I just watched the video feature on "The Cygnus Enigma" and wanted to say BRAVO! to Anthony. This is a topic that has fascinated me for a long time. Back in the 70's when I was just a teenager, I developed a particular fascination for Cygnus, to the point where I even fancied the notion that Callanish might have been modeled after the constellation. I've never come across anyone else who made that connection and I'm not sure I still hold with it myself. Still, the idea of a tie between Cygnus and a megalithic structure has fascinated me since, so I was thrilled when you began to make connections between it and Bru na Boinne. Thanks for all your digging and research. The video was way too brief. I could have watched it for an hour, at least!

Hi

I've just watched the Cygnus QuickTime and it’s very interesting. Our ancestors may not have been as technologically advanced as ourselves but they were just as intelligent.
One query I have is this, the constellations, as we know them come from ancient Greek mythology, can we be certain that Neothlic observers identified the same constellations in the night sky.

Bye.

jkerr,

That's a very interesting question. But the question we should really ask is this: did the constellations originate in Greece and the centre of Europe and the Arab world, or did they in fact exist as specific animals and shapes on the periphery of Europe in earlier times?

We have sufficient circumstantial evidence to suggest that certain constellation patterns existed in Neolithic Ireland which are normally attributed to later times and other peoples.

Barry Cunliffe, Professor of European Archaeology at Oxford, recently said that the traditional view that the Classical world spread its knowledge to the periphery of Europe was flawed. He believes that the megalithic culture on the edge of Europe (Ireland, Britain, Brittany, the coasts of Iberia etc.) was advanced and that this knowledge spread inwards towards the centre of Europe.

Some constellations are much older than previously believed. One of the most important in ancient Ireland was the bull (known today as Taurus). Certain myths mention a bull and seven cows, which I see as Taurus and the Seven Sisters (Pleiades).

Just some thoughts . . .

I think it makes perfect sense that the constellations pre-date ancient Greek culture. It is easy (and, unfortunately, common) to assign the origins of things to whatever culture first passed it down in writing. Yet very often what was passed down in writing had already been passed along orally for milennia prior to being written down. I often wonder how many elements of folktales that appear worldwide have their origins in the "culture" (small though it was) that first traveled out of Africa to populate the world. I bet that if we could go back in time and hear their stories, we might be surprised to find some familiar themes, character types, and motifs--and maybe even constellation lore.