The Thornborough Henges in North Yorkshire are a set of three huge circular henges, each around 250m in diameter, spaced out by about 500m on an approximate northwest-southeast alignment. They date from between 3500 and 2500 BC.

What stands out to me about the henges?

They’re very big! They were built with a bank maybe 4 metres tall around them, and inside the bank a flat space and then a ditch around the flat Central area. Apparently they had 700 people there one recent Beltane!

With the banks at full height you’d only see the sky from within, no hills on the horizon. The banks were apparently faced with white gypsum. I wonder if they posted people or symbols or lights on the bank marking the stars rising and other astronomical events?

Orion

The three henges are not quite in a straight line, but seem to have the same alignment as the three stars of Orion’s belt. Also, before the henges were built there was a straight cursus (or ditch) dug at right angles to the line of henges, and passing through the central ring. It was roughly pointed towards where Orion would set in the West at the start of autumn. The cursus would have been cut through the trees, so maybe it was a sight line?

Is this apparent alignment with Orion a coincidence? Well other sites might have similar alignments. According to Sigurd Towrie, there are sites on Orkney that might have a similar mirroring of the belt-stars. There’s also a (controversial) theory that the pyramids in Egypt align with the belt.

What might Orion have meant to stone age people? Personally it’s my favorite winter constellation – easy to spot even in London, and somehow a comforting presence on clear winter nights.  Perhaps to them it was a marker of the season, or perhaps a reminder of something more. Sigurd Towrie’s article also discusses Stonehenge, and the theory that it may be associated with a mid-winter healing deity. Did Orion represent this ancient prehistoric god? A deity who presided over the darkest time of the year?

I recommend a visit to Thornborough Henges – especially on a clear winter’s night!