2020/01/24 by Duane W. Hamacher, Robert S. Fuller, Hamacher, Duane W. +5
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Australian Indigenous Culture and History #FOS: Physical sciences #History and Philosophy of Physics (physics.hist-ph) #Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2001.08884
openalex publication_date 2020/01/24 · openalex created_date 2023/02/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
A major focus of the archaeoastronomical research conducted around the world\nfocuses on understanding how ancient cultures observed sunrise and sunset\npoints along the horizon, particularly at the solstices and equinoxes. Scholars\nargue that observations of these solar points are useful for developing\ncalendars, informing ritual/ceremonial practices, and predicting seasonal\nchange. This is the foundation of the Eurocentric four-season Julian (and later\nGregorian) calendar. Famous examples include Stonehenge, Newgrange, Chichen\nItza, and Chankillo. Studies at these and other sites tend to focus on solar\npoint observations through alignments in stone arrangements, and the\norientations of monuments. Despite the ongoing study of Indigenous Knowledge in\nAustralia revealing a wealth of information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait\nIslander observations and interpretations of solar, lunar, and stellar\nproperties and motions, very little has been published about the importance and\nuse of solar point observations. The authors examine this topic through four\ncase studies, based on methodological frameworks and approaches in ethnography,\nethnohistory, archaeology, and statistics. Our findings show that Aboriginal\nand Torres Strait Islander people observe the solstices and other significant\nsunrise/sunset points along the horizon for timekeeping and indicating seasonal\nchange - but in ways that are rather different to the four-season model\ndeveloped in Western Europe.\n