How Stonehenge stole a march on the Greeks

STONEHENGE was built using Pythagoras’ theorem – two millennia before the Greek philosopher was born, say experts.

The builders of Britain’s ancient stone circles are said to have used complex geometric rules, according to a new book.

The authors of Megalith say that one of Stonehenge’s earliest incarnations, dating from 2750BC, includes a stone rectangle which forms a perfect Pythagorean triangle when split in half.

Pythagoras’ theorem states that the sum of the areas of squares with sides the same length as the two smaller sides of a triangle will add up to the area of a square based on the triangle’s largest side – although it’s unlikely the ancient Britons would have realised that...

John Matineau, who edited Megalith, told the Daily Telegraph: ‘People think of our ancestors as rough cavemen but … they were applying Pythagorean geometry over 2000 years before Pythagoras was born.’ The book was published to coincide with today’s summer solstice.