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Sky and Landscape Courses About twenty years ago my husband and I bought a remote cottage in the hills in mid-Wales and used it for family holidays as our children were growing up. Nearby were some huge piles of stones marked as cairns on the OS map and I boldly told my children that when we got home I would get a book from the public library and find out all about them. Thus began a long process of reading books on prehistoric Britain and archaeology and realising that in fact no one really knows how these monuments were used and why they were placed where they are. One idea about them that I came across early on in my reading, however, was that cairns, megaliths, mounds and dolmens were often carefully placed to link with the movements of the sun and moon. The study of this idea is called archaeoastronomy – the combination of archaeology and astronomy. But there are very few courses on the subject and often the available books are difficult and off-putting. The concept of building monuments to link the sky and landscape is natural and easy to appreciate, but the business of proving that this was their purpose now after thousands of years is much harder. My personal journey to find the answers to my questions has taken a long time and culminated in the recent completion of an MA degree in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology at Bath Spa University College. Now I want to provide for others the kind of course I would have liked when I first started. So I have asked Robin Heath, well-known for his books on Stonehenge and other prehistoric sites, to teach some weekend courses for small groups to act as introductions to this fascinating subject. We have chosen to hold the first ones in the magical valley of Strata Florida Abbey in mid-Wales, where local prehistoric remains can act as examples. Our approach will be very practical. Imagining that you have come across an individual standing stone or cairn, we aim to show how you can begin to assess its links with the horizons around and how it might have been used to mark the position of the sun or moon at a key moment in their cyclic patterns. Written information and course material will be provided. The first weekend course will be held from September 9 –11, followed by more next year. If you enjoy walking in the hills but have always wondered about the purpose of the stones and circles you have come across, then these courses will provide the answers. No previous knowledge of astronomy or archaeology is required, just a general interest in history, the landscape and the movements of the sky. I guarantee that you will see the landscape with totally fresh eyes after you have finished!
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