Knowth Kerbstone 42 Sketch

B.L. Freeborn (c) 2013, updated Sept. 2022

Neolithic art is something we do not spend too much time studying. We class it with ancient graffiti, decorative art, or a bit of bragging about the recent hunt. We do not really expect it to tell us anything in the way of communication of important ideas. If it does say anything, we assume they are simple messages from simple minded people and move on. An article by Dr. Philip Stooke in 1994, “Neolithic Lunar Maps at Knowth and Baltinglass, Ireland,” proposed that several works of art found in the Knowth Passage Mound, Ireland are images of the moon’s surface. Most of the art at Knowth and the nearby sites are an odd assortment of lines, swirls and dots. One stone simply depicts 16 circles. Then there is the other extreme. There is another stone so covered with markings it looks like a piece of overused doodle paper.

We are going to look at a few kerbstones found at Knowth, Ireland. These stones are some 5500 years old.

The first stone to be studied is the aforementioned simple 16 circle image drawn on Kerbstone 42 depicted above. It is one of the 127 kerbstones at Knowth.

Another author has proposed that these Neolithic artists counted their year in 16 months and therefore each circle is a month. It is suggested here the 16 circles simply represent the distance Earth travels in a day. ??? Yes. It travels 1.6 million miles on average in any given day.

Now it would be logical for you to scoff and say these artists did not measure in miles, nor were they even aware the Earth moves or even rotates. Since we believed until quite recently in our own history that the Sun circled the Earth we assume they were as simple minded as we are/were.

As far as measuring in miles, they left us another clue that they did measure in miles and perhaps we should hold up on the scoffing. That 16 is written as two pairs of 8 circles, the upper line and the lower line. 8 and 8 as in 88. We all remember that 88 x 60 = 5280 and that is how many feet are in a mile. There is a group of 6 in a neat array on the right side to remind us of 6 and 60 and the minutes in an hour.

Now would be a good time to declare, “That it is purely co-incidental!”

Before tossing the whole idea out as a sour apple we might note the left group forms 9 circles and the right group 7 circles. There are 2 lines of circles. 7, 9 and 2 ?? 792??   As in 7920 miles in the diameter of Earth?

Yet we might say the left group has 8 circles in a neat square array and the right group has 6 circles in a neat square array as in 8 6. The Sun’s diameter is 864 thousand miles.

But we have forgotten the one hanging out at the beginning and end. We could say we have a series 1 8 6 1 which looks remarkably like the diameter of Earth’s orbit at 186 million miles.

Now we discover a second way to determine 5280 feet. Note that the group of 8 times the group of 6 times one on each end for 11 equals 8 x 6 x 11 = 528.

There is an expected number still missing. The number 56 should appear in the message since this number consistently appears at ancient sites.

3200 is 56.56². The image has 16 circles. They are depicted in two lines. So we might say 2 x 16 gives us the 32.

Recall that the Great Pyramid was constructed only 750 years after these tombs and it displays celestial measurements encoded into its structure. Knowth is a large earthen mass with two narrow halls that emit light into the structure. The pyramids are similarly designed.

Perhaps you think this is too much knowledge for a stone age man to possess? The name of the place is Knowth which means “to know” and this only adds to the curiosity of it all. So, for a Neolithic doodle this one packs a powerful mathematical message. This artist has written in a language we can understand and yet we still do not trust our eyes.

Very shortly we will look at Kerbstone 52, a much more complex doodle and that will really leave us wondering.

Have a great day!

PREVIOUS POST        NEXT POST

Knowth Kerbstone 52,sketch by BL Freeborn.

(c) 2013, updated Sept. 2022

Let us look at another doodle by a stone swinging Irishman – Kerbstone 52 from Knowth, Ireland.

The Knowth mound has a diameter 275 feet and has 127 kerbstones surrounding the base perimeter of approximately 866 feet. This circumference brings to mind the diameter of the Sun at 864,000 miles. Because we are discussing a circular mound the idea of pi comes to mind. 127 x pi equals 399. The diameter of the Moon is 2160 and that of the Sun is 864336 and this gives us the ratio of 1:400 regardless of the units used.

So, now we begin a study of the petroglyph found on Kerbstone 52 as sketched in the figure. Dr. Philip Stooke suggests in his article that this drawing is of the phases of the moon as it exhibits several images we can easily associate with its changing appearance. However, even he admitted that these symbols really have little in common with the actual observed appearance of the Moon throughout a month.

He noted that there are 29 phases depicted above and below the center up-down line. There are four circles marked T, three circles marked B, one up-side down crescent marked D, two left opening crescents or C’s marked L, 17 left opening C’s marked U that lie underneath in a straight line, followed by crescent R which is removed from the group and the cycle ends with the crescent marked M. A sum of these reveals there are indeed 29 symbols encircling the up-down line. There are two crescents below the circles in the middle. Not all sketches depict these two.

At this point most people conclude the artist was not very gifted or a lousy observer and they move on. However, we shall be a little more determined than most so that we might prove the translation of the previous stone was not wildly co-incidental.

Here we start by counting all the symbols. Because the one C is removed from the rest there is a tendency to get only 28. We see 28 x 2 = 56. This number 56 appears at Stonehenge. There are 56 Aubrey holes surrounding Stonehenge which are unexplained. It was the number found in the previous kerbstone study.

If the crescent marked R is placed with the 28 we obtain 1 plus 28 or 128 which is one more than the number of kerbstones. 128 x pi = 402 which reflects the ratio between the diameter of the Sun and Moon and the ratio of their distances from Earth, both of which is 400 to 1.

Also note the layout. At the center top is a circle below which are two C’s. On each side are two sets of 3 circles. Kerbstone 93 depicts something similar. The darker three suggests 3 craters. The center circle with C’s below suggest ‘issue forth’. Issue forth what? Below is a wave. The right 3 circles appear like latitude lines. So one might say at 33 is 3 craters from where the waves issued forth. Reinforcing this there is a wave like twirl on the left. To its left is crescent marked M. In another post the idea this means great is discussed. It reinforces the idea of not just a wave but a great wave. At the end of the wave is 3 more crescents (marked L) suggesting… ‘at great wave from the three craters.’

The up-down wave line has 16 cycles or 16 up and 16 down for 32. The square root of 32 is 5.65. Recall 90 degrees – 56.5 equals 33.5 which essentially explains the 33.

The crescent at R and the seventeen in a row can be taken as 117 or 171. The first is twice 58.5 recalling the distance earth travels in a year at 584 million miles. The second is twice 85.5 which recalls the diameter of the sun at 860,000 miles.

A simpler explanation is to add the 17 C’s to 16 waves and obtain a repeat of 33. Or we might say ‘from one came many craters.’

We look again at the image and see the top circles may also represent the Sun. We count 4 T circles plus 3 B circles and the 2 crescents below the circles. 4 3 2? The radius of the Sun is 432,000 miles or multiply by 2 and obtain 864, the diameter of the Sun at 864,000 miles.

At the center bottom is a prominent spiral symbol. This can be translated to mean turning, cycles, repetition, or the ecliptic. It appears prominently in Kerbstone 5 and there was interpreted as turn.

Next to this turn glyph is an unexplained series of connected symbols very similar to one found at Loughcrew. (See post.) Here we might add to that discussion by noting that here it seems to depict ‘fell,’ a zigzag and a crater. The zigzag has 3 points at the top and 2 below for 32. It has been noted 32 is the square of 5.65. So it could mean it ‘fell to/at 56.5 at the crater.’ This appears accurate if one takes the time to look at satellite images and note the longitude there!

The only really pertinent number missing is 792. The 7 is obvious with 7 circles as well as the 2 C’s below it but the 9 is allusive. If one counts the C’s on the left and right of the turn. There are 8 left and 9 right for 89. The square root of 7920 is 89. This is the diameter of Earth.

So, this is one very complicated mathematical message after all! But is it remotely possible these stone wielding cave men knew anything of science?

Recall that the Pyramids are considered to be some 4800 years old and that many people have found values which represent Earth and Solar System measurements designed into its structure. Knowth is some 500 to 700 years older than the pyramids which is a reasonable period of time to develop the engineering skills to step from building round monuments to monstrous pyramidal monuments.

PREVIOUS POST       NEXT POST