Glossary - The Stones and the Stars: Building Scotland's Newest Megalith - page 303

Close In Glasgow, a passageway on the ground floor of a tenement
building leading from the street to the stairwell and the back court or
green (garden).
Constellation An area of the sky with fixed boundaries established by
the International Astronomical Union in 1930, incorporating at least one
of the classical constellations or the more modern ones of the southern
hemisphere.
Cossie Sets or Setts Small granite blocks set in cement to form a cob-
bled path.
Cup-and-Ring Marks Carvings found sometimes on standing stones but
more often on nearby rocks in their natural settings, possibly represent-
ing stars.
Cursus Latin for 'racetrack.' A very large rectangular enclosure dating
from Neolithic times, true purpose unknown.
Cylinder Seals Rollers used to stamp one's identifying marks on Meso-
potamian clay tablets, decorated with artistic symbols evolving over a
period of 4,000 years.
Declination The distance of a celestial body above or below the celes-
tial equator, measured in degrees and minutes.
Druids Celtic priesthood, leaders of rebellions against the Romans; users
but not builders of Neolithic sites dating from 2,000 or more years earlier.
Drumlins Low, steep-sided hills in river valleys, deposited or shaped by
glacial erosion during the ice ages.
Durrington Walls Very large Neolithic earthwork henge within 2 miles
of Stonehenge along the river Avon, with a processional way to the river,
postholes for large numbers of wooden uprights, possibly supporting large
buildings, and over a thousand wattle-and-daub houses, occupied for no
more than 50 years; the scene of huge feasts with cattle brought from all
over the British Isles, all contemporary with the building of Stonehenge I.
Ecliptic The plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun, projected on to the
celestial sphere, and hence the path which the Sun appears to follow
through the year.
Ecliptic Coordinates The position of a heavenly body measured in de-
grees or minutes away from the ecliptic (ecliptic latitude) and from the
vernal equinox (ecliptic longitude).