PhD in nanobiomechanics and rapid kinetics of muscle. Genetics and morphology. Energetics. Analysis of biological systems. Specific interests: Mesolithic-Neolithic transitions
Passage chamber tombs on Orkney were assessed in terms of orientation, type and structure, locati... more Passage chamber tombs on Orkney were assessed in terms of orientation, type and structure, location in landscape contours, and intervisibility. The different islands had some quite distinct qualities for tomb type and orientation. The stalled tombs on Rousay show a strong relationship to contour, and passage entrances face from east to south. Overall, the tombs on Orkney follow the Rousay pattern, with passages facing from ENE to south. The few exceptions include Wideford, facing west across a valley, Maeshowe facing SW and the Hoy hills, double deckers, and Banks on South Ronaldsay has a north passage overlooking low land.
Previous analysis indicated that construction in the Neolithic was probably based on number doubl... more Previous analysis indicated that construction in the Neolithic was probably based on number doubling and scaling in two directions. Timber rings display doubling number series and many large scale monuments could have been based on the annulus forms of 2x and 3x donuts (annuli). Dimension sharing scaling seen in the gold lozenges found in Bronze Age burials, and the small artefacts found at Folkton showed scaling of the series 5-7-10-14: a doubling area scale related to the diagonal of a square, a scaling found in the cubit-remen system of ancient Egypt.
Aim This review puts a previous paper on the Neolithic into context with later historical periods... more Aim This review puts a previous paper on the Neolithic into context with later historical periods, and discusses the luni-solar calendar described in the non-canonical biblical books of Jubilees, Enoch and Jasher in relation to a theoretical geocentric-based calendar described previously (Iliffe 2019). The texts were written or copied in about 200-100 BC, and were embedded within a context of 300 BC Greek astronomy and science, describing a solar calendar that was designed for a latitude of midway between the equator and the pole. Main findings The texts describe a geocentric-based 364-365 day solar year calendar based on sunrises and sets through portals, which could have been timber or stone, or hypothetical. Despite the calendar text being found at the northern end of the Dead Sea, near Jerusalem and Jericho, at 31.75 degrees north, it relates to a more northern latitude of 49 degrees, as the day-length in midsummer was twice that in midwinter. Locations of the portals, could have been anywhere along that latitude, from Morbihan, though the Hallstatt regions, to the Danube, areas that had close links to Anatolia and Mediterranean cultures. The 'generations of heaven and earth' from Adam to Moses also appear to be a description of a calendar of the solar year with 365 days, with the flood story illustrating the seasons. The biblical antediluvians appear to be modelled on Babylonian marker stars for the solar year, therefore the biblical timeline should start at Abraham not Adam.
Cardinality in the British Neolithic: a geocentric astronomy primer, 2019
Whilst a few passage chambers are evidently aligned to cardinal and solstitial aspects of the sky... more Whilst a few passage chambers are evidently aligned to cardinal and solstitial aspects of the sky, the majority appear to be more randomly directed, posing problems for the claims for many astronomical alignments. The main example of celestial alignment is at Knowth, aligned cardinally east-west, and with matching rock carvings. Although solstices are often referred to as precise time-points, this has no basis on observations that would be applicable to the Neolithic. The path of horizon sunrises is highly non-linear in relation to time as the solstices occur over a period 12-15 days, compared to the fleeting equinox alignments. The equinoxes are time-points and the solstices set cycle turning positions, very different phenomena. Although henges have directionality from their entrances, circles, be it of stone or timber, are by their nature non-directional. However, some circular sites exhibit orientation to cardinal and inter-cardinal symmetry by the stone type or size. This symmetry can be related to the stellar and skyscape rotational axis, which is stable over very long time periods. In general it appears that people were interested in the constant aspects of sky-land interaction.
The annulus 'donut' is a common structure in the Neolithic, both of open timber and stone circles... more The annulus 'donut' is a common structure in the Neolithic, both of open timber and stone circles and was found to be an architectural scaffolding for closed structures such as Newgrange, which was found to be self-scaled from an inner ring diameter. Circle arc geometry as a tool can be used to produce complex shapes, at Newgrange to make the heart shaped mound and to construct arcs to align the inner trilithons at Stonehenge. A construction system based on dimension sharing and scaling will produce artefacts and sites with similar sizes, but some sites such as Newgrange appear to be self scaled. Inner circle arcs could have been used at Stonehenge to construct an inner ring one third the diameter of the earlier outer ring. The geometry of Stonehenge (a 3x donut) can be defined by inner circle arcs which cycle three times around the Aubrey ring to unite at 28 points and this may have determined the pit number. This geometry is very simple to perform by peg and line, but the mathematics behind it is complex. It is likely that the geometry was used without the underlying mathematics, apart from some basic whole number ratios.
An investigation into the structures of Neolithic sites and artefacts found a common scaling syst... more An investigation into the structures of Neolithic sites and artefacts found a common scaling system, found in the earliest sites and through to the Bronze Age. Early rectangular timber buildings and long barrows constructed from circle segments often display simple width: length ratios, and at West Kennet the ratio is 5: 3 which possibly originated at the standing stones at Maes Howe in a 5x3m rectangle. This 5: 3 ratio is also seen in the small Bush lozenge, that fits in the same geometrically scaled system as the gold lozenges found in early Bronze Age burials. A simple x2x5 scaling device may link small artefacts of 31cm to large circular sites of 31m. At this point doubling and tripling may come to play to produce the dimensions seen at large scale eg: 30-90-180-270m. Multiple ring complexes such as Mount Pleasant exhibit mathematical scaling, with rings of set multiples of the inner ring diameter. This agrees with a model of peg and rope, circle and line geometry that uses simple scaling. The appearance of similar building styles and artefacts at distant locations suggests that there were effective communications between these communities and a desire for conformity, or a shared construction system that originated with immigration in the earlier Neolithic or before.
Measure-independent analysis of multi-ring timber and pit circles found that concentric construct... more Measure-independent analysis of multi-ring timber and pit circles found that concentric constructions display a doubling geometric number system that extends well beyond the geometry. The Bush barrow gold lozenges demonstrate the square power law relationship between diameter and area. The geometry of squares is seen to be combined with circles in the Folkton barrels, which feature doubling area circles and possibly are also scaled with a 7/5 ratio, which is seen on other artefacts. There is no specific evidence that the mathematics behind the geometry was used, but the scaling geometry suggests that they were aware of the numerical relationships. If number was integral to geometry, not a separate concept, there was probably little use of number separated from geometry, but some motifs found in small scale rock pecking and carvings seem to be based on number shape. There was no unambiguous evidence for number symbols, but this warrants further investigation. The type of artefacts found at Skara Brae suggests that mathematical geometry for its own sake was a major activity at this site.
Sharing of proportions and dimensions was seen in locations as far apart as Dorset, Norfolk, Yorkshire and Orkney. There is continuity from at least 3700 to 2000 BC and later, suggesting that the number system was not imported with Beaker DNA, and was possibly invented independently in Britain, or imported well before 3500BC.
Passage chamber tombs on Orkney were assessed in terms of orientation, type and structure, locati... more Passage chamber tombs on Orkney were assessed in terms of orientation, type and structure, location in landscape contours, and intervisibility. The different islands had some quite distinct qualities for tomb type and orientation. The stalled tombs on Rousay show a strong relationship to contour, and passage entrances face from east to south. Overall, the tombs on Orkney follow the Rousay pattern, with passages facing from ENE to south. The few exceptions include Wideford, facing west across a valley, Maeshowe facing SW and the Hoy hills, double deckers, and Banks on South Ronaldsay has a north passage overlooking low land.
Previous analysis indicated that construction in the Neolithic was probably based on number doubl... more Previous analysis indicated that construction in the Neolithic was probably based on number doubling and scaling in two directions. Timber rings display doubling number series and many large scale monuments could have been based on the annulus forms of 2x and 3x donuts (annuli). Dimension sharing scaling seen in the gold lozenges found in Bronze Age burials, and the small artefacts found at Folkton showed scaling of the series 5-7-10-14: a doubling area scale related to the diagonal of a square, a scaling found in the cubit-remen system of ancient Egypt.
Aim This review puts a previous paper on the Neolithic into context with later historical periods... more Aim This review puts a previous paper on the Neolithic into context with later historical periods, and discusses the luni-solar calendar described in the non-canonical biblical books of Jubilees, Enoch and Jasher in relation to a theoretical geocentric-based calendar described previously (Iliffe 2019). The texts were written or copied in about 200-100 BC, and were embedded within a context of 300 BC Greek astronomy and science, describing a solar calendar that was designed for a latitude of midway between the equator and the pole. Main findings The texts describe a geocentric-based 364-365 day solar year calendar based on sunrises and sets through portals, which could have been timber or stone, or hypothetical. Despite the calendar text being found at the northern end of the Dead Sea, near Jerusalem and Jericho, at 31.75 degrees north, it relates to a more northern latitude of 49 degrees, as the day-length in midsummer was twice that in midwinter. Locations of the portals, could have been anywhere along that latitude, from Morbihan, though the Hallstatt regions, to the Danube, areas that had close links to Anatolia and Mediterranean cultures. The 'generations of heaven and earth' from Adam to Moses also appear to be a description of a calendar of the solar year with 365 days, with the flood story illustrating the seasons. The biblical antediluvians appear to be modelled on Babylonian marker stars for the solar year, therefore the biblical timeline should start at Abraham not Adam.
Cardinality in the British Neolithic: a geocentric astronomy primer, 2019
Whilst a few passage chambers are evidently aligned to cardinal and solstitial aspects of the sky... more Whilst a few passage chambers are evidently aligned to cardinal and solstitial aspects of the sky, the majority appear to be more randomly directed, posing problems for the claims for many astronomical alignments. The main example of celestial alignment is at Knowth, aligned cardinally east-west, and with matching rock carvings. Although solstices are often referred to as precise time-points, this has no basis on observations that would be applicable to the Neolithic. The path of horizon sunrises is highly non-linear in relation to time as the solstices occur over a period 12-15 days, compared to the fleeting equinox alignments. The equinoxes are time-points and the solstices set cycle turning positions, very different phenomena. Although henges have directionality from their entrances, circles, be it of stone or timber, are by their nature non-directional. However, some circular sites exhibit orientation to cardinal and inter-cardinal symmetry by the stone type or size. This symmetry can be related to the stellar and skyscape rotational axis, which is stable over very long time periods. In general it appears that people were interested in the constant aspects of sky-land interaction.
The annulus 'donut' is a common structure in the Neolithic, both of open timber and stone circles... more The annulus 'donut' is a common structure in the Neolithic, both of open timber and stone circles and was found to be an architectural scaffolding for closed structures such as Newgrange, which was found to be self-scaled from an inner ring diameter. Circle arc geometry as a tool can be used to produce complex shapes, at Newgrange to make the heart shaped mound and to construct arcs to align the inner trilithons at Stonehenge. A construction system based on dimension sharing and scaling will produce artefacts and sites with similar sizes, but some sites such as Newgrange appear to be self scaled. Inner circle arcs could have been used at Stonehenge to construct an inner ring one third the diameter of the earlier outer ring. The geometry of Stonehenge (a 3x donut) can be defined by inner circle arcs which cycle three times around the Aubrey ring to unite at 28 points and this may have determined the pit number. This geometry is very simple to perform by peg and line, but the mathematics behind it is complex. It is likely that the geometry was used without the underlying mathematics, apart from some basic whole number ratios.
An investigation into the structures of Neolithic sites and artefacts found a common scaling syst... more An investigation into the structures of Neolithic sites and artefacts found a common scaling system, found in the earliest sites and through to the Bronze Age. Early rectangular timber buildings and long barrows constructed from circle segments often display simple width: length ratios, and at West Kennet the ratio is 5: 3 which possibly originated at the standing stones at Maes Howe in a 5x3m rectangle. This 5: 3 ratio is also seen in the small Bush lozenge, that fits in the same geometrically scaled system as the gold lozenges found in early Bronze Age burials. A simple x2x5 scaling device may link small artefacts of 31cm to large circular sites of 31m. At this point doubling and tripling may come to play to produce the dimensions seen at large scale eg: 30-90-180-270m. Multiple ring complexes such as Mount Pleasant exhibit mathematical scaling, with rings of set multiples of the inner ring diameter. This agrees with a model of peg and rope, circle and line geometry that uses simple scaling. The appearance of similar building styles and artefacts at distant locations suggests that there were effective communications between these communities and a desire for conformity, or a shared construction system that originated with immigration in the earlier Neolithic or before.
Measure-independent analysis of multi-ring timber and pit circles found that concentric construct... more Measure-independent analysis of multi-ring timber and pit circles found that concentric constructions display a doubling geometric number system that extends well beyond the geometry. The Bush barrow gold lozenges demonstrate the square power law relationship between diameter and area. The geometry of squares is seen to be combined with circles in the Folkton barrels, which feature doubling area circles and possibly are also scaled with a 7/5 ratio, which is seen on other artefacts. There is no specific evidence that the mathematics behind the geometry was used, but the scaling geometry suggests that they were aware of the numerical relationships. If number was integral to geometry, not a separate concept, there was probably little use of number separated from geometry, but some motifs found in small scale rock pecking and carvings seem to be based on number shape. There was no unambiguous evidence for number symbols, but this warrants further investigation. The type of artefacts found at Skara Brae suggests that mathematical geometry for its own sake was a major activity at this site.
Sharing of proportions and dimensions was seen in locations as far apart as Dorset, Norfolk, Yorkshire and Orkney. There is continuity from at least 3700 to 2000 BC and later, suggesting that the number system was not imported with Beaker DNA, and was possibly invented independently in Britain, or imported well before 3500BC.
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Papers by cathryn iliffe
The few exceptions include Wideford, facing west across a valley, Maeshowe facing SW and the Hoy hills, double deckers, and Banks on South Ronaldsay has a north passage overlooking low land.
Main findings The texts describe a geocentric-based 364-365 day solar year calendar based on sunrises and sets through portals, which could have been timber or stone, or hypothetical. Despite the calendar text being found at the northern end of the Dead Sea, near Jerusalem and Jericho, at 31.75 degrees north, it relates to a more northern latitude of 49 degrees, as the day-length in midsummer was twice that in midwinter. Locations of the portals, could have been anywhere along that latitude, from Morbihan, though the Hallstatt regions, to the Danube, areas that had close links to Anatolia and Mediterranean cultures. The 'generations of heaven and earth' from Adam to Moses also appear to be a description of a calendar of the solar year with 365 days, with the flood story illustrating the seasons. The biblical antediluvians appear to be modelled on Babylonian marker stars for the solar year, therefore the biblical timeline should start at Abraham not Adam.
The Bush barrow gold lozenges demonstrate the square power law relationship between diameter and area. The geometry of squares is seen to be combined with circles in the Folkton barrels, which feature doubling area circles and possibly are also scaled with a 7/5 ratio, which is seen on other artefacts. There is no specific evidence that the mathematics behind the geometry was used, but the scaling geometry suggests that they were aware of the numerical relationships. If number was integral to geometry, not a separate concept, there was probably little use of number separated from geometry, but some motifs found in small scale rock pecking and carvings seem to be based on number shape. There was no unambiguous evidence for number symbols, but this warrants further investigation. The type of artefacts found at Skara Brae suggests that mathematical geometry for its own sake was a major activity at this site.
Sharing of proportions and dimensions was seen in locations as far apart as Dorset, Norfolk, Yorkshire and Orkney. There is continuity from at least 3700 to 2000 BC and later, suggesting that the number system was not imported with Beaker DNA, and was possibly invented independently in Britain, or imported well before 3500BC.
The few exceptions include Wideford, facing west across a valley, Maeshowe facing SW and the Hoy hills, double deckers, and Banks on South Ronaldsay has a north passage overlooking low land.
Main findings The texts describe a geocentric-based 364-365 day solar year calendar based on sunrises and sets through portals, which could have been timber or stone, or hypothetical. Despite the calendar text being found at the northern end of the Dead Sea, near Jerusalem and Jericho, at 31.75 degrees north, it relates to a more northern latitude of 49 degrees, as the day-length in midsummer was twice that in midwinter. Locations of the portals, could have been anywhere along that latitude, from Morbihan, though the Hallstatt regions, to the Danube, areas that had close links to Anatolia and Mediterranean cultures. The 'generations of heaven and earth' from Adam to Moses also appear to be a description of a calendar of the solar year with 365 days, with the flood story illustrating the seasons. The biblical antediluvians appear to be modelled on Babylonian marker stars for the solar year, therefore the biblical timeline should start at Abraham not Adam.
The Bush barrow gold lozenges demonstrate the square power law relationship between diameter and area. The geometry of squares is seen to be combined with circles in the Folkton barrels, which feature doubling area circles and possibly are also scaled with a 7/5 ratio, which is seen on other artefacts. There is no specific evidence that the mathematics behind the geometry was used, but the scaling geometry suggests that they were aware of the numerical relationships. If number was integral to geometry, not a separate concept, there was probably little use of number separated from geometry, but some motifs found in small scale rock pecking and carvings seem to be based on number shape. There was no unambiguous evidence for number symbols, but this warrants further investigation. The type of artefacts found at Skara Brae suggests that mathematical geometry for its own sake was a major activity at this site.
Sharing of proportions and dimensions was seen in locations as far apart as Dorset, Norfolk, Yorkshire and Orkney. There is continuity from at least 3700 to 2000 BC and later, suggesting that the number system was not imported with Beaker DNA, and was possibly invented independently in Britain, or imported well before 3500BC.