GREENCASTLE HILL, ANTIGUA:

A POSSIBLE MEGALITHIC MONUMENT OF A PREHISTORIC CIVILIZATION

Al Hajji Talib Ahmad Dawud

One of the mos t beautiful sights to be seen in Antigua, West Indies , is from the top of Greencas t le Hill . The hil l is the r ema ins of an isolated extinct volcano with seve ra l lengthy s p u r s . F r o m there can be seen a range of volcanic hi l ls with low l ines forming the background, an extensive al luvial plain profuse in canefields , and the ocean from three d i r ec t ions .

Greencas t le Hill (Fig. 1) is si tuated about latitude 17 .3° nor th , longitude 61 . 5° west . The nor th por t ion of the hi l l is about 400 feet high as far as the middle where it slopes up­ward toward the highest point at 596 feet in the ex t reme south and then descends into the val ley below at a high angle. During the commencement of the Oligocène per iod 28 million y e a r s ago when the subsidence of the whole island took p lace , ancient volcanoes in the proximi ty of p r e s e n t Greencas t le Hill were t runcated and great ly reduced in gir th by wave act ion which explains the occu r rence of ve r t i ca l cliffs on m o s t of them.

The d i scovery of the megal i ths was made by Mr . W . R . F o r r e s t e a r l y in 1930 and the information was communicated to Mr . Lewis Spence, the author of "The Prob lem of At l an t i s " , and the late P r o f e s s o r Ell iot Smith who stated that the a rchaeo log ica l evidence submit ted by Mr . F o r r e s t confirmed his opinion that the di rect ion of civi l izat ion round the world was from wes t [the A m e r i c a s ] to eas t [Mesopotamia, Egypt, China].

The surface of the imposing plateau (Greencast le Hill) , on which evidently were cen­t e red the scenes of fo rmer ce remonies and phallic worsh ip , is s t rewn with the r e m a i n s of locations of c i r c l e s of var ious d i a m e t e r s , a l t a r s , sacr i f ic ia l s l abs , and co lumns . Some a r e rounded, o the r s squared, polygonal and i r r e g u l a r or in the rough, some isolated and o thers in c i r c l e s or in al ignment . Many groups a r e par t ly intact and in al l s tages of aban­donment, pa r t i cu l a r ly on the steep incl ines . These r ema ins a r e not only confined to the p la teau surface but a r e a lso found on the s teep sides of the s ame , as wel l as on the slopes of the background, and a r e mos t abundant on s i tes with south-southwest or wes t exposures .

A slight elevation of the ground divides the plateau into nor th and south sect ions and extends from the middle of the west s ide, 270 feet in a sou theas te r ly d i rec t ion towards the highest point, increas ing in height as it n e a r s the l a t t e r . The nor th and south sect ions slope in a s e r i e s of c i r cu la r t e r r a c e s , towards the i r respec t ive m a r g i n s , where the min­imum height is about 215 feet. The sides of the plateau a r e steep with evidence on the west and south of having been stopped with hor izonta l rows of rounded bou lde r s , averaging 18-24 inches high, and the gentler slopes with thei r contours lined in s imi l a r manner a r e sugges­tive of a pyramid . An a l te rna t ive p rac t i ca l view is that the rows of boulders were intended to prevent e ros ion of the soil on the s lopes .

Observat ion P o s t

The dominant feature of the whole plateau is s i tuated near the wes t end of the cen t ra l elevation and might be t e r m e d the "Observat ion Pos t . "' Apparent ly every impor tan t group of mega l i th s , even the distant ones in the val ley below and concealed from the line of vision,

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have bear ings d i r ec t or ind i rec t from this cen t ra l post . This site has evidently been s u r ­rounded by an outer c i r c l e of bou lde r s , 24 inches high, which is fair ly intact on the nor th side at a lower level . The c i r c l e is separa ted by 20 feet from an inner c i rc le of m a s s i v e monoli ths. The cen t r a l and t a l l es t rounded column (Fig. 2) is 5 feet high and 20 feet from the la t ter c i r c l e . F r o m this point one sees in all d i rec t ions the tops only of the la rge mono­liths or columns appear ing above the l ines of the var ious t e r r a c e s on the pla teau, each having a specific bear ing or indicating the d i rec t ion of some distant sect ion.

The obse rva to ry p rope r is 31 feet southeast of the cen t ra l column with four m e g a ­liths in al ignment on the nor th side and one unit of th ree p ieces on the south s ide. The lat ter is an a l t a r and cons i s t s of th ree mass ive megal i ths one inside the o ther . The upper surface is pro jec ted into a cone shape rounded point forming a sloping exposure with a slight hollow towards the southwest . The north side of this a l ta r is pa ra l l e l with the four megali ths in al ignment separa ted by a space of 6-9 feet. Through this space is visible a monolith on the skyline of the eas t background hi l l , bear ing 90° dis tance about 350 y a r d s . The bear ings of the al ignment of the four megal i ths on the distant eas t hor izon a r e 70 to 75 and may have been intended for some fallen column or landmark .

Slightly wes t of the obse rva to ry is a broad ve r t i ca l monolith with the top marg in notched, like the backsight of a rifle (Fig. 3). Its function so far cannot be explained. On the north side of the a l t a r group, a r e var ious shaped mass ive s l abs , possibly for sacr i f ic ia l purposes .

About 100 feet to the southwest the re a r e two squared pa ra l l e l columns with a narrow space through which the bear ings a r e 270° (Fig. 4).

It is difficult to sepa ra t e the sun myth from phallic worsh ip , the two a re so closely in t e r - r e l a t ed . Fes t i va l s a r e a lmos t always in honour of the sum as a fert i l izing agent; when they a r e joyous events , it is because he has t r iumphed over the powers of da rkness (night or winter) which sought to deprive him of his v i r i l i ty . This is the symbolic explana­tion of the va r ious fes ts in honour of the sun' s r e s u r r e c t i o n at sp r i ng - t ime , no m a t t e r under what name or under whose ausp ices .

Greencas t l e Hill in Antigua is l i te ra l ly s t rewn with al l s izes of phalli lying in va r ious stages of abandonment. The ta l l mass ive monolith, the "Sun God", 10 feet high and 5 feet at the base taper ing gently towards the top and surrounded by a la rge c i rc le of boulders is carved from andesi te and depicts a phallus in i ts pu res t form. It is situated at a lower level north west of the "Moon Goddess" which was evidently the dominant deity.

One can a lso see p a i r s of V-shaped s tones , pointed at the top, s ta rk ly columnar and resembling the female genera t ive organ. In mos t cases a th i rd stone can be seen lying tilted or flat in the background of these V-s tones (Fig. 5). Many of them with an a c c o m ­panying " c i r c l e " of s tones , some to 1 5 feet in d iamete r and other c i r c l e s as large as 100 feet in d i ame te r .

Dr . F r e d Olsen of Mill Reef who has in te res ted himself in the p re -Co lumbia cul­tu res of the West Indies has observed that a feature of i n t e re s t is "the lack of a l ignment" of the upper s tone , that is the mass ive 10 feet megal i thic sun god, with i ts b a s e . "It is obvious" the l ea rned gent leman cont inues , "that human ingenuity had been involved in p l ac ­ing the top stones (perhaps a couple of tons in weight) on its ba se , with s eve ra l d iscont inui­t ies between the v e r t i c a l l ines of the upper and lower stones of the megal i th" .

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About t h e Moon Goddess , Dr . Olsen said, "The Moon Goddess is the stone which has a t t r ac ted m o r e local i n t e re s t than any of the o t h e r s . I t is one of the l a rges t of the megal i ths and is located on the highest point of the p la teau. The upper stone of the Moon Goddess is curved at the top showing what a r e desc r ibed as the ' h o r n s of the moon ' . "

The d i s cove re r of the p r eh i s t o r i c s i te , the late Dr . F o r r e s t has drawn attention to the fact that "the ancient Akkadians [ North Babylonians] used these same symbols; they have been found in thei r t emp le s . The "Sun God" was called Tammuz; the "Moon G o d d e s s , " I s h t a r . They had a legend t h a t l s h t a r wedded Tammuz; on the la t t e r de­scending into the lower r eg ions , I s h t a r went in s ea r ch of h i m . " This legend may pe r ­haps explain the or ientat ion of the "Sun God" to the "Moon Goddess" on Greencas t le Hill.

According to the late Char leswor th Ross , "it is worth to note that a min ia ture rep l ica of the 'Moon Goddess ' on the plateau group was found in a k i tchen-midden west of El l io t ' s Es ta te about ten to twelve mi l e s away from Greencas t le Hill . It was made of ha rd l imestone and was exactly to scale in th ree d imensions of the c ra f tmen ' s m e a s u r e r s of p r eh i s to r i c t i m e s . " Another symbol of the "Moon Goddess" was found on Yepton' s E s ­t a te . I t is a perfect work of a r t made to p reh i s to r i c m e a s u r e , from da rk volcanic rock, pe rhaps ande s i te .

Dr . F o r r e s t said "As r e g a r d s objects of a c o m m e r c i a l nature or those which have been made for se rv ice in some r i tua l , I would r eca l l the fact that m e a s u r e s have been sa­c red from t ime i m m e m o r i a l . This is brought out emphat ica l ly in the Bible. " The p r e ­h i s to r ic m e a s u r e s r e f e r r e d to a re a d i scovery of the late Ludovic Mann, once eminent cha i rman of the Glasgow Archaeological Society.

The question a r i s e s : Were these megal i ths the work of human or ig in , or a r e they na tu ra l outcrops of rock? Dr. F o r r e s t a n s w e r s , "On the occasion of my f i r s t contact with the s i te , I exposed the foundations of s eve ra l megal i ths on the s teep s lopes , in o rde r to a s ­ce r t a in this point and found that they were res t ing on or ' packed ' with sma l l flat fragments of a different type of rock. " There a r e numerous ins tances of s eve ra l types of rock occur­ring in the group of mega l i ths . "Worked" megal i ths (shaped and smoothed) can be readi ly dis t inguished. " Their function as l andmarks is ve ry apparent . Some a r e perfec t ly rounded and taper ing , o thers cyl indr ica l . Minor "worked" megal i ths have the i r t e r m i n a l s varying from acutely pointed to an a lmos t mushroom shape.

The l e s s spectacular but unmistakeable handiwork of man exemplified in the elaborate t e r r a c i n g of the extensive eas t slopes mus t not be forgotten. For tuna te ly , the re is further evidence on the site of the actual p re sence of man in kitchen midden r e m a i n s found on the surface of the south s lopes . "These r ema ins compr i se of pot tery f r agmen t s , worked flints, two smal l animal bones , a smal l per fora ted mar ine sp i r a l shell and a number of shel l frag­ments of va r ious species of Modusca, Lucina, Turbon, Chiton" Dr . F o r r e s t concludes.

In 1930 photo p r in t s and a sketch plan of Greencas t le megal i ths w e r e sent to Mr . Ludo­vic Mann, a fo rmer eminent cha i rman of the Glasgow Archaeologica l Society, by the Dr. F o r r e s t . After having studied the compass bear ings of the var ious groups on the Green­cas t le pla teau and eas t hil l (including the fallen groups on the plateau) Mr . Ludovic Mann gave the following reply, dated October 1, 1930: "I am unable to p r e s e n t to devote inten­sive study to your excellent and highly scientific account of this scientific find. . .Meant ime I may draw your at tention to a str iking feature . . . . the close r e semb lance of the group of s i t e s on your map to the pr inciple s t a r s in the constel lat ion Sagi t t a r ius . These s t a r s com-

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prise of that sect ion of the Zodiac which culminates at midnight of F e b r u a r y 19 between the yea r s 8600 B . C . Thus you see the megal i thic monument in Antigua may be dated about the middle of the Neolithic (per iod) as indeed somewhat s imi la r in this country may be s imi la r ly dated. I venture the suggestion that the megali thic monument, like many others , was a lmos t exclusively concerned with the t ime reckoning. You have a splendid opportunity of giving to science a body of data with the aid of which we could now throw a world of light upon ea r ly civil izat ion in the West Indies. "

For a comprehens ive study of the s i tes a ground plan and an ae r i a l view of the mega­liths are essen t i a l . Excavat ion ought to be fruitful in bringing to light r emains of this ancient civil izat ion which may prove invaluable !