The power of stars and constellations to capture the human imagination has persisted throughout history. While our means of deciphering the celestial sphere has changed, the sensation of staring into the night sky and pondering our existence among the vastness of the universe has been shared across time and culture. Nowadays, it is essentially effortless to download an app to learn the constellations or use computer software to pinpoint the next eclipse. However, before the advent of such technology as Newtonian physics and the telescope, detailed records of the heavenly bodies were much harder to procure. Remarkably, despite the obstacles to compiling these records, many ancient civilizations made precise astronomy a priority.

El Castillo at Chichen Itza – Image Source: http://www.world-mysteries.com/chichen_kukulcan.htm

The development of the field of archaeoastronomy has rapidly advanced since the 1960s, when Stonehenge was proposed as a monument to astronomical alignment. The number of studies on sites across the world exploded, with many researchers publishing positive results. It is now clear that civilizations on every continent across centuries of human history maintained rigorous observation of stars and planets. The evidence was left primarily in architecture, which unmistakably honors their discoveries.

Newgrange Tomb, Ireland – Image Source: Steve Emerson

Maybe the most impressive aspect of the archaeoastronomical discoveries is the fact that today the stars are not necessarily observed in the same position as they were when these monuments were built. Due to the proper motion of stars and the precession of Earth’s axis. Archaeoastronomers have to account for this and calculate those positions retroactively.

Personally, the most fascinating realization about this field is that these civilizations had no known communication with each other. Independently, indigenous peoples arrived at the conclusion that their position in the universe was of utmost importance, and worth devoting unmatched time and resources to. That is a noble pursuit that continues to this day.

Sources and Further Reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeoastronomy

http://www.archaeoastronomy.com/