Pegs and Ropes: Geometry at Stonehenge
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- University of Oxford, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, UK
- Universite Blaise Pascal, Physics, Aubiere, France
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- Manuscript
- Date:
- Received 04 August 2008 19:04 UTC; Posted 05 August 2008
- Subjects:
- Earth & Environment
- Abstract:
A recent computer-aided-design investigation of the Neolithic 56 Aubrey Hole circuit at Stonehenge has led to the discovery of an astonishingly simple geometrical construction for drawing an approximately regular 56-sided polygon, feasible with a compass and straightedge. In the present work, we prove analytically that the aforementioned construction yields as a byproduct, an extremely accurate method for approximating a regular heptagon, and we quantify the accuracy that prehistoric surveyors may have ideally attained using simple pegs and ropes. We compare this method with previous approximations, and argue that it is likely to be at the same time the simplest and most accurate. Implications of our findings are discussed.
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- This document is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
- How to cite this document:
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Johnson, Anthony and Pimpinelli, Alberto. Pegs and Ropes: Geometry at Stonehenge. Available from Nature Precedings <http://hdl.handle.net/10101/npre.2008.2153.1> (2008)
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