Solstices, Equinoxes, and the Ancient Wonders: How Our Ancestors Harnessed the Seasons at Stonehenge and Beyond"

Welcome everybody to Stone Temple Gardening, cultivating new understandings of the ancient past today…and today is the Autumn Equinox!

As the cool winds of autumn stir the amber leaves, and the days grow shorter, we find ourselves in a season of reflection and change. For our ancient ancestors, this was not just a time of harvest and preparation, but a sacred moment, deeply connected to the movements of the sun and the cycles of nature. In the shadows of towering megaliths like Stonehenge and from the sacred subterranean heart of tombs like Newgrange, prehistoric peoples were watching the skies as the autumn equinox arrived, marking the delicate balance between light and dark.

Imagine a time without calendars or clocks—where the turning of the seasons was read in the flight of birds, the ripening of fruit, and the rising of the sun over sacred stones. Our ancestors built monumental structures that aligned with the heavens, creating a cosmic map to guide their agricultural and spiritual lives. These stones, placed with precision and care, still stand today, whispering secrets of an ancient connection to the Earth and its rhythms.

As we delve into the mysteries of these prehistoric monuments, we uncover a world where the changing of the seasons was celebrated, feared, and revered—a world where the cycles of life and death were marked in stone. Journey with me as we explore the role of the autumn equinox and other seasonal markers in shaping the sacred landscapes of the ancient world.

An understanding of the natural cycle of the year is fundamental to comprehending what the ancients were up to, so I have decided to celebrate this year’s Autumn Equinox with a primer on the solar cycle and other indicators of the seasons that were crucial to our ancestors’ lives. Many of the facts and concepts below are vital to comprehending the subject of ancient sites, the reason for their positioning in the landscape and their orientations to the horizon. The idea is to create a collection of reference primers that I can link to, and prevent repetition when dealing with common aspects relating to ancient sites like Stonehenge, Avebury, Callanish, Newgrange, Carnac etc. I will also examine the nature of seasonal markers in the natural world. So, as the understanding of the solar year is important to explain what was going on at ancient sites in the past, that is where I will begin.

Four Important Markers of the Solar Year.

The Solstices and Equinoxes are key events in Earth's yearly journey around the Sun, marking the changing of seasons and the shifting length of daylight in the northern and southern hemispheres. The ancient peoples who built the megalithic monuments of the Neolithic and Bronze ages were more closely attuned to the seasons than we are today. With no clocks, calendars, news bulletins, weather forecasts or daily reminders of where we are in the year, they relied on other signs of temporal passage to mark the passing of time. Months (Moonths) were one indication, but the natural indicators of plants, animals and fish were a little more specific to the season. A more scientific measurement of the days of the year could be obtained by watching the position of the Sun in the sky. Its risings and settings on the shortest and longest days as well as the days directly between. These special alignments to the horizon were reliable and eventually incorporated into their monuments like Stonehenge.

What is a Solstice? What is an Equinox? The Astronomy.

Seasons and the days that mark them happen because the Earth's axis is tilted, causing different parts of the planet to receive varying amounts of sunlight throughout the year depending on if we are pointing towards or away from the Sun during our yearly orbit. As the Earth tilts toward the Sun, days grow longer; as it tilts away, the days shorten. Therefore, the Solstices and Equinoxes play a crucial role in determining the changing seasons and the length of days. Throughout time they have sectioned up the year into the seasons and in agricultural societies that began around 10,000 BC, these dates take on the role of marking the agricultural year; tilling, sowing , growing and harvesting are tied to the seasons marked. All of this does not apply to equatorial areas however where the sun does not change its pattern of day length by a significant amount, agriculture can go on all year as there is no Winter, and the seasons tend to be either hot or rainy.

The Days, Myths and Cultural Aspects of the Solstices and Equinoxes.

Solstices occur twice a year, the Summer Solstice (around June 21) is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The Sun is at its highest point in the sky, and daylight lasts the longest. The Sun literally stands still for about a week before the days begin to shorten again. Solstice is Latin for “Sun stands still.” For the Southern Hemisphere, this is the shortest day of the year, marking the start of Winter and again the Sun stands still for about a week before the days begin to lengthen again. Winter Solstice (around December 21) is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The Sun is at its lowest point, and daylight is at its minimum. In the Southern Hemisphere, it's the longest day, marking their mid-Summer. Both days are celebrated in different ways around the world. The Summer Solstice is in the middle of the mythic forty “Dog Days of Summer”, when the Dog Star Sirus follows the daylight path of the Sun in the night sky. Sirus is part of the constellation Canus Major, and its helical rising (first appearance at dawn before the sun, the Morning Star) signified the start of the Egyptian Nile flood. For the superstitious, this was a time to brace for bad luck, tempers, thunderstorms, and even floods! The Winter Solstice has its own myth of the “Halcyon Days” named after a legendary Kingfisher that had the power to calm the wind and waves as it nested on the sea during the

Equinoxes also happen twice a year. The Spring or Vernal Equinox is around March 21st and day and night are nearly equal in length in both hemispheres. This marks the start of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. The Autumn Equinox falls around the 23rd of September. Again, day and night are almost equal. This is the beginning of Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and Spring in the Southern Hemisphere. Again, these dates are marked in different ways by different cultures all over the world including ancient ones. In Greek mythology, the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes are closely tied to the story of the Earth Goddess of agriculture and fertility Demeter, and her daughter Persephone who enters the Underworld at in the Autumn each year to be with her husband Hades, thereby bringing Winter to the world. She returns at the Spring Equinox to bring back rebirth and life to nature.

The Saxon pagan goddess of Spring is Eostre or Easter. Around the Autumn Equinox the pagan custom of preserving the last sheath of the harvest, so the spirit of the crop could survive the Winter, is still celebrated in the tradition of the Corn Dolly. This is a figure woven from this symbolic cut of corn, wheat or barley containing the preserved spirit of the crop and kept safe until the Spring when it is returned to the new ploughed soil.  For the new pastoral Neolithic societies that replaced the hunter gatherer Palaeolithic peoples, fertility of the land was crucially important to survival and woven into their lives as well as expressed through the astronomy built into their monuments. Other traditions survive. To this day, thousands of university students in the UK and Ireland go back to their studies in the Michaelmas Term. This is based on the Saint’s Day of the Archangel St Michael on the 29th of September and has always been associated with the Autumn Equinox.

Nature and the Seasons.

In prehistoric Northern Europe, people relied upon natural markers of vegetation cycles and wildlife behaviour to track the changing seasons. These seasonal indicators guided their agricultural practices, migration patterns, and religious rituals. As the first spring blossoms burst into life, the air is filled with the sweet scent of hawthorn, and the swallows return, skimming the fields with their darting flight. Our ancestors, watching these same signs, knew it was time to plant crops and prepare for the year's abundance.  As autumn deepens, the crisp air begins to carry the scent of fallen leaves, and the landscape transforms into hues of gold, crimson, and amber. The quiet rustle of dry leaves underfoot mingles with the distant calls of migrating birds, their V-shaped formations tracing the skies as they head south. In the forest, the first frosts begin to appear, delicate and fleeting, while the rich aroma of ripe blackberries and hazelnuts signals the harvest’s end. For our ancestors, this was a time of gathering—both food and community. The Red Deer’s bellow echoes through the misty woodlands, a reminder that Winter is coming, and with it, the need to prepare. Fires are lit, crops are stored, and celebrations mark the balance between light and dark, life and death. Autumn’s abundance is a final gift before the stillness of the cold months ahead.

People closely observed the natural world to track the changing seasons helping communities prepare for important activities like planting, harvesting, or preparing for Winter. The blooming of Hawthorn trees or "May flowers" signal the start of Spring and in folklore protection from evil. When these trees burst into white blossoms, it marked the start of warmer weather and announced the time to begin planting crops. Also, Swallows migrating back from Africa to Northern Europe marked the start of Spring. Their return was a sign that the weather was warming and again the time for planting was approaching. The distinctive call of the Cuckoo was likewise a traditional sign that Spring had fully arrived. In many parts of Europe, the first song of the Cuckoo indicated that again it was time to start sowing crops as the risk of frost had passed. Their arrival was often seen as a joyful sign of new life and rebirth. Eggs signify Easter to this day as birds start laying. Brown Hares are famous for their energetic and competitive mating rituals at this time, often seen "boxing" in fields. This behaviour is a key sign that Spring has arrived, marking a time of abundance and fertility. Likewise, the arrival of Brown Trout spawning typically begins in early Spring, with the fish moving upstream to lay eggs. The appearance of trout in rivers was another of the signs that warmer weather was coming.

The ripening of Blackberries was a late summer and early Autumn event, ushering in the harvest season. This fruit was also an important food source, both fresh and dried for Winter. The appearance of Hazelnuts in late Autumn heralded the closing of the growing season. Nuts like hazel were essential for prehistoric diets, providing valuable nutrition to last through the Winter. The sight of cranes flying southward in large flocks at the end of summer or early Autumn was a clear marker that the warm season was ending. Their departure would indicate the need to wrap up agricultural activities and brace for Winter. Likewise, the Red Deer rut, or mating season, occurs in early Autumn, marked by the males' loud bellowing and fierce battles for dominance. This was an important time for prehistoric hunters, as the deer were easier to locate and were often hunted in large numbers. Their mating season also marked the arrival of cooler weather and the approach of Winter, helping people prepare by gathering food and supplies. Wild Boar begin their mating season in late Autumn as well. Boar were an important source of fat and protein to help survive the cold months. Also, Salmon return to their freshwater spawning grounds in Autumn after spending years in the ocean. The appearance of salmon in rivers was a critical event for prehistoric fishing communities, marking a reliable source of food as the seasons changed. Salmon spawning runs aligned with the start of Autumn, again pointing to the time to prepare for the colder months by catching and preserving the fish.

These natural phenomena were critical for prehistoric communities, which didn’t have calendars but could time their seasonal activities by observing the rhythms of the natural world. Birds' migrations, animal and fish behaviours, along with the blooming of plants provided reliable signals for survival-related tasks like sowing crops, harvesting, and preparing for the coming cold hungry season of Winter. The measurement of the days was crucial to survival. So, to better understand and predict these seasonal shifts, ancient peoples-built monuments that aligned with the Solstices and Equinoxes marking the Sun's position at these key points in the year. These monuments were often used for both ceremonial and agricultural purposes, connecting the natural world with spiritual beliefs.

Examples of Prehistoric Seasonal Markers in Monuments:

    Stonehenge (England)

The well-known Summer Solstice Alignment at Stonehenge is perhaps the most famous prehistoric monument alignment. Stonehenge’s massive stones are orientated on the sunrise of the Summer Solstice (around June 21). On this day, the Sun rises directly over the Heel Stone, shining its light into the centre of the circle. In front of the Heel Stone is the recumbent “Slaughter” Stone that points towards the same alignment. Also, as Professor Terrance Meaden has shown, the shadow of the Heel Stone penetrates the inner horseshoe of stones at the same time. This would have marked the longest day of the year, likely signalling the peak of summer and the time for important gatherings or celebrations.

The opposite alignment occurs at the Winter Solstice (around December 21). At sunset on this day, the Sun sets between stones 55 and 56 – the two tallest upright stones at the centre of the horseshoe - marking the shortest day and the turning point towards longer daylight hours. This would have been significant for survival through the cold Winter months.

When my son was about 8 years old, my wife and I took him to Stonehenge to witness the Winter Solstice Sunrise. It was around minus 8 degrees and a beautiful clear sky. As we gathered with the hundred or so pagans, druids and fellow enthusiasts who were chanting, drumming and singing the Sunup, I was struck by the power of the Stones in bringing people together. The modern Druid and eco warrior King Arthur, (whose autobiography “The Trials of Arthur” I heartily recommend) led a blessing and invocation as we all held hands in a circle, it made my hair stand on end! As the Sun rose it began to lightly snow and a rainbow appeared. Well, a snowbow technically. Imagine the magic we felt at this celestial manifestation at such an auspicious time. “As today, so yesterday” I thought…My son has never forgotten it and its become a memorable part of our family history.

Newgrange (Ireland) is a passage tomb built around 3200 BCE and a part of the Brú na Bóinne Neolithic complex. Famous for its alignment with the Winter Solstice indicating its significance in solar rituals. For a few days around December 21, the rising Sun illuminates the inner chamber of the tomb through a narrow roof box opening, shedding light upon the central chamber and its carvings. This rare and dramatic event could have symbolized renewal and rebirth, offering hope during the darkest time of the year that the Sun will return soon. I have never visited here but its top of my list!

Maes Howe (Scotland) is in the Orkney Islands and is a large, chambered cairn dating to around 2800 BCE. It features a sophisticated burial chamber with its passageway precisely aligned with the setting Sun on the Winter Solstice. For a brief time, sunlight pierces through the entrance, illuminating the dark interior. This alignment likely held spiritual significance, as again the light could have been viewed as a symbol of life returning to the world. Another bucket list site for me.

Gavrinis (France) is situated on a small island in Brittany, Gavrinis is a passage grave known for its intricate stone carvings. Dating to around 3500 BCE, the carvings inside are some of the finest examples of Neolithic art in Europe. Gavrinis is one of my favourite sites. It is an amazing place, far too obscure; it should be at the top of everyones’ list! Gavrinis is known not only for its intricate carvings but also for its alignments with astronomical events. The passage of the tomb is oriented toward the sunrise during the Winter Solstice. This suggests the builders had a sophisticated understanding of solar movements. Additionally, the passage also aligns with the Major Southern Moonrise, showing a dual solar and lunar significance. The intersection of these two alignments occurs halfway down the passage, highlighting the importance of both celestial bodies in the monument's design. At this midpoint of the passage is a shallow sided paving stone that acts like a trough. While there pondering this unusual feature, I asked the guide about alignments, and he informed of the Solstice phenomenon and how the light moved along the passage floor. It immediately occurred to me that this feature could have contained a liquid such as water or oil that would act as a reflector of light. A significant white quartz slab (stone 7) close by, may have been illuminated by the light of the rising sun or moon during these astronomical events, enhanced by the reflections in the pooled stone paving. Although speculation on my part, there is certainly a ceremonial or symbolic function tied to these monuments marking cosmic cycles, much like other megalithic structures in Europe, such as the previously mentioned Newgrange in Ireland and Bryn Celli Ddu in Anglesey Wales, which both share similarities with Gavrinis in both design and purpose. The engravings on the stones inside Gavrinis, featuring motifs such as spirals, axes, and zigzags, further underline its cultural and religious importance, possibly symbolizing cycles of life, death, and rebirth, in harmony with the changing seasons and celestial patterns​. Standing in the ancient passage of Gavrinis, I was struck by the alignment of the orientation, as if the ancients had invited the Sun itself to witness their ceremonies. I will return to this astounding site in a future blog post.

Conclusion

As autumn deepens and the landscape prepares for winter’s stillness, we are reminded of the profound connection our ancestors had with the turning of the seasons. The megalithic monuments they built — from the towering stones of Stonehenge to the hidden chambers of Newgrange — were not just feats of engineering but acts of devotion to the cosmic cycles that governed their world. The careful alignments to the solstices and equinoxes reflect their understanding of nature’s rhythms and their desire to harmonize with them.

Today, these ancient stones stand as silent witnesses to the passing of time, a bridge between the past and present. As we walk among them, we cannot help but feel the echoes of those who came before us, their lives intertwined with the Earth’s cycles, their stories etched into the landscape. Their world may seem distant, yet their reverence for the seasons is something we, too, can embrace. Just as they looked to the skies and nature for guidance, we are reminded to slow down, observe, and reconnect with the natural world around us.

In these moments of reflection, we can feel the ancient wisdom still coursing through the air — a reminder that the mysteries of the past are not so far removed from our present, and that the stones will continue to mark the passage of time, long after we are gone.

Happy Autumn Equinox everyone!

Dr Alexander Peach, Bandung, Autumn Equinox, 22nd September 2024.