The Draconian Serpent and Stonehenge^©
by Ross Hamilton

Figure 1. Serpent Mound and Stonehenge with their associated constellations—Draco and the Little Dipper.

The great earthworks of antiquity, like the great stoneworks, have at their roots the fundamentals of astronomy, geometry, and number incorporated into their design. Until only recently, not enough had been understood about ancient monuments with regard to their astronomic, geometric, and numerical planning to begin to make apt comparisons between those separated by geophysical and cultural boundaries. Now, however, such a comparison can be made between the very ancient sites of America's Great Serpent Mound and Britain's Stonehenge.

Physically set apart by the great Atlantic Ocean, the planning of these two prehistoric sites seems to be unified in the essentials of a common, naturally disciplined school of architecture. This "school," for want of a better definition, can be viewed as the logical and practical school. The specific juxtaposition of the Great Serpent with Stonehenge—applying first astronomical, geometrical, and then numerical guidelines—reveals that the two monuments appear to have been designed together as part of a larger picture.

Figure 2. The True North Alignment of the Great Serpent earthwork is formed by an imaginary line from the tip of
the tail's helix to the eastern apex of the hollow triangular feature (at the head of the Serpent). Upon joining these two
points, the line from the tail passes through the Serpent's head toward Polaris, the present North Star.

In addition, the two structures share the same timeline. From carbon dating in and around Stonehenge, the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) gives an early date for the core of Stonehenge at 3,000 B.C.E. or 5,000 years ago. As published elsewhere on this web site, the design of Serpent Mound was conceived about 5,000 years ago as well—and is therefore among the oldest of earthworks and stoneworks in North America. (See "The Star Mystery of Ohio's Great Serpent" on this website.) In this, Stonehenge and Serpent Mound are coeval. That time period is referred to in North American archaeology as being of the "Archaic Period" (approximately 6000 B.C.E. to 1000 B.C.E.).

But the more evident resonance between the two sites is their connection to astronomical sighting—both on the horizon and high in the sky. In addition, both sites are underscored by an interesting common geometric application. Both are distinguished in the science of archaeoastronomy—Serpent Mound for its unique integration of general solar and lunar movements into its design (see "Lunar Alignments at the Serpent Mound" also on this website), and Stonehenge for its apparent attention to detailing the similarly viewed horizon events. When they are viewed together in the light of this knowledge, the Great Serpent seems to be the eastern guardian and protector of Stonehenge—while Stonehenge itself seems, by virtue of the Serpent's presence, to be the "Oracle" or focal point of the Great Serpent's message. They thus have a harmonious relationship, each complementing the other.

Figure 3. Serpent Mound and Stonehenge aligned north showing the summer solstice rising sun
alignment at their respective latitudes, i.e., approximately 39 degrees at Serpent Mound and
approximately 51 degrees at Stonehenge.

However, because the two monuments are placed at different latitudes, and because there are differing types of physical horizon topographies, specific lunar and solar alignments may differ in any attempt to directly coordinate the two (such as depicted in Figure 3).

By these illustrations, evidence is presented revealing a direct relationship in the designs of the two inscrutable, world-class monuments. When the map of the Serpent Mound is placed in conjunction with the constellation Draco, and including the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor), the lunar and solar alignments of Serpent Mound converge toward the "dipper" part of the Little Dipper (Figure 4). The scale of Stonehenge's rings with respect to the Serpent Mound demonstrates how the lunar and solar alignments converge neatly within an area included by the size of the famous British landmark. This illustration is simply to point out that Stonehenge and Serpent Mound may have been built to the same scale, given the understanding of the natural degrees of separation characterizing the lunar and solar horizon viewing points. With the help of the Great Serpent beginning to "focus" the horizon's beams of light, the likeness of Stonehenge draws them all into a single small area. It is as though the Serpent is the "dragon" or guardian of a great "treasure."

Figure 4. The lunar alignments associated with six of the seven coils of the Great
Serpent align to an area identical to the size of Stonehenge's two circles.

Further, through the addition of the Draco star chart as an overlay, the Little Dipper's four "corners" touch upon the (inner and outer) rings of the to-scale Stonehenge circles (see Figure 1). To say this in a different way, the graphic's position was virtually unchanged from its coordinating the lunar and solar (geo-astronomical) alignments of the two sites. So not only does Serpent Mound appear to be based upon Draco, but also now Stonehenge seems to be based upon nearby Ursa Minor—through the common denominator of possible horizonal and celestial (overhead) astronomy.