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Nationalism and politics in the recovery of past astronomies

Stephen C. McCluskey

Pub. online: 20 Dec 2008 Type: Article

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 10 (2008): Astronomy and Cosmology in Folk Traditions and Cultural Heritage, pp. 263–267

Abstract

Since its origins, archaeoastronomy has been influenced by nationalist traditions in archaeology. This paper addresses the consequences of these political influences, considering several important questions: To what extent is this quest for past astronomies influenced by nationalist political agendas? How should those of us studying past astronomies respond to these external pressures? To what extent is comparatively recent ethnographic and folkloric evidence suitable for the recovery of past astronomies? The author considers that awareness of these influences and limitations is essential for any scholarly attempt to recover past astronomies.

The case study of the Boorong

John Morieson

Pub. online: 20 Dec 2008 Type: Article

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 10 (2008): Astronomy and Cosmology in Folk Traditions and Cultural Heritage, pp. 258–262

Abstract

They were here as recently as 150 years ago. They spoke about the main players in their celestial domain and pointed them out in the night sky. Today they are gone and the reconstruction of their cosmology has required the breadth of the nineteenth century natural philosopher, drawing on zoology, botany, and linguistics, ethnography, geography and anthropology, as well as patient, long-term naked eye observation. It has been an exciting and stimulating task to gradually unfold these stories of the Australian Aboriginal clan who were regarded by neighbouring clans as the best astronomers in the region.

Alternative archaeoastronomies – an overview

Stanisław Iwaniszewski

Pub. online: 20 Dec 2008 Type: Article

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 10 (2008): Astronomy and Cosmology in Folk Traditions and Cultural Heritage, pp. 253–257

Abstract

My paper focuses on diverse misinterpretations in archaeoastronomy grouped into three main topics: 1. Archaeoastronomy, modernity, and ethnic and national identities; 2. ‘Alternative’ and ‘fringe’ archaeoastronomies; 3. Neo-shamanic, neo-pagan, and New Age perspectives and the reinvention of an astronomical tradition. They all are briefly described in order to remind us we should be increasingly aware of our own prejudices and of the styles of analysis we may be imposing on the celestial lore of other peoples.

Searching for the astronomy of aboriginal Australians

Ray P. Norris

Pub. online: 20 Dec 2008 Type: Article

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 10 (2008): Astronomy and Cosmology in Folk Traditions and Cultural Heritage, pp. 246–252

Abstract

It is widely accepted that the traditional culture of Aboriginal Australians has a significant astronomical component, but it is unclear whether this component extended beyond ceremonial songs and stories. Here I summarise a growing body of evidence that there was a deep understanding of the motion of objects in the sky, that this knowledge was used for practical purposes such as constructing calendars, and there may even be evidence for careful records and measurements.

Cardinal and lunisolar alignments as alignments of gender and of power

Sacha Stephens

Pub. online: 20 Dec 2008 Type: Article

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 10 (2008): Astronomy and Cosmology in Folk Traditions and Cultural Heritage, pp. 241–245

Abstract

Gender terms have been used to interpret some aspects of the archaeology of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age monuments. Frequently male and female inhumations are aligned cardinally and standing stones may be ‘male’ pillar and ‘female’ lozenges. However, the astronomical alignments at monuments are frequently on lunar standstills and solstices which bisect the cardinal alignments. The anthropology of gender suggests that the concept of a ‘gender of power’ is useful in explaining how ritual power is realised through the scrambling of sexual identities. Proficiency in aligning monuments on lunar-solar cycles may well have been a device to appropriate ritual power.

The orientations of central Alentejo megalithic enclosures

Fernando Pimenta Luís Tirapicos

Pub. online: 20 Dec 2008 Type: Article

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 10 (2008): Astronomy and Cosmology in Folk Traditions and Cultural Heritage, pp. 234–240

Abstract

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.

From Umm al Qab to Biban al Muluk: the orientation of royal tombs in ancient Egypt

Juan Antonio Belmonte Antonio César González García Mosalam Shaltout All authors (5)

Pub. online: 20 Dec 2008 Type: Article

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 10 (2008): Astronomy and Cosmology in Folk Traditions and Cultural Heritage, pp. 226–233

Abstract

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.

Integrating archaeoastronomy with landscape archaeology: Silbury Hill – a case study

Lionel Sims

Pub. online: 20 Dec 2008 Type: Article

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 10 (2008): Astronomy and Cosmology in Folk Traditions and Cultural Heritage, pp. 220–225

Abstract

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.

Measurement systems for mathematics and astronomy in antiquity. Ptolemy’s chord calculation and new considerations concerning the “discus in planitia” ascribed to Aristarchus. Part I

Florin Stanescu

Pub. online: 20 Dec 2008 Type: Article

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 10 (2008): Astronomy and Cosmology in Folk Traditions and Cultural Heritage, pp. 215–219

Abstract

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.

The pythagorean geometry of the Atreus tomb at Mycenae

Marcello Ranieri

Pub. online: 20 Dec 2008 Type: Article

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 10 (2008): Astronomy and Cosmology in Folk Traditions and Cultural Heritage, pp. 211–214

Abstract

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.

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