2. The Methods a. Thom’s “Ancient Bureau of Standards” Theory
This fact posed an
intriguing problem, namely, could one “reverse engineer” the
method by which supposedly primitive
Megalithic builders had derived such an accurate and consistent
measure?
One theory that
attempts to do this is — for want of a better expression — the
“ancient Bureau of Measures” theory. Thom himself was at a loss to
explain the consistent accuracy of the Megalithic Yard over such a
large theory, and at first proposed the “ancient Bureau of
Measures” theory:
This unit was in use from one end of Britain to the other. It is not possible to detect by statistical examination any differences between the values determined in the English and Scottish circles. There must have been a headquarters from which standard rods (a rod could be of two types, but in this context there are pieces of wood cut to represent the Megalithic Yard) were sent out... The length of rods in Scotland cannot have differed from that in England by more than 0.03 inch (0.762mm) or the difference would have shown up. If each small community had obtained the length by copying the rod from its neighbor to the south the accumulated error would have been much greater than this.56
But there was a major
problem with this theory, and Knight and Butler are quick to point
it out:
At that time Thom’s data could not be explained by any mechanism known to be available to the people of the late Stone Age other than to assume that all rods were made at the same place and delivered by hand to each and every community across Scotland and England. Eventually, he would find the unit in use from the Hebrides to western France, which makes the central ruler factory theory look most unlikely. He also found it impossible to imagine why these early communities wanted to work to an exact standard unit.57
In other words, the
unit was spread over too large an area for the “ancient Bureau of
Standards” theory to account for it. We will leave the full
exposition of the answer to the question of why such primitive
Stone Age people would have wanted “to work to an exact standard
unit” to a later point in this chapter.
Thus, effectively, we
are back to square one: how did these
“primitive” Stone Age peoples come up with such a unit of measure,
and reproduce it with unerring accuracy over such a wide area? The
answer to that, according to Knight and Butler, is rather
astounding, and points in turn to a hidden and hardly “primitive”
elite acting as a guiding hand, and working behind the
scenes.