Boyle Somerville, “Instances of orientation in prehistoric monuments of the British Isles”

Archaeologia 73, 193–224 (1923)

Henry Boyle Townshend Somerville (1863–1936) was a member of the well-known Irish family. He served in the Royal Navy, retiring in 1919 with the rank of Vice-Admiral. He became interested in astro-archaeology in 1908, while charting the waters near Lough Swilly in Northern Ireland, and as a result made surveys of prehistoric sites in Ireland and later in Scotland. This paper gives some conclusions of his research.

Somerville was indebted to the work of Sir Norman Lockyer and A. L. Lewis, but was more conservative in his choice of targets for orientation. Although he did not deny the possibility of orientation to the moon, stars, or natural features, this paper deals only with orientation to sunrise or sunset.

See John Michell, A Little History of Astro-Archaeology, 2nd edn (1989), pp. 40–42; obituary in The Times, 26 March 1936, p. 16, col. B.

The digitized version contains the following Web pages:

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Fig. 1 Diagram of sunrise and sunset azimuths at latitude 51° 30′ N.
Fig. 2 Ireland—co. Cork—Donoughmore: plan of alignments near Newcastle House and at Pluckane.
Fig. 3(a) Ireland—co. Cork—Donoughmore: plan of alignment at Gurrane Gorse (Winter Solstitial sunset).
Fig. 3(b) Scotland—Argyllshire: plan of alignments at southern end of Loch Nell (Samhuin sunset, Nov. 8).
Fig. 4 Scotland—Hebrides—Isle of Lewis: plan of alignment, ‘Tursachan Challanish’.
Fig. 5 Ireland—co. Donegal—Lough Swilly: plan of chambered grave, with stone alignments at Drumhallagh, ‘The Giant’s Bed’.
Fig. 6 Ireland—co. Donegal—Lough Swilly: plan of chambered grave near Buncrana, ‘The Giant’s Den’.
Fig. 7(a) Ireland—co. Antrim—Larne Lough, Island Magee: plan of chamber-dolmen, ‘Druid’s Altar’.
Fig. 7(b) View from south-west.
Fig. 8 Scotland—Argyllshire—Loch Nell: plan of chamber-dolmen and burial cist in (remains of) round barrow, ‘Cuchullain’s Grave’.
Fig. 9(a) Ireland—co. Donegal—Lough Swilly, dolmen on Croaghan Hill, ‘Druid’s Altar’ Plan.
Fig. 9(b) View from north-west.
Fig. 10(a) Ireland—co. Cork—Glandore, stone circle at Drumbeg: Plan.
Fig. 10(b) View from north-east.
Fig. 11 Ireland—co. Donegal—near Raphoe: plan of stones on Beltany hill.
Fig. 12 Scotland—Hebrides—Isle of South Uist near Lochboisdale. View of Barp Frobost (showing remains of peristalith).
Fig. 13 Scotland—Hebrides—Isle of South Uist, near Lochboisdale (Loch a’ Bharp, round barrow, ‘Barp’ (plan).
Fig. 14 Scotland, Hebrides, Isle of South Uist, near Lochboisdale. Boulder on hill-crest marking Winter Solsticial sunrise from Barp (Loch a’ Barp).
Fig. 15 Scotland—Inverness and Nairn—Clava, round barrow. Balnuarin NE., ‘Clava Circles’. Plan.
Fig. 16 Scotland—Inverness and Nairn—Clava, round barrows. Composite plan of Balnuarin NE., Middle, and SW. barrows (‘Clava Circles’).