The Pythagoras’ theorem was used to build ancient stone structures like the Stonehenge 2,000 years before the Greek philosopher was born, a researcher has claimed.
A new book, Megalith , has re-examined the ancient geometry of Neolithic monuments and concluded that they were constructed by people who understood lengthy lunar, solar and eclipse cycles and built huge stone calendars using complex geometry.
Megalithic expert Robin Heath proposed that a great Pythagorean triangle in the British landscape links Stonehenge, the site from which the Preseli bluestones were cut in Wales, and Lundy Island, an important prehistoric site.
The book shows how within one of Stonehenge’s earliest incarnations, dating from 2750 BC, there lies a rectangle of four Sarsen stones which when split in half diagonally forms a perfect Pythagorean 5:12:13 triangle.
"Sophisticated astronomers"
The eight lines which radiate from the rectangle and triangles also perfectly align to important dates in the Neolithic calendar, such as the summer and winter solstices and spring and autumn equinoxes, The Telegraph reported. “People often think of our ancestors as rough cavemen but they were also sophisticated astronomers,” contributor and editor John Matineau said.
“They were applying Pythagorean geometry over 2,000 years before Pythagoras was born,” he said.
