Alexander Thom’s megalithic yard and British stone-circle astronomy

Record summary

Alexander Thom’s statistical studies of British stone circles and monuments proposed a standardized ‘megalithic yard’ and sophisticated prehistoric astronomical planning. His work remained influential in the 1970s and 1980s and was sometimes expanded into claims that Neolithic communities possessed advanced mathematics. It matters for comparison because it shows how real measurements can support competing interpretations of monument design. Later archaeologists challenged the statistical methods, uniformity assumptions and cultural inferences, while acknowledging that some monuments do exhibit deliberate astronomical orientations.