Ad Astra per Aspera et per Ludum: European Archaeoastronomy and the Orientation of Monuments in the Mediterranean Basin: Papers from Session I.13, held at the European Association of Archaeologists Eighth Annual Meeting in Thessaloniki 2002

Description

The study of astronomy in ancient societies is becoming ever more popular among archaeologists as is reflected in this collection of twelve papers been taken from a session held at the European Association of Archaeologists Eighth Annual Meeting held in Thessaloniki in 2002. It becomes clear that astronomy is considered as an important motivation for the construction of many monuments across the ancient world. Divided into three sections, the contributions discuss archaeological, and astronomical, evidence from ancient Egypt, prehistoric and Hellenic Europe and, in one paper only, Mesoamerica. In addition to examining specific monuments, sites and buildings, the papers discuss what these reveal about the cosmology and technical ability of a range of cultures. Supported throughout by astronomical diagrams. Front Cover Copyright Dedication Table of Contents Authors & Addresses Foreword Introduction ANCIENT EGYPT The Archetypal Symbolism of the Most Ancient Constellations: A Comparison Egypt/China Illumination of the Sacrarium in the Great Temple at Abu Simbel, its Astronomical Explanation, and Some Hints on the Posible Stellar Orientation of the Small Temple A Celestial Map of the Ancient Egyptian Firmament EUROPE More than Orientation: Placing Monuments to view the Cosmic Order Literary and Archaeoastronomical Evidence for the Origins of the Hellenic Calendar in the Aegean Bronze Age The Early Hellenic Sky Map reconstructed from Archaeoastronomical and Textual Studies An Iron Age Bolide Strike in Southern Gaul Equinoctial Markers and Orientations in Pre-Roman Religious and Funerary Monuments of the Western Mediterranean A Posible Astronomical Orientation of Rock Carvings in the Kilmartin Area The Tracing of Sanctuaries in Ancient Dacian World, Orastie Mountains, Romania: Some Possible Measuring Units, 1 The Application of Solar Compass in Archaeological Fieldwork: An Alternative Way of Obtaining Orientation Measurements MESOAMERICA The Social Constitution of Horizon Astronomy of the Pyramid at Cuicuilco (Mexico), and Group E at Uaxactun (Guatemala)