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THE NOMMO Where the evidence leads, we follow.

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Alignment Map

Any two points make a line. The question is whether yours beats chance.

LayersChoose which kinds of records show as pins, narrow by region, or search by name.

Tap a type to show or hide those pins. Limit the pins to one region or subcategory. Type a name to find and fly to a record.

ConnectionsDraw lines between pins and label their distances.

Which pins to join with lines. “Every pair” can get busy with many pins. How many of the closest pins each pin connects to.

Distances Units

When to print distances on the lines, and in which units.

Measure & great circleMeasure the distance between two pins and extend that line around the globe.

Start, then tap two pins. Clear removes the measurement. Near-line width 100 kmHow close to the line a record must be to be listed as “near” it.

Tap two pins. You get the shortest (great-circle) distance, the starting bearing and the midpoint, and the same line carried all the way round the globe, with the records that lie close to it. It's a geometric line: any two points define one.

Analyse

Alignment finderLook for lines that pass near many places, and compare with shuffled data.

Searches the visible records for great circles that pass close to the most places, then runs the same search on two kinds of shuffled copies of the data (20 each) to show what chance alone produces. Records within 5 km of each other count as one place.

Within kmHow close (km) a place must be to a line to count as on it.

Runs the search on the pins currently visible. It can take a few seconds.

Test a claimCheck how many places sit near a claimed line, and how often chance does as well.

Pick a popular claimed line, your two measured pins, or enter your own.

Claimed alignments of buildings to the sun are in Orientation check.

Latitude and longitude of the two points that define your line. Within kmHow close (km) a place must be to the line to count.

Counts nearby places, then compares with shuffled data to see if chance does as well.

LatitudeShow only places within a band of latitude, for example the same as Giza.

Show only a latitude bandHide every pin outside the band set below. Centre ° ± °Centre latitude, and how many degrees either side to include.

Centre the band on the selected pin, or on the Great Pyramid.

Sun lines from a siteDraw where the sun rose and set on solstices and equinoxes, seen from one site.

Draw solstice and equinox sunrise/sunset lines from the selected recordSelect a pin first. Lines show sunrise and sunset directions. Epoch (−2500 = 2500 BCE)The year to compute for. The sun’s path shifts slightly over millennia.

Orientation checkCompare which way a building faces with the sun or true north, and how rare that is.

Claims from the research library that a building faces the sun or true north. Draws the measured axis (white) and the computed sunrise and sunset directions (dashed) for the site's own latitude and date, then says how often a randomly pointed axis would do as well.

Choose a building and the claim made about which way it faces.

Removes the drawn directions from the globe.

Compare & geometry of picksTap several pins to get the distances, ratios and angles between them.

Set Connections to “My picks”, then tap 2–8 pins. You get a distance table, ratios between legs and the angles at each point.

ClusteringCheck whether places are more bunched together than random scattering would give.

Are the visible places more bunched together than chance? Compares the average distance to the nearest neighbour with 20 shuffled copies of the data.

Uses only the pins currently visible.

Export & citeDownload the records you see, with their sources, or save a picture.

Download the visible records (or your picks, if you have any) with coordinates, dates and source citations.

CSV for spreadsheets, GeoJSON for maps, a citation to paste, or a picture of the globe.

Explore

TimelineFilter pins by date and play history forward.

Filter by dateHide records dated later than the slider. Up to Drag to set the latest date shown.

Show undated records

Play steps the slider forward. Undated records have no date.

A chart of when the visible records were in use, side by side.

TourAn automatic fly-through of ten well-known records.

Glides through ten headline records. Touch the globe to pause.

OverlaysExtra visual layers drawn on the globe. They do not change the data.

Density (where records cluster)Glow where many records sit close together. Latitude / longitude grid (15°)Lines every 15 degrees. Equator, tropics and polar circlesKey latitude lines around the globe. Day / night line (now)Shows where it is day and night right now. Coordinates under the cursorShows the latitude and longitude of where you point. Slow spinThe globe turns slowly on its own. Animated flow along linesMoving dashes along connection lines. Visual only.

Copy a link that reopens this exact view, or reset the view and filters. Reset clears picks, measurements and analysis results; saved records are not affected.

Start a community post that links to this view.