislookingatthingsintermsoffrequency.IfwethinkabouttheMegalithicYardintermsofwavelength,wediscoverthat82.96656centimetresproducesawavelengthveryclosetothatrelatingtothenotewewouldpresentlycallG#,soboth C# and G# could be said to have a very special relationship with theMegalithicsystem.Withregardtorhythm,1beatperMegalithicsecondisthesameasamodern

expressionoftimingof91.5beatsperminute.Usingsimpleharmonics,timingsof15.25,30.5,45.75,61,76.25,106.75,122,137.25,152.5,177.5andalso183beatsperminutewouldseemtobeappropriate,inthesensethattheyallhaveaharmonic relationship with 91.5 beats per minute. We therefore looked at asmuchindigenousmusicaswecouldfromaroundtheworldinordertoestablishwhetherornotMegalithicmusicactuallyexistedand inorder tounderstand iftheremightbesomethinginstinctiveaboutthesepitchesandtimings.Asfaraswaspossiblewe restrictedourselves topiecesofmusicwith a rhythms shownaboveandtopiecesplayedineitherC#orG#.It would certainly not be fair to suggest that anything like all indigenous

musicconformstothesepatterns,becauseitdefinitelydoesnot.Neitherdoweclaimthatwehavecarriedoutavalidscientificexperimentinthecase.Whatwecanreportisthatwecameacrossmusicfrommanydifferentpartsoftheworld

thatconformedinwholeorparttotheMegalithicsystem,andthatthesepitchesandtimingsappeartoshowupmoreregularlythanchancewoulddictate.Both the key and the rhythm were common among indigenous North

Americancultures,wheremanyofthesampledchantsandsongsareparticularlysignificantwith regard to their rhythmicpatterns.Wefoundsomeexamples inSouthAmerica, thoughmuch of thatmusic has been affected by Spanish andother influences and authentic recordings of Pre-Columbianmusic are hard tocomeby.Examples of old long-playing records created on site in Senegal, Ethiopia,

Morocco and Algeria proved interesting and appeared to demonstrate strongelementsofthepatternswewereseekinginAfrica.Someofthebestexamplescamefrommuchfurthernorthandeasthowever,withTibetanBuddhistchantsshowingastrongresemblancetoMegalithicrhythmsandkeys.ProbablyrelatedwereSiberiansongs,particularlythosecreatedby‘overtone’or‘throat’singers,some ofwhich proved to be near perfect examples ofMegalithic tunings andrhythms.AustralianAboriginalsongswerealsointeresting,themoresobecauseC# didgeridoos are extremely common. Rhythms vary markedly betweenexamples we have collected, but 91.5 beats per minute, together with itsmathematicalsubdivisionsandmultiples,arenotuncommon.Thegreatestdifficulty in this research lies in the fact thatevenethnicsongs

andtunesarenowinvariablyrecordedinstudios,wherethenaturalinclinationsof musicians, both in terms of rhythm and tuning, are subservient to therequirements ofmodern recording techniques. This could also account for thefactthatinplacessuchastheBritishIsles,itisalmostimpossibletoaccesstrue,indigenous music. Many English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish traditional songsapproximateMegalithicrhythms,butitisimpossibletosayforcertainthatthisis the case. Timings of 100 beats per minute are extremely common but wesuspect this owesmore to engineers using electronicmetres rather than to thenaturalcapricesofmusiciansortheturningofourplanet.

1Devereux,P.:StoneAgeSoundtracks.Vega,London,2001.

APPENDIX4

MusicandLight

Inallourdiscoveriesduringtheresearchforthisbookthepotentialassociationbetween sound, specificallymusic, and lighthasproved tobeoneof themostsurprising.We fully appreciate that science does not recognize a relationshipbetween these two apparently unrelated phenomena andwe have itemized thegenerally-stateddifferencesbetweenthembelow.Sound iscreatedbyasource, forexampleaclangingbell,andsoundwaves

represent generally small areas of high and low pressure caused by the soundsource.Thesevariationsinpressurecannottravelexceptthroughamedium,soinouterspacenobodycanhearyouscream.However,soundcantravelthroughwood,metal,paper,plastic,water, sulphuricacidoralmostanyothermedium.Muchofthetimesoundtravelstoourearsviatheatmosphere.Sound canbe thought of as similar towaves inwater,whichpass outward,

likeripplescausedonapondwhenastoneisthrownintothewater.Theearofany animal, including a human being, is specifically designed to detect thedifferencesinpressurecausedbysoundwavesandtopasstheseontothebrain,where they are interpreted as sounds. Like all waves, sound waves havefrequency,sotheycanbemeasuredinhertz(cyclespersecond).Lightwaves formpart of the electromagnetic spectrum.All electromagnetic

wavesemanatefrombodiessuchassuns.Theyarecausedbychargedparticlesthrownofffromsuchbodies,whichcantravelacrossgreatdistancestoreachushereon theEarth.Electromagneticwavescovera largenumberof frequenciesfrom very high-frequency shortwave gamma rays, up to extremely low-frequency longwave radiowaves.Many parts of the electromagnetic spectrumare harnessed by humanity, for example radio, television, electrical power,X-rays,microwavesandsoon.Theveryworldwe inhabitonlygavebirth to lifebecauseoftheelectromagneticspectrum.Plantscannotlivewithoutlight,whichthey transpose into energy, and if itwerenot for plant lifewe couldnot existeither.

Visible light is only one form of radiation that forms a tiny part (about1,000th) of the electromagnetic spectrum; other creatures can see parts of thevisible spectrum that humans cannot. Typically, humans can see light withfrequenciesbetween4x1014Hzto8.1x1014Hz.Whensplitbyaprismintoitscomponentparts,lightprovidesamultitudeofcolours,varyingfromredatoneendof the spectrum toviolet at theother. In commonusage these colours areoften referred to as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet but inreality there isno lineofdemarcationbetweenany twocolours.Thecomputeronwhichthetypescriptof thisbookwaswritteniscapableofproducingmanymillionsofdifferentcolours.Thereasonweseecoloursisthatpartsofthevisiblespectrumareabsorbedby

things – both animate and inanimate – uponwhich they fall,while others arereflected.The light that falls intooureyes represents the reflectedfrequencies.So,forexample,sincemostplantsdonotabsorbgreenlight,itisreflectedbackinto our eyes. The radiation from these reflections falls onto receptors in oureyes,whichpasstheinformationtoourbrains,whereitisinterpretedascolour.Theonlyrealrelationshipbetweensoundwavesandlightwavesis that they

possessfrequencyandwavelength,whichiswhytheyaremeasuredinthesameway.However,aswedemonstratedinChapter11,therelationshipmayexistataphysiological level, rather thanasa factofphysics.Oursuggestion is thatanybiologicalentity, forexampleourselves, thatdevelopsasensesuchashearing,whichoperatesacrossagiven rangeof frequencies,maydevelopothersenses,suchassight,acrossfrequenciesthathavearesonantrelationshipwiththesoundwaves.Resonance is simply explained by a person walking into a room while

carryingatuningfork,settovibrateat,say,440Hz.Ifthetuningforkisstruckandtheroomcontainsamultitudeofothersilenttuningforks,someofthesearelikely to begin vibrating, apparently of their own accord. Let us suppose thatthereweretuningforksintheroomsettovibrateas220Hzand880Hz.Eachofthesebearsafrequencyrelationshiptothe440Hzfork.Musicallyspeaking,the440HztuningforkwouldcreatethesoundweknowastheAbelowmiddleConapiano;220HzisalsothenoteA,butanoctavelower,and880HzisAagain,though this time one octave higher. This doubling or halving of frequency, atleastinWesternmusic,iscalled‘anoctave’.Thetuningforkwestrucksetupa‘sympatheticresonance’withothertuningforksintheroom,whichiswhytheytoobegantosing.Therearetwosignificantfactorsregardingvisiblelightthatseemtoallyitat

some level with sound, and specifically music. First, the part of theelectromagneticspectrumcoveredbyvisiblelightrunsfromabout4x1014Hzto

8.1x1014Hz.Thisrepresentsadoublingoffrequency,soinmusicaltermsitcanbe called an octave. The second association occurs when one considers thedifferenceinfrequencybetweenmusicalnotesandthefrequencyofvisiblelight.ThenotewehavedesignatedasMegalithicC,whichis558Hz,whendoubled40times,bringsustoafrequencywithinthevisiblepartoftheelectromagneticspectrum.Fortydoublingsoroctavesupintermsoffrequency,558Hzbecomes6.13527 x 1014 Hz, which represents the colour blue and appears right in themiddleofthehumanvisualspectrumintermsoffrequency.TheremaybenotangibleconnectionbetweenthemusicalnoteofMegalithic

Cand thecolourblue that canbe tieddownbyphysics,but it ispossible thatwithin the brain sound and light are dealt with in a similar manner. It maytherefore be no coincidence that we have evolved to see in colours that havefrequenciesthatmaintainaresonantrelationshipwiththesoundswehear.

APPENDIX5

ThePhaistosDiscandtheMegalithicYear

In Chapter 2 we explained the method by which we believe our MegalithicancestorsreplicatedthehalfMegalithicYardpendulum,inordertovalidatethegeodeticMegalithicYard,whichtheyhadalreadyestablished.Alltheavailableevidencepointstothefactthatratherthanusingastaranda

pendulum,aswehad firstconsidered, theastronomer-priestsof theMegalithicPeriodhadusedapendulumand theplanetVenus.However,sucha techniquereliesonacertainknowledgeofwhich‘days’duringthecomplexmovementsoftheplanetVenusareappropriatefortheprocedure.Itmightoccurtosomereaders,asitdidtous,thatthesmallestirregularityin

thecalendarcouldleadtogreatmistakesinsuchasystemwhenestablishingthecorrectdaystouseinanyVenuscycle,becauseunregistereddriftofthecyclesof Venus across time could lead to the wrong result. Within the very smalltolerances he observes, Alexander Thom showed that the Megalithic Yardremainedremarkablyconsistent,probablyacrossasmuchas2,000years.Inourestimation theMegalithic builders had two answers to this problem, the firstbeing theknowledge that the longesthalfMegalithicYardpendulumachievedfrom theVenus observationswas the one theywere looking for.However, ofjustasmuchimportancewouldbeaverygoodunderstandingofthe‘real’year,togetherwithsomeknowledgeoftheVenuscyclesthemselves.The way the Venus cycle meshes with that of the Earth was of great

significancetotheseearlycalendarcreators.Theywouldcertainlyhavenoticedthat for every five ‘apparent’ full cycles of Venus, eight Earth years pass.However, this could only be fully appreciated if the actual length of the earthyear was understood. Even using themodern calendar, this can be somewhatmisleading.Wepresentlyuseafairlyhotchpotchsystemofcorrectionsthathavegradually

evolvedsinceRomantimes.Ourfirstcourseofactionistoaddanextradaytothecivilcalendareveryfouryears–whichthenbecomesknownasaleapyear.

However, this procedure is not accurate enough and because it over-compensates, we don’t add a leap year in century years – unless they aremillennium years. Although this system is fine for routine purposes and sortsitselfoutovera longperiodof time, it iscapableofbeingquitewrongatanygivenpoint,certainlybymorethanaday.Suchastateofaffairscouldhavecausedrealcomplicationstoaculturethat

simply had to keep a tight rein on the true year and this fact alone tends tosuggest that our Megalithic ancestors had built themselves a very accuratecalendar.Infactthereisevidencethatthiswasthecase.OurhypothesissuggeststhattheMegalithiccivilyearwas366daysinlength,

whichintermsoftherealyearwouldappeartobeevenfurtheradrift thanouryear of 365 days, butwhat reallymatters is the compensation techniques thatweremadetobringthecivilyearandthetrueyeartogether.Alan’s time spent studying the PhaistosDisc strongly suggested that it had

been designed for a year of 366 days. The Phaistos Disc was created by thecivilization on Crete that we now know as the Minoan culture, and wasmanufacturedabout2000BC.ItwasfoundintheruinsoftheMinoanpalaceofPhaistos, in the south of Crete, and it is now kept in the nearby HeraklionMuseum.

ThePhaistosDisc,sideA.

TheDiscismadeoffiredclay.Priortofiring,eachitssideswasgivenincisedspirallines,insideofwhichstandgroupsofhieroglyphiccharacterspressedintothe clay using stamps or dies. The two sides of the Phaistos Disc are shownabove.

ThePhaistosDisc,sideB.

Linguists and other interested parties have for years tried to translate themessage of the Phaistos Disc and despite some valiant efforts, the generalopinionisthatallofthemhavefailed.Thereasonisquitesimple.Wehavenoknowledgeof the language spoken inMinoanCreteandwithout that,or somesortofMinoan‘RosettaStone’,interpretationofthecharacterswouldseemtobeimpossible.It was not so much what the characters might say that interested Alan,

however,butratherthenumberofthemoneachsideoftheDisc,andhowthosenumbersmight relate toeachother.The first factofnote is that thecharactersfallwithin spirals.Many researchers now think that there are occasionswhenspirals aremeant to indicate the passing of the Sun throughout the year, as issuggestedtobethecaseofthespiralscarvedatNewgrangeinIreland’sBoyneValley. This was the first clue that the Phaistos Disc might be some sort ofcalendar.It took several years of research and a whole book to explain what Alan

discovered, partly because the PhaistosDisc is, in fact, amulti-faceted aid tocalculation,thoughthereisoneparticularjobitdoesquitebrilliantly.SideAoftheDisc contains123hieroglyphs, and sideBhas119. If these areviewedassimplemarkers,irrespectiveofwhattheymightsay,thentheDisccanbeshowntocomprisea ‘secondcalendar’specificallymanufactured to runalongside the366-daycalendarandtoidentifythetimeswhencompensationsneedtobemadeinordertoreconcilethe366-dayyearandthetrueyear.The procedure for using theDisc as described above is very simple. Every

symbolonsideAiscounted,most likelyfromthecentreoutandoneforeachday, until the end of the spiral is reached.All of these symbols, 123 in total,relatetothecentresymbolinsideBoftheDisc.NowallthesymbolsonsideAare counted again, this time relating to the second symbol on side B. Theprocedureisrepeatedtimeandagainuntil123dayshaselapsedforeachofthe119 symbols on side B. The total number of days indicated by the Disc is14,637. This is extremely close to 40 years of 366 days, which would total14,640 days. Probably the Disc is perpetual, and so simply continues a newseries of cycles, but as if to premeditate this important 40-year period, thosecreatingtheDiscaddedthreedotsattheendofthespiraltoindicatethemissingthreedaysnecessary tomake the full 40-year cycleof 14,640days. (Thedotswere present to ‘demonstrate’ the full 40-year cycle butwere not used in thecalendarroundexplainedbelow.)The ingenuityof thissystemis that it told thoseusing theDiscwhen itwas

necessary to compensate for the inaccuracies that were accruing between theritualyearandrealyear.Thevitalperiodis4x123days(492days),atwhichtime one day would be literally removed from the ritual 366-day calendar. Itwould be as if that day never existed. For example, and in our terms, thecalendarmightjumpfrom1stMarchto3rdMarch.We can find no bettermethod of compensating for a 366-day year than to

remove1dayevery492days.Suchaprocedurewouldkeep thecivilcalendarand the real calendar in harmony forwell over 3,000 yearswithout any otheralterationbeingnecessary.Thisisaphenomenalfeatandanyobserverwouldbeforcedtoadmitthatitisneaterandmoreaccuratethanthesystemweusetoday.The Phaistos Disc is capable of much more than this little miracle and it

almost certainly has additional capabilities that we have not yet recognized.EverythingknownaboutitsofarisitemizedinTheBronzeAgeComputerDisc.However,itwastheexistenceofthe123-day,ormoreproperlyinthiscontext,the492-dayalternativecalendarthatalertedAlantothepresenceinCreteofthe366-dayyearhehadalreadysuspectedmusthaveonceexisted.It is notpossible for thismethodof compensation to ever see the civil year

andthetrueyearatoddsbymorethan0.75ofaday,andeventhisinaccuracycanonlyexistforamaximumof126days.Thelargerdiscrepanciesofourowncalendarsimplydonotoccurinthissystem.AnotherfeatureofthePhaistosDiscisthatitsuppliesanextremelyaccurate

calendarforthebehaviourandmovementsoftheplanetsMercuryandVenus.Ifthe hieroglyphics are replaced with modern numerals, what we get is anextremelyaccurateplanetaryready-reckoner.SoobviouswasthisthatAlansooncame to appreciate that therewas a simple rule of thumb, particularly for theplanetVenus,thathehadnotrecognizedbefore.Whenusing366-dayyearstheruleisthis:anyphenomenaofVenusthattakesplacetodaywillhappenagain40yearsless40daysfromnow.Forthoseconversantwiththeproceduresitemizedby theDisc, itwouldhavebeenchild’splay tocatalogueand remember thosetimes when Venus could be used to achieve an accurate Megalithic Yard.Althoughtheprocedureisstraightforward,theexplanationofitisnot,andsincethis book is not directly connected to the Phaistos Disc research, we referinterestedreaderswhowishtoknowmoretoTheBronzeAgeComputerDisc.

APPENDIX6

TheAmazingBarleySeed

ModernunderstandingofSumerianandOldBabylonianmeasuringsystemshasbeenreconstructedbyexpertswhohavestudiedmanycuneiformtextsfoundonclaytabletsintheruinsofancientcitiesofMesopotamia.Likemanylong-livedcultures, the various linear lengths, weights and volumes used in the ‘FertileCrescent’ can be terribly complicated, with specific lengths or weights oftenreserved for a particular commodity.However, aswe suggested inChapter 4,therearecertainweightsandmeasures thatwereusedasstandards,andwhichdid not change significantly over time. According to Professor Livio C.StecchinitheseunitsstemfromtheSumerianPeriod,circa1800BC.ThesmallestunitoflengthassociatedwiththeSumeriansandtheBabylonians

wasthe‘se’whichmeant‘barleyseed’.Therewere6setooneshu-siand360seto thedouble-kush.Mostexperts inMesopotamianmetrologywouldnotarguewiththesefiguresanditseemedreasonabletousthattheseorbarleyseed,beingthesmallestdenominationoflength,weightandvolume,shouldoffertheperfectstarting point for understanding the entire system. We had been somewhatsurprisedwhenanexpertinthisareaofresearchansweredourrequestformoreinformationaboutthebarleyseedasaSumerianunitofmeasurebyemailinthefollowingway:

‘Thebarleycornsaremoreforcalculationalconveniencerather thanbeingconsideredasactualbarleycorns.’1

Our response was to keep an open mind as to whether or not these ancientscientists actually meant what they said or whether it was indeed a kind ofnicknameforsomethingsmall.The standard ‘calculational convenience’ theory is quite understandable

becauseintheBritishandmanyEuropeanmeasuringsystems,the‘grain’existedasa termuntil the introductionof themetric system. InBritain, thegrainwas

originallyatruebarleygrain,thoughforsomepurposeswheatseedswereused.In theBritishandmanyof thewesternEuropeansystems, thegraineventuallybecame a standard unit, often differing greatly from the humble seed that hadbeenitsorigin.Another reason why many archaeologists deny that the Sumerians were

referring to real barley seed relates to information dealt with while we wereworkingwiththeSumeriancube,inChapter4.Thesupposedproblemliesinthefactthat180x60isthenumberofbarleyseedsinbothamana(weight)andasila(volume).Usingthebarleyseedasaunitofweight,thiscouldneverbethecase,sinceamanaisabout500gramsandasilaisaboutalitre,which,wearetold,weighedalmostexactlyakilogram.All thesame,wefeltobliged to lookmorecloselyat thisMesopotamian seorbarley seed.Weknewfrom the textsthatakush(cubit)wassaidtohaveavalueof180barleyseeds.Whenwetriedtheexperimentforourselves,itbecameimmediatelyobviouswhyexpertsinthepasthaddismissedthebarleyseedasarealityinthesystem.Giventhatthekushwas around half a metre, each barley seed would have to measure 2.77millimetres. Our own experiments showed that the length of amodern barleyseed,whenlaidendtoend,averagesoutat8.46millimetres.Wemighthaveleftthesituationatthat,exceptforthefactthatwedecidedtomeasureallthebarleyseed’sdimensions.If the seeds had been pierced in their centres and placed onto a very fine

thread,as inanecklace, theseedswouldhavebeenon theirsides.Wedidnotthread the seeds but laid them out in a row on double-sided sticky tape (seeColour Plate section). When we did so, we discovered that they conformedincrediblywell to theSumerian/Babylonianmodelandtherewereindeedcloseto180barleyseedsonaveragetothekush!Taking the kush at 49.94 centimetres in length, each barley seed should

measure 2.77 millimetres. The average width of our own sample of modernbarleygrains(usingbothlargeandsmallseedsatrandomandacrossanumberofexamples)wasaround2.81mm, typicallygivingmore than177 to thekush.This is incredibly close to the hypothetical Sumerian model and tended tosuggestthat,atleastintermsofphysicaldimensions,ourownbarleyseedswerenotgreatlydifferenttotheSumerianexamples.At this point the theory that ‘barley seed’ was merely a word used for

‘calculationalconvenience’bytheSumerianswasalreadylookinglesslikely.Aswethoughtabout theSumeriansandBabyloniansdividingthehorizon(likeallcircles)into360degreeswerealizedthatiftheseedswerearrangedinacurvetoformacircleitwouldholdjustafewmoreseeds.It turnedout thatacircleof360 barley seems was indeed a double-kush in length – so each grain was

precisely equal to one degree in this circle. Here was another example ofSumerian thinking, with circles within circles dancing to the number patternbasedon360.Wenextturnedourattentiontotheweightoftheseeds.Inordertoobtainthe

‘intended’ weight of the basic unit known as the mana, we performed thecalculation outlined in Chapter 4, taking one-fifth the length of the kush andcubing it.Thekush is49.94centimetres,a fifthofwhich is9.988centimetres.Thecubeof this is996.404cubiccentimetres.Themetricsystemsays that theweightofwaterinsuchacubewouldbe996.4grams.Accordingtothecuneiformtexts(oratleasttothestandardinterpretationof

them)thereoughttobeatotalof180x60=10,800barleyseedsinamana.Wealreadyknewthattheweightofamanamustbeexactlyhalfthatofthesilaanditisthesilathatiscreatedfromtheone-fifthkushcube.Putsimply,thismeansthatthemanaisonlyhalfthevalueoftheone-fifthkushcubeandsoshouldbeexpectedtoreturnaweightof498.2grams.Ifthisweightismadeupof180x60=10,800barleyseeds,theneachseedmustweigh46milligrams.Wenextmeasuredtheweightofourownbarleyseedsonasetofsimplebut

accurate balance scales. In one pan,we placed a one gramweight, and in theotherwe began to place seeds, both large and small, until the scales balancedexactly.Werepeatedtheproceduremanytimesuntilwehadagoodaverageforthenumberofbarleyseedsnecessarytobalancetheone-gramweight.Theresultwas 21.5 seeds, meaning that our barley seeds weighed an average of 46.5milligrams.Forthoroughnesswealsocheckedthisagainstindependentfigures,taken from the 1979 English crop, which averaged 45 milligrams per barleyseed. Both our figures and those from the 1979 crop were so close to theexpected Sumerian/Babylonian system that we were amazed how little ourbarley differed from that harvestedmore than 4,000 years ago.As a result ofthesefindings,wearenowconfidentaboutreconstructingtheintendedSumerianmeasuringsystems.Judging by our own experiments, the originators of this system used a

combinationoflargeseedsfromthecentreoftheearofbarley,andsmalleronesfrom the ends of the ear. To obtain the definitive weight of one barley seedwould have been impossible for the Sumerians. The whole system is builtaroundsignificantnumbersofseeds,thebettertogainanaccurateaverage.Thebeautyof thesystem lies in its simplicity.The linear length (kush)was

originallyderived fromapendulumwithaperiodofoneSumeriansecondbutthesameunitcouldbereasonablyaccuratelyestablishedbyanybuyerorsellerin themarketplace by simply stringing 360 barley grains together. A brilliantready-reckoner.

Werememberedwhatwehadbeentoldbytheexpert:

‘The barleycorns are more for calculational convenience rather thanbeingconsideredasactualbarleycorns.’

By nowwe had confidently concluded that this statementwas entirelywrongbecause even modern barley seeds replicate every aspect of theSumerian/Babylonianweightsveryaccurately.Aspreviouslystated,theuseofgrains,meaningbarleyandwheatgrains,still

exists within the imperial system of measurements. In this case the mostrudimentaryexperimentwillprovetoanyonethatthegrainsusedintheimperialsystem have, during the passing of centuries, become divorced from genuinewheat or barley seeds. They have essentially become symbols. Experts in thisfieldhavedoubtlesscometobelieve,orweretaughttobelieve,thatthesameistrue in termsofSumeriangrains or barley seeds.We respectfully suggest thatthose involved in thestudyofSumerianweightsandmeasuresdisregard, forawhileatleast,whattheyhavelearnedandtrytheseexperimentsforthemselves.Weareconfidenttheywillcometothesameconclusions.

1Wehavedeliberatelychosennottonametheprofessorinquestion.Hewasveryhelpfultoourresearchanditisnotourintentiontoembarrasshim.

APPENDIX7

TheMegalithicPrincipleandFreemasonryByChristopherKnight

IjoinedFreemasonrybackin1976forthesimplereasonthatIwantedtoknowwhatthesemenwheredoingbehindtheircloseddoorsandobscuredwindows.Itdid not take too long to realize that even the most senior practitioners hadvirtually no ideawhere theirweirdold rituals came fromorwhat theymeant.Between 1989 and 2003 I researched and co-authored four bookswith fellowFreemason Robert Lomas, starting with The Hiram Key which was a firsttentative and speculative attempt to make sense of the oddball rituals of themanydegreesofFreemasonry.Asourresearchbecamemoreandmorefocused,RobertandIfoundourselves

being taken further and further back in time to theOld Testament period andbeyond.Herewefoundthatscienceandreligionhadoncebeentwosidesofthesamecoin,withthestudyandworshipoftheplanetVenusbeingconnectedwithking-making and stone-building. From the Megalithic sites of Britain to theTemple of Jerusalem we found evidence of careful Venus observation thatappearedtobeassociatedwithbirth,deathandresurrection.Theentirelayoutofamasonictempleisastronomicalindesign,withthethree

principalofficersplacedintheeast,southandwesttomarktherisingSun,noonand the setting Sun. There are two large pillars in the east that represent thefreestandingpillarsofBoazandJachinfromtheOldTestamentthatmarkedthenorth/southextremesof thesolsticesunrises in theoriginal temple,supposedlybuiltforKingSolomon.Acandidateformembershipismadetorepresentaworkerinstoneandinthe

all-important third degree of Freemasonry he or she is ritually ‘killed’ andresurrected innear totaldarknessas theplanetVenussymbolically rises in theeastaheadoftheSun.Asmentioned in the closing chapter of this book the theme of building in

stonebeinglinkedtoastronomicaleventsiscentral totheserituals,andGodisreferred to by Freemasons as ‘The Great Architect of the Universe’ or ‘TheGrand Geometrician of the Universe’. This description of the CreatoremphasizestheimportanceofthemeasurementsofbothheavenandEarth.AlthoughthisbookhasnothingdirectlytodowithFreemasonry,Ibelievethat

it finallyendsmypersonalquest, for in solving somepartof the riddleof theMegalithicYard,AlanandIhavealsoidentifiedtheinspirationthatliesbehindFreemasonry.Masonic ritualused todaystates that the real secretof theOrderwaslost3,000yearsagoandsubstitutedsecretswerecreateduntilsuchtimeastheoriginaloneswillberecovered.Ibelievethattimehascome.ThepicturethatIsee,builtupthroughresearchingandwritingfivebooks,is

thatmore than5,000yearsagosomeunknowngroup taught the inhabitantsofwesternEuropehowtocreateameasurethatwastakendirectlyfromVenus,the‘QueenofHeaven’.Thisdivineunit,designatedtheMegalithicYardbythemanwho recovered it, was the cornerstone of civilization. The power of ancientpriesthood lay in their knowledge of working with stone, understandingastronomyandtheabilitytogivetheirflockmeasurement!

An18th-centurymasonicstampdepictingthecentralimportanceofmeasuringtheworldanditsplaceintheuniverse.OnepillarcarriestheEarthandtheothertheglobeoftheheavens.Theinstrumentsofmeasurement,thecompassandtri-square,surroundtheletter‘G’,signifyingGod,otherwiseknownasthe‘GrandGeometricianoftheUniverse’.AbovearetheSunandtheMoon,surroundedbytheplanets.Inthecentreisthe‘All-seeingEye’fromwhichno-onecaneverhide.

At somepoint,probablywellbefore2000BC, cultures in theMediterraneanadopted the principles of the geometry used by theMegalithic builders of theBritishIsles.ThisknowledgeextendedfromMaltatoCreteandthecitystatesofPhoeniciaonthecoastthatwenowknowasIsraelandtheLebanon.TheMinoanculture adapted the principles to create their own unit based on this 366

geometryand thePhoenicianknowledgepassed toanotherCanaanitegroupoftribes,laterknowsasJews,fromtheprincipaltribeofJudah.LiketheBritishIslesandBrittany,MaltaandIsraelhaveMegalithicstructures

scatteredacrossthemandtheOldTestamentgivesdetailedevidenceofhowtheCanaanite ritualswere adopted for king-making. In the Jewish state theywerealso associatedwith the ritualized slaughter of royal children to ensureGod’ssupport for their reign,whichapparentlywasallowed to run for just40years.This40-yearperiodmentionedthroughouttheBiblewasunquestionablylinkedto the studyof the cycleofVenus,which is so reliable that it formsaperfectcalendarandclock.Bymechanisms fully described inTheBookofHiram thememoryof these

prehistoricsecretswastransmittedbytheremnantsoftheOrderoftheKnightsTemplarwhotooktheirritualstoScotlandatthebeginningofthe14thcenturywhentheirluckhadrunoutandtheywereontherunfromKingPhilipofFranceandPopeClementV.ThiswasoneofthefewsafeplacesontheplanetbecausethekingoftheScots,RoberttheBruce,hadrecentlybeenexcommunicatedfromtheChurch.AshereditaryGrandMasterMasonsofScotland,theoncedominantSt.Clair

family had nurtured this ancient knowledge until such time as it was safe tocreateaneworderthatweknowtodayasFreemasonry.Theopportunitycamein1601whenaScottishFreemason(JamesVIofScotland)becameKingJamesIof England, but a little over a century later Freemasonry had to hide itself inLondonaswarhadbrokenoutwiththeJacobitesofScotland.In1715aJacobitearmymarcheddeepintoEnglandandEnglishFreemasons

begantowalkawayfromtheirlodges(meetingplaces)forfearofbeingtakenassupportersoftheenemy.TwoyearslaterasmallgroupofLondonlodgesjoinedforcestotrytosavetheOrderfromimminentextinction.TheydidsobyforminganewGrandLodgeandbydenyingallknowledgeofwhereFreemasonryhadcomefrom.ThismassamnesiaworkedandFreemasonrybegan togrowintoamajor internationalorganizationwith theUnitedGrandLodgeofEngland stillclaimingoriginalauthority.Today, the official line is still, ‘Wedon’t knowanything before 1717’, and

hundreds of thousands of men (and women) around the world play outprehistoricritualsintheirastronomically-designedtemplesunderthelightoftheplanet Venus, as they say their prayers to the Grand Geometrician of theUniverse.Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and others come together to share

substituted secrets connected with the working of stones, the skills ofmeasurement and a shared awe of theworkings of theGreatArchitect of the

Universe.ButFreemasonry isdying.Dyingat theverymoment thatwearestarting to

understandthenatureoftheoriginalsecrets:theunitsofmeasurementthattrulydescribebothheavenandEarth.

FirstpublishedinhardbackintheUKandUSA2004byWatkinsPublishing,SixthFloor,CastleHouse,75–76WellsStreet,LondonW1T3QH

Firstpublishedinpaperback2005Thiseditionpublished2010

TextCopyright©ChristopherKnightandAlanButler2004,2005,2010

ChristopherKnightandAlanButlerhaveassertedtheirrightundertheCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988tobeidentifiedastheauthorsofthiswork.

Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedorutilizedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,withoutpriorpermissioninwritingfromthePublishers.

13579108642

DesignedandtypesetbyJerryGoldie

PrintedandboundbyImagoinChina

BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationDataAvailable

LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationDataAvailable

ISBN:978-1-78028227-5

www.watkinspublishing.co.uk

DistributedintheUSAandCanadabySterlingPublishingCo.,Inc.387ParkAvenueSouth,NewYork,NY10016-8810

Forinformationaboutcustomeditions,specialsales,premiumandcorporatepurchases,pleasecontactSterlingSpecialSalesDepartmentat800-805-5489orspecialsales@sterlingpub.com