On the weekend we went for a walk through the last of the snow in the South Downs. We reached a line of Bronze Age burial mounds known as the Devil’s Jumps.
As I stood next to one and looked along the line of the others, I noticed the grass was swept over from left to right.
a) Why was the grass swept from left to right?
b) When would be a better time to come back?
Answers at bottom.
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Clue 1: I was looking along the line of the mounds.
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Clue 2: Many ancient monuments have a relationship with the setting sun.
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Answers:
a) The mounds are aligned roughly southeast-northwest to point at the setting sun on the summer solstice. The prevailing southwesterlies had come in from the left, at a right angle to the line of the mounds, and brushed the grass over from left to right.
b) The summer solstice, midsummer’s night, to watch the sun set in line with the Devil’s Jumps.