The Metrology of Stone Rows: A Reassessment

Abstract

Summary A reappraisal is attempted of Alexander Thom's metrological hypotheses concerning the spacings of stones in the prehistoric stone rows in Britain (Thom 1978). After full consideration of the archaeological status of the sites, and the application of improved statistical techniques, aquantum identifiable with the megalithic yard emerges at probability levels very much lower than hitherto suspected. The suggestion by Kendall (1974) and others, that the evidence for the quantum resides mainly among Scottish sites, is shown to be no longer tenable when all available data from circles and rows are considered. Strong evidence for a larger quantum, possibly identifiable with the ‘megalithic rod’, is obtained from two sites in northern Scotland.