From Newgrange to Notre Dame: 5,000 Years Of Building Doorways To The Other Side

A unifying framework for ancient sacred sites, including the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, reveals their shared purpose as thresholds to the divine and the dead. These sites, spanning cultures from Newgrange to Notre Dame, share acoustic resonance, celestial alignment, and symbolic darkness designed to alter human perception. The study synthesizes archaeological evidence with modern research on sensory manipulation, arguing that these features facilitated ritual experiences. While it confirms their use for contact with the supernatural, it does not determine the nature of such encounters. This threshold model offers a new basis for understanding global sacred architecture and its enduring influence.

Phillips, M. (2026). From Newgrange to Notre Dame: 5,000 Years Of Building Doorways To The Other Side. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.23306483