INTERPRETATION. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS

Besides numeration and sketches, on the field the following general considerations should be kept in mind with regard to the circles discussed:

• In the subgroup comprising monuments 13 to 18, the fact that the monuments are situated on a small rise completely open to the four winds, most noteworthy of which is Pico de Orhi, sufficiently underlined by the gate consisting of two prominent stones in circle 13.

• In monuments 3 to 10 the location seems to be more subtle; the circles are a few metres lower, highlighting the group’s principal reference: Pico de Orhi and its neighbours, underlined by the line of the horizon of an adjacent hill — artificially elevated?

• In circles 11 and 12, towards the west you can almost touch the nearby line drawn between the land and the firmament. It is hard to believe that such topographical precision, so perfectly located to better understand the group astronomically, would have been purely coincidental. It seems that the builders of Okabe must have helped Mother Nature by moving a bit of earth around.

• The witnesses in circle 23 contribute to reinforcing this opinion; their direction shows a purpose to their position, and Pico de Orhi set in the nearby landscape, seen in so many places, confirms for the umpteenth time some of the constants considered. How can anyone say without blushing that the position of the witnesses in the circumference of the stone circle was a coincidence?

In short, without having exhausted more observations which are obvious on the field, the Pyrenean stone circle can only be understood by adequately setting it in the landscape, trying to fit the sky and the land together, and tracing the firmament on the land, first with a long daring stroke and then with precision and detail. Knowledge of the firmament seems to have been prior to the secretive desire to represent it on the ground. However, having decided to understand it, they went from one side of the firmament to the other, paying particular attention to the Milky Way.


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