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proof that the alignments of Mayan structures are anything but
coincidental.
In Peru and Bolivia, where the pre-Incan and Incan cultures
were like the Mayan and Aztecs in many ways, there was no writing, and
so even less is known. But in Britain we don't even know whether
the megalith builders were conquered or not, let alone have tes-
timony from the conquerors about the astronomical activities of
their predecessors! We just don't know who built the megaliths,
or why they stopped; until recently there was nothing to go on -
except the remains of pottery, weapons, some large wooden struc-
tures, some rubbish tips and the megaliths themselves.
After immersing himself in the astronomy and satisfying
himself that Thom did have a strong case, MacKie turned to the
megaliths to look for supporting evidence. Of the various digs he
conducted (see Chaps. 4 and 9 ) , the one at Kintraw in Argyllshire
is perhaps the most significant. On the hillside overlooking the
great standing stone MacKie found, as predicted by Thom's analy-
sis, an artificial stone platform from which the stone lined up with
a prominent “V” between the peaks of Jura, 28 miles away, mark-
ing very accurately the sunset at midwinter solstice around 1800
b.c. (Figs. 1.3 , 5.4 ).
In Science and Society in Prehistoric Britain and The Mega-
lith Builders , MacKie went on to argue that Neolithic society had
supported a class of “professional” astronomer-priests like those
of the Maya [ 14 ]. He suggested that the great wooden henges such
as Durrington Walls had been the homes of the astronomers, not
ritual centers as was generally supposed; the anomalous quantities
of particular bones in the associated rubbish tips would show, not
that they were used only for ceremonial feasts, but that the dwell-
ers were supported by surrounding communities, the slaughtering
and butchering being done elsewhere.
The houses at Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands, built and
furnished in stone because wood was scarce, would be surviving
examples of the conditions once enjoyed at Woodhenge and Dur-
rington Walls. The flat-bottomed “Grooved Ware” associated with
the wooden henges would be the special pottery of the inhabit-
ants, used on their tables and shelves, whereas the round-bottomed
ware of the common people was intended to sit on earth floors and
right itself if jostled.
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