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the discovery of the serpent and eagle altars on the Blue Mountains, I stumbled upon a lengthy alignment of large sand- stone rocks forming a north-south axis for about 100 yards or so through dense scrub. Developers eventually claimed the site, but in 1969, while crossing a hillside near the Fish River just west of the Blue Mountains and south of Lithgow, I came upon a large granite upright-standing, pillar-like rock which gave every appear- ance of having been erected by human hands. The rock was about 15 feet tall and a few feet in circumference. What appeared to be symbols carved on the stone were so badly weathered as to be indistinct. In September of that year I learnt of a series of mysterious granite structures down in the Snowy Mountains district of southern NSW and, later, of another similar formation in the Armidale region of New England. the discovery of the serpent and eagle altars on the Blue It was these reports that led Heather and me to commence an Mountains, I stumbled upon a lengthy alignment of large sand- _ extensive field search throughout western New South Wales in the stone rocks forming a north-south axis for about 100 yards or so _ belief that there might well be other similar structures somewhere through dense scrub. Developers eventually claimed the site, but out there. in 1969, while crossing a hillside near the Fish River just west of Our investigations at first drew a blank until, following media the Blue Mountains and south of Lithgow, I came upon a large _ publicity about our search, we received a letter from a family near granite upright-standing, pillar-like rock which gave every appear- Bathurst informing us of two strange stone alignments on their ance of having been erected by human hands. granite-covered property. The rock was about 15 feet tall and a few feet in circumference. And so, on what turned out to be one very wet and miserably What appeared to be symbols carved on the stone were so badly _— cold day in August 1974, we found ourselves in a grass-covered weathered as to be indistinct. In September of that year] leamntof field in pouring rain, standing before a row of crudely shaped a series of mysterious granite structures down in the Snowy granite rocks that seemed to stretch into the distance across neigh- Mountains district of southern NSW and, later, of another similar bouring properties. We had just found the first of a number of formation in the Armidale region of New England. western New South Wales megalithic stone arrangement sites which, over the years, we still regard as our greatest archaeological discovery. Excited at the immense importance of these structures, as you well might guess, we followed the line of stones through pouring rain until the freezing winter conditions forced us reluctantly to abandon the field. Within a fortnight, and in better weather, we were back at the site equipped with cam- eras, pens, pads and tape measures to com- mence a detailed investigation of the struc- tures which continues to the present day. The stones, averaging 120 pounds in weight (although some were even heavier), extended in a line from south to north, one behind the other, measuring from a few feet apart to as much as a couple of yards, for up to a mile. I soon found from measurements of the distance between each stone that these mea- surements repeated themselves at intervals throughout the entire alignment. It was obvious to us that there was a mathematical purpose here. During a discussion with a neighbouring farmer, we were excited to learn that he also had an alignment of stones on his property. We soon found that this second alignment was about the same length as the first, though separated from it by two miles, and that both were on a south-north axis. Also, individual measurements of each stone in this alignment produced the same results as in the first, Then, near the southern end of the first alignment, I came upon a structure which gave me even greater surprise. Erected upon a granite base about four feet thick and 30 feet wide was a circular formation of 10 large, weathered granite boulders forming a miniature "Stonehenge". One of these stones had been shaped to form an altar. Nearby, leading from this circular struc- ture, I noticed three other stones separated a few feet apart and erected one behind the other in a north-westerly direction. On our next visit we continued our investi- The 21-foot-tall menhir with altar stone at its base, located at the megalithic site near | SAtions by following the north-westerly x Bathurst, New South Wale: direction indicated by these stones. Several cs 2 ; hundred feet away, upon a hilltop, we came NEXUS ¢ 35 AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 1995