"I happen to have a house with an extensive view to the west and I see the sun tracing the progress of the year nearly every evening. The sunsets creep from the Abberley Hills, halfway to the Clees, pause and return, and that's another tick in the age-old cycle over. It doesn't half put you in your place"

Lucky you. My view is not so good but, from the sunny part of the house (the one looking south), I could easily tell what time of the year it is by observing the sun set inside this or that notch far to my right. A stone circle can do that too, but so can almost anything else which is fixed, like natural features.

One of my favourite sights is the *real* sky at night as seen from a clear spot like high in the mountains on a clear night. It is hard to believe that THAT did not inspire a vast body of myths, religions and monumental paranoia. Yes, I am aware not everyone alive today has even seen such a spectacle.