Newark Archaeogeodesy
Assessing Evidence of Geospatial Intelligence in the Americas

 

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Updates

2024.02.27 - Updates to this page follow below in chronological order. The Newark Archaeogeodesy, Monument Inter-Relationships KML file is updated. That file contains study results. To display all the monument placemarks, add the most recent Archaeogeodesy Placemarks, Ancient Monuments in Google Earth KML file to your Google Earth Places. The archaeogeodesy.kml file displays more than 15,000 placemarks of ancient monuments and anthropogenic features spanning the globe.


 

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Introduction

2009.01.09 - In 1991, I first noted the arc distance between Ohio's ancient Newark and Marietta earthworks equaled circumference (cir) of the earth divided by days per year. In part, excitement about this finding prompted improvement of my crude method, simply measuring maps. I was soon employing spherical trigonometry and traveling to university libraries, seeking out site plans and topographic maps to derive accurate monument coordinates. I confirmed the arc distance equaled cir/365.25, and I later noted the degrees longitude difference matched.

I took a great leap forward in methods in 2005, traveling to Ohio for GPS readings on the mounds, then confirming the GPS positions in Google Earth. Coordinates and site codes are appended below in Appendix A and the figures herein display the site codes. Technology had caught up with my hypothesis, so to speak, and using GPS data I repeated and expanded on a preliminary 2001 study, Possible Geodetic Properties and Relationships of Some Monumental Earthworks in the Middle Ohio Valley. Several Newark Octagon to Marietta relationships presented astronomical constants accurately. Not unlike grinding and polishing a lens, with each step in methods improvement, arc distances resolved more accurately in relation to astronomical constants. An ancient geodetic codex is now unveiling with some clarity, and this article discusses the research results. Some Newark study results are also compiled in a Google Earth file.

Marietta Conus Mound
Marietta Conus Mound and Ellipse

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Initial Findings

Initially I observed, on a National Geographic 1:267,000 map, the Newark-Marietta arc distance equaling circumference divided by days per year. With GPS coordinates and trigonometry, I also noted the arc distances from the Octagon to the two truncated pyramids in Marietta Square (Figure 1), Quadranau Mound (maqum) and Capitolium Mound (macam), match two lunar orbit values (Table 1). Significantly, lunar astronomy correlates with the capacity for navigation and longitude determination.

The Octagon centerpoint datum (nocp) is the average of the GPS readings for the eight embankment vertices. From the Octagon to Capitolium Mound, arc distance and degrees E - W (longitude difference) are equal. From the Octagon centerpoint the arc distance cir/365.24 and the same longitude difference converge within 250 feet of the center of Marietta Square, one of the largest Hopewell squares (1510' per Romain). From the Octagon centerpoint the arc distance cir/365.01 and the same longitude difference converge atop Marietta Capitolium mound, the high point of Marietta Works. In 365 lunar orbits, there are 10,000 rotations; the moon orbits 0.036501 circumferences per earth rotation.

Marietta Earthworks plan
Figure 1. Marietta Earthworks

Calendar keepers count days and years, or rotations, or moons. Astronomers count all these and more. Three fundamental astronomical motions, earth rotation and lunar and solar orbits, present the following ratios in integers; there are 10,000 rotations in 365 lunar orbits and in 366 there are 10,000 days. The two lunar orbit numbers, 365 and 366, are repeated in the Octagon to Marietta arcs, with Octagon-Quadranau arc equaling cir/366 and Octagon-Capitolium equaling both cir/365 and E-W cir/365 (Table 1).

There are 10,000 rotations in 365 lunar orbits,
and in 366 orbits there are 10,000 days.  

Table 1.  Newark and Marietta Arcs
arc
arc
E-W
Octagon - Capitolium
0.9863° = cir / 365.0
0.9864°
Octagon - Quadranau
0.9837° = cir / 366.0
0.9832°
lunar constant values
module
lunar orbits per rotation
r27 = 13.140381° = 0.036501 cir
lunar orbits per day
c27 = 13.176357° = 0.036601 cir

Marietta Quadranau Mound
Marietta Quadranau Mound

Fundamental astronomy is discussed in Eclipses, Cosmic Clockwork of the Ancients. A primer on fundamental astronomy in the Archaeogeodesy pages discusses formulas and precession. Appendix B below references the astronomy code terms and abbreviations herein.

The Ancient Earthworks of Eastern North America pages provide photo galleries, site descriptions, collected data, survey maps, references cited, and links to placemark and data files. Google Earth users can download survey drawing overlays of Squier and Davis 1848 earthworks survey maps.


 

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Newark Latitude and Longitude

The Figure 2 ground plan represents the actual spatial relationship of the Octagon and Great Circle features of the Newark works to scale. Newark Earthworks has been termed the largest geometric earthwork in the world. The Octagon is certainly the largest single North American geometric earthwork form at 2898.5 feet long. While several earthen circles in Ohio are larger in diameter, Newark's Great Circle likely represents the largest circular work in labor investment. The Great Circle (ncec) is actually an ellipse, measuring 1189 by 1163 feet (mean 358.4 m). The Octagon's Observatory Circle (nocc) is nearer a true circle at 1059 by 1050 feet (mean 321.4 m). The Newark circles are centered over a mile apart, at about 1,934 meters.

Newark Earthworks alignment
Figure 2. Newark Earthworks
ncec-nocp   N-S = 0.01366° = 0.0005 s22
ncec-nocp   E-W = 0.01319° = 0.0010 c27

The Newark circles align to Marietta's Capitolium Mound (Figure 2), with an angle of 180.02° on Eagle Mound (nccm) at the center of the Great Circle (ncec). The Capitolium Mound to Eagle Mound ratio of arc distance to degrees longitude difference is 1.0 to 0.9966. From the Octagon centerpoint (nocp) the ratio is 1.0 to 0.9999, hence local latitude to longitude ratio at Newark is also accurately expressed by the Newark-Marietta relationship. Arc distance equaling longitude difference may have function when comparing astronomical observations from two positions, both mathematically and for time keeping. At the same diurnal time of night in the two locations the cosmos is precisely one day apart in overhead position.

At the Octagon latitude, linear measure of latitude (N-S) equals 1.3012 times equal angular measure of longitude (E-W). The Octagon latitude-Capitolium longitude intersection is eastward from the Octagon 1.3011 times the distance northward from the Capitolium. Possible builder intention expressing Newark's latitude to longitude ratio is even more convincing in the relationship to Serpent Mound because the Newark to Serpent Mound N-S and E-W distances match the actual latitude to longitude triangle by having the long dimension expressed along the N-S meridian.

Serpent Mound drawing by Squier


 
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Serpent Mound

2009.01.13 - Serpent Mound undulates across a ridge, from a spiral at the tail to open maws facing an oval mound. The centerpoint of Serpent Mound Oval Mound is one degree (cir/360) west of Newark's Great Circle centerpoint (ncec-smom E-W = 1.00001°). Eastward from the oval mound to the longitude of the Great Circle compares to their latitude difference in the ratio 1.0 to 1.30067. The longitude to latitude ratio at Newark Circle is 1.0 to 1.30102. At the apex of the Octagon, the ratio is 1.0 to 1.3013. The tangent of a 3.65010 to 1.0 right triangle equals 1.3034 radians. The ratio also approximates the lunar illumination variance due to elliptical orbit; apogee to perigee ratio is about 800:701 and the square of their ratio is 1.3025 (illumination is formulated with the square of distance).

Serpent Mound Oval Mound
Serpent Mound photos, maps, placemarks, PowerPoint

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Newark Astronomy and Geodesy

The Newark archaeoastronomy discussion in Temporal Epoch Calculations considers local latitude to longitude ratio and other possible reasons for the Octagon's alignment (51.45° Thomas). Temporal Epoch Calculations also provides some academic history of Newark studies and of claims Newark is an observatory and associated with lunar standstills. The following excerpts from my previous Archaeogeodesy articles discuss several North American site-to-site relationships expressing the 0.0365010 lunar orbits per rotation module (r27):

"At Fort Center, Florida, an about 1,188 foot in diameter prehistoric earthen circle was built, near the same size as the 1,189 foot Newark Circle. Outside of the Middle Ohio River Valley, the large Fort Center Circle is unique in North America. Large earthen circles are also known in Northeastern Europe and smaller earthen circles are not uncommon. The arc distance between Fort Center and Newark expresses the fundamental equation of lunar orbits per earth rotation (r27 = 0.036501 cir). The center-on-center arc distance between the Fort Center Circle and ... Observatory Circle equals 13.14059° or 1.000016 r27. This is an excess of only 23 m in relation to a center-on-center line over 900 miles long between two earthen circles up to 360 m in diameter.

"Grave Creek Mound is the largest mound along the Ohio River, the highest Adena mound, and one of the largest conical mounds in the Americas. It is located upriver from Marietta Earthworks. The arc distance from Grave Creek Mound to Newark Observatory Mound is 1.3136° (0.09997 r27, 0.00365 cir).

"... One r27 is the longitude difference between the Pyramid of the Sun, the second largest pyramid in the Americas, and the largest platform mound in the American Southwest, Pueblo Grande, in Phoenix, Arizona. The longitude difference between Newark and Teotihuacan is 1.25 r27."

The spacing of Fort Center's circle at precisely 0.0365010 circumference from Observatory Circle is impressive in and of itself, without the redundancy of the module and ratio repeating in relation to other sites. Equating earth rotation and lunar motion to fixed space (0.03650 lunar orbits per rotation, 365 lunar orbits in 10,000 rotations) is fundamental to accurate lunar astronomy and temporal measure. Geodetic monuments accurately expressing sidereal astronomical ratios on a one-to-one planetary scale implies accuracy in both astronomy and geodesy.

the Great Circle in Newark, Ohio
Obtaining GPS readings on the Great Circle in Newark, Ohio, Fall 2005.

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Ancient Surveyors and Mounds

2009.01.26 - As mentioned, the spacing from Grave Creek Mound to Observatory Mound is 0.00365 circumference. Unfortunately, much of the monumental works at Grave Creek have not survived modern developments. Recently, one of the stone towers was used as road fill by a subdivision developer. Thanks primarily to their imposing sizes I suspect, at least the largest mounds at each complex have so far escaped destruction. With time, already-fragmentary archaeological records become more diminshed. An ethnohistorical source, the Chilam Balam of Chumayel, conveys details of surveying the landscape and construction of over 6,000 mounds.

"11 Ahau was the katun when they carried on their backs. Then the land-surveyor first came; this was Ah Ppizte who measured the leagues. Then there came the chacté shrub for marking the leagues with their walking sticks. Then he came Uac-hab-nal to pull the weeds along the leagues, when Mizcit Ahau came to sweep clean the leagues, when the land-surveyor came. These were long leagues that he measured. ..."

"... the great mounds came to be built by the lineages and all the things which the rulers did. They were the ones who built the mounds. It took thirteen katuns and six years for them to construct them. The following was the beginning of the mounds they built. Fifteen four-hundreds were the scores of their mounds, and fifty more made the total count of the mounds they constructed all over the land."

THE BOOK OF CHILAM BALAM OF CHUMAYEL, Ralph L. Roys, 1933, Carnegie Institution Washington D.C.

NEW -   Newark Archaeogeodesy PPT   3.2 MB PowerPoint
Great Circle Earthwork, Newark, Ohio
GPS readings and derived centerpoint (ncec) at the Great Circle viewed in Google Earth.


 

the Great Circle in Newark, Ohio
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Latitude Geometry and Astronomy

2009.04.04 - I've discussed geodetic geometry of monument latitudes, 4/5 atan at Monks Mound, 3/5 atan atop Ur Ziggurat, 3:4:5 at Harran, cir/7 at Avebury, cir/14 at Karnak, and other sites. One of the oldest known stone circles, situated one-fourth the distance from equator to pole at Nabta Playa, Egypt, implies intentional latitude placement originates at an early date (4800 B.C.). In contrast to simple integer ratios of spatial geometry, the latitudes at Newark and Marietta present solar and lunar motion numbers and a fundamental lunar motion ratio (Table 2). Marietta's latitude equals 40 times solar orbit per day (so). The same astronomy module relates to Ur Ziggurat, with the Marietta and Ur latitudes equating at 4 to pi.

Latitude Ur Ziggurat 30.9638° = 3/5 atan = 31.4159 so
Latitude at Marietta Capitolium (macam) 39.42421° = 39.99985 so
Latitude at Marietta Conus (macom) 39.42033° = 2.999939 r27

Marietta Earthworks plan
Figure 1. Marietta Earthworks

Marietta latitude also presents a low integer ratio for rotations and lunar orbits. Latitude baselines transecting the site equal both 40 times solar orbit per day (40 so) (3 r27 = 39.9967 so) and three times lunar orbit per rotation (3 r27). Figure 1 illustrates the relationships of the monument to these latitudes. The 3 r27 less 40 so latitude difference equals 0.0032° or 357 m (also the diameter of the Great Circle). Around 322 A.D. earth's rotation axis was inclined 3/5th's of Marietta's latitude, an arc equal to 1.8 r27 and 24 days of solar orbit (24 so). The 55 so latitude at Thornborough Circles in England equals eleven-eights Marietta's latitude.

Table 2.   Solar Orbit Nodes
Solar orbit modules, heliocentric angles
motion
module
circumference
degrees
day
so
0.0027378
0.98561
lunar nodal period
s22
0.0745017
26.82061
lunar anomalistic period
s25
0.0754389
27.15803
lunar synodic period
s29
0.0808489
29.10562

The Marietta and Newark Octagon colatitudes (angles to the pole) express the ratio of the lunar nodal and anomalistic periods, 1.0 : 1.012581. Thornborough latitude expresses the ratio of lunar synodic period in relation to Newark and Marietta colatitudes representing the nodal and anomalistic periods. Table 3 compares these monument latitudes and colatitudes, not only expressing the ratio of synodic, nodal, and anomalistic periods (s29:s22:s25), but also using a lunar number as the multiple (18.622 days currently separate the year and the eclipse "year").

Table 3.  Monument Latitudes
site
latitude
colatitude
Thornborough South
1.8623 s29
54.995 so
35.79614°
Newark Octagon
40.05314°
1.86226 s22
49.94686°
Marietta Quadranau
3.0002 r27
39.999 so
1.86229 s25
50.57620°
Marietta Capitolium
3.0001 r27
39.998 so
1.86234 s25
50.57736°
340 C.E. tropical year - eclipse nodal period difference = 18.62274 days (UT)

In a previous article, Thornborough Henges and the Ure-Swale Monuments Assessing Evidence of Geospatial Intelligence in the Neolithic, I noted arc distance from Newark to Thornborough South is 2.0 times solar orbit per nodal period (s22), and that Thornborough's latitude equals 1.8623 times solar orbit per lunar synodic period (s29). Eclipse cycles are intercalations of two lunar periods, the synodic and nodal periods (Table 2). The 1.8623 multiple presents an astronomical number; the eclipse nodal interval is 18.6228 days (UT) less than a tropical year. Newark Octagon colatitude equals 1.86226 s22. Capitolium colatitude equals 1.86234 times lunar orbit per anomalistic period (s25). The modules are each 1.8623 multiples of solar orbit modules for the three lunar periods, thus expressing the ratio of three significant eclipse cycle astronomical constants.


Observatory Mound and Observatory Circle, Newark Octagon Work
Observatory Mound and Observatory Circle, Newark Octagon Work

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Newark and Mesoamerica

2009.04.04 - Long hidden in the Petén rainforests, Guatemala's large Maya city Tikal is now Tikal National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tikal Pyramid IV, at 231 feet, towered over tropical jungle as one of America's tallest prehistoric structures for over a millenium before rediscovery in 1848. After decades I'm rereading Maya Explorer, John Lloyd Stephens and the Los Cities of Central America and Yucatán. Victor Wolfgang von Hagen's book of Stephen's exploring lost Maya cities in 1840 provides historical context; knowledge of Tikal is recent history, and fragmentary like that of the Ohio earthworks and like all archaeology. Likewise after some time, improved data accuracy allows reconsideration of major monument relationships in the Americas. Tikal ranks high on the major monuments list.

I'm researching online in parallel, shifting focus south from Middle Ohio River Valley geometric earthworks to the largest stone and adobe monuments of the Americas. I'm searching for more Maya GPS data and still awaiting high resolution Google Earth updates for many ruins. While still difficult to find and access, sufficiently accurate data exist today to assess some spatial relationships of these greatest ancient monuments. Some Mesoamerican site data follows in Appendix C.

The Newark to Tikal arc distance equals 24.0 so and 1.80 r27, 3/5ths of Marietta's latitude. In about 322 A.D, obliquity of the ecliptic—the inclination angle of the earth's rotation axis—also equaled 24 so and 1.80 r27. During the epoch the Hopewell built geometric earthworks, Marietta's latitude equaled 5/3rds of obliquity. At this time the Tikal Maya begin erecting stelae with dated glyphic writing, then building some of the tallest stone monuments in the Americas.

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Reflections

2009.04.05 - The degree of geospatial intelligence in the ancient Americas was certainly greater than historically known. The sophistication of ancient geodesy and astronomy in prehistory transcends current paradigms in archaeology. Well, reality is transcendental, independent of thought about it. Ignorance of the past not equating to a past of ignorance is no surprise. Geospatial intelligence in the ancient world was apparently far greater than documented by current historians.

The telescope is no substitute for counting and thinking. Fortunately for archaeology, the mathematics of astronomy and geodesy transcends cultural and temporal boundaries, remaining accessible and assessable without ancient oral languages. As incontrovertible as the actuality of arc distances and astronomical constants may be, intentionality must be addressed. Incontrovertibly demonstrating intentionality is a more difficult thresold than empirical analysis of geometry. Fortunately also, the sheer size of the earth is a very large scale, an incontrovertibly robust control with contextual geodetic meanings permitting precise knowledge expression and refined quantitative analyses.

Paradigms in science, while resistant to alterations, do crumble even if slowly in the face of incontrovertible evidence. At least mine have. Lost history is not what it once was.


 

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Newark Earthworks and the Lunar Standstill Period

2012.08.05 - The lunar standstill period results from the turning of the axis of lunar orbit.  Inclination of the earth's axis (obliquity) together with solar orbit results in the sun rising and setting north and south of due east and due west during the course of each year. In the case of the moon, lunar orbit inclination either adds to or subtracts from the moon's swing back and forth across the celestial equator.  Unlike the sun, the moon shifts north and south on the horizon every 27.22 days (the lunar nodal period). The moon's maximum rise-set angle from east-west recurs in a mean period of 18.613 years, one lunar standstill and just over one turn in space of the direction of the lunar orbit axis.

 GPS readings and derived coordinates at the Newark Octagon viewed in Google Earth. 
GPS readings and derived coordinates at the Newark Octagon viewed in Google Earth.

One long-standing interpretation of Newark Octagon is intentional alignments to the lunar standstill rise and set extrema. The hypothesis first appeared in John A. Eddy's article Archaeoastronomy of North America: Cliffs, Mounds, and Medicine Wheels (in In Search of Ancient Astronomies, 1978, E.C. Krupp, editor). Eddy's map examination revealed the alignment as possible. Hively and Horn's survey (1982) determined standstill rising and setting positions coincide with the architecture of the earthwork.  Azimuth identifies horizontal direction, while elevation corresponds to vertical direction. The azimuths of the octagon sides closely correlate with the lunar standstill horizon extrema as observed in the three-dimensional landscape surrounding the Octagon.  Most importantly, the primary axis of the entire earthwork (octagon, circle, and connecting parallel walls) aligns to the lunar major moonrise, the northern-most moonrise position of each standstill (arrow in image above).  I discuss details and other possible interpretations of the Octagon Earthwork's primary alignment in Temporal Epoch Calculations.

Recently, Google Earth updated some Andean areas with high-resolution imagery.  One of the important sites now visible in detail is a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Chavin Archaeological Site in Peru. The Google Earth illlustration below incorporates an image overlay of CyArk's archaeology map.  While ground-truthing with GPS equipment needs to be accomplished for precise coordinates, especially when rugged Andean terrain is combined with oblique camera angles, reasonably accurate coordinates can now be derived using Google Earth. The Chavin image below identifies newly-derived coordinates for specific site features. 

Chavin de Huantar overlay map

The sine of Chavin's latitude equals one-sixth (asin 0.1666... = 9.5941 degrees). A right triangle at Chavin with sides extended to the pole star and to earth's geodetic center expresses the ratio one to six. The rotation axis is the hypotenuse equaling six and the geodetic radius equals one. Likewise the sine value is one-sixth when the hypotenuse is the geodetic radius and the right angle is on the equatorial plane. Latitude properties expressing integral number relationships to the pole and equator reinforce astronomical observation interpretations of major monuments. Today, a precise one-sixth arcsine geodetic triangle intersects the latitude of Building F. Secular polar motion has shifted local latitude slightly since construction.

In the next image, a tessellated line extending from Newark to Pachacamac, Peru, is visible passing 2.5 km east of Chavin de Huantar. Newark, Chavin, and Pachacamac form a nearly straight line spanning 5,826 km. The Archaeological Complex of Pachacamac is on the UNESCO World Heritage Centre's Tentative List.

South America Sites
code
site
latitude
longitude
source
chhapChavin de Huantar Huaca A Portal -9.594358-77.177889
GE 2011-01
pachsPachacamac Huaca Sol-12.262789 -76.901822
GE 2011-01

Chavin de Huantar area aerial image.

The Newark to Pachacamac arc distance equals four times the angular motion of the moon per rotation (r27).  The mean arc distance from Pachacamac's Huaca Sol to the two great circles at Newark (pachs-nocc-nccm) equals 4.000016 r27, an excess of only 23m (1.0 : 1.000 004 accuracy).  This arc distance, if interpreted as an intentional construct, implies accurate knowledge of lunar motion per rotation along with the geodetic capability to situate monuments accurately.

Pachacamac, Peru, huacas.

The three sites together may also express a more complex understanding of lunar astronomy, specifically of the fundamental astronomical constants and motions which determine lunar standstills.  The arc distances from Pachacamac to Newark and to the Chavin Huaca (pachs-chhha and pachs-nocc) present the ratio 1.0 : 19.5981.  From Chavin (chhap) the ratio of the arcs to Pachacamac and Newark is 1.0 : 18.5982. The lunar standstill constants below for 900 BCE, the approximate epoch of Chavin construction, match these proportions.

Lunar Standstill Period, 900 BCE values
code
term
value (TT & UT)
et
eclipse nodal intervals per lunar orbit turn
19.5983
ot
orbits per lunar orbitturn
18.5983
es
eclipse nodal intervals per lunar standstill period
19.6123
ys
 years per lunar standstill period
18.6123
os
orbits per lunar standstill period
18.6115

x - 1 = y

x = 19.59828 eclipse nodalintervals per lunar orbit turn
y = 18.59828 orbits per lunar orbit turn

x = 19.61226 eclipse nodal intervals per lunar standstill period
y = 18.61226 years per lunar standstill period

Another set of numbers repeats the ratio of the arcs.  The astrogeodetic module s22 represents mean angular solar orbit of the moon and earth per lunar nodal period. The arc distance from Pachacamac to Chavin equals one-tenth of s22 (pachs-chhap = 0.100004 s22).  The mean arc from Chavin to the Newark circles (chhap-nocc and chhha-ncec) equals 1.8600 s22, that from Pachacamac to Observatory Circle (pachs-nocc) equals 1.9600 s22, one-tenth multiples of the values in the table above (et and ot).  The difference between the arcs from Newark to Chavin and to Pachacamac is 0.10 s22.  The mean arc from Pachacamac to the Newark circles is 1.9598 s22, from Chavin the mean is 1.8598 s22. 

Pachacamac, Newark.
Click image for a larger view.

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2018-10-30 - Further related discussion: Chavin de Huantar Archaeogeodesy


Download the Google Earth file: http://jqjacobs.net/kml/chavin.kml.

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Octagon Earthworks in North and South America

2023.02.18 - In May of 2022 I examined the interrelationship of Newark Octagon to the Acre Octagon in the Amazon, noting the cosine of their arc distance equals phi. I first placemarked the singular known Amazonian octagon earthwork in 2010, naming it Acre Octagon. The 2010.06.30 Google Earth satellite image clearly shows the 150-meter-wide outline in a pasture. Illegal damage by agricultural plowing is evident in the 2016 satellite image.

Observatory Mound - Acre Octagon
(noom-acroc) arc distance 51.827238° cosine = 0.618035 (-6m)
phi ratio 1.0 : 0.618034 = 1.618034 : 1.0

Observatory Circle - Acre Octagon - North Pole
nocc-acroc-npole arcs ratio @ npole = 1.0 : 0.499999 (-6m)


Observatory Circle and Acre Octagon arc distance 51.827238° cosine = 0.618035.

For more results of the octagon relationships study, open the Octagons KLM placemarks file in Google Earth.
Download: jqjacobs.net/kml/octagons.kml

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Newark Earthworks and the Golden Mean

2023.02.20 - The updated Ancient Monument Phi Ratios KML file includes the Acre Octagon finding and other recent Newark results. Download the Google Earth placemarks file:  jqjacobs.net/kml/phi_golden_ratios.kml

Octagon earthworks golden mean alignment.

My GPS readings produced a 51.52° azimuth from the center of Observatory Mound to the gateway at the opposite apex of the Octagon work (noom +/-5m to noe +/-5m, 863m arc). The Observatory Mound to Acre Octagon (noom-acroc) arc distance of 51.827238° with a cosine equal to phi (51.827292° cosine = 0.618034...) matches both the earthwork's azimuth and the lunar major azimuth. Observatory Mound lunar major for 462 C.E. = 51.8273° (474 C.E. at the Octagon centerpoint). The phi value of the octagons arc distance adds to the list of phi relationships already known for the Newark earthworks, and in the last year I noted even more.

Newark Earthworks Golden Mean Longitude Ratios.

The desert environment in the American Southwest preserves a wealth of archaeology, notably the Puebloan great houses and roads, cliff dwellings, rock art, mounds, irrigation systems, and intaglios. Intaglios are images and lines created by moving desert pavement of rocks with dark patina and revealing the contrastingly lighter soil, not unlike the well known ancient lines and figures in Palca and Nazca, Peru. In the Four Corners region, in the Northern San Juan Puebloan area, some of the roads/intaglios form surrounding circular traces around pueblos, and several circular forms do not enclose pueblos. These first came to my attention via the Archaeological Conservancy's efforts to preserve the Holmes Group along the La Plata river in northern New Mexico, thanks to their published LiDAR image by Richard Friedman. LiDAR reveals these ancient roads/intaglios with excellent detail, enabling accurate determination of their placements on the global landscape.

I focused on the very largest circular forms in the Southwest and examined their spatial relationships to immense circular monuments in other regions. The first two I checked produced interesting results with Newark and Tumi Chucua, also the first relationships I checked due to their scale and the pi relationships of Newark and Tumi Chucua. The graphic below compares Ute Circle on Mesa Verde in Southwest Colorado with the mean diameters of the Great Circle and the larger Tumi Chucua zanja in Beni, Bolivia. The arc distances ratio of the center-on-center arcs from Eagle Mound at the center of the Great Circle is accurate with only a sixteen meter margin of error, depicted by the very small circle around the Ute Circle's centerpoint placemark (uteci).


2,100 x 1,679 pixel version

The next graphic compares the circular geoglyph surrounding Pueblo Colorado in Central New Mexico, near the Salinas Pueblos of Quarai, Abo, and Gran Quivira, with the sizes of the Octagon and Observatory Circle and the mean diameter of Tumi Chucua. The arc distances and longitude differences ratios, center-on-center determinations, are accurate with only a few meters margin of error. Regarding scale, the small circle adjacent to the Octagon earthwork outline easily fits Stonehenge. Newark Octagon, Poverty Point, and Pachacamac longitudes also express phi, likewise for the Great Circle, Poverty Point, and Rio Branco Double Quadrangle. Download the Poverty Point Earthworks KML file.


2,022 x 1,643 pixel version

Octagon Gateway - Poverty Point A - Pueblo Colorado Circle
e-w ratio @ povpa = 1.0 : 0.618030 (-6m)
e-w ratio @ pcolc = 1.0 : 0.618035 (+4m)
e-w ratio @ nocga = 1.0 : 2.618044 (-4m)
phi ratio 1.0 : 0.618034 = 1.618034 : 1.0
Eagle Mound - Tumi Chucua Zanja - Ute Circle
arcs ratio @ nccm = 1.0 : 2.618053 (-16m)
Great Circle - Poverty Point A - Rio Branco Double Quadrangle
e-w ratio @ ncec = 1.0 : 0.618044 (+10m)
e-w ratio @ rbrdq = 1.0 : 0.618030 (-10m)
Octagon - Poverty Point A - Pachacamac
e-w ratio @ popma = 1.0 : 0.618009 (-40m)
e-w ratio @ nocp = 1.0 : 0.618099 (+40m)
Observatory Circle - Castillo - Gran Caverna II
e-w ratio @ nocc = 1.0 : 0.618038 (+5m)
e-w ratio @ grcav = 1.0 : 0.618032 (-3m)
e-w ratio @ casti = 1.0 : 2.618023 (+3m)

Machupicchu Golden Ratio Longitudes - phi, the golden mean = 1.6180340 - with Chichen Itza and Newark Earthworks.
Machupicchu Archaeogeodesy


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KML Update

2024.01.20 - The Acre Octagon results motivated updating the newark_arcs.kml file. In the process I examined Newark relationships to various major monuments in the Americas and added those results. I include several new results below. The KML file is more extensive than this discussion and accessible with Google Earth Pro, a free download.

Newark Octagon - Yaxchilan Great Acropolis - Chavin A
e-w ratio @ nocp = 1.0 : 0.618032 (-2m)
Observatory Mound - Yaxchilan Great Acropolis - Kalasasaya Axis Mundi
e-w ratio @ noom = 1.0 : 0.618035 (1m)
Octagon Gateway - Huaca San Jacinto - Kalasasaya Axis Mundi
e-w ratio @ kalax = 1.0 : 0.618042 (+12m)
Octagon Mean - Uxmal Magician Pyramid - Huaca San Jacinto
n-s ratio @ husja = 1.0 : 0.618036 (+12m)
Octagon Gateway - Monte Alban Plaza - Moral Reforma Pyramid
e-w ratio @ nocga = 1.0 : 0.618034 (-1m)
Great Circle - High Bank Works - Seip Mound GPS
e-w ratio @ ncec = 1.0 : 0.618035 (+0.1m)


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Newark Earthworks and Mountains

2024.01.20 - The highest mountains in the Americas are prominent in my research results. Mountains predate monuments and are excellent natural geodetic reference points. Mountain peaks may become altered over time or volcanic eruptions can obliterate them, but unlike the geodetic poles they are fixed positions in relation to their surrounding landscapes. Noting geodetic relationships between mountains and human monuments presents the obvious question, intentionality. Redundancy combined with precision within a few parts per million supports interpretions of intentionality.

As I noted in Table 1, the Octagon to Capitolium arc of 0.9863° equals 1/365.0 of circumference of the earth. The arc of mean lunar orbit per rotation, the singular readily observable ratio of the fundamental cosmic motions, equals 0.036501 circumference. Denali, the highest point in North America, the Octagon, and the Capitolium express a north-south ratio of 1.0 : 36.50274 at the Octagon centerpoint. Capitolium latitude is three times 0.0365040 circumference and Conus Mound three times 0.0365003. Observatory Circle, High Bank Circle, and Aconcagua, the highest peak above sea level in the Americas, have an east-west ratio of 1.0 : 0.036509 at High Bank. At the immense, 480-meters-long Amazon Oval geoglyph, the ratio of arc distance to the Great Circle and to Chimborazo, earth's highest point above geodetic center, equals 1.0 : 3.650107, a precise expression albeit with decimal shift. The cosine of the east-west difference between the Great Circle Gateway and Denali GPS, 68.577617 degrees, is 0.365240, a days per year number string instead. Here follow the 365 and 366 astronomy constants relevant in discussions below and selected Newark mountain interrelationships.

Astronomy Constants
codevalueconstantinverse
lr0.0365011lunar orbits per rotation27.39646714
ld0.0366010lunar orbits per day27.32166582
ro366.2564674rotations per orbit0.00273033
ry366.2423584rotations per year0.00273043
do365.2564674days per orbit0.00273780
dy365.2423969days per year0.00273791

Observatory Circle - High Bank Circle - Aconcagua GPS
e-w ratio @ hbwci = 1.0 : 0.036509 (+11m)
Great Circle - Amazonas Oval - Chimborazo GPS
arcs ratio @ amaov = 1.0 : 3.650107 (+1m)
Newark Octagon - Montaña Machupicchu - Chimborazo GPS
e-w ratio @ nocp = 1.0 : 0.366244 (+2m)
Observatory Circle - Llactapata Group B - Aconcagua GPS
n-s ratio @ llacb = 1.0 : 0.366008 (-8m)
Octagon Gateway - Intiwatana UTM - Aconcagua GPS
n-s ratio @ intih = 1.0 : 0.366241 (-5m)
Observatory Mound - Intiwatana UTM - Aconcagua GPS
n-s ratio @ intih = 1.0 : 0.366256 (-4m)
Octagon Earthwork - Tikal Acropolis - Aconcagua GPS
e-w ratio @ tikac = 1.0 : 0.366012 (+5m)
Newark Octagon - Uaxactun E - Aconcagua GPS
e-w ratio @ uaxae = 1.0 : 0.366254 (-5m)
Newark Square - Aripuana Zanja - Apu Illimani GPS
e-w ratio @ aripz = 1.0 : 0.366258 (+4m)
Newark Octagon - Aripuana Zanja - Aconcagua
e-w ratio @ nocp = 1.0 : 1.859806 (+5m epoch olmec ot)
Octagon Gateway - Waynawillca - Aconcagua GPS
e-w ratio @ acong = 1.0 : 0.186124 (-4m epoch hopewell ys)
Octagon Gateway - Castillo - Montaña Machupicchu
arcs ratio @ casti = 1.0 : 1.861208 (-11m epoch hopewell os)


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Newark Earthworks and Amazon Geoglyphs

2024.01.22 - Amazon geoglyphs became a significant focus for me because the geometric earthworks, the circles, squares, ellipses, ovals, and even an octagon, resemble Hopewell earthworks and also because I could not ignore these immense constructs while assessing the origins of monumentality, especially when considering if some monuments determine where other placemarks are positioned, if a chronology is detectable. Since 2010 I've posted results of my satellite imagery surveys and research online in Hundreds of Geoglyphs Discovered in the Amazon.

In 2010 I found and placemarked about 50 geoglyphs by overlaying in Google Earth a map from Pre-Columbian Geometric Earthworks in the Upper Purus: A Complex Society in Western Amazonia by Martti Parssinen, Denise Schaan and Alceu Ranzi. I continued surveying as high resolution satellite imagery became available. In 2014 I published nearly 400 geoglyph placemarks and more became known to researchers in Brazil by surveying additional satellite image providers. Currently I've documented more than 1,150 geoglyphs and zanjas, plus 60 mound villages, in both KML and XLS files. The number hidden by forest remains debated. The most recent KML update includes about forty aerial photos embedded in the KML placemarks.

Amazon geoglyph aerial photo.
Fazenda Atlantica geoglyphs.  Photo credit: Dr. Robert S. Walker

I recently noticed what may be the largest Acre true circle geoglyph (acrc60, more than 60 circles previously recorded), faintly visible in 9/2022 satellite imagery (-9.74665 -67.293425). Uncertain if it was a geoglyph, I checked relationships to mountains and other monuments. Ground proofing remains to be accomplished, but given the following results I have greater confidence it is actually a geoglyph.

Acre Circle 350m - Huascarán GPS - Aconcagua GPS
n-s ratio @ acrc60 = 1.0 : 36.620068 (+8m)
Observatory Mound - Acre Circle 350m - Chimborazo GPS
arcs ratio @ acrc60 = 1.0 : 3.660134 (-15m)
Octagon Gateway - Cochasqui Sur - Acre Circle 350m
arcs ratio @ pcocs = 1.0 : 0.366009 (-4m)
Octagon Earthwork - Cochasqui Sur - Acre Circle 350m
e-w ratio @ octag = 1.0 : 3.662417 (+1m)
Eagle Mound - Acre Circle 350m - Yerupaja GE
e-w ratio @ nccm = 1.0 : 0.365013 (+4m)
Eagle Mound - Pachacamac - Acre Circle 350m
e-w ratio @ nccm = 1.0 : 0.365257 (+1m)
Newark Octagon - Las Haldas Plaza - Acre Circle 350m
e-w ratio @ nocp = 1.0 : 3.652420 (+1m)
Eagle Mound - Aguada Fenix - Acre Circle 350m
e-w ratio @ fenix = 1.0 : 0.365245 (+8m)

The above Acre Circle findings prompted further inquiry regarding Newark longitude ratios. Here follow selected east-west ratios sorted by astronomy constants. Newark, several major monument sites, and some major Amazon geoglyphs returned impressively accurate results. The following margins or error (in parentheses and in meters) are within the margin of error of the centerpoint coordinates of the immense monuments, in effect as precise as can be expected given the current methodology.

0.0365011 lunar orbits per rotation
Eagle Mound - Caracol - Tumi Chucua Zanja
e-w ratio @ carac = 1.0 : 3.650067 (+7m)
Observatory Circle - Castillo - Loma San Lorenzo
e-w ratio @ nocc = 1.0 : 0.365011 (-0.1m)
Eagle Mound - Pachacamac - Amazonas Enclosure 260m
e-w ratio @ nccm = 1.0 : 0.3650123 (+3m)
Newark Octagon - Emerald Mound - Amazonas Oval 366 x 316m
e-w ratio @ ememo = 1.0 : 0.365009 (-3m)
Newark Octagon - Aguada Fenix Mound - Acre Quadrangle 188 x 168m
e-w ratio @ fenim = 1.0 : 0.365010 (-1m)
Observatory Mound - LSU North Mound - Mustafa Square 230m
e-w ratio @ lsunm = 1.0 :0.365009 (-4m)
0.0366010 lunar orbits per day
Great Circle - Aguada Fenix - Rancho Parana Square
e-w ratio @ fenix = 1.0 : 0.366011 (+2m)
Observatory Mound - Watson Brake A - Loma San Lorenzo
e-w ratio @ watba = 1.0 : 0.366009 (-3m)
Newark Octagon - Emerald Mound - Amazonas Parallelogram 235 x 175m
e-w ratio @ ememo = 1.0 : 0.366008 (-5m)
Octagon Gateway - Emerald Mound - Amazonas Quadrangle 320m
e-w ratio @ ememo = 1.0 : 0.366008 (-6m)
Octagon Gateway - Emerald Mound East - Amazonas Double Square 400m
e-w ratio @ emere = 1.0 : 0.366014 (+11m)
Observatory Circle - LSU North Mound - Acre Double Square 200m
e-w ratio @ lsunm = 1.0 : 0.366009 (-1m)
365.256392 days per orbit
Observatory Circle - Aguada Fenix Mound - Rancho Parana Quadrangle
e-w ratio @ fenim = 1.0 : 0.365256 (-2m)
Observatory Mound - Aguada Fenix Mound - Rancho Parana Square
e-w ratio @ fenim = 1.0 : 0.365257 (+2m)
Octagon Gateway - Aguada Fenix Mound - Triunfo Quadrangle
e-w ratio @ fenim = 1.0 : 0.365256 (-1m)
Observatory Circle - Emerald Mound - Acre Square 190m
e-w ratio @ ememo = 1.0 : 0.365253 (-9m)
365.2423969 days per year
Observatory Mound - Pachacamac - Acre Enclosure 250m
e-w ratio @ noom = 1.0 : 0.365239 (-6m)
Observatory Mound - Pachacamac - Mustafa Square 230m
e-w ratio @ noom = 1.0 : 0.365244 (+3m)
366.2564674 rotations per orbit
Observatory Mound - Poverty Point Earthworks - Acre Triple Quadrangle
e-w ratio @ popoe = 1.0 : 0.366257 (+1m)
Newark Square - Aripuana Zanja 403 x 338m - Apu Illimani GPS
e-w ratio @ aripz = 1.0 : 0.366258 (+4m)
Newark Octagon - Pachacamac - Acre Quadrangle 188 x 168m
e-w ratio @ nocp = 1.0 : 0.366256 (-1m)
366.2423584 rotations per year
Eagle Mound - Emerald Mound - Boca do Acre Quadrangle 250 x 180m
e-w ratio @ ememo = 1.0 : 0.366244 (+3m)
Octagon Gateway - Emerald Mound - Amazonas Square 337m
e-w ratio @ ememo = 1.0 : 0.366243 (+2m)
Eagle Mound - Aguada Fenix Mound - Amazonas Enclosure 185 x 166m
e-w ratio @ fenim = 1.0 : 0.366241 (-2m)
Eagle Mound - Pachacamac - Triunfo Quadrangle 196 x 185m
e-w ratio @ nccm = 1.0 : 0.366245 (+5m)
Newark Octagon - Winterville A - Rio Branco Double Rectangle
e-w ratio @ winta = 1.0 : 0.366242 (-1m)

I recently saw a zoom lecture with an archaeologist claiming longitude determination wasn't possible in prehistory because the British had not developed accurate clocks yet. I had to point out that land based placemarks are not floating about on an ocean, that time is known at fixed positions, and that coordinate accuracy can be resolved by observations over a long temporal span. On a ship in the ocean two equation unknowns, time and place, complicate solving the question, "Where are we?" Determination of longitude from stationary points is a distinct problem, more so with the added dimension of time providing centuries to refine precision.

Amazon geoglyph aerial photo.
Rancho Parana geoglyphs. Photo credit: Dr. Robert S. Walker


Cite as Newark Archaeogeodesy, Assessing Evidence of Geospatial Intelligence in the Americas
http://www.jqjacobs.net/archaeology/newark_arcs.html with access date.

Bibliography and References on the Eastern Woodlands Page.
Ancient Monuments Placemarks for the Google Earth browser.

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Further Readings

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Appendices

Appendix A. Middle Ohio River Sites. middle_ohio_gps.xls
code
site
latitude
longitude
source
nocc
Observatory Circle40.052077-82.4486103 GPS and survey data
noom
Observatory Mound40.051139-82.450139GPS 5m
nocp
Newark Octagon40.054696-82.4442638 GPS vertices mean
noe
Octagon E40.055972-82.442194GPS 5m
ncec
Great Circle40.041037-82.43106912 GPS plotted mean
nccm
Eagle Mound40.041028-82.430889GPS 6m
nesqc
Newark Square40.046783-82.423833GPS plotted on survey
macam
Capitolium Mound39.424208-81.457861GPS 5m
maqum
Quadranau Mound39.425361-81.461056GPS 4m
macom
Conus Mound39.420333-81.451556GPS 3m
malsq
Marietta Square39.425115-81.459068GPS plotted on survey
grcrm
Grave Creek Mound39.916861-80.744722GPS 4m
smom
Serpent Mound Oval39.026458-83.431083GPS mean of 2

Appendix B. AeGeo code terms, epoch -900 C.E. UT values
module
degrees
code
UT value
cir
360
do
365.256366 days per solar orbit
s29
29.10561
dm
29.530591 day synodic period
s25
27.15803
da
27.554547 day anomalistic period
s27
26.92848
dl
27.321658 day lunar orbit
s22
26.82061
dn
27.212214 day nodal period
c27
13.17636
ld
0.0366010 lunar orbit per day
r27
13.14038
lr
0.0365011 lunar orbit per rotation
so
0.98561
od
0.0027378 orbit per day
si
0.98292
or
0.0027303 orbit per rotation

Appendix C .  Mesoamerica Sites
codesitelatitude
longitude
source
pirso
Piramide del Sol19.692331-98.843783GE 2008-12-23
tikiv
Tikal Pyramid IV17.223639-89.629917GPS Hanby
tikal
Tikal Pyramid I17.222028-89.623556GPS Hanby
itcas
Chichen Itza Castillo20.682906-88.568610GE 2009-01-03
itcar
Chichen Itza Caracol20.679227-88.570680GE 2009-01-03
itzbc
Chichen Itza Ballcourt20.684421-88.570037GE 2009-03-30

2009.04.20 - The Deseret News reports:

Four Corners marker 2 1/2 miles off ...

Four Corners - the only place in the United States where four state boundaries come together - was first surveyed by the U.S. government in 1868, during the initial survey of Colorado's southern boundary line. Its intended location was an even 109 degrees west longitude and 37 degrees north latitude.

However, due to surveying errors, it didn't come out that way.

According to readings by the National Geodetic Survey, today's official marker sits at 109 02 42.62019 W longitude and 36 59 56.31532 N latitude.

That means the current monument marking the intersection of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona is approximately 2.5 miles west of where it should be. ...


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