Technical details Newgrange

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgrange

I read an article concerning the technical details of the winter
solstice marker and somehow the author loses the details based on the
geographical constraints placed on the builders in situating
Newgrange where it is rather than somewhere else.The author used a
NOAA calculator (National Oceanic And Atmospheric Site Solar Position
Calculator ) to arrive at his conclusions but unless you have actually
been to Newgrange and looked at what goes into creating a solstice
marker using the Sun's light,there is little chance that anyone can
admire what the astronomers/builders did,the same applies to
Stonehenge or many other such monuments.

http://www.iol.ie/~geniet/eng/roofbox.htm

The position of Newgrange on a hill located across a valley is in
itself something to admire.The Sun rising above the horizon is not at
its brightest for some minutes and the hill opposite the roofbox
provides the first availible opportunity for the dramatic beam of
light to enter the roofbox.

The distance between the roofbox and the opposite hill is important
insofar as the care exercised by the builders in taking into account
the distance and gradient needed to achieve a reasonable amount of
sunlight and time of the event along with the diameter of the
structure itself is remarkable to the eyes of any astronomer.

The tour guides do their best and never really go beyond the idea that
the ancients pegged the ground to determine the annual cycle in terms
of the solstice marker but a genuine astronomer should be astonished
at the physical,geographical and structural details that go into these
things.

When you go back 5200 years ago when Newgrange was built,the idea of
nationalism disappears and you see astronomers and builders at work
and try to enjoy what they did as any achievement today.