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Revision as of 00:50, 11 April 2006
Archaeoastronomy (also spelled Archeoastronomy) is the study of ancient or traditional astronomies in their cultural context, utilizing archaeological and anthropological evidence. Archaeoastronomy examines archaeological sites for evidence of astronomy in remote cultures, and anthropological and ethnohistorical evidence for evidence of astronomical practices in living cultures. The study of the astronomies of living traditional cultures is sometimes called Ethnoastronomy. Archaeoastronomy also focuses on modern astronomy, employing historical records of early astronomical observations to study past astronomical events, and employing astronomical data to clarify the historical record.
In the study of solar, lunar, and stellar alignments of monuments, numerous claims have been made that the megalithic monuments, such as Nabta Playa, Stonehenge and Newgrange, represent "ancient observatories," but the extent and nature of their use in that regard needs careful definition. Certainly, they are aligned with particular significance to the solstitial points.
The early development of this aspect of archaeoastronomy was influenced by Alexander Thom's studies of megalithic monuments of Britain, published in Megalithic sites in Britain (Oxford, 1967). Thom employed detailed surveys and statistical methods to investigate the calendric and astronomical functions of numerous Neolithic monuments. He claimed that these monuments incorporate alignments to points on the horizon where the sun and moon rise and set at seasonal extremes like midsummer, midwinter and the equinoxes. In addition to his work on Neolithic astronomy, he also proposed the megalithic yard as a standardized unit of measure. Although his work greatly influenced the development of archaeoastronomy, many of his conclusions (especially those implying highly precise observations) have been widely questioned.
Anthropological and ethnohistorical methods have been used to study astronomies in a wide range of cultures. Typical studies have examined the astronomical and calendric practices of the Hopi and Zuni of the Southwestern United States; the astronomy and cosmology of the Andean villagers of Misminay; the calendrical and divinatory practices of modern Maya priests, and the ambiguous lunar calendar of the Mursi of southwestern Ethiopia.
Archaeoastronomy has also considered the extensive records of ancient China for references to "guest stars". "Guest stars," or star-like objects which appeared in the night sky, were of great interest to the observers of ancient China and were often dutifully recorded. These events have been associated with many transitory phenomena, such as comets and, particularly, supernovae. Besides the insights such records provide into the significance of celestial phenomena in ancient cultures, they have also been found useful by modern astronomers.
Some Old World sites where archaeoastronomy is being explored
- Angkor Wat
- Arkaim
- Ballochroy
- Borobudur
- Carnac, the Grand Menhir Brisé
- Great Pyramids of Egypt
- Kintraw
- Minard, Brainport Bay, raising methodological issues
- Newgrange
- Nabta Playa
- Sarmizegetusa Regia, Romania
- Stonehenge and other structures apparently aligned to astronomical bodies and/or events
Some New World sites where archaeoastronomy is being explored
- Cahokia, City of the Sun.
- Chaco Canyon, cardinal orientatons, meridian alignment, inter-pueblo alignments
- Chichen Itza, the caracol
- Monte Alban, zenith tube
- Teotihuacan, the pecked-cross circles as survey-markers
- Uxmal, Venus alignment of the "Governor's Palace"
- Xochicalco, zenith tube
- Many Maya sites that have an E Group (see Maya section on E Groups)
- Tiwanaku, the Kalasasaya and its alignments
Some artifacts that throw light on archaeoastronomy
- Ancient calendars based on astronomical observations
- Antikythera mechanism
- Nebra skydisk
References
- Clive Ruggles, Astronomy in Prehistoric Britain and Ireland
- Archaeoastronomy: The Journal of Astronomy in Culture
External links
- The Solstice Project
- Mesoamerican Archaeoastronomy, a Review of Contemporary Understandings of Prehispanic Astronomic Knowledge.
- Archaeogeodesy, the area of study encompassing prehistoric and ancient place determination, point positioning, navigation (on land or water), astronomy and measure and representation of the earth.
- ArchaeoGeodesy v2006.3.24, Ancient Monuments Spherical Trigonometry Calculator, an easy-to-use Excel spreadsheet featuring hundreds of ancient monuments.
- Epoch 2000, an Excel spreadsheet for calculating temporally variable astronomic constants.
- Clives Ruggles webpage: bibliography and synopsis of his course at Leicester University
- ISAAC, The International Society for Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture.
- Babylonian and Indian astronomy
- International Institute of Astroarchaeology
- "The House Of The Sky" - An essay exploring ancient astronomy, myths of the Deluge and the mythical stories of mankind's past and future
- Traditions of the Sun - NASA and others exploring the world's ancient observatories.
- Space Imaging's Ancient Observatories gallery - Satellite pictures of ancient observatories.
- Astronomical alignments of ancient structures - essays about ancient astronomy.