Huge prehistoric structures have always fascinated history buffs and adventurers. Most were written before the magazine was distributed. That is why today it is difficult for us to say what our distant ancestors were for. A feature that recurs frequently in these constructions is the deliberate alignment with the movement of the sun or stars. Is this just our overinterpretation, or could prehistoric structures be related to the movement of celestial bodies?
Before talking about the theories about the origin and function of megalithic structures, I would like to make the reader aware of what heaven our ancestors looked at. Most of us today live in places where there is quite large so-called light pollution. The sky can also be obscured by a cloud of smog. For this reason, the best observatories are built today in places as far away from civilization as possible, and the most accurate telescopes are placed in orbit. But imagine the view that stretched over a Bronze Age settlement. Especially on a clear, cloudless night. Additionally, imagine that no view our ancestors knew on earth was so stunning, yet so elegant and regular. It determined the time of life, the seasons of the year, and the weather. People had a quite tangible and literal sense of being between heaven and earth.
The view of the night sky is relatively unchanged, which is why for millennia it has served people as a marker of time. However, the changes are not only related to the times of the day, the year, or the cycles of several years (e.g. migration of more distant planets). One of the important phenomena that influenced what we saw and see in the sky is the so-called precession of the Earth's spin axis. It consists in "making circles" through the axis running through the center of the poles. Just like in the case of the axis of a slowly spinning baby spinning top. The entire axis rotation cycle lasts 25,772 years and is known as the Platonic year. This means that the last people to see a sky like us (apart from pollution) were representatives of the Upper Paleolithic, the creators of the rock paintings and the first bone figures.
The differences weren't great, but until 3,000 years ago, you could see the Southern Cross in the British Isles. Currently, this constellation is not visible in the Northern Hemisphere.
To this, you need to add one-off phenomena, e.g. the burning of meteorites in the atmosphere, cyclical phenomena independent of the movement of the earth (return of comets), etc.
Scientists studying the possible positioning of megaliths relative to the night sky must take all of this into account. The Moon and the Sun provide fewer difficulties. East and west are still where they were (precession does not affect the position of the Sun in relation to the horizon) and if the tomb or stone circle has been set in some relation to e.g. sunrise on the vernal equinox, we will probably still be able to observe this phenomenon. An example is Stonehenge, where for thousands of years you can observe the sunrise over the so-called Heel Stone.
The most delightful spectacle took place over the heads of our ancestors. Not only did he provide a whole range of feelings, but he seemed to be guiding the world they lived in. The appearance of certain stars, the rising of the sun over a particular hill, meant the beginning of spring or winter. The specific appearance of the moon foretold wet or dry weather. The decisions depended on it: go hunting? Get ready for a particularly cold winter. Pick herbs at dawn?
Using the historical record and old rituals preserved in some indigenous cultures, we can guess that our ancestors had names and ceremonies associated with the stars. Scientists in Edinburgh have even hypothesized that animal rock paintings may depict constellations. On the other hand, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Sydney, Ray Norris estimated that the myth of the seven Pleiades sisters could have arisen as many as 100,000. years ago in Africa. Even if these estimates go too far back in time, we can safely say that at the time of the megaliths' formation, the knowledge of the sky and the association of mythology and everyday life with it were well developed.
The basic type of megaliths is large stones arranged in simple structures (e.g. circles, rows) and structures (e.g. dolmens). There are also buildings in which soil and stones, sometimes wooden elements, form a kind of building. Most often they are tombs, although there is no scientific agreement as to the purpose of some of them.
The oldest megalithic structures in Poland are located in Kujawy. These are tombs, sometimes called the Polish pyramids, a large cluster located in the vicinity of Izbica Kujawska. Dated from 3000-2200 BC they testify to quite good building skills and at least basic astronomical knowledge of the people living here. The tombs have the shape of an elongated triangle, the longest one is 100 m long. They are made of the ground on a palisade structure, reinforced with unevenly distributed boulders. However, we should be most interested in the orientation of the tombs. Most tombs of this type in Poland are oriented eastwards and narrow towards the west. The exception is the tombs on the Łupawa River in southern Poland, which are not uniformly located in relation to the directions of the world.
Not many stone tombs have survived. The ones that exist are huge boulders facing east. But perhaps the most interesting is the only preserved dolphin in Poland in Borków (West Pomeranian Voivodeship). It is a corridor-type chamber tomb, made of only boulders and small stones. It dates back to around 5000 BC. It is therefore the oldest and most unique Palaeolithic monument.
Another group of megaliths is stone circles, found mainly in Kashubia. The most famous ones are in Węsiory, Odry, and Leśno, and a little further in Grzybnica. The circles are believed to have been built by the Goths between the 1st and 3rd centuries C.E. They accompany mounds built in the same area. We do not know their purpose, although various theories have been put forward.
Relatively young, but equally interesting megalithic monuments are the Mounds of Wanda and Krakus in Krakow. They date back to the 7th century AD. Unlike other megaliths, quite detailed connections with astronomy and the (probably Celtic) calendar have been established here.
Little is known about Polish megaliths compared to similar objects in Western Europe. Some of them were last thoroughly researched in the 1930s. On the other hand, the obvious clue here is the repeated orientation towards the directions of the world. In the case of Kraków mounds, it is also the link between the axis connecting the objects with sunrise and sunset. Especially with the position of the sun on specific days during the year.
Most of the megalithic structures are tombs, although there is no certainty about the Kraków mounds. Stone circles in Kashubia are not graves themselves but are part of a complex that includes a cemetery with barrows and flat graves. They could have several functions, e.g. as a meeting place.
Kuyavian tombs are related to the Mesolithic cultures of funnel-shaped cups and spherical amphoras, which covered roughly the area of Central Europe between the 4th and 3rd thousand years. B.C.E. The Funnel Beaker Culture is an agricultural culture, the first in Poland to use sled oxen and four-wheeled carts. The social structure became more hierarchical, and the social status was determined by luxury goods - e.g. copper products. Burials in triangular tombs were reserved for the elite. Apart from them, various forms of flat graves are known. Some are mass graves, others hide traces of various magical practices, e.g. restraining corpses, and cutting off heads. The emergence of the globular amphora culture is associated with the pastoral economy (apart from farming) and the introduction of the horse as livestock. The above-mentioned cultures, especially the last one, were most likely created by people of Indo-European origin. So we can to some extent recreate their beliefs by using other studies on the subject.
The cult of the sun and the moon was an important part of Indo-European beliefs. They were the "eyes of the gods", following what was happening in the world.
Early Indo-European beliefs distinguish belief in the souls of humans and animals, but also phantoms and ghosts as something terrifying. ) Believed in the afterlife probably. Perfect meadows and pastures awaited the leaders and warriors, while the rest had to be content with being in the dark realm. The tomb was a kind of posthumous home or hiding place. Could the East orientation also have something to do with rebirth? The east-west orientation of most megalithic tombs in Poland is not accidental. The East, where every morning the sun is "born" is still today associated in many cultures with the rebirth of life. It is also possible that placing the tomb of a warrior or leader along the path of the sun had something to do with his journey into the afterlife.
Mounds of Wanda and Krakus provide us with much more material for speculation. If their dating is correct, then we know more about potential builders. The buildings themselves are well thought out in relation to the annual travel of the sun across the sky.
Krak's Mound is located in the Pogórze district and the Wanda Mound in Nowa Huta. They are arranged on the SW-NE axis. This specific layout means that four times a year you can watch the sunrise and sunset from one of them, directly above the other. Looking from the Krak Mound on May 1 and August 12, we will see the sunrise directly over Wanda's Mound. On the other hand, from the Wanda Mound, you can see the sunset exactly over the Krak Mound on February 6 and November 4. These are not random dates. They coincide with the four most important holidays of the Celtic calendar: Samain (October 31 / November 1), Imbolc (February 1/2), Beltane (May 1), and Lugnasad (August 1). But does this link make sense?
The Celts did arrive in Poland, but earlier. If the mounds were built in the 7th century, these lands were no longer inhabited by Celts. It is possible, however, that the mounds or some version of them are much older or that they were built by the Slavs. We do not know the Slavic calendar as precisely as the Celtic one. It is known, however, that there were holidays related to similar periods of the year at a more or less similar time.
Here I am focusing on the movement of celestial bodies. Regardless of who built the mounds, the thesis that they could be used as a calendar seems quite interesting. If you are interested in the details of this theory, please refer to the articles by Władysław Góral.
When looking at megaliths in Poland and often in other parts of the world, it is difficult to resist the impression that their creators were not indifferent to what was going on in the sky. Whether we are talking about tombs, stone temples, or mega-calendars, you can see a good orientation in space and sometimes a very well-thought-out arrangement with respect to the stars and the sun.
Bibliography:
- Jason Goodyer, Cave paintings reveal ancient Europeans' knowledge of the stars, 29.01.2019 at: https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/cave-paintings-reveal-ancient-europeans-knowledge-of-the-stars /, accessed on February 14, 2022
- Ray Norris, Global myths about the Matariki constellation may reach back 100,000 years, December 22, 2020, at: https://www.stuff.co.nz/science/123789556/global-myths-about-matariki-constellation-may-reach-back -100,000-years
- Barbara Burchard, Research on megalithic tombs in Zagaj Stradowski in southern Poland, in Archaeological Reports, vol. 50 1998, pp. 149-156
- Krzysztof Gorczyca, Kleczewska enclave of Kuyavian tombs. An outline of the problem, in: FOLIA PRAEHISTORICA POSNANIENSIA T. XIII / XIV - 2005, pp. 117-132
- Jacek Wierzbicki, Megalithic tomb from Borekowo, state. 1, commune Malechowo, voivodeship West Pomeranian. The only corridor tomb in Poland? , in: History and culture of the Sławno region, T IV, Sławno 2005, pp. 93-113
- Piotr Kaczanowski, Janusz Krzysztof Kozłowski, The Great History of Poland, Vol. 1 - The earliest history of the Polish lands (up to the 7th century), Krakow 1998
- Andrzej P. Kowalski, Indo-European Culture. Anthropology of prehistoric communities, Gdańsk 2017
- Władysław Góral, Krakus, and Wanda Mounds and the Division of a Year into Eight Parts, in Geoinformatica Polonica, 17: 2018, pp. 109-122
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