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.
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image of sites and alignments |
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the mound alignments
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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%