The Midquarter Days are one of the more divisive ideas in archaeoastronomy. The idea was popularised by Alexander Thom, who proposed the year could be divided into eight segments. The solstices and equinoxes divide the year into quarters and a further four festivals in the middle of the quarters sub-divides the year into eight segments. Thom then went further and split the eighths into a year of sixteen ‘months’.

How do you prove this?

It’s easy for relatively recent times as these ‘Midquarter Days’ can still be seen being celebrated today. (more…)