Archaeologia Baltica

Characteristics of Andean huacas are summarized with examples from Urubamba, Machu Picchu, Llactapata, and Chankillo. We identify the pillars on the ridge above the town of Urubamba as a marker of June solstice sunrise to be viewed from the Palace of Huayna Capac. Both ends of the sightline connecting the pillars and the Palace appear to have been huacas. The large carved Intiwatana stone in the Urubamba canyon symbolically ties together Machu Picchu and the nearby ceremonial center of Llactapata. The astronomically complex site of Chankillo includes evidence for ceremonial observations of the solstices and shamanic ritual, set within a large-scale geometry established by June solstice sunset/December solstice sunrise.

This work extends to Mesoamerica researches on archaic geometry previously performed on architectures of the “Old World”. CAD (Computer Aided Design ) tools are used to fit theoretical forms to spatial segments on archaeological plans. The analyses provide quantitative information on the forms, on the numbers involved and on the units of length used. Everywhere, numbers appear mainly to be multiples of 9, 10 and 13, rather than pertaining to Squaring Triads, although these are nonetheless attested in all regions. Three units of length are found: a “Teotihuacán unit” t ≈ 0.58 m, a “Monte Albán unit” ma ≈ 0.50 m and a “Chichen Itza unit” ci ≈ 0.66 m. Units t and ma clearly appear to be linked to the distances between the main monuments, associated with the Tzolkin calendrical numbers 13-20 at Teotihuacán and with the Haab calendrical numbers 18-20 at Monte Albán.

The so-called ‘Neo-Pythagorean Basilica’ at Porta Maggiore in Rome is one of the most famous and most discussed hypogeal monuments in Rome. It was certainly in use for a short time during the first half of the first century AD, but its purpose is still far from clear. The most probable interpretation is that it was a temple dedicated to Neo-Pythagorean cults. We describe here the preliminary results of a detailed archaeoastronomical study of the Basilica undertaken in order to contribute to the understanding of the role of this fascinating monument.

This paper presents a preliminary study of the orientation of Lithuanian Catholic churches and interactions between Christian and pagan cosmologies in Lithuanian church architecture. We can state that the Christianization of Lithuania involved an interaction of these two systems. It is already known that models of time and space in Christian Europe were reflected in the architecture of Lithuanian Catholic churches. But pagan cosmology also influenced Lithuanian Christian architecture.

In Eastern Hungary, we find many cemeteries from the Copper Age over an extensive area. One of them, Basatanya, represents the Tiszapolgár culture (Early Copper Age) in its period I, and in period II the Bodrogkeresztúr culture (Middle Copper Age). The directions of the graves fill the angle span of the solar arc, thus the graves point towards where the Sun can rise or set. Westerly orientation (the skull points West) is almost universal in Period I. In Period II, easterly orientation also appears. The cemetery contains 156 graves and may have been used for two centuries.

A geometrical analysis was performed using CAD (Computer Aided Design) tools on the plans of the nine Tholos Tombs of Mycenae and of the “Treasury of Atreus” in particular. Dedicated parameters were established in order to classify the main common geometrical features of the tombs. The analyses were based on a comparison between the geometrical proportions found on the plans and those of the Squaring Triads. It appears that Mycenaean architects made use of both Perfect (Pythagorean) and Quasi-Perfect combinations of integers. The Treasury of Atreus stands out by exhibiting all the major geometric proportions identifiable with those belonging to a series of Pythagorean Triads reported by Diophantus and known to the Mesopotamians. The unit of length for the Atreus Tholos Tomb coincides with the Lagash Gudea cubit of 0.496 m.

The aim of this work is to present new hypotheses concerning a great disk of andesite – approximately 7 m in diameter – which was discovered in Meridional Carpathians in Romania on the sacred terrace of the capital of the ancient kingdom of the Dacians. Having included in this structure all the specific features of a sun dial, the place’s latitude φ, the obliquity of the ecliptic in epoch ε, as well as a north–south orientation, is possible and probable that this is the “discus in planitia” that Vitruvius ascribed to Aristarchus.

Weaknesses in both archaeoastronomy and landscape archaeology can be overcome by their combination. This is demonstrated through a new interpretation of Silbury Hill in Avebury, Wiltshire. If monuments in their local landscape are considered as one choice in a system of alternatives, tests can be devised to interpret the prehistoric builders‘ intentions. This exercise finds that the builders chose a prescriptive arrangement of views of Silbury Hill to simulate a facsimile of the moon entering and returning from the underworld.

This paper presents a preliminary approach to the problem of royal tomb orientation in ancient Egypt from the early dynastic mausoleums at the necropolis of Umm al Qab to the impressive subterranean chambers of the tombs at the Valley of the Kings (Biban al Muluk). This clearly shows that the correct orientation of the monuments, from the earlier mastabas to the later hypogea, was mandatory and that the sky plays a key role in understanding ancient Egyptian funerary monuments.

In this work we conduct a study of the orientations of 12 megalithic enclosures in the Alentejo (southern Portugal). Some of these sites date back to the sixth or fifth millennia B.C., and so are among the oldest stone enclosures in Europe. The results of the survey show a pattern of easterly (rising) orientations. In particular, we relate our results to previous studies by Michael Hoskin and colleagues, on the orientations of the seven-stone dolmens in this area, which have shown the existence of a possible sun rising orientation custom.