The astronomical orientation of belginum

In the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in the small town of Morbach, you can visit the archaeological site of Belginum. After reviewing satellite images of the area, I was able to identify the exact position of the Oppidum  and the  location of  a Dunum in  the town of Longkamp. The site is ascribed to 400 b.c. and the importance of the complex is such  to be included in the peutinger table.

Starting from the position of the mound I managed to recreate the exact orientation of the complex: what has emerged is very interesting. both from a purely astronomical point of view and as regards the importance of the Celtic settlement.

Taking note of the mound I noticed the presence of other smaller mounds and taking also into account the orientation of the settlements, I identified eleven possible astronomical alignments.

The ammount of the rises and sunsets of stars aligned to the complex is such as to assume that the site was built with a specific purpose calendar.

first I checked the presence of levate and sunsets during the main Celtic festivities and finally I tried to reconstruct the calendar.

Taking into account how the Celts calculated the months, I checked if these alignments went to recreate a calendar similar to the calendar of Coligny.

The lack of a quarter of the alignments has made me reject this hypothesis. 

If we take into consideration the periods halfway between the holidays, things change completely.

image of  sites and alignments

the mound alignments

ARCHEOASTRONOMICAL ANALYSIS

BELGINUM

AZIMUT                    HEIGHT OF THE ASTRONOMICAL

                                                        HORIZON

74.70°+-0.25                                        0.08°

254.70°   "                                            0.08°

164.70°   "                                            2.09°

344.70°   "                                           -0.14°

LONG KAMP

AZIMUT                    HEIGHT OF THE ASTRONOMICAL

                                                        HORIZON    

52.24°+-0.25                                       0.47°

232.24°   "                                           1.39°

142.24°   "                                           1.93°

322.24°   "                                           0.47°

MOUND                       HEIGHT OF THE ASTRONOMICAL

                                                        HORIZON    

24.77°+-0.15                                      3.41°         

204.77°    "                                         0.98°

41.66°      "                                         4.49°

221.66      "                                         0.79°

51.52°      "                                         4.49°

231.52°    "                                         0.79°

66.94°      "                                         3.79°

246.94°    "                                         0.34°

79.38°      "                                         3.34°

259.38 °   "                                         0.66°

104.77°    "                                         4.43°

284.77°    "                                        -0.23°

120.81°    "                                         4.43°

300.81°    "                                        -0.17°

N.B. some stars, even if they come into play, do not align with the dates taken into consideration.
         so they have been discarded


CALENDARIAL HYPOTHESES
the alignments marked with 1 refer to Belginum. with 2 those from Long Kamp. with 3 those of the mound. in capital letters the dates of the main Celtic festivities.
HR=helical rising
AR=acronical rising
HS=heliacal setting
AR=acronical setting



II°DECADE OF NOVEMBER(16NOV) TRINOX SAMONI
3)
24.77° DENEB HR
41.66° POLLUX AR
120.81° ANTARES HR
            MIRA CETI AR
259.38°ORION BELT AS

III°decade of november/II°decade of December(25nov/5dec)
1)
254.70° RIGEL AS
344.70° CAPELLA AS
2)
322.24° ARCTURUS AS

WINTER SOLSTICE(25 DECEMBER)
2)
142.24° SHAULA HR
3)
104.77° ORION AR

III° decade of January
3)
66.94°SCHEAT HR
          REGULUS AR
120.81°SIRIUS AR

I°DECADE OF MARCH(2-5) IMBOLC
3)
24.77° CAPELLA HR

II°/III° decade of April(15/30)
1)
254.70 °RIGEL HS
344.70°CAPELLA HS
2)
232.24° ANTARES AS
3)
24.77 °DENEB AR
259.38° ORION BELT HS

II° DECADE OF JUNE(15/17)BELTANE
1)
74.7°ALDEBARAN HR
2)
322.24° POLLUX HS
3)
66.94° SCHEAT AR
79.38 °ALBEBARAN HR
120.81° MIRA CETI HR

SUMMER SOLSTICE(28 JUNE)
3)
41.66 °POLLUX HR

II° decade of Juli(15/25)
2)
322.24°ARCTURUS AS

I°/II° DECADE OF AUGUST(5/15)LUGHNASADH
3)
120.81°SIRIUS HR

II/III° decade of september(15/25)
1)
344.7°VEGA AS
3)
41.66° ARCTURUS HR

II°DECADE OF NOVEMBER TRINOX SAMONI
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STATISTICAL CALCULATION OF PROBABILITY OF RANDOMNESS

BELGINUM

74.70° & 254.70°

[0.25(5572.82/3505.78)]/180=0.0022%

164.70° & 344.70°

[0.25(557282/2126.96)]/180=0.0036%

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LONG KAMP

52.24° & 232.24°

[0.25(2649.91/1450.91)]/180=0.0025%

142.24° & 322.24°

[0.24(2649.91/1170.52)]/180=0.0031%

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MOUND

24.77 & 204.77

[0.15(303.42/131.6)]/180=0.0019%

41.66 & 221.66

[0.15(303.42/160.43)]/180=0.0016%

51.52 & 231.52

[0.15(303.42/136.83)]/180=0.0018%

66.94 & 246.94
[0.15(303.42/179.62)]/180=0.00.14%

79.38 & 259.38
[0.15(303.42/152.12)]/180=0.0017%

104.77 & 284.77
[0.15(303.42/104.9)]/180=0.0024%

120.81 & 300.81
[0.15(303.42/102.7)]/180=0.0025%
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STATISTICAL CALCULATION FOR SITES WITH MULTIPLE ALLINGNMENT

if you take into account only the alignments related to the festivities  the calculation will be the:

(11;9)*0.00253^9(1-0.00253)^(11-9)

if you take into account all the alignments the calculation will be

(11;10)*0.253^10(1-0.00253)^(11-10)

in both cases the probability of randomness is close to 0%