Beyond Paradigms in Cultural Astronomy: Proceedings of the 27th SEAC conference held together with the EAA 9781407358222, 9781407358239

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B A R I N T E R NAT I O NA L S E R I E S 3 0 3 3 B A R I N T E R NAT I O NA L S E R I E S 3 0 3 3

2021 2021

Beyond Paradigms in Cultural Astronomy Proceedings Proceedings of of the the 27th 27th SEAC SEAC conference conference held held together together with with the the EAA EAA

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A. CÉSAR GONZÁLEZ-GARCÍA, A. CÉSAR GONZÁLEZ-GARCÍA, R O S LY N M . F R A N K , L I O N E L D . S I M S , R O S LY N M . F R A N K , L I O N E L D . S I M S , MICHAEL A. RAPPENGLÜCK, GEORG ZOTTI, MICHAEL A. RAPPENGLÜCK, GEORG ZOTTI, J U A N A . B E L M O N T E , I VA N Š P R A J C J U A N A . B E L M O N T E , I VA N Š P R A J C

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B A R I N T E R NAT I O NA L S E R I E S 3 0 3 3

2021

Beyond Paradigms in Cultural Astronomy Proceedings of the 27th SEAC conference held together with the EAA EDITED BY

A. CÉSAR GONZÁLEZ-GARCÍA, R O S LY N M . F R A N K , L I O N E L D . S I M S , MICHAEL A. RAPPENGLÜCK, GEORG ZOTTI, J U A N A . B E L M O N T E , I VA N Š P R A J C

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Published in 2021 by BAR Publishing, Oxford BAR International Series 3033 Beyond Paradigms in Cultural Astronomy ISBN  978 1 4073 5822 2 paperback ISBN  978 1 4073 5823 9 e-format doi  https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407358222 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library © the editors and contributors severally 2021 Cover image  Stellarium simulation of summer solstice sunrise in a 3D reconstruction of late Neolithic Stonehenge in an uncommon perspective. The model is based on an image-based model created by Geert Verhoeven (LBI ArchPro) and completed by LBI ArchPro’s media partner 7reasons. Screenshot created with Stellarium 0.19.3. The Authors’ moral rights under the 1988 UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act are hereby expressly asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, stored, sold, distributed, scanned, saved in any form of digital format or transmitted in any form digitally, without the written permission of the Publisher. Links to third party websites are provided by BAR Publishing in good faith and for information only. BAR Publishing disclaims any responsibility for the materials contained in any third-party website referenced in this work.

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Of Related Interest

Astronomy and Power: How Worlds Are Structured Proceedings of the SEAC 2010 Conference Edited by Michael A. Rappenglück, Barbara Rappenglück, Nicholas Campion, Fabio Silva BAR International Series 2794

Oxford, BAR Publishing, 2016

SEAC 2011 Stars and Stones: Voyages in Archaeoastronomy and Cultural Astronomy Proceedings of the SEAC 2011 conference Edited by F. Pimenta, N. Ribeiro, F. Silva, N. Campion, A Joaquinito and L. Tirapicos BAR International Series 2720

Oxford, BAR Publishing, 2015 Water Management: The Use of Stars in Oman Harriet Nash

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Oxford, BAR Publishing, 2011

Les Astres dans les Textes Religieux en Égypte Antique et dans les Hymnes Orphiques Amanda-Alice Maravelia BAR International Series 1527

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For more information, or to purchase these titles, please visit www.barpublishing.com iii

Contents Foreword ............................................................................................................................................................................ xi Part 1. Cultural Astronomy, Skyscape and Ontology: How Celestial Objects and Events have Featured in the Belief Systems, Cosmologies and Woldviews of Different Societies................................................................... 1   Roslyn M. Frank and Lionel D. Sims 1. Do Ancient Egyptian Almanacs Show Evidence of Celestial Recurrence?............................................................... 3 Rolf Krauss and Victor Reijs 1.1 Introduction................................................................................................................................................................ 3 1.2 Pharaonic menologies and hemerologies .................................................................................................................. 3 1.3 Schematic distribution of one third of all prognoses ................................................................................................ 3 1.4 Transformation of the almanac’s intervals into time points ...................................................................................... 4 1.5 Explanation of the period ~2.85................................................................................................................................. 5 1.6 Explanation of the split differences ........................................................................................................................... 5 1.7 Arithmetic conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 6 1.8 Different statistical techniques for periodicity analysis............................................................................................. 6 1.9 Can Rayleigh test be used to determine periodicity in the data series?..................................................................... 6 1.10 Dependence on the placement of the time points over the day................................................................................ 6 1.11 Comparing different sources.................................................................................................................................... 7 1.12 Comparing different statistical techniques for periodicities..................................................................................... 7 1.13 Fixed almanac prognoses relating to recurrent celestial events............................................................................... 8 1.14 Statistical conclusions.............................................................................................................................................. 9 1.15 Overall conclusions.................................................................................................................................................. 9 2. “Cosmic” Containers − Elements and Representatives of Ancient Cosmovisions..................................................11 Barbara Rappenglück 2.1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................. 11 2.2 Notional “cosmic containers” in mythical cosmovisions........................................................................................ 12 2.3 Containers with cosmic symbolism......................................................................................................................... 12 2.3.1 Shape............................................................................................................................................................... 12 2.3.2 Material........................................................................................................................................................... 13 2.3.3 Manufacturing................................................................................................................................................. 13 2.3.4 Décor............................................................................................................................................................... 14 2.3.5 Context of use................................................................................................................................................. 15 2.4 Conclusion............................................................................................................................................................... 15 3. Solstice Azimuths as Design Elements at Angkor Wat and Nearby Temples......................................................... 19 William F. Romain 3.1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................. 19 3.2 Methods.................................................................................................................................................................... 19 3.3 Results...................................................................................................................................................................... 21 3.3.1 Angkor Wat..................................................................................................................................................... 21 3.3.2 Other Nearby Sites.......................................................................................................................................... 21 3.4 Discussion................................................................................................................................................................ 21 3.5 Concluding remarks................................................................................................................................................. 25 4. Returning from the Underworld: The West Kennet Palisades in the Avebury Monument Complex.................. 27 Lionel D. Sims 4.1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................. 27 4.2 Framing the West Kennet Palisades......................................................................................................................... 28 4.3 The archaeology of the West Kennet Palisades........................................................................................................ 30 4.4 The skyscape archaeology of Enclosure 2 of the West Kennet Palisades................................................................ 31 4.5 Conclusion............................................................................................................................................................... 33

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Contents Part 2. Frontiers in Theory, Methodology and Education within Cultural Astronomy............................................. 35  Michael A. Rappenglück and Georg Zotti 5. B  eyond Paradigms: Archaeoastronomy as a New Interpretation Key to Understand the Function and Meaning of Ancient Roman Buildings............................................................................................... 37 Marina De Franceschini 5.1 Foreword.................................................................................................................................................................. 37 5.2 Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli (Rome).............................................................................................................................. 37 5.3 The Pantheon............................................................................................................................................................ 38 5.3.1 Previous studies.............................................................................................................................................. 38 5.3.2 The hierophanies of the Pantheon .................................................................................................................. 38 5.3.3 Our discovery: the hierophanies of the Arc of Light and the Square of Light............................................... 39 5.3.4 The symbolic meaning of the Arc of Light .................................................................................................... 41 5.4 Conclusions on the Pantheon................................................................................................................................... 42 6. Astronomical Data and Their Usefulness for Dating Ancient Societies.................................................................. 45 Rita Gautschy 6.1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................. 45 6.2 Ancient Egyptian Calendars..................................................................................................................................... 45 6.3 Ancient Mesopotamian Calendars........................................................................................................................... 46 6.4 General problems..................................................................................................................................................... 46 6.5 Egypt in the first half of the second millennium BCE............................................................................................. 47 6.6 Mesopotamia in the first half of the second millennium BCE................................................................................. 48 6.7 Conclusions.............................................................................................................................................................. 49 7. T  eaching Cultural Astronomy to Undergraduates with an Interdisciplinary Frame............................................ 51 Jarita C. Holbrook 7.1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................. 51 7.2 What to teach? ......................................................................................................................................................... 51 7.3 Astronomy, Maps, and Mapping.............................................................................................................................. 52 7.4 Data Collection Methods and Case Studies............................................................................................................. 52 7.5 Student Responses.................................................................................................................................................... 53 7.6 Conclusions.............................................................................................................................................................. 53 8. T  he Chiemgau Impact: Evidence of a Latest Bronze Age/Early Iron Age Meteorite Impact in the Archaeological Record, and Resulting Critical Considerations of Catastrophism................................................ 57 Barbara Rappenglück, Michael Hiltl and Kord Ernstson 8.1 Introduction: Did meteorite impacts shape human cultures?................................................................................... 57 8.2 Holocene meteorite impacts and presumed cultural implications: some caveats.................................................... 58 8.3 New aspects from the Holocene Chiemgau meteorite impact................................................................................. 58 8.3.1 The Holocene Chiemgau Impact ..................................................................................................................... 58 8.3.2 The verification of a meteorite impact in an archaeological context by artefacts constituting part of an impact rock − the first evidence worldwide............................................................................................. 59 8.3.3 The dating of the Holocene Chiemgau meteorite impact................................................................................. 61 8.4 The question of a cultural catastrophe scenario....................................................................................................... 61 8.4.1 Consequences on the supra-regional level? ..................................................................................................... 61 8.4.2 Consequences on a local scale? ....................................................................................................................... 61 8.5 Conclusion............................................................................................................................................................... 62 9. H  ow Do We Know What They Were Thinking? Archaeoastronomy between Science and Speculation − Palaeolithic Case Studies............................................................................................................. 65 Michael A. Rappenglück 9.1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................. 65 9.2 From Astro-Archaeology to Cultural Astronomy.................................................................................................... 65 9.3 How can the range of topics and the methodology of Cultural Astronomy be determined? .................................. 66 9.4 The Integral Methodology as a scientific approach − Case studies from the Palaeolithic....................................... 66 9.5 Some points of an Integral Methodology................................................................................................................. 66 9.6 Conclusion............................................................................................................................................................... 69

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Contents 10. Archaeoastronomical Sites as Fields of Relationship.............................................................................................. 73 Stanisław Iwaniszewski 10.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................... 73 10.2 Relational Ontologies........................................................................................................................................... 74 10.3 Ingold’s relational fields....................................................................................................................................... 75 10.4 Towards a relational ontological approach in archaeoastronomy........................................................................ 76 10.5 Alignments .......................................................................................................................................................... 76 10.6 Archaeoastronomical sites as relational fields..................................................................................................... 76 10.7 Conclusions.......................................................................................................................................................... 78 11. Some Thoughts on the Skycultures in Stellarium................................................................................................... 81 Georg Zotti and Alexander Wolf 11.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 81 11.2 The “skyculture” concept in Stellarium............................................................................................................... 81 11.3 Non-Western constellation concepts.................................................................................................................... 83 11.4 Lost in Translation? ............................................................................................................................................. 84 11.5 Classification........................................................................................................................................................ 84 11.6 Future work.......................................................................................................................................................... 85 12. Virtual Archaeoastronomy with Stellarium: An Overview.................................................................................... 87 Georg Zotti 12.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................... 87 12.2 A Software Gap.................................................................................................................................................... 87 12.2.1 Archaeology............................................................................................................................................... 87 12.2.2 Astronomy.................................................................................................................................................. 88 12.3 Bridging the Gap.................................................................................................................................................. 89 12.3.1 The Landscape Horizon............................................................................................................................. 89 12.3.2 Four-dimensional Virtual Archaeoastronomy ........................................................................................... 89 12.4 Limitations........................................................................................................................................................... 90 12.5 Discussion and Future Work................................................................................................................................ 91 Part 3. The Archaeology of Astronomy: Concepts of Space and Time Materialised in Cultures.............................. 93 Ivan Šprajc, and Juan A. Belmonte 13. Pisces, a Zodiac Sign Engraved on a Nabataean Tomb Façade in Hegra.............................................................. 95 Munirah Almushawh 13.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................... 95 13.2 Concepts of Space and Time Materialized in the Nabataean Civilization........................................................... 96 13.2.1 Nabataean artifacts featuring astronomical elements and time tracking tools.......................................... 97 13.3 Results and Analysis ........................................................................................................................................... 98 13.4 Discussion ........................................................................................................................................................... 99 14. Orientation Analysis of the Monumental Architectural Remains at Phrygian Site Kerkenes, Turkey............ 101 A. Iraz Alpay 14.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................................................ 101 14.2 Kerkenes............................................................................................................................................................. 102 14.3 Archaeoastronomical Analysis and Results....................................................................................................... 103 14.4 Discussion.......................................................................................................................................................... 106 14.5 Conclusion......................................................................................................................................................... 108 15. Cultural Astronomy: Material Culture, Astronomy, Astrology and Power........................................................111 Nicholas Campion 15.1 Pilgrimage and Ritual......................................................................................................................................... 112 15.2 The Built Environment....................................................................................................................................... 112 15.3 Discussion.......................................................................................................................................................... 113

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Contents 16. I n the Light of the Milky Way: An Interpretative Key for Crux-Centaurus Alignments Across Prehistoric Europe ...................................................................................................................................................115 Ilaria Cristofaro 16.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................................................ 115 16.2 Literature review: Orientations to the Crux-Centaurus...................................................................................... 116 16.3 Investigation and Analysis................................................................................................................................. 118  16.3.1 Testing visibility...................................................................................................................................... 118  16.3.2 The turning of the Milky Way................................................................................................................. 118  16.3.3 The laying of the Milky Way on the landscape....................................................................................... 120 16.4 Discussion.......................................................................................................................................................... 121 16.5 Conclusion......................................................................................................................................................... 122 17. Etruscan Temples and the Sun: An Analysis on the Orientation of Etruscan Sacred Buildings...................... 125 Antonio Paolo Pernigotti 17.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................................................ 125 17.2 A critical analysis of the sample and a comparison with ancient Greek temples���������������������������������������������� 128 17.3 Concluding remarks........................................................................................................................................... 128 18. H  armony of Light and Geometry in Medieval Cistercian Churches in Italy and Switzerland from the 12th-13th Centuries................................................................................................................................................. 133 Eva Spinazzè 18.1 Methodology...................................................................................................................................................... 133 18.2 Religion, liturgy and ritual................................................................................................................................. 134 18.3 Orientation and light incidence.......................................................................................................................... 135 18.4 Geometry and proportion................................................................................................................................... 138 18.5 Conclusion......................................................................................................................................................... 142 19. T  he Relevance of Archaeoastronomy to Understanding Urban Planning and Landscape Formation in Mesoamerica............................................................................................................................................................. 145 Ivan Šprajc 19.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................................................ 145 19.2 Orientations in Mesoamerican Architecture....................................................................................................... 145 19.3 Astronomical Alignments and Urban Planning ................................................................................................. 146   19.3.1 Teotihuacan.............................................................................................................................................. 146   19.3.2 Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan................................................................................................................ 147   19.3.3 La Campana............................................................................................................................................. 148   19.3.4 Cantona.................................................................................................................................................... 148   19.3.5 Eastern Campeche, Mexico..................................................................................................................... 148   19.3.6 Survivals.................................................................................................................................................. 148 19.4 Conclusion......................................................................................................................................................... 149 20. B  ronze Age Rock Art and 20th-Century Oil-On-Canvas Impressions of Constellation Crux, the Southern Cross................................................................................................................................................... 153 Christiaan Sterken 20.1 Configurations identified as Crux...................................................................................................................... 153   20.1.1 Crux in Mont Bego rock art.................................................................................................................... 153   20.1.2 The form of the Crux asterism................................................................................................................ 154   20.1.3 Crux petroglyphs in the Valle Hermoso.................................................................................................. 154   20.1.4 Crux petroglyphs in the Agua Botada region ....................................................................................... 154   20.1.5 Crux engravings on the Hornsby Plateau............................................................................................... 154 20.2 Twentieth-century artist views of Crux.............................................................................................................. 155   20.2.1 The 1971 artwork..................................................................................................................................... 155   20.2.2 The 1972 painting..................................................................................................................................... 155 20.3 Stellar magnitudes.............................................................................................................................................. 155   20.3.1 Stellar magnitudes for Agua Botada/Valle Hermoso............................................................................... 155   20.3.2 Stellar magnitudes for La Silla................................................................................................................. 155 20.4 Inconsistencies in the artworks.......................................................................................................................... 157   20.4.1 The 1971 artwork..................................................................................................................................... 157   20.4.2 The 1972 painting..................................................................................................................................... 157

viii

Contents 20.5 Discussion.......................................................................................................................................................... 158 20.6 Summary............................................................................................................................................................ 158 20.7 A propos of the artist’s gaze............................................................................................................................... 158 21. T  he Prehistoric Taula Sanctuaries and the Contemporary Barraques of Minorca: A Comparative Analysis within the Framework of Cultural Astronomy...................................................................................... 161 Maitane Urrutia-Aparicio and Juan A. Belmonte 21.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................................................ 161 21.2 Principal monuments.......................................................................................................................................... 161   21.2.1 Dolmens.................................................................................................................................................. 161   21.2.2 Burial Navetas........................................................................................................................................ 161   21.2.3 Taula Sancturaries................................................................................................................................... 162 21.3 An experiment of verification: Taula sanctuaries vs. Barraques........................................................................ 163 21.4 Comparative analysis......................................................................................................................................... 166 21.5 Conclusions........................................................................................................................................................ 166 Volume Editors................................................................................................................................................................ 169

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Foreword The 27th annual meeting of the Société Européenne pour l’Astronomie dans la Culture (SEAC) took place in Bern and was celebrated jointly with the 25th European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) annual meeting whose title was ‘Beyond Paradigms in Archaeology’. This is the main reason for the title of the present volume. This confluence took advantage of the invitation on the part of the EAA to celebrate together for the first time the two annual meetings. The conference took place in Bern (Switzerland) from September 4th until September 7th, 2019. The SEAC meeting was structured in three main sessions with several invited talks, oral presentations and posters. There was also a round table with an open debate to discuss on the role of Cultural Astronomy within Archaeology and the Humanities in general. The present volume includes a good number of the presentations at the three main sessions of the meeting.

However, Cultural Astronomy and particularly SEAC do explore such role of the heavens from the perspectives of the Anthropological sciences. In this sense, a number of papers were also presented at that meeting. In addition, some of them are present in the first part of the present volume (Cultural Astronomy, Skyscape and Ontology: how celestial objects and events have featured in the belief systems, cosmologies and woldviews of different societies).

In the last years it has been the norm that SEAC meetings lasted for five days, however, to accommodate fully within the EAA schedule, this meeting was shorter and perhaps more focused on the archaeological part of Cultural Astronomy.

Indeed, some papers are a review of previous knowledge, as it was intended that a large fraction of the invited talks should be devoted to offer archaeologists (the main public attending an EAA meeting) an up to date view of Cultural Astronomy matters. Most of these, though, are not present in this volume. For such the reader is referred to the recently edited Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy. However, some papers do include nonetheless such reviews. Most papers in this volume, then, include a short summary of recent research in widely different areas, from Roman light and shadow effects to highlight power, to how astronomy and archaeoastronomy are presented and thought. From Mayan city organization to Etruscan temple orientation and the ontology of the sky.

Finally, in the last decades SEAC has been deeply concern with the methodology and theoretical issues of our discipline. As a central part of every scientific endeavour, we offer here a number of interesting papers on different topics related to the methodology and theory of Cultural Astronomy (Frontiers in Theory, Methodology and Education within Cultural Astronomy).

Cultural Astronomy, as the endeavour to explore and understand the role of the sky in past and present societies, and how they have incorporated such into their culture, includes a part closely related to archaeology. This is what has traditionally been called archaeoastronomy. Recent attempts to bridge the gap even further include the proposal to incorporate archaeoastronomy as part of Landscape Archaeology, or even further to devise a new corpus named Skyscape Archaeology. Papers on these issues are presented in the last part of these proceedings (The Archaeology of Astronomy: Concepts of Space and Time Materialised in Cultures).

César González-García President of SEAC on behalf of the editors

xi

Part 1 Cultural Astronomy, Skyscape and Ontology: How Celestial Objects and Events have Featured in the Belief Systems, Cosmologies and Woldviews of Different Societies Part editors: Roslyn M. Frank and Lionel D. Sims also serve as a basis for reflecting on the various conceptual vocabularies developed within Cultural Astronomy for the analysis of these and other related questions. What ethnographic examples of cosmology allow us to evaluate closely the extant methods and theories utilized in Cultural Astronomy? Are our concepts sufficiently sensitive to capture and respect the details of a local cosmology? Is there any evidence or justification for universal properties in the skyscape attributes of the world’s cosmologies? Or, stated differently, is there evidence for more complex patterns that link the world’s cosmologies? And, finally, how can these debates hone and develop the present approaches and methods available to researchers working in Cultural Astronomy?

All cultures have a skyscape but their cultural appropriation of the patterns in the sky is variable. Ontological interpretations of this relation have varied from universal claims of the rise of the astronomy of sky objects to relativistic representations of the sky rooted in culture rather than heavenly entities or events. Over the last five decades Cultural Astronomy has developed an interdisciplinary methodological and theoretical pluralism to meet the challenges posed by this complex association between sky and culture, skyscape and landscape. The part includes contributions that address how celestial objects and events have been integrated into belief systems across the world. Contributions addressing the way that sky resources have been appropriated by different cultures can

1

1 Do Ancient Egyptian Almanacs Show Evidence of Celestial Recurrence? Rolf Krauss and Victor Reijs Abstract: Jetsu & Porceddu published between 2008 and 2018 a series of articles in prestigious journals arguing that the ancient Egyptians coded the lunar cycle and the variability of Algol in their almanacs. The document on which they base their study is a kind of almanac from the 13th century BC with prognoses for a propitious and unpropitious course of events during an Egyptian civil year, each day divided into three parts with its own prognosis. The authors expressed the sequence of prognoses as a series of time points and checked with the Rayleigh test whether the points are randomly distributed or show periodicity. They found a period which is apparently lunar, but also a period of 2.85 days, which they explain as correlating with the period of Algol’s change in brightness. This paper questions these findings from several angles: the influence of time point location over the day, an arithmetic evaluation of found periodicity and a statistical evaluation of several different statistical techniques. This results in the authors conclusion that any celestial recurrency is not per definition coded in the almanacs. Independent ethnographic evidence would be needed. Keywords: statistical evaluation, ancient Egyptian astronomy, hemerologies. 1.1 Introduction

philological edition of Cairo 86637 to which everybody refers, the Helsinki team included, was published by Egyptologist C. Leitz (Leitz 1994). The Cairo calendar and its variants are almanacs, i.e. texts with information for a year. Egyptologists characterise menologies and hemerologies as perennial: one and the same scheme was to be used for ever (Brunner-Traut 1986 155; Leitz 1994, 8). The perennial use is self-evident insofar as no calendric specific month or year is ever indicated. The almanac is based on the Egyptian civil calendar of 365 days which lacks a leap day resulting in a shift of calendar dates versus the natural year. The almanac or its copies have been in use for at least 350 years from ca. 1250 BC to 900 BC during which time the Egyptian calendar and the almanac fell behind the solar year by about 90 days. Nevertheless, an excerpt which is 300 years younger than the oldest manuscript presents the same relation of calendar dates and prognoses as the older version. This does not exclude the possibility that events of specific years have been entered into the almanac as calendrically perennial events.

Between 2008 and 2018, a Helsinki based team of astronomers and Egyptologists published a series of articles in prestigious journals, arguing on the basis of the prognostic Calendar Cairo 86637 and its variants that the ancient Egyptians observed the periodic variability in brightness of the fixed star Algol and used the period for predicting lucky and unlucky days (Jetsu, Porceddu et alii 2008; 2013; 2015; 2018). Until now, no astronomer or Egyptologist has reacted in print to the Algol hypothesis. It cannot be reconciled with current Egyptological knowledge. As far as astronomy is concerned, it is noteworthy that the variability of Algol was discovered in 1669 AD; furthermore, the Algol period of 2.867 days was first determined in 1783. 1.2 Pharaonic menologies and hemerologies The superstitious concept of lucky/propitious and unlucky/ unpropitious days is known from Pharaonic Egypt (see the list in Brunner-Traut 1986, 153−154), and independently from early Mesopotamia (Labat 1972−75); much later Hesiod attests to the concept in Greece (Hesiod, Erga); propitious and unpropitious days were officially accepted by the Roman state (Webster 1916, 295).

1.3 Schematic distribution of one third of all prognoses The almanac days have the format of an Egyptian calendar day, consisting of a numbered month, a season and a numbered calendar day, implying a full calendar day, including the night. There are no indications that the daily three almanac prognoses cover less than a full calendar day. Granted that humans are mostly active at daytime and that there is less activity during the night. Still, some

Propitious and unpropitious days were in general organised as menologies (days of a month) or hemerologies (days of a year). The calendar Cairo 86637 and its copies are the basis for the Algol hypothesis. In 1994 the standard 3

Rolf Krauss and Victor Reijs prognoses are for the evening or the night (see Leitz 1994, 480) and in one instance a complete 24-hour calendar day is prognosed as unlucky: all three parts of II shemu sw 21 or almanac day 291 are unpropitious. The advice is: “do not go out of the house until dawn”, and since all three parts of the calendar day are unlucky the advice can only refer to the dawn at the end of the calendar day/ beginning of the next calendar day. The conclusion is that the three parts of an almanac day cover a complete 24hour Egyptian calendar day and that the third part of the almanac’s calendar day refers to nighttime.

Thus, they establish altogether 37 series of time points in various combinations of lucky and unlucky days. In what follows the reference is always to Helsinki series 32 which is the largest consisting of as many as 564 propitious prognoses (Porceddu et al. 2008, Table 2). They transform the intervals of the almanac into a series of time points as follows: Almanac Day 1 is equated with Gregorian July 7 and daylight as time between sunrise and sunset of each almanac day is divided into three parts with a time point in each part. The equation between almanac day 1 and Gregorian July 7 was not well founded. The basis is a convoluted guess by Leitz 1989, 7−17, criticized by Krauss 2000, 75−79. though without relevant consequences. At first the Helsinki team counted Gregorian July 7 as Gregorian day 187. Actually, they should have counted July 7 (Greg.) as day 188, since they counted January 1 (Greg.) as day 1. and Dec 21 (Greg.) as day 355. When informed about the mistake, they responded that they themselves had recognized the discrepancy and corrected it. Later they found a way to circumvent the equation of the almanac’s days with specific Gregorian days (Jetsu 2015, 23). The Helsinki equation for the time point unit (u) is:

The Cairo calendar follows in general the simple structure of the almanac calendar with its 12 months of 30 days each. By contrast to the civil calendar the almanac divides each calendar day into three intervals, each with its own prognosis, either propitious or unpropitious. The almanac leaves out the five additional days at the end of the Egyptian year, a feature which is well known from other Egyptian calendric documents. Thus, in its original form without damages the almanac offered his readers altogether 3 × 30 × 12 = 1080 prognoses. Four months or a third of the prognoses are placed within the almanac according to a fixed scheme. The three parts of all first days of each month are lucky without exception. The second days are also lucky with the exception of month IX in which that day is unlucky. The situation is paralleled by the last day of each month which are lucky with the exception of month VI. By contrast, day 20 of each month is consistently unlucky.

(daylight hours) 1 × =u 6 (24 hours) The divisor 6 is the decisive parameter. It has been chosen to yield “the middle of the four hours of the morning”. Table 1.1 presents the time points (tp) 1 to 3 at fall equinox (almanac day 78), winter solstice (day 168) and summer solstice (day 350), provided almanac day 1 = July 7 (Greg.). A time point consists of an integer for the almanac day number and a fraction of the day. Each day has three such fractions, namely the unit fraction, three times and five times the unit.

The text offers rationales for many of the prognoses, though not for all. One example may suffice: The first part of day 164 is unpropitious, the second and third parts are propitious. The first part is unpropitious, since at dawn the god Seth, standing at the prow of the rising solar bark, fights a demon who threatens the sun god. No comparable dangerous situation is mentioned for the rest of the calendar day, and the remaining two parts are propitious, though without further reason. In some cases, the rationales for consecutive days can be connected (see in general Leitz 1994, 483). Presumably, the author of the almanac was in principle free to choose a mythological event or whatever to qualify a calendar day as good or bad. The Helsinki team assumes that the almanac’s rationales consist of random and periodic components (Jetsu et al., 2008, 330, 333, 336). The Helsinki team finds that the author of the almanac followed the numerical scheme of the Algol period.

The Helsinki definition of time points places time point 1 at the earliest 1h 42m after sunrise (winter solstice), time point 3 at the latest 11h 47m after sunrise (summer solstice). As far as the published data are concerned, the Helsinki team restricts the three time points to daylight as time between sunrise and sunset. They also tested other time points without finding significant changes in the periodicities (Porceddu et al. 2008, 331; 2013,2). In their daily life the Egyptians had to follow the rising and setting of the sun. Thus, it is justifiable to transform the three prognoses of an almanac day into a series of time points which depend on the changing declination of the sun. Since time measuring devices (clocks) were not employed in daily life, it remains open how the users of the prognostic calendar were supposed to determine the three intervals of the day.

1.4 Transformation of the almanac’s intervals into time points

Table 1.1. Time points (tp) 1 to 3 at fall equinox (almanac day 78), winter solstice (day 168) and summer solstice (day 350), provided almanac day 1 = July 7 (Greg.)

At least two thirds of the prognoses appear to be randomly distributed. Regardless of the schematic allocation of one third of the prognoses all prognoses might be structured; good or bad prognoses might repeat periodically. In order to determine possible periods, the Helsinki team splits the almanacs prognoses into series of good or bad prognoses.

fall equinox winter solstice summer solstice

4

tp 1 (u) 78.083 168.071 350.094

tp 2 (3u) 78.249 168.215 350.282

tp 3 (5u) 78.415 168.355 350.470

Do Ancient Egyptian Almanacs Show Evidence of Celestial Recurrence? 1.5 Explanation of the period ~2.85

Table 1.2. Days 85 to 93 with good prognoses; each day is divided into three time points

The Helsinki team checked their series of time points with the Rayleigh Test for possible periods. For series 32 the test yielded 29.39 days as best period, 7.5 and 2.851 days as second and third best periods. A period of 2.851 days is reminiscent of the period of Algol’s changing brightness of 2.867 days. The Helsinki answer to the discrepancy is that the Algol period is slowly increasing and amounted in the Pharaonic era to less than today, namely to about only 2.85 days. It is possible to explain the time point period of about 2.85 days in another way. For introductory remarks about the Algol hypotheses, see Thompson (2018).

lucky days

Let us ask the question: How do values of 2.85 days come about in the time point series and what are their arithmetic properties? The basic premises are that a time point has a place within a prognostic interval and that differences between time points correlate to differences between prognostic intervals in the almanac. It is trivial that distances between 9 prognoses correspond to differences of 3 days, 1 and distances between 7 prognoses to 2 + days in the 3 almanac, and distances between 8 prognoses correspond 2 to 2 + in the almanac. Thus, a time point period of ~2.85 3 days, i.e. a periodic difference of ~2.85 between time 2 points, conforms to 2 + days in the almanac. 3 Let us look at a specific example of time points and their differences in Helsinki series 32. Table 1.2 presents days 85 to 93 with good prognoses; each day is divided into three time points. There is a gap in the series of lucky days, since day 92 is an unlucky day. The time points of Table 1.2 yield differences of about 2.84 days at distances of 8 prognoses. But there is also an unexpected difference of about 2.3 days between 8 prognoses. The value 2.3 is neither coincidental nor isolated, actually it occurs according to a pattern: a difference of about 2.3 follows on two differences close to 2.8, or vice versa.

differences of 8 prognoses

a

85.082

b

85.244

2.837 = j − b

c

85.409

2.835 = k − c

d

86.082

e

86.245

2.836 = m − e

f

86.408

2.835 = n − f

g

87.081

h

87.244

2.837 = p − h

i

87.407

2.836 = q − i

j

88.081

k

88.244

2.843 = s − k

l

88.406

2.834 = t − l

m

89.081

n

89.243

o

89.405

p

90.081

q

90.243

2.837 = v − q

r

90.404

2.837 = w − r

s

91.087

t

91.240

u

91.403

unlucky days

2.325 = i − a

2.324 = d − l

2.324 = o − g

2.323 = r − j

2.322 = u − m

2.314 = u − x

92.081 92.24 92.403

My explanation is that the Helsinki procedure of changing the almanac’s intervals into time points splits the differences which correspond to 8 prognoses into three values, two slightly larger than 2 + 2 , namely about 2.8, 3 and one slightly smaller, namely about 2.3. The arithmetic mean of the three differences is for all practical purposes 2 identical with 2 + : 3

v

93.080

w

93.2409

x

93.4015

1.6 Explanation of the split differences Arithmetically the split differences result as follows: if three minuends belong to one and the same integer, i.e. same day, then the respective subtrahends at distances of 8 prognoses belong to two adjacent integers, i.e. adjacent days, or vice versa. Let us look again at time points between days 90 to 94 and their differences which correspond to 8 prognoses. The deviations in the decimals are very small, amounting for example to 1/2 minute per day between winter solstice and equinox. Therefore, one may round off the decimals of adjacent days, use a constant value u and express the differences of 8 prognoses as indicated in Table 1.3.

(2 × 2.8 + 2.3) 2 ≈2+ 3 3 2 + 2 is the constant difference between 8 prognoses in 3 the almanac as primary data; this specific property of the almanac is preserved by the transformation into time points. 5

Rolf Krauss and Victor Reijs Table 1.3. Prognoses differences. For details, see text p minus h

(90 + u) − (87 + 3u) = 3 − 2u

q minus i

(90 + 3u) − (87 + 5u) = 3 − 2u

r minus j

(90 + 5u) - (88 + u) = 2 + 4u

The resulting differences are twice (3 − 2u) and once 2 (2 + 4u). The arithmetic mean of the three values is 2 + : 3 ((2 + 4u) + 2 × (3 − 2u)) ((2 + 4u) + (6 − 4u)) = 3 3 2 8        = = 2 + 3 3 In other words: the change of the almanac’s intervals into time points splits the differences which correspond to 8 prognoses into three values the arithmetic mean of which 2 is 2 + . This is the same value which we get directly from 3 the almanac and its intervals. Analogously the differences of seven prognoses split in two differences which are 1 smaller than 2 + and one which is larger; the arithmetic 3 1 mean is 2 + as one might expect. 3

Figure 1.1. Angle distribution at 2.851 day periodicity, when HT-CC time points are distributed over daytime.

1.7 Arithmetic conclusion The periodicity of about 2.85 has nothing to do with Algol. Rather ~2.85 follows from the simple arithmetic of the tri-partition of the almanac’s days and its transformation into time points. R.K. 1.8 Different statistical techniques for periodicity analysis The time points (series 32, Cairo calendar) used by the Helsinki team (Porceddu, 2008) have some gaps, due to lost almanac entries. These time points are referred to as HT-CC time points. C. Leitz (1994) filled in these gaps to his best knowledge. The resulting time points are referred to as CL time points. The Rayleigh, Broadbent, and FFT techniques were implemented in the ARCHAEOCOSMO package (Reijs, 2006); an Excel and R based tool for archaeocosmology.

Figure 1.2.Angle distribution at 29.39 day periodicity, when HT-CC time points are distributed over daytime.

2013). For all periodicities the test shows no unimodality (p ~ 0.05). The question now is: does this multimodality diminish the effectiveness of the Rayleigh test value (z) significantly? For this reason, the Raleigh test results need to be carefully evaluated.

1.9 Can Rayleigh test be used to determine periodicity in the data series?

1.10 Dependence on the placement of the time points over the day

Rayleigh test evaluates the angle distribution against the (unimodal) von Mises distribution (Zar, 2010, page 625). The periodicities for Gut (G) days are determined in such a way that a local maximum for the standard Rayleigh test value (z) was achieved. This was performed around 2.85 day and 30 day periodicities. The angle distribution can be seen for the 2.851 day periodicity in Figure 1.1 and for the 29.39 days periodicity in Figure 1.2. The Hartigans’ dip test for unimodality has been used on the angle distributions (Freeman&Dale,

Figure 1.1 shows the angle distribution when time points are distributed over daytime (aka the Sun above the horizon), while Figure 1.3 shows the angle distribution when time points are equally distributed over 24 hours. The form of two figures is more or less similar, but for equally spaced over 24 hours, the critical level Q (=1E-2) just reaches 1% significant. So, the 2.851 day periodicity

6

Do Ancient Egyptian Almanacs Show Evidence of Celestial Recurrence?

Figure 1.3. Angle distribution at 2.851 day periodicity, when HT-CC time points are equally distributed over 24 hours.

Figure 1.4. Angle distribution at 2.851 day periodicity, when CL time points are placed over daytime.

looks to be slightly dependent on where the time points are placed over the day.

(Broadbent, 1955; Thom, 1967; Grieve&Pesonen, 1996) and Fast Fourier Transform (Walker, 2017) can be utilised to evaluate periodicities. Their properties relevant for this comparison are shown in Table 1.3.

1.11 Comparing different sources

To be able to compare the techniques we need to provide all CL time points equally spaced over 24 hours. For FFT we code the time points as 1 for Gut and 0 for Schlecht, the other techniques use only the Gut time points. To gain enough resolution, FFT needs 8192 time points by repeating the almanac time points (1080 = 3 × 360) several times. The other two techniques only needed one year of almanac time points. As FFT does not provide a critical level, the critical level cannot be evaluated in this comparison. In Figure 1.5 and Table 1.4 one can see the important periodicities between 1.25 and 35 days for the three techniques.

When comparing the resulting periodicity and angle distribution of Helsinki team (Figure 1.1) with Leitz (Figure 1.4), we see that both have a local maximum at periodicity of 2.851 days and the angle distributions look similar. The critical level from Helsinki team’s dataset (Q = 2E-3) is significant, but from Lietz’s dataset (Q = 3E-1) is not significant at 1%. So an answer to the question mentioned under FAQ 5 (Porceddu, 2018, page 260) is; the significance level becomes higher when using the filled-in time point gaps with Lietz’s entries (1994). 1.12 Comparing different statistical techniques for periodicities

Rayleigh’s results might be different, due to the earlier mentioned multimodality of the angle distributions. The 30 days match one twelfth of an almanac year (360 days), the 7.5 days match one forty-eighth and 2.85 days would

In FAQ 6 (Porceddu, 2019, page 260) there is explained why χ2-test is not suitable for the HT-CC data set. But Broadbent

Figure 1.5. Comparing techniques for periodicities.

7

Rolf Krauss and Victor Reijs So all periodicities are very close to integer values of the almanac’s periodicity (360 days), that is, they could be seen as harmonics of it.

Table 1.4. Calculated periodicities Period 1 [day]

Period 2 [day]

Period 3 [day]

Rayleigh

2.851

7.49

29.4

Broadbent

n/a

7.51

30.0

2.856

7.50

30.0

Method

FFT

1.13 Fixed almanac prognoses relating to recurrent celestial events In some way this section is somewhat related to FAQ 2 (Porceddu, 2015, page 259). The almanac year of 360 days is repeated again after 5 epagomenal days: resulting in the Egyptian civil year (360 + 5 days). Possible recurrent celestial events will thus unlikely be kept synchronised to a fixed almanac day over multiple Egyptian civil year. Assume we have a 2.85 and 29.53 day recurrent celestial event. The 2.85 day recurrence could result in a beat of every 14 Egyptian civil years (Figure 1.6). Because half of the 2.85 day recurrence (around 1.4 days) is so close to an observational accuracy of 1 day, this non-synchronicity might not be experienced.

Table 1.5. Properties of different techniques Time point Method

Number Critical years level

gaps?

spacing

G-S

allowed

any

G  S

1

yes

Broadbent allowed

any

G  S

1

yes

equal

G&S

several

no

Rayleigh FFT

no

be close to one hundred twenty sixth. It would be precisely one hundred twenty sixth if periodicity is 2.857 days (thus close to FFT’s value of 2.856 days). These harmonics could indicate that the 2.85 days periodicity is not be connected to Algol (so related to FAQ 11 (Porceddu, 2015, page 260)).

For a 29.53 day recurrence a beat of around 2.7 Egyptian civil years emerges. And considerable non-synchronicity would be apparent (Figure 1.7).

Figure 1.6. 2.85 day recurrence out of synchronisation with Egyptian civil year.

Figure 1.7. 29.53 day recurrence out of synchronisation with Egyptian civil year.

8

Do Ancient Egyptian Almanacs Show Evidence of Celestial Recurrence? 1.14 Statistical conclusions

Leitz, C. 1994. Tagewählerei. Das Buch h3t nhh ph.wy dt und verwandte Texte. Wiesbaden:Text- & Tafelband, ÄA 55.

According to the Helsinki team the 2.851 day periodicity aligns with Algol (2.850 days around 1000 BC), while the 30 day periodicity aligns with synodic Moon (29.53 days in 1224 BC). From the above analysis with different techniques, it might be concluded that the calculated periodicities are more related to harmonics of the almanac year (360 days). Furthermore, keeping the continuation of almanac years (within Egyptian civil years) synchronised with celestial events is not simple. Of course, the recurrence of a celestial event might be coded as periodicities in one almanac year, but to be sure about that, one needs ethnographic evidence. V. R.

Porceddu S., L. Jetsu, et al. 2008. “Evidence of periodicity in ancient Egyptian calendars of lucky and unlucky days”, Cambridge Archaeological Journal 18.3: 327−339. Porceddu S., L. Jetsu, et al. 2018. “Algol as Horus in the Cairo Calendar: The possible meaning and the motives for the observation”. Open astronomy 27 (2018) 232−264 Reijs, V.M.M. 2006. ARCHAEOCOSMO package, http:// www.archaeocosmology.org/eng/archaeocosmoproc­ edures.htm.

1.15 Overall conclusions

Thom, A. 1967. Megalithic sites in Britain, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Looking at the evaluation achieved using arithmetic and statistical tools, it is not significantly demonstrated that any celestial recurrence is not per definition coded in the almanacs. Much more independent ethnographic evidence would be needed. 

Thompson, G.D. 2018. “Episodic Survey of the History of the Constellations”, http://www.members.westnet.com. au/gary-david-thompson/page11−28.html. Walker, J.S. 2017. Fast Fourier Transform, CRC Press.

References

Webster, H. H. 1916. Rest Days. A study in early law and morality, New York.

Broadbent, S.R. 1955. “Quantum hypothesis”, Biometrika 42: 45−57.

Zar, J.H. 2011. Biostatistical analysis. New Jersey: Pearson.

Freeman, J.B. & Dale R. 2013. “Assessing bimodality to detect the presence of a dual cognitive process”, Behavior Research Methods 45:83−87. Brunner-Traut, E. 1986. s. v. Tagewählerei, Lexikon der Ägyptologie VI, Wiesbaden, 153−154. Grieve, R.A.F. & Pesonen L.J. 1996. “Terrestrial impact craters: Their spatial and temporal distribution and impacting bodies”, Earth, Moon, and Planets 72: 357−376. Hesiod, Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia (Loeb Classical Library; Cambridge Mass. 2018). Jetsu, L., S. Porceddu, et al. 2013. “Did the ancient Egyptians record the period of the eclipsing binary Algol − the Raging One?”. The Astrophysical Journal 773(1):1−14 . Jetsu, L., S. Porceddu, et al. 2015. “Shifting milestones of natural sciences: The ancient Egyptian discovery of Algol’s period confirmed”. Plos One (December 17, 2015):1 −23 . Krauss, R. 2000. “Lässt sich der Bezugsort der Sothisaufgänge tatsächlich aus den Tagewähl-kalendern ermitteln?” Göttinger Miszellen 174: 75−86 Labat, R. 1972−1975. Hemerologien, in: Reallexikon der Assyriologie, 4. Berlin/New York: Band.317−323. Leitz, C. 1989. Studien zur Ägyptischen Astronomie. Wiesbaden.

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2 “Cosmic” Containers − Elements and Representatives of Ancient Cosmovisions Barbara Rappenglück Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, Gilching Abstract: The traditions of peoples are packed with the wondrous qualities of containers. Vessels may e.g. serve as uterus, they manage transformation and rebirth, and they can communicate harm and death, or transmit notions of abundance and wisdom. Beyond that, containers may in manifold ways relate to cosmic symbolism, either representing the whole cosmos or referring to celestial objects and phenomena. In this article such “cosmic” containers are categorized and treated as 1. notional ‘containers’ mentioned in traditions and myths, and 2. concrete (tangible) containers epitomising the cosmos or related to celestial phenomena. While the first category is structured by celestial phenomena which are addressed by examples from traditions, the second category is structured by physical characteristics of containers − shape, material, manufacturing, décor, and context of use − which may in manifold manners be charged with “cosmic” meanings. The article is based on comparative mythology as well as documented traditions and interpretations that have been put forward concerning concrete vessels. Keywords: container, vessel, containment, material culture, myth, cosmovision. 2.1 Introduction

conference, the first category will be only touched upon, while the second one is dealt with in more detail.

Containers are indispensable objects of our daily life, for storing, transporting or for transforming by cooking and fermentation. From the Paleolithic leather bag, to the Neolithic pot, to the tin can, to the large containers which today are used in globalised trade as well as for housing people, containers and humans are in permanent interaction. Humans design and experience space and time by using containers, whether the container is a dustbin, a biodegradable urn, or one of the cardboard boxes of Andy Warhol’s Time Capsules (for a profound philosophical examination of the comprehensive culture-shaping effects of containers: Klose 2009, esp. 53−73; 131−33). Beyond profane user value containers have a wealth of meanings that find expression in the tales, myths, practices and rituals of different peoples: In these traditions a container may provide food in endless abundance, it may be an uterus as well as the place of transformation and rebirth, it may expose calamity and death, but also transcendental knowledge (Rappenglück 2004a).

What constitutes a container? First of all there are its physical properties: 1. The container’s surface separates an interior from an exterior surrounding space. It defines the shape and volume of the interior space. 2. The material of the container determines the basic features of the manufacturing process (e.g. pottery, braiding, hollowing out, forging), of the usability (e.g. waterproof, fireproof, acid-resistant, air-permeable, flexible, solid), and of the décor (e.g. shiny, rough, colourful, embossed). 3. The manufacturing provides the material and establishes the shape, the usability and the décor of the container. 4. The décor or appearance, being dependent on the material and the kind of manufacturing, puts a container in a context of non-verbal communication. 5. The context of use (e.g. storing, transport, cooking, fermentation, damage and repair) adds to the container a temporal dimension, as does the process of its fabrication. Beyond its purely physical properties, a container not only has a passive role as a material object, but entangles the human being in complex responses and concepts, involving both body and mind. The extent of the interaction between physical materiality, body and mind, has been widely discussed in the archaeological literature (Boivin 2004, Knappett 2010, Ingold 2013, Budja 2016, 62−64). With respect to containers, Knappett has summarized: “Containers are not simply vessels but action possibilities that bring forth new forms of mediated action, agency,

This article deals with ‘cosmic’ containers, ‘cosmic’ here defined as either related to the cosmos as a whole, to the celestial bodies or other celestial phenomena. Two basic categories of ‘cosmic containers’ may be distinguished, the first one being figurative ‘containers’ which are mentioned in context of mythical cosmovisions. The second category consists of concrete, tangible containers somehow epitomising the cosmos or celestial phenomena. Since this article originated from a talk given at an archaeological 11

Barbara Rappenglück and material engagement, both in terms of use and manufacture.” (Knappett et al. 2010, 591) Therefore, while this article for the second category of “cosmic” containers (the definite, tangible ones) will advance along the physical properties of vessels, it will simultaneously show how they virtually enter into a dialogue with man.

fecundity. As the setting of the Pleiades in the west at dusk announces the rainy season, menstrual blood of Woman Shaman pours from the calabash (Hugh-Jones 1982, 197). The Hyades were associated with a basket used for fishing in some Japanese tradition (Andrews 2004, 303). Today’s constellation of Aquarius with the water jug was already associated in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt with deities who poured or drew water with a vessel and had a clear reference to seasonal flooding (Barentine 2016, 95−96). To all these examples it is common that these asterisms served as important seasonal markers, and that the allocated containers “handle” substances typical for the season − may it be rain, flood, rich catches of fish, or harvested grains. Asterisms also have been interpreted as containers for transport. From American natives variants of a story are transmitted which deal with girls travelling between sky and earth in a basket. These stories mainly refer to the Pleiades (Lankford 2007, 192), but also to the constellation Corona Borealis (Olcott 2004, 151−52). In Maori mythology a basket named “Milky Way” and adorned with Canopus is used to transport the stars into the heavens (Whaanga and Matamua 2016, 63). Late antique Manichaeism interpreted the constellations of the Zodiac as a device with twelve vessels, which transported the souls of the decedents (Böhling and Asmussen 1980, 125).

2.2 Notional “cosmic containers” in mythical cosmovisions Considering the first category, notional “cosmic containers” in mythical cosmovisions, there are predominantly three celestial phenomena which have by traditions and myths been associated to containers: the celestial vault, the moon, and some asterisms. a) The celestial vault being an inverted bowl and the world as a whole being enclosed in a cosmic container is a widespread idea. The sky is compared to a kettle put over the earth in several examples from Asia (Siberian Burjats and Evenki: Holmberg 1996, 21, Malaysian Mantra: Pettazzoni 1924, 153) as well as from North America (Tsistsistas: Schlesier 1985, 41). The Indian Rigveda compared the cosmos to two bowls with the openings against each other (Kirfel 1967, 4). In the world view of Chinese Daoism, the cosmos corresponds to a gourd, which at the same time provides an entrance to a transcendental world (Verellen 1994, ‘Kalabasse’, ‘hundun’), while a Hawaiian tradition interpreted the dome of the sky as the inverted cover of a calabash (Kanas 2014, 65), and the Fulani of West Africa compare “a gourd filled with smaller gourds to the sky filled with stars” (Chappel 1977, 22)

Notional “containers” which mythical cosmovisions related to the moon or asterisms often have a prominent temporal component: they seemingly “gather”, “store”, and “pour out” or “spread” fluids or other substances at a certain time of the months or the year, or they serve as transport devices by their temporal course during the year. Contemplating the vault of heaven as a container emphasises the apparent dome-like shape, and adds further aspects by means of the material of the container concerned (Rappenglück 2004b). E.g., the sky as a gourd shell “stresses […] the fertility and life-producing character of the cosmos” (Rappenglück 2004b, 323). It addresses completely different qualities than the sky interpreted as a metallic kettle. These variations bring into view the diversity of the different worldviews.

b) Another popular association is the moon being connected to some kind of jar or being itself a container. The crescent moon which, depending on its position, strongly evokes the notion of a bowl prompts such interpretations. Different kinds of containers were seen to form the moon or to be situated on the moon: e.g. a bowl (Algonkin), a kettle (Arapho-natives; Hawaiians), a basket (Pawnee-natives) (all these examples: Kunike 1923, 62−63) The motive of a “water-carrier on the Moon” was widespread in Eurasia and parts of North America (Berezkin 2010, 16−22). Apart from the shape of the crescent, it was the changing appearance of the moon which stirred the idea that the moon might be a container rhythmically filling up and emptying. Mostly it is a liquid which fills the moon-container, and usually this liquid is the life-giving rain, the water of life or the elixir of immortality. In Chinese mythology, e.g., there is a mortar on the moon in which the moon-rabbit prepares the elixir of immortality (Christie 1968, 121). In old Indian (Kramrisch 1975, 39) as well as Persian religion (Merkelbach 1984, 204) the moon contains the soma, the liquid which generates life.

2.3 Containers with cosmic symbolism The second category deals with vessels with a concrete existence in reality. The following discussion will review their very ordinary physical characteristics. There are various elements in play, shape, material, manufacturing and décor, as well as the context of use, that need to be examined for what they might tell about the cosmic meanings of containers. 2.3.1 Shape

c) A number of asterisms have been associated with containers. In Eastern Baltica and the Middle Volga region the perception of the Pleiades as a permeable container − a sieve − either for pouring water or for winnowing was quite common (Berezkin 2010, 9−11). For the Amazonian Barasana the Pleiades correspond to a calabash, which in turn is prominently related to the sky as well as (female)

The fact that heaven or the whole world was often regarded as a container has been presented above. Accordingly, and vice versa, containers were often considered to be perfect materialisations of the cosmos. It is by no means only the curved shape that can make some vessels the ideal object of representation. Entirely different elements of shape 12

“Cosmic” Containers − Elements and Representatives of Ancient Cosmovisions can also be carriers of cosmic symbolism, as it will be illustrated by following examples.

The clay, embodying the goddess of the earth, and the water, embodying the god of the sky, are combined to form a pot. The pot is seen as a “clay baby” who by its firing undergoes a “rite of passage” to adulthood (Ortega 2005, 3−4).

A ritual container of Nigerian Yoruba is carved from a calabash. Its two halves embody an entity of the two interrelated and interchanging realms of the cosmos: the bottom half of the gourd represents earth and the visible, tangible world of the living, while the upper half represents the sky and the invisible spiritual realm of the ancestors and gods. Intersecting lines represent pathways between the spheres. The plane between the two halves, which separates as well as joins, is addressed by rituals of divination (LaGamma 2000, 36 [with picture]).

Vedic literature describes the Pravargya ceremony, a ritual prior to the soma sacrifice, of which the earthen Mahāvīra vessel is a central item. The material of this pot is of very complex composition: Apart from ritually dug clay there are four further ingredients, as e. g. earth from a termite hill or earth dug up by a boar, which both are references to the mythical origins of the cosmos (Kramrisch 1975, 227). The hereby enriched clay corresponds to the earth, and the water to the sky, and the resulting pot corresponds to the Sun as well as the cosmic pillar (Kramrisch 1975, 232).

The lime-gourd of the Columbian Kogi natives (for the following see Reichel-Dolmatoff 1990) consists of a container made from a gourd and an appertaining wooden stick. The whole object plays an important role in ceremonies of transition to adulthood and marriage. The wood of the stick must “correspond to the patriline of the owner” (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1990, 17) and is equivalent to the penis, but also to the world axis. The gourd represents an uterus, and also the cosmos.

Clay has also a special role in the culture of the ShipiboConibo natives from Peru. According to their myth the world has been created by the Anaconda Ronin, who encircles the world and who lives in the aquatic underworld. Riverbeds and banksides are the “palace” of Ronin. Hence, quarrying clay from banksides affronts Ronin and has to be compensated by giving small ceramic pots (Gebhart-Sayer 1987, 72). The clay coils which built up ritual pots of the Shipibo in turn are considered to represent Ronin (Gebhart-Sayer 1987, 88). As the creatorserpent Ronin encircles the world the clay coils form the pot which is a model of the cosmos by its décor, too (see below: décor).

A basket of the Tabwa people (Congo), used for divination, qualifies as cosmic model because of other elements of its shape: Its “lid represents the earth’s surface, the legs are the cardinal points, the (arching) handle refers to the Milky Way [...] The basket’s interior is associated with a cavern where healing spirits reside.” (Roberts 1983, 97)

2.3.3 Manufacturing

2.3.2 Material

Manufacturing and processing in today’s industrial cultures primarily are considered from the perspective of technical and economical optimisation, but many traditions − apart from restricting the processes by many regulations and taboos − ascribe to them comprehensive cultural aspects (Gosselain 1999, 221). Exemplarily, Guss has summarised the approach of the Venezuelan Yekuana to the basket-weaving: There is a “close relation between technical and esoteric skills, the Yekuana often speak of the development of manual expertise as analogically indicative of other more intangible qualities. […] of all the artifacts the Yekuana manufacture, no other demonstrates this simultaneously incremental development of technical and ritual competence as does basketry.” (Guss 1989, 70)

Matter and substances used by humankind don’t have purely physical properties only. They also embody signals and incentives, and transmit a variety of non-physical properties and meanings (Boivin 2004, 64−67). They enter into a dialogue with the body and mind of their human counterpart, overcoming the passive, functional role usually attributed to them in Western civilisations, and become cultural agents. These aspects of materiality are being increasingly highlighted by researchers (e.g. Boivin 2004, Saunders 2004, Ingold 2007). The role that substances play was excellently summarized by Saunders when he described what mineral substances meant in pan-American cultures: “[…] from the moment minerals are picked up by people, they enter the circulatory systems of culture, where uservalue, symbolic propensities, spiritual attributes and social value are all brought to bear, ‘changing’ the raw material even before it becomes an artefact.” (Saunders 2004, 120) What Saunders says here about mineral substances applies equally to other materials from which a container can be made. Accordingly, in the following examples the material contributes an essential part to the cosmic significance of a vessel.

In South-American Kogi culture, bags made from cotton or agave fibres are important items. Women produce these bags by knotless netting, turning the bag continuously in their hands and “building up the bag with spiralling rows. [...] Symbolically these bags represent the womb (or placenta) of the Mother, and the sewing of bags is therefore a ritual activity by which the women express a principle of fertility. According to the Kogi, the two movements − the one implied by each mesh and the other consisting of the slow circular turning of the bag in the women’s hands − imitate the movements of the moon. It is believed that the 28-day lunar cycle is closely related to female fecundity,

In many cultures clay plays an important role in elaborated cosmovisions. In the beliefs of Jicarilla Apaches, e.g., clay is “the physical manifestation of White Shell Woman”, one of the most honoured deities of these people. 13

Barbara Rappenglück and that women must never stop sewing these bags unless they want to interrupt an important biological cycle.” (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1990, 17) Another example from Western Kenya deals with pottery and illustrates the cosmic symbolism of its spiral coiling technique: The clay coils are “put on top of one another to form a cone and as the potter works she [...] moves in a counter-clockwise direction, or, form the right-hand side to the left-hand side”. According to the local cosmology “the act of creation (of human beings and the universe) started from the right-side towards the left-side” thereby proceeding counter-clockwise. “[T]he right-hand side is associated with the cardinal east and [...] is [...] regarded as the source of all life, health, wealth and milk. The cardinal west ... is symbolically equated with the left-hand side and ... is the direction of illness, evil magic, misfortune and death” (Nangendo 1996, 74). The finished pot should only be fired “from the time when the new moon. [...] appears, until full moon” (Nangendo 1996, 72). For the Venezuelan Yekuana in weaving of their painted waja-baskets, which in their structure correspond to both the house and the cosmos (Guss 1989, 163−168), there is a “close relation between technical and esoteric skills, the Yekuana often speak of the development of manual expertise as analogically indicative of other more intangible qualities. […] of all the artifacts the Yekuana manufacture, no other demonstrates this simultaneously incremental development of technical and ritual competence as does basketry.” “(Guss 1989, 70) in the quiet weaving of these images [(i.e. the patterns; addition by B. Rappenglück) …] it is the hands that transmit the message directly to the eye.” (Guss 1989, 121)

Figure 2.1. Covered Jar, Western Han dynasty: Blue beast © Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

their popular relation to magical ideas (Ettinghausen 1957, 365). A mortuary vessel (Fig. 2.1) from Han China (ca. 2nd-1st c. BC) gives another fine example of celestial symbolism by its decoration (for the following: Met Museum, object description, with detailed photos): “[…] the blue beast represents the star Sirius, known in China as the Heavenly Wolf, and the archer is a personification of the adjoining constellation, Bow, […]. Their companion on the other side is the White Tiger, cosmological symbol of the West, whose domain in the nightly sky borders that of the Wolf and the Bow.” The Heavenly Wolf was the star of the Xiongnu (Huns) who posed a permanent threat to Han China, and it was said that the star indicated activities of

2.3.4 Décor A very obvious possibility for providing a container with “cosmic” meaning is a corresponding decoration. However, just this − sometimes only apparent − obviousness requires special attention in the interpretation of iconographic motifs (Rappenglück 2013). Nevertheless, there are quite a number of well-documented examples, where the decoration provides vessels with a cosmic meaning. A prominent example of such a container is the Vaso Vescovali, a lidded bronze bowl from Central Asia, ca. 1200 AD. “Decorated with signs of the zodiac, the sun and the moon, it displays a complex astrological imagery. It has twelve roundels, each containing the personification of a planet with the sign of the zodiac representing its day or night house. [...] The eight roundels on the lid contain personifications of the planets, including the dragon ‚Jawzahr‘ who represents the lunar eclipse. Each figure […] carr(ies) the emblems of their magical influences.” (British Museum, object description, with detailed photos). The iconographical program of the Vaso Vascovali has to be seen on the background of the high appreciation of astronomy and astrology in Khurasan (Iran) during the 12th and 13th century AD and

Figure 2.2. Shipibo pot (Linden-Museum, Stuttgart) © B. Rappenglück.

14

“Cosmic” Containers − Elements and Representatives of Ancient Cosmovisions the Xiongnu e.g. by the twinkling of its light changing colour. The Bow, “considered the protector of China”, keeps the Wolf in check by forever aiming at it.

The above mentioned Mahāvīra pot is “the Sun or the Head of Makha, the cosmic giant” (Kramrisch 1975, 234). When during the Pravargya ritual the heat-glowing pot was filled with milk the symbolism of cosmic fecundation was activated: “The vessel is the member, milk is the semen, ejaculated − while boiling − into the fire as the divine womb […].” The pot (= the giant = the penis) “penetrates and supports heaven and earth.” (Kramrisch 1975, 232) During the ritual the pot unites the symbolism of the cosmic giant and the cosmic pillar as well as the one of cosmic creation.

The patterns as well as their position on the decorated pots used by the Amazonian Shipibo for the fermentation of beer convey a cosmic symbolism (for the following see Gebhart-Sayer 1987, 86−91). The pot (Fig. 2.2) has three horizontal segments: the lowest one is monochrome or unpainted and represents the aquatic underworld. The middle segment corresponds to the world of humans including the sky with the celestial phenomena, and it also includes the realm of important spirits as e. g. the master of the jaguar or the master of tobacco. This middle part of the Shipibo universe is thought to be built up by a framework which forms complex patterns. These patterns in turn correspond to the patterns of the mythical anaconda who is the creator of the cosmos. Hence the patterns on the middle segment of the pot not only allude to the middle part of the cosmos but also to the process of creation. At the top of the Shipibo universe there is the highest concentration of power and potentiality, a realm which is reached only by souls of spiritual perfection. This top of the cosmos is embodied by the uppermost segment of the pot and it is decorated by the anaconda-style patterns, too, but in a much finer shape. By the whole arrangement these pots provide a detailed description of the Shipibo cosmovision.

2.4 Conclusion The everyday use of containers may obscure how much they are integrated into a complex world of symbols and meanings. Cosmic meaning, in the sense defined above, may be surprising in view of the ordinariness of receptacles, but it is a logical consequence in worldviews in which everything is meaningfully interconnected. Some of the examples listed here − such as the lime gourd of the Kogi or the beer pot of the Shipibo − can only briefly point out these connections. In such a network of meanings, a container corresponds to a node, which derives its peculiarity from the various strands that converge in it, and into which it in turn feeds. It is this baffling network of meanings that prompted the author to use the physical properties of containers as subdivisions for structuring the second category, and thus to establish at all a makeshift starting point, not to get lost in the network of meanings. Concerning the physical properties, the fact that a container can have cosmic symbolism through its decoration is easily accessible. Especially with regard to the material and the production of a vessel, however, there are rather surprising insights how cosmic meaning can be expressed in a container and it is hoped that future studies on these aspects will contribute further examples. In sum, the containers presented above, whether notional or real, impressively underline that a container may be at the same time a simple pot, a uterus, a location of spiritual transformation as well as a representation of the cosmos: it may embody a whole worldview.

2.3.5 Context of use Also in the (mostly) ritual handling of vessels there are repeatedly cosmic meanings, whereby just in this case due confirmation by oral or written traditions might be of central importance. The following examples illustrate how much of the cultural context is necessary to understand the cosmic meaning of a vessel in a (ritual) activity. The lidded basket of the Tabwa, already mentioned above, represents a model of the cosmos; it is decorated with a pattern which refers to the rising of the new moon, and it houses a spirit. During the ritual of divination for which this basket was used, the supplicant had to place his hands on the closed lid of the basket. The spirit comes from the basket and mounts the hands and arms of the person. This process is described with the same verb which describes the monthly appearance of the moon (Roberts 1983, 97−98).

References Andrews, Munya. 2004. The seven sisters of the Pleiades. Stories from around the World. North Geelong: Spinifex Press.

Sometimes containers must be orientated when they are used in ritual: That is the case with the so-called “wedding basket” of the North American Navajo, which is used not only in wedding ceremonies but also in healing. The coils of the baskets which are ideally twelve in number and which have to be made sun-wise (Schwarz 1997, 39), incorporate the different worlds through which the Navajo emerged up to the most recent one. The mythical passage from one world to the other is represented by the small indentation in the rim of the basket, where the outmost coil ends. Since the mythical passage is said to have been to the East, the indentation of the basket must face East when the basket is used in ritual.

Barentine, John C. 2016. Uncharted constellations. Asterisms, Single Source and Rebrands. New York: Springer. Berezkin, Yuri. 2010. “The Pleiades as Openings, the Milky Way as the Path of Birds, and The Girl on the Moon: Cultural Links Across Northern Eurasia.” Folklore 44: 7−34. Böhling, Alexander, and Jes. P. Asmussen, eds. 1980. Die Gnosis. Dritter Band: Der Manichäismus. Zürich/ München: Artemis Verlag. 15

Barbara Rappenglück Boivin, Nicole. 2004. “Mind over Matter? Collapsing the Mind-Matter Dichotomy in Material Culture Studies.” In: Rethinking materiality. The engagement of mind with the material world, edited by Elizabeth DeMarrais, Chris Gosden, and Colin Renfrew, 63−71. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

weimar.de/opus4/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/1426/ file/Klose_Containerdiss_mail_pdfa.pdf Knappett, Carl, Lambros Malafouris, and Peter Tomikins. 2010. “Ceramics (As Containers).” In The Oxford Handbook of Material Culture Studies, 582−606. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/ oxfordhb/9780199218714.013.0026.

British Museum. Object description Vaso Vescovali https:// research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_ online/collection_object_details.aspx?assetId=34 154001&objectId=237090&partId=1 [last access 04/28/2020]

Kramrisch, Stella. 1975. “The Mahāvīra vessel and the plant Pūtika.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 95 ( 2): 222−235. Kunike, Hugo. 1923. “Zur Astralmythologie der nordamerikanischen Indianer.” Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie 27: 1−134.

Budja, Mihael. 2016. “Ceramics among Eurasian huntergatherers: 32 000 years of ceramic technology use and the perception of containment.” Documenta Prehistorica XLIII: 61−86.

LaGamma, Alisa. 2000. Art and Oracle. African Art and Rituals of Divination. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Chappel, T. H. 1977. Decorated Gourds in North-eastern Nigeria. London: Ethnographica.

Lankford, George E. 2007. Reachable stars: Pattern in the Ethnoastronomy of Eastern North America. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press.

Christie, Anthony. 1968. Chinesische Mythologie. Translated by E. Schindel. Wiesbaden: Vollmer. Edmonds, Radcliffe G. 2004. Myth of the underworld journey in Plato, Aristophanes, and the ‘Orphic gold tablets’. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Merkelbach, Reinhold. 1984. Mithras. Ein persischrömischer Mysterienkult. Weinheim: Beltz Athenäum Verlag.

Ettinghausen, Richard. 1957. “The ‘Wade Cup’ in the Cleveland Museum of Arts. Its Origins and Decorations.“ Ars Orientalis 2: 327−366.

Met Museum, Object description Covered Jar https:// www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/49539 [last access 04/28/2020]

Gebhart-Sayer, Angelika. 1987. Die Spitze des Bewusstseins. Untersuchungen zu Weltbild und Kunst der ShipiboConibo. Hohenschäftlarn: Klaus Renner Verlag.

Nangendo, Stevie M. 1996. “Pottery taboos and symbolism in Bukusu society, Western Kenya.” African Study Monographs 17 (2): 69−84.

Gosselain, Olivier P. 1999. “In Pots we Trust: The Processing of Clay and Symbols in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Journal of Material Culture 4 (2): 205−230.

Olcott, William Tylor. 2004 (republication of the edition of 1911). Star Lore: Myths, Legends, and Facts. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications.

Guss, David M. 1989. To weave and sing. Art, Symbol, and Narrative in the South American Rain Forest. Berkely/ Los Angeles/London: University of California Press.

Ortega, Felipe V. 2005. “Ceramics for the Archaeologist: An Alternate perspective.” In Engaged Anthropology: Research Essays on North American Archaeology, Ethnobotany, and Museology, edited by M. Hegmon and B. S. Eiselt, 1−5. Ann Arbor: Museum of Anthropology.

Holmberg, Uno. 1996. Der Baum des Lebens. Göttinnen und Baumkult. Bern: Edition amalia. Hugh-Jones, Stephen. 1982. “The Pleiades and Scorpius in Barasana Cosmology.” In Ethnoastronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the American Tropics, edited by Anthony Aveni and Gary Urton, 183−201. New York: New York Academy of Sciences.

Pettazzoni, Raffaele. 1924. “The chain of arrows: the diffusion of a mythical motive.” Folklore 35 (2): 151−165. Rappenglück, Barbara. 2004a. “Mutterbauch und Kosmos − zur Symbolik des Gefäßes.” In: Welt der Gefäße von der Antike bis Picasso (Exhibition catalogue), edited by Bernhard Mensch and Peter Pachnicke, 213−222. Oberhausen: Ludwig-Galerie.

Ingold, Tim. 2007. “Materials against materiality.” Archaeological Dialogues 14 (1): 16−20. Ingold, Tim. 2013. Making: Anthropology, archaeology, art and architecture. London/New York: Routledge.

Rappenglück, Barbara. 2004b. “The Material of the Solid Sky and its Traces in Culture.” In: The Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena (Proceedings of the Fourth Conference on the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena, Magdalen College, Oxford, 3−9 August 2003), edited by Nicholas Campion, 321−331. Culture and Cosmos 8 (1−2).

Kanas, Nick. 2014. Solar System Maps. From Antiquity to the Space Age. New York: Springer. Kirfel, Willibald. 1967 (reprint of the edition of 1922). Die Kosmographie der Inder. Hildesheim: Olms. Klose, Alexander. 2009. 20 Fuß Äquivalent Einheit − Die Herrschaft der Containisierung. https://e-pub.uni-

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“Cosmic” Containers − Elements and Representatives of Ancient Cosmovisions Rappenglück, Barbara. 2013. “Myths and Motifs as Reflections of Prehistoric Cosmic Events: Some Methodological Considerations.” Anthropological Notebooks 19 (Supplement): 67−83. Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo.1990. The sacred mountain of Colombia’s Kogi Indians. Leiden: Brill (= Iconography of Religions IX 2). Roberts, Allen F. 1983. “‘Perfect’ lions, ‘perfect’ leaders.” Journal des africanistes 53 (1−2): 93−105. Saunders, Nicholas. 2004. “The Cosmic Earth. Materiality and Mineralogy in the Americas.” In: Soil, Stones and Symbols. Cultural Perceptions of the Mineral World, edited by Nicole Boivin, 123−141. London: UCL Press. Schlesier, Karl H. 1985. Die Wölfe des Himmels. Welterfahrung der Cheyenne. Translated by Stephan Kömpke. Köln: Diederichs. Schwarz, Maureen Trudelle. 1997. Molded in the image of changing woman. Navajo views on the human body and personhood. The University of Arizona Press: Tuscon. Verellen, Franciscus. 1994. Articles “Kalebasse” and “hundun”. In Wörterbuch der Mythologie, Bd. VI: Götter und Mythen Ostasiens, edited by Hans Wilhelm Haussig. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta. Whaanga, Hēmi, and Rangi Matamua. 2016. “Matariki Tāpuapua. Pools of Traditional Knowledge and Currents of Change.” In Everyday Knowledge, Education, and Sustainable Futures. Transdisciplinary Approaches in the Asia-Pacific Region, edited by Margaret Robertson and Po Keung Eric Tsang, 59−70. Springer: Singapore.

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3 Solstice Azimuths as Design Elements at Angkor Wat and Nearby Temples William F. Romain Abstract: Built in the early 12th century AD, Angkor Wat is one of the world’s largest religious structures. The purpose of the present study was to determine if solstice alignments are incorporated in the design of the structure. Assessment of Google Earth Pro satellite imagery and LiDAR data revealed multiple solstice alignments incorporated in the design of Angkor Wat. Expanding on this, solstice alignments were further identified for 11 nearby major temples. A total of 73 solstice alignments were thus identified. The multiplicity of solar alignments, combined with other data suggest that it was important for the Angkor temples to be connected to the Sun. If, as suggested by ethnohistoric data, Angkor temples were microcosmic models of the cosmos, then arguably, solstice alignments connected the temples to the cyclic movement of the universe as manifested by the solar cycle. Keywords: Angkor Wat, Khmer Empire, solstice alignments. 3.1 Introduction

report is presented elsewhere (Romain 2018a, 2018b). Following the Results section below, possible implications of the posited solstice alignments are presented.

Located in Cambodia, Angkor Wat (Figure 3.1) is one of many temples built during the Khmer Empire. The Khmer Empire flourished between the early 9th to early 15th centuries. What distinguishes Angkor Wat is that, as described by Coe and Evans (2018, 141), Angkor Wat is “one of the largest and most magnificent religious structures of all time.” With more than two million visitors each year (Cheng Sokhorng 2020), it is also one of the most visited.

Before proceeding much further I should make the point that the solstice alignments posited herein were probably not for observational purposes. Intervening towers and walls block actual observations. (The exception of course might have been observations across temple areas and stakedout ground plans made before intervening towers were built.) Rather, I believe the alignments are architectural design features having cosmological implications. This notion finds analogous support in the deep vertical shafts found beneath various center tower structures including the center tower at Angkor Wat (Figure 3.1b). This shaft was found to extend 27 meters below the base of the center tower, with an offering of two white sapphires and two gold leaves at the bottom (Higham 2001, 117). A similar shaft with deposit was found at the earlier nearby site of Ak Yom (Briggs 1951, 202). These shafts appear to be nadir extensions of the axis mundi created by the center towers. Once the superstructures were built, neither the below ground shafts nor solstice alignments were visible. They were, however, integral design features that established vertical and horizontal axes relative to the cosmos.

Solstice alignments for Angkor Wat have been posited by earlier investigators (i.e., Mannikka 1996; Paris 1941; Sparavigna 2016; Stencel et al. 1976). So too, equinox and zenith alignments have been suggested for Angkor Wat (Magli 2017; Barnhart and Christopher 2013). What I noticed about the previously reported solstice findings, however, is that the cited investigators did not document opposite corresponding alignments—as might be expected given the symmetry of the site. Accordingly, the present study was made in order to re-assess the solstice alignments the above authors proposed as well as check for corresponding and additional alignments. Assessments were made using Google Earth Pro satellite imagery and more recently, LiDAR imagery for Angkor Wat based on data collected by the EFEO (École française d’ExtrêmeOrient). The present study found multiple previously unreported alignments. To test whether or not similar findings might be the case at other Angkor temples, I expanded the assessment to include 14 nearby temples. This paper provides a brief summary of findings— generally following the presentation I gave at the 2019 SEAC (European Society for Astronomy in Culture meeting (Romain 2019a). A more comprehensive two-part

3.2 Methods To assess whether or not solstice azimuths were incorporated in the design of Angkor Wat and other temples, two templates were made. One template was for solstice rise azimuths; the other was for solstice set azimuths. The templates were then superimposed on Google Earth satellite imagery and in the case of Angkor Wat, also over LiDAR imagery. The objective was to 19

William F. Romain

Figure 3.1. (a) Aerial view of Angkor Wat from the southeast. Licensed-use photo, Alamy # CR0666. (b) Cut-away model of Angkor Wat center tower showing 27-meter deep shaft. Angkor National Museum, Siem Reap, Cambodia. Photo by author.

Presuming that posited solstice alignments were more likely for symbolic purposes than actual observations, as well as the likelihood that different temple designers over hundreds of years may have used slightly different azimuth values, and also given the crumbled conditions and sometimes less than perfectly straight walls of structures thereby making present-day measurements difficult, plus the difficulties associated with using less-than-ideal satellite imagery with the corners of structures sometimes obscured, for purposes here, if a plotted ideal solstice azimuth was found to be within 1 degree of its targeted temple intersection point, then that was considered an alignment.

ascertain how close the ideal azimuths intersect relevant temple features. Notably, there are limitations associated with the use of Google Earth imagery. The Google Earth program attempts to merge and overlay flat satellite photos onto a spherical earth model. However, there is no perfect fit. As a result, issues related to map projection, georeferencing, orthorectification, image resolution, parallax, and even the zoom factor can affect imagery and measurement data. Ground-truthing is always preferred; and although in the present case I personally visited each site and made multiple aerial reconnaissance flights, ground surveys were simply not practical. Unfortunately, too, for a variety of reasons, extant maps and site plans that I have seen, cannot be relied upon. LiDAR imagery on the other hand offers tremendous potential and I expect to expand the current project utilizing such imagery in the near future. (One caveat: LiDAR data tied to UTM north when collected needs to be corrected to true north prior to archaeoastronomic analyses.)

Calculated solstice azimuths for A.D. 1000 at Angkor (where horizon altitude = 0°.5, refraction correction = negative 0°.5), lower limb tangency = 0°.25) are: summer solstice rise = 65º.8; winter solstice rise = 114°.3; winter solstice set = 245°.6; summer solstice set = 294°.2. For details regarding calculations see Romain (2018b).

Figure 3.2. (a) Google Earth image of Angkor Wat with solstice sunrise azimuths plotted by author. Satellite image date 11−20-2013. (b). LiDAR image of Angkor Wat with solstice azimuths plotted by author. LiDAR data courtesy of Damian Evans, École française d’Extrême-Orient.

20

Solstice Azimuths as Design Elements at Angkor Wat and Nearby Temples 3.3 Results

this would then cause the winter solstice rise azimuth to be less accurate.) In any case, consideration of Figures 3.2a and 3.2b show that all 21 ideal solstice alignments intersect their intended targets to within one degree. (Note the double winter solstice set alignment Figures 3.3a and 3.3b, line 7.)

3.3.1 Angkor Wat Angkor Wat was built in the first half of the 12th century by Suryavarman II. Laur (2002, 137) described the complex thusly: “Angkor Wat is a tall three-tiered pyramid that forms the base for a central shrine and four towers arranged in a quincunx pattern: the whole temple complex is surrounded by an enclosure and a moat…. With its outlying moats, Angkor forms a rectangle of 1,470 m by 1,650 m and covers an area of more than 240 hectares.” Angkor Wat was dedicated to the god Vishnu (Coe and Evans 2018, 144).

3.3.2 Other Nearby Sites To assess whether the alignments at Angkor Wat were a one-off or alternatively, a design feature common to Angkor area temples, the investigation was expanded to include several major temples in the immediate area. To facilitate a non-biased selection of comparative sites, I used Petrotchenko’s (2014, 105) list of twelve major temples for the Angkor area. Other lists sometimes differ but most agree that the main sites include Angkor Wat, Bakong, Phnom Bakheng, East Mebon, Pre Rup, Banteay Srei, Ta Keo, Baphuon, Banteay Samre, Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, and Bayon. I added to this list Phnom Krom, Phnom Bok, and Angkor Thom. With the exception of Ta Phrom, the Google Earth imagery was of sufficient quality to allow archaeoastronomic assessment. Figure 3.4 shows the locations of these sites. Page limitations preclude a detailed discussion of the findings relevant to each of the additional temples. For detailed analyses the reader is referred to Romain (2018a; 2018b). Figures 3.5 and 3.6 illustrate several of the more interesting complexes and their alignments. Table 3.1 summarizes the astronomic results for all the relevant temples and provides metric data that bear on the shapes of the temple complexes.

Of the Angkor temples, Angkor Wat is one of the few that has multiple parallel solstice alignments. Indeed, there are no less than 21 solstice azimuths integrated into the temple complex. Figures 3.3a−b and 3.4a−b show how the alignments extend in a nested and redundant fashion. To give a sense of the accuracy of the alignments it is useful to know that in Figure 3.3a, the difference between the ideal template summer solstice rise azimuth shown as a solid line and the dashed line that intersects the corner of the enclosure is about one degree. In Figure 3.2a, the ideal summer solstice rise azimuth as plotted from point 1 is a bit of an anomaly. When plotted from point 1 at the center of the cruciform terrace the summer solstice rise azimuth misses the corner of the 4th enclosure wall by about one degree. Notably, however, the center of the cruciform terrace is situated a few meters north of the site’s east-west major axis (indicated in Figures 3.2a and 3.2b by dashed lines). If the cruciform terrace were to be positioned precisely on the site axis, then the solstice azimuth as plotted from the center of that platform would be accurate to within one-half of one degree. (Of course,

3.4 Discussion Angkor temples are not all the same. Each is unique. There are pyramids, pyramids with gopuras, etc. Because of the physical constraints associated with different kinds of structures, the beginning and end points for solstice

Figure 3.3. (a) Google Earth image of Angkor Wat with solstice sunset azimuths plotted by author. Satellite image date 11-20-2013. (b) LiDAR image of Angkor Wat with solstice sunset azimuths plotted by author. LiDAR data courtesy of Damian Evans, École française d’Extrême-Orient.

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William F. Romain

Figure 3.4. Major sites in the Angkor area. Drawing by author based on Glaize 1948, included map and Fletcher et al., 2008, Figure 1.

Figure 3.5. (a) Google Earth view of Bakong (late 9th century). Solstice azimuths plotted from gopura entrances at points A and B. (b) Google Earth view of East Mebon (10th century).

sightlines vary according to design type. What was found consistent, however, is that solstice sightlines are in one way or another, built into most.

are a bit longer than their north-south (major) axes. This results in a special rectangle wherein the solstice azimuths intersect the corners of the rectangle.

As shown by the data in Table 3.1, as well as the imagery that follows, the east-west (minor) axes of Angkor temples

In other words, for solstice azimuths to be incorporated into a temple design, it was typically necessary to morph 22

Solstice Azimuths as Design Elements at Angkor Wat and Nearby Temples

Figure 3.6. (a) Google Earth view of Pre Rup (10th century). (b) Google Earth view of Ta Keo (late 10th − early 11th century).

Table 3.1. Summary of Solstice Alignments and Dimensions for Selected Angkor Sites

Number

Site

Number of Solstice Alignments Accurate to Within One Degree

Dimensions east-west x north-south

1

Angkor Wat

21

203.2 m × 168.1 m

2

Bakong

4

66.9 m × 64.5 m

3

Phnom Bakheng

4

79.4 m × 75.0 m

4

Phnom Bok

4

50.0 × 46.0 m

5

Phnom Krom

4

48.8 m × 45.0 m

6

East Mebon

6

106.9 m × 103.0 m

7

Pre Rup

4

126.6 m × 113.6 m

8

Banteay Srei

4

41.5 m × 37.5 m

9

Ta Keo

12

116.5 m × 103.0 m

10

Baphuon

4

60.4 m × 53.5 m

11

Ta Prohm

NA

NA

12

Preah Khan

2

86.6 m × 75.7 m

13

Bayon

4

126.6 m × 110.8 m

14

Banteay Samre

0

74.1 m × 69.0 m

15

Angkor Thom

0

3196.0 m × 3134.8 m

Total

73

or squash an ideal square into a rectangle. By making the design plan for a temple slightly rectangular in shape, the solstice azimuths intersect the figure’s corners while at the same time maintaining the symbolically meaningful quadripartite design. The reason why this rectangle works so well at Angkor is that, at this latitude, the solstice azimuths are nearly reciprocal. So, for example, the reciprocal difference between the winter solstice rise and summer solstice set azimuths is only 0.1 degree.

Notes double WSS alignment, Figure 8, line 7

walls obscured by trees

aligned to Phnom Bok aligned to Bakong

1. A total of 21 solstice sightlines were identified for Angkor Wat, alone. The likelihood that Angkor Wat would incorporate this many solstice alignments due to chance is remote. 2. Additionally, another 52 solstice alignments were identified in 11 nearby temples. In total, 73 solstice alignments were identified for 12 temples (Table 1). Out of a total of 15 temples, one temple (Ta Prohm) could not be assessed due to tree cover. Of the remaining 14 temples, 12 (or 86%) were found to have two or more alignments to the solstices. Multiple instances of alignment to the same celestial event at different, but culturally related sites is strong evidence for intentionality.

Multiple lines of evidence support the notion that Khmer architects intentionally incorporated solstice alignments into the design of Angkor Wat and other temples. These lines of evidence include the following. 23

William F. Romain 3. The manner in which solstice sightlines are repeated at Angkor Wat is suggestive of intentionality. As Figures 3.2 and 3.3 show, the same solstice alignment scheme (i.e., from architecturally delineated points of origin along the east-west axis to opposite corners of an enclosure) is repeated in both directions at a variety of scales. At Angkor Wat, solstice azimuths are expressed in the same way at least 10 times. As shown, the same manner of expression also occurs at 11 other related sites. 4. Not only are solstice alignments expressed in the same way across the area; they are also expressed in the same way over hundreds of years. Many changes are apparent in Khmer architecture over the centuries. These changes are reflected in the style names associated with different date ranges—e.g., Pre Rup Style, Baphuon Style, Classical Style, and others. In spite of stylistic changes, however, the incorporation of solstice alignments in temple designs remained constant and was presented in the same patterned way. 5. One way to incorporate solstice sightlines into a quadrilateral figure is to the morph the figure in such a way that solstice angles are expressed in the angular relationship between the figure’s midpoints and corners. If the morphed rectangles differ from ideal proportions, solstice alignments will not occur. At least 20 instances were found among 12 temples wherein the correctly proportioned rectangle is manifested. The repeated instance of the same proportions occurring among rectangles of different sizes demonstrates intentionality. 6. Of interest is that the major and minor axes of East Mebon are not aligned north-south and east-west; but rather, are skewed by 3−4º counterclockwise from the cardinal directions (Figure 3.5b). In spite of this, the temple designers managed to incorporate multiple solstice alignments into the design. This demonstrates that solstice alignments were not an epiphenomenal result of rectangles made to specific proportions for reasons other than astronomic alignment; but rather, were intentional. 7. Solstice alignments at Angkor are consistent with descriptions of the cosmos found in Hindu texts that predate Angkor. According to Subbarayappa (1989, 28), “There is enough evidence in the Vedic literature to confirm that the Vedic Indians possessed the knowledge of both the winter and summer solstices.” References to the solstices are found in the Visnu Purāna (date uncertain) (Wilson 1865, 254); and in the Vedic astronomic text, Vedāṅga Jyotiṣa written sometime between 1000 B.C.−600 B.C. If, as just noted, Vedic understandings of the cosmos included time periods established according to the solstices, then it would be appropriate for the solstices to be incorporated in the microcosmic model of the universe that was Angkor Wat. 8. Recognition of the solstices by the designers of Angkor Wat is graphically provided by two bas-reliefs at the site (i.e., the Battle of Kuruksetra and the Churning of the Ocean of Milk) (Mannikka 1996). The most explicit

of these is the Churning of the Ocean of Milk relief. This relief shows a scene from Hindu mythology and stretches along the southern wing of the east gallery wall. The story it tells, in part, is a creation myth. According to Srivastava (1987, 74), “In Hindu mythology there is hardly any story of greater importance….” The panel shows two opposing groups of gods (88 devas and 91 asuras, or demons) engaged in an effort to create the nectar of immortality. They do this by pulling back and forth on a churning rope (in the form of the serpent god Vasuki), wrapped around Mount Mandara (used as the churning stick), that has been plunged into the Ocean of Milk. Vishnu presides at the center of the scene. Over time, the churning causes the emergence of lesser gods, the moon, a variety of unusual creatures, and eventually, amrita, the elixir of immortality. The tale continues from there. . Mannikka (1996, 37−41) has proposed that among other things, the bas-relief shows the cyclic interplay between winter and summer seasons as delineated by the number of days between the equinoxes and solstices. The 91 asuras on one side of the churning mountain represent the number of days from equinox to winter solstice; the 88 devas on the other side represent the number of days from equinox to summer solstice. (Also see Romain 2019b.) . Moreover, as a result of the orientation of the bas-relief and the way the pillars in the gallery are positioned, over the course of a year, sunlight from the solstices illuminate the deities at either end of the serpent-rope. At winter solstice sunlight falls on Bali, king of the asuras, holding the head of the serpent (Mannikka 1996, Figure 5.38). At summer solstice the light falls on Sugriva, holding the tail of the serpent (Mannikka 1996, Figure 5.43). At the equinoxes, the sun illuminates Vishnu, on Mount Mandara, at the center of the bas-relief between the opposing groups (Mannikka 1996, 162). . If Mannikka’s interpretation is correct—and I believe it is, then this bas-relief provides iconographic affirmation that the solstices were integral to Angkor cosmology. (Also see Kak 2002.) In this bas-relief the solstices not only delineate the year; they also define the boundary parameters within which the gods act. The interplay of solstice light on the Churning of the Ocean relief is probably as close to a written statement by the ancient Khmer that we will ever have concerning the importance of the solstices. It is generally agreed that the Angkor temples were intended as microcosmic representations of the cosmos (Petrotchenko 2014; Stuart-Fox and Reeve 2011). The idea draws upon Hindu (or Brahmanism) and Buddhist concepts. The universe expands outward from Mount Meru which is at the center (Flood 1996, 112; StuartFox and Reeve 2011, 109). On the summit of Mount Meru is the divine city of Indra (Jessup 1997, 101). At the base of Mount Meru is the earth. The earth has four 24

Solstice Azimuths as Design Elements at Angkor Wat and Nearby Temples cardinal directions established by the rising and setting sun (Kramrisch 1946, vol.1, 17). There are multiple levels above and below the earth. The cosmos is populated by different kinds of beings to include humans, plants, animals, gods, apsaras, naga-serpents, and demons.

Khmer monuments may—or may not, incorporate similar alignments. Among the areas in need of analysis are Sambor Prei Kuk and Koh Ker—where dozens of monumental structures have been found. Acknowledgements

In this understanding, the central tower at Angkor Wat represents Mount Meru (Coe and Evans 2018, 144; Laur 2002, 59). The towers that surround the center tower represent either the peaks of Mount Meru, or mountains that surround Mount Meru. The innermost square or rectangle area represents the earth. Perimeter walls represent mountain chains that encircle the earth; and surrounding moat(s) symbolize the cosmic seas. Concentric walls and moats express the outward expansion of the universe from the center. Gateways at the ends of major and minor axes symbolically orient Angkor Wat and other temples to the cardinal directions. This briefly outlines the spatial aspects of the cosmos, but in Hindu and Buddhist beliefs there is yet another important component — i.e., time. In these belief systems time is cyclic — meaning entire universes are created and destroyed in an endless cycle of creation and destruction. Expanding on the cosmological concepts just noted, the following speculative interpretation for the significance of solstice alignments at Angkor is suggested.

My sincere thanks to Damian Evans and the École française d’Extrême-Orient for providing me with the Angkor Wat LiDAR data and permission to publish the resulting images. Many thanks also to A. César González García for inviting me to contribute to this volume. References Barnhart, E. and Christopher, C. 2013. The importance of zenith passage at Angkor, Cambodia. [online]. Accessed January 2018, http://mayamaps.org/pdf/ angkorzenithpassage.pdf. Briggs, L. P. 1951. “The ancient Khmer Empire”. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 41, part 1. Philadelphia, PA. Cheng Sokhorng. 2020. Angkor hosts 2.6m visitors. The Phnom Penh Post (newspaper for 02 January 2019.) [online]. Accessed March 2020, https://www. phnompenhpost.com/business/angkor-hosts-26mvisitors.

In their geometric shapes, alone, Angkor temples were static entities. As magnificent and expressive as they were in structural terms, something was needed to further the metaphor of a dynamic universe and connect the temples to the temporal movement of the universe. Arguably, solstice alignments served that purpose. Solstice alignments connect to points in space; but through their lateral spread they are well-suited to referencing the pendulum-like swing of the sun during the course of a year. Through solstice alignments the dynamic movement of the universe was engaged. Solstice alignments provided the link between the microcosmic temples and the dynamic movement of the macro cosmos. By connecting the Angkor temples to the solar cycle the temples became more than just neatly arranged piles of stone. Through their solstice alignments to the Sun the temples were enlivened and became part of the ebb and flow of the universe.

Coe, M. D. 2003. Angkor and the Khmer civilization. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson. Coe, M. D. and D. Evans. 2018. (2nd ed.). Angkor and the Khmer civilization. London: Thames and Hudson. Fletcher, R., Pottier, C., Evans, D., & Kummu, M. 2008. “The development of the water management system of Angkor: A provisional model”. Bulletin of the IndoPacific Prehistory Association 28, 57−66. Flood, G. 1996. An introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Google Earth Pro. ver. 7.3.2.5776, 2019 [online]. https:// google.com/earth/desktop/. Glaize, M. 1948. Les monuments du groupe d’Angkor (2nd ed.). Paris, France: Portail.

3.5 Concluding remarks

Higham, C. F. W. 2001. The civilization of Angkor. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

In this paper evidence was presented for solstice alignments incorporated in the design of Angkor Wat and nearby temples. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that these alignments are not fortuitous, or epiphenomenal; but rather, represent one way the Sun was memorialized and integrated into the fabric of Angkor temples. Also presented was a tentative explanation for the importance of solstice alignments. Specifically, it was suggested that solstice alignments were intended to connect Angkor Wat and other temples to the cyclic movement of the cosmos.

Jessup, H. I. 1997. “Temple-mountains and the Deváraja cult”. In H. I. Jessup & T. Zephir (eds.), Sculpture of Angkor and ancient Cambodia: Millennium of glory, 101−116. Washington D.C.: National Gallery of Art. Kak, S. 2002. Time, space, and astronomy in Angkor Wat. [online]. Accessed July, 2017, https://www. researchgate.net/publication/2889330_Time_Space_ and_Astronomy_in_Angkor_Wat Kramrisch, S. 1946. The Hindu temple. Volume one. Calcutta, India: University of Calcutta.

Additional work needs to be done in the Angkor area as well as other areas to ascertain how other ancient 25

William F. Romain Wilson, H. H. (trans.). 1865. The Vishńu Puráńa: A system of Hindu mythology and tradition. Volume II. (Reprinted in 2015.) London, UK: Forgotten Books.

Laur, J. 2002. Angkor: An illustrated guide to the monuments. Paris, France: Flammarion. Magli, G. 2017. “Archaeoastronomy in the Khmer heartland”. Studies in Digital Heritage 1(1):1−17. [online]. Accessed January 2018, https:// scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/sdh/article/ view/22846/29090. Mannikka, E. 1996. Angkor Wat: Time, space, and kingship. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press. Paris, P. V. 1941. “L’importance rituelle du Nord-Est et ses applications en Indochine”. Bulletin de l’Éçole Française d’ Extréme-Orient 41, 303−334. Petrotchenko, M. 2014. Focusing on the Angkor temples: The guidebook. (3rd ed.) Bangkok, Thailand: Amarin Publishing. Romain, W. F. 2018a. “Solstice alignments at Angkor Wat and nearby temples: Connecting to the cycles of time”. Journal of Skyscape Archaeology 4(2): 176−200. [online]. Accessed March 2020, https://journals. equinoxpub.com/JSA/article/view/35712. Romain, W. F. 2018b. “Supplementary Material for ‘Solstice alignments at Angkor Wat and nearby temples: connecting to the cycles of time”. Online supplement for Journal of Skyscape Archaeology 4(2): S1-S17. Accessed February 2020, https://journals.equinoxpub. com/JSA/article/download/38250/35832. Romain, W. F. 2019a. Solstice alignments at Angkor Wat and nearby temples: connecting to the cycles of time. Presentation for SEAC at EAA meeting, Bern Switzerland, 9−6-2019. Romain, W. F. 2019b. “Counting demons and devas: Addendum to solstice alignments at Angkor Wat: Connecting to the cycles of time”. Journal of Skyscape Archaeology 5(1): in press. Rooney, D. 1994. Angkor: An introduction to the temples. Bangkok: Asia Books. Sparavigna, A. C. 2016. Solar alignments of the planning of Angkor Wat temple complex. [online]. Accessed July 2017, http://www.philica.com/display_article. php?article_id=591. Stencel, R., Gifford, F., & Morón, E. 1976. “Astronomy and cosmology at Angkor Wat”. Science 193, 281−287. Stuart-Fox, M. & Reeve, P. 2011. “Symbolism in city planning in Cambodia from Angkor to Phnom Phen”. Journal of the Siam Society 99, 105−138. Srivastava, K.M. 1987. Angkor Wat and cultural ties with India. New Delhi, India: Book & Books. Subbarayappa, B. V. 1989. “Indian astronomy: An historical perspective”. In S.K. Biswas, D. C. V. Mallik, & C. V. Vishveshwara (eds.), Cosmic perspectives: Essays dedicated to M.K.V. Bappu, 25−39. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press.

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4 Returning from the Underworld: The West Kennet Palisades in the Avebury Monument Complex Lionel D. Sims Abstract: The West Kennet Palisades were an Early Bronze Age (EBA) large oak post double companion enclosure to the Avebury stone circle in Wiltshire, England. Parker Pearson’s materiality model (Parker Pearson 2012) proposes dual arrangements of materialities in binary combination between monuments of wood and monuments of stone at the late Neolithic/EBA Stonehenge monument. According to this model funeral rites of passage for the living began at timber monuments and were completed with the interment of the processed remains of the eminent dead at stone monuments. In contrast Sims (2009a) has argued that instead of funeral rituals these dual monument complexes were designed principally to simulate journeys through the underworld, beginning at the stone monuments and ending at timber monuments − the reverse of that predicted by the materiality model. However the complexity of the lunar−solar alignments found at the Sanctuary, the wood and stone multiple circle linked to both and then hypothesised to be the terminus of this underworld journey, allowed two possible interpretations of this underworld journey ritual (Sims and Fisher 2017 and 2020). Either a ritual at such a terminus cannot be complete without moving back, ‘from pillar to post’, to its paired companion monument in a ceaseless alternation. Or rituals at dual monument complexes in the Late Neolithic/ EBA completed their rites of passage to be later repeated for subsequent cohorts. A detailed examination at Avebury of the archaeology, landscape archaeology and archaeoastronomy of the West Kennet Palisades allows a test for disentangling this ambiguity. Keywords: West Kennet Palisades, Avebury, Stonehenge, materiality model, ontological turn, lunar−-solar cosmology, underworld. 4.1 Introduction

Parker Pearson’s application of this model has a widened methodology that besides site excavation includes archaeoastronomy, ethnographic analogy, and all couched in a return to devising scientific tests without excluding the significance of individual agency.

The materiality model claims that stone monuments were sepulchres for the dead and were accompanied by timber monuments which were for the living. Stone and wood are here considered as metaphors respectively for the bones of the dead and the flesh of the living. This model therefore proposes that the meaning of Stonehenge is revealed in its contemporary companion monument of Durrington Walls which included two large timber complex circles enclosed within a huge banked chalk enclosure. Following this binary division in materialities these two Stonehenge monuments were linked by avenues and the River Avon for, according to the materiality model, the conduct of funeral rites of passage from the domain of the living and newly dead in the timber Durrington Walls to rituals of interment for the ancestral dead at the stone Stonehenge (Parker Pearson 2012).

Notwithstanding these significant advantages offered by the materiality model, a number of anomalies of the materiality model have been noted. The interment of cremated human remains at Stonehenge ends around 2400 BC, yet the monument continues to be modified and used for another 700 years (Cleal et al. 1995, 115). Some human burials are found in the ‘domain of the living’ at Woodhenge and next to the entrance to Durrington Walls (Higham and Carey 2019). Woodhenge, like the Sanctuary at Avebury, is a monument of wood and stone (Pollard and Reynolds 2002, 106−10). Stonehenge has woodworkingtype joints to support and connect its stone lintels, stone 16 is probably rendered as oak bark, it probably had an oak lintel above the half-height stone 11 (Pitts 2001, 264, 268; Parker Pearson 2012, 334) and had a two-kilometre oak palisade running alongside it and the final section of the Avenue (Sims and Fisher 2017; Sims and Fisher 2020). Some of the claimed astronomical alignments are poorly specified and/or incorrect, and specifying the building materials alone does not explain either the mass or the

Instead of seeing timber monuments in other regional complexes like Avebury as trial-runs for later stone monuments, the ‘lithicisation thesis’, or considering each monument separately classified within site excavation reports, this model considers local monuments as complexes − integrated groups of structures that share a cosmological/ritual unity that emerges over centuries. 27

Lionel D. Sims form of the monument buildings (Sims 2013). And while a few burials are recorded at the Avebury stone circle, it has not been suggested that it also was primarily a cemetery (Pollard and Reynolds 2002, 95; Gillings et al. 2008, 201−24).

labelled by Whittle as Enclosures 1 and 2, linked by the connecting fence outer radial ditch 2 and two other outer radial fences 1 and 3 connecting Enclosure 2 to two outlying smaller timber enclosures called Structures 4 and 5 (Figure 4.1). They were located on flat land close to the southern end of Waden Hill, roughly symmetrical to the Avebury circle and henge’s location close to the northern end of Waden Hill. Within a kilometre west of the Palisades was Silbury Hill and a kilometre east was the Sanctuary, and the Palisades were linked to both the Avebury circle and the Sanctuary by the West Kennet Avenue (Figure 4.2; Gillings et al. 2008, Sims 2013). By these arrangements and by excavation findings the excavator concluded a Late Neolithic/EBA date for their construction (Whittle 1997). A recent re-dating of the monument by Historic England (Pitts 2017) to 3320 BC has been widely discounted since it fails to address the many excavation findings that pot sherds and pig bones were placed alongside and leaning against the post pipes. The 21 pieces of charcoal that provided this re-dating, assumed by HE to be from the posts of the Palisades, therefore suggests that separate earlier structures existed on this site a millennium before the building of the West Kennet Palisades.

All of these anomalies are cancelled by the underworld journey model which, while accepting much of the materiality model, recognises that the materials and their alignments are combined in asymmetrical proportions, diacritically (Maddock 1979), rather than by strict separation. This second model contends that ancestor rituals were not the sole or even main rituals conducted at Stonehenge, but that the monument complex was designed for the living to simulate a journey through the underworld. Further the model specified that this underworld journey began at the stone Avebury henge and ended at the timber and stone Sanctuary (Sims 2009a). This model has also been proposed to apply at Stonehenge (Sims and Fisher 2017 and 2020). Instead of funeral rites of passage beginning with the living and newly dead at timber monuments like Durrington Walls, this second model proposes that a journey began with simulated death at stone monuments like Stonehenge and ends, not begins, with new life at timber monuments.

The second framing consideration is the sequence of the building of the Palisades. Whittle suggested that the two enclosures were probably not built at the same time and that one replaced the other. This is in spite of the uniformity of construction of both enclosures and that outer Radial ditch 2 connects both enclosures. Both groups of radiocarbon dates from Whittle and Historic England (HE), respectively grouped in the Late and the Middle Neolithic for both enclosures 1 and 2, are identical. There is no suggestion from HE that the two enclosures were not contemporaneous. Further, if one enclosure replaced the other this would not explain why each is different from the other. For much of its circuit, Enclosure 1 has a doubled nested sub-circular concentric palisade while Enclosure 2 has a single circuit oval palisade. Also, Enclosure 2 has four large inner structures and two external radial Palisades connecting it to a further two doubled enclosures, while Enclosure 1 has one or two small structures between its two palisade circuits and is bisected by the River Kennet running right through its centre. These properties alone suggest they serve different but inter-linked functions that do not suggest each could replace the other. About twelve Late Neolithic Palisades have been noted in the literature (Gibson 2002) dated between 2800 − 2200BC and all of them share very similar features to those at the West Kennet Palisades. They are large with very narrow entrances. They are close to, or encircle, springs, marsh, ponds or a meandering river usually flowing east or south or both. In many cases an incomplete palisade circuit is completed by a river boundary. They are connected to post defined avenues and associated with other features, including henges and flat-topped conical mounds. Some of them have chalk or earth defined enclosing banks with timber structures inside, as at Marden and Durrington

To further test and extend this second model, this paper will examine the West Kennet Palisades within the Avebury monument complex. The first preliminary study at Avebury showed that the Sanctuary’s nested circles of stones and posts were arranged to reveal, when viewed from the outer stone circle, four groups of lower and upper windows into what otherwise appeared to be a solid wall of stone and oak. An axial double alignment included a winter solstice sunrise lower alignment, and by this sunrise completed the winter sunset dark Moon part of its ritual at the Avebury circle. However, this solar alignment was paired with an upper alignment on the southern minor standstill moonrises, whereas dark Moon was guaranteed at the Avebury circle by a lunar-solar double alignment on the winter solstice and the southern major, not minor, alignment. The nine−ten year disjunction between the two types of dark Moon lunar alignment therefore implies an ambiguous property open to two main interpretations. Either the main ritual requires constant alternation between major and minor standstills, between pillar and post, or it implies that some further purpose is served by moving on to another part of the ritual coinciding and completing with the minor standstill (Sims 2020). Since this preliminary study did not include the West Kennet Palisades, then the expectation is that the properties of this structure might remove this ambiguity of the earlier formulation of the underworld model. 4.2 Framing the West Kennet Palisades To understand the part played by the West Kennet Palisades in the Avebury monument complex we need to understand how they are framed by dating and by sequence. The West Kennet Palisades were two large oak fenced enclosures, 28

Returning from the Underworld

Figure 4.1. The West Kennet Palisades.

By all these criteria the West Kennet Palisades are little different from other Late Neolithic/EBA palisades. All of these considerations support the assumption that the two palisades at Avebury were contemporaneous, as were the two inner wooden complex circles at Durrington Walls. We can test our interpretation of dating and sequencing by the same multi-disciplinary approach adopted by Parker Pearson and study the archaeology and archaeoastronomy of the design and properties of the West Kennet Palisades. If we cannot find complementary and interlinked archaeology and archaeoastronomy between them, then our interpretation will have failed.

Walls. Many are destroyed by fire. And Hindwell Palisade Enclosure, dated to 2800 BC, is almost identical to the West Kennet Palisades. It had one large single palisade circuit enclosure with the same elongated oval shape as at the West Kennet Palisades and a second double nested circuit palisade sub-circular enclosure. But here the single circle part interpenetrates and is connected to the second double circuit part. A spring in the centre of the single circuit portion feeds a brook flowing into a pond and stream bisecting the double circuit part. Each part of Hindwell clearly relies on the other, suggesting the same condition applies to the West Kennet Palisades. 29

Lionel D. Sims

Figure 4.2. The Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age monument complex in its landscape. Adapted from Crocker. Key: 1 Site of the West Kennet Palisade (see Figure 1); 2 Silbury Hill; 3 Fox Covert; 4 Folly Hill; 5 Bray Street Bridge; 6 Avebury Henge and Circle; 7 Inner northern circle; 8 Inner southern circle; 9 West Kennet Avenue; 10 Break in West Kennet Avenue and site of North Kennet springs; 11 Waden Hill; 12 Sanctuary.

4.3 The archaeology of the West Kennet Palisades

be found at Avebury in the two Enclosures at the Palisades mirroring the two inner stone circles in the Avebury henge. For Enclosure 2 the three inner circles concentrated in the south east corner of the oval also reference properties found in the stone circle. Structure 1 had a central mound as did the Cove at the centre of the northern circle in the henge, Structure 2 had a central square feature as did the centre of the Avebury southern circle and Structure 3 had a central enormous timber post matching the 7-metre-high stone Obelisk also at the centre of the southern inner circle. For Enclosure 1, flowing water afforded by the River Kennet and multiple springs within its centre is in contrast to the standing stagnant water during the winter rise of the water table in the Avebury henge ditch (Marshall 2016, 59). The overlap in these shared features between the paired monuments, one of mainly stone the other of mainly wood, also repeats what has been demonstrated for the Durrington Walls southern inner circle repeating the architecture of Stonehenge, but in wood (Thomas 2007). But here also we find a diacritical combination of materialities, with a row of sarsen stones lining the entrance avenue to Durrington Walls (Parker Pearson 2012, 96). Also the open northern section of Enclosure 2 at the West Kennet Palisades allows viewing the northern near horizon dominated by the symmetrical curved horizon silhouette of the southern end of Waden Hill, which repeats exactly, but in reverse, the horizon view south of the northern end of Waden Hill from stone 6b at the strangely kinked penultimate section of the

Using a multiplier of 3.5 to posthole depths, Whittle estimated that the height of the closely butted palisades would have been 7 metres for the outer circuits of both Enclosures 1 and 2 and Outer radial ditch 2, whereas Outer radial ditches 1 and 3 palisades would have been about 3 metres high. Inside both enclosures there was no dwelling or occupation evidence, being empty clean spaces, suggesting to Whittle a ritual purpose. Whittle also noted the peculiarity of highly redundant packing stones within the postholes. In some places 3 or 4 courses of large sarsens each up to 80 cms in length seemingly reinforced the posthole footings when impacted soil and chalk would have been quite adequate for building purposes (Whittle 1997, 65, 152). This combination of cryptically hidden stones within a massive timber monument suggests a parallel with a reversed dualism of materialities at the Avebury circle, which had a small timber double circle which when entering the western entrance from Beckhampton Avenue was hidden behind the northern inner stone circle (Ucko et al. 1991, 222−29, North 1996, 271−6). This in turn repeats the reverse cryptic symbolism of Stone 16 at Stonehenge which had its surface rendered as oak bark, but which was concealed behind the Grand Trilithon Stone 56 when entering from the Avenue. Further matching dualism can 30

Returning from the Underworld West Kennet Avenue. This also repeats the view to the north prescribed by the northern inner circle at Durrington Walls in the Stonehenge monument complex. Dualism is a principal theme in the building design at both Avebury and Stonehenge and, for many features, rather than a separation of materials in these paired structures they are combined in unequal, diacritical, proportions (Sims and Fisher 2020). Diacritical combinations signify linked functions, not a strict categorical distinction between the wood and stone, living and the dead. While Avebury henge has a lot of stone and a little wood, the West Kennet Palisades has a lot of wood and a little stone. This detailed mirroring dual structure that the West Kennet Palisades has with the details of the Late Neolithic/EBA Avebury circle could not feasibly have been anticipated by Palisade builders a millennium before, and adds further weight to discounting a Middle Neolithic dating for the Palisades.

structures all bunched in the south east corner of Enclosure 2 to the northwest towards Silbury Hill. The outer Palisade of Enclosure 2 partially obscures what would otherwise be a clear uninterrupted view of its eastern and southern flanks and its flat summit top. Second, the two converging lines of three-metre-high Palisades of outer radials 1 and 3 form an avenue approach to the enclosure from the south east which is orientated along the long axis of the oval−shaped enclosure. The third structuring device is the open northern section of Enclosure 2 giving a clear view north over the River Kennet and Waden spring towards the near summit of the symmetrical smoothly sloped southern end of Waden Hill. We will look at each of these devices in turn. From the three circular structures in the southeast corner of Enclosure 2 only a partial view of Silbury Hill is possible, as is the case at all other prescribed views allowed by the contemporary avenues and circles of the monument complex. Silbury Hill is the largest prehistoric artificial mound in Europe. It is not a burial mound nor is it an elevated viewing platform. Instead of being designed to be seen or to see from, its form and location with the Avebury monument complex ensures that for about 70−80% of the length of the encircling avenues, Avebury Circle and the Sanctuary, the 37-metre-high flat-topped cone of Silbury Hill is obscured by the intervening Folly and Waden Hills (Figure 4.2). The massive investment in labour made in constructing this flat-topped chalk cone for such limited viewing must mean that the few prescribed views of it had great significance. In the earlier study it was shown that the monument builders have chosen an arrangement such that Silbury Hill is designed and placed so that just four views are prescribed when viewing from the Beckhampton Avenue, the Avebury Circle, and the Sanctuary (Sims 2009a). Two of these views are of just the top terrace, a stepped 5 metre notch immediately below the level summit, peeping proud of its background horizon. First from the start of the Beckhampton Avenue at Fox Covert (Sims 2009b) Silbury Hill’s top terrace can be seen 5º south of east and secondly it is seen from the centre of the southern inner circle within Avebury circle looking 80º south of west. The cropped top terrace of Silbury Hill, proud of its background horizon in both of these views, presents a sliver of chalk at these horizon azimuths, just as does Robin Hood’s Ball when processing along the last two sections of the Stonehenge Avenue (Sims 2020). Two other views are of Silbury Hill’s flat top exactly in line with the background level horizon. First at Bray Street bridge, where the Beckhampton Avenue crosses the River Winterbourne and looking 77º south of east, and second from the Sanctuary looking 16º north of west. A similar insight was made nearly three hundred years ago when Stukeley observed that the Avebury monuments have ‘every part is hid from the other or but obscurely visible’ (Ucko et al. 1991, 84)). It has been shown that these four Avebury ‘obscurated’ views are representations of waning and waxing crescent Moons and of the Moon when understood to be travelling through the underworld (Sims 2009a, and below). If this interpretation is valid, then we

Since it has been shown that the Avebury Circle has lunar and solar alignments which also exhibit diacritical dualism (North 1996, 271−6), and since we have demonstrated matching dual design principles shared by Avebury Circle and the West Kennet Palisades, then it might be conjectured that we would also find that this principle was extended to mirror image diacritical alignments at the Palisades. Unlike other dimensions of material culture, alignments, where proven, immediately signify time factored sky events, and paired solstice and lunar standstill alignments which follow a nine−ten-year periodic alternation. If we find both winter and summer solstice alignments each paired with southern and northern major and minor lunar standstills in both stone circle and timber palisades, all expressed in dual diacritical arrangements, this would suggest the ritual requirement for endless alternation, from pillar to post, in an endless nineteen-year cycle between these two lunar-solar nodes. If this is the case it would weaken the alternative thesis found in the earlier study (Sims 2009a) of entering the underworld at the Avebury Circle and returning from and leaving it at the Sanctuary, since the Sanctuary also exhibits winter and summer sunrises, and major and minor lunar standstill moonrises, suggesting emergence from the underworld (Sims 2020). This second formulation suggests a completion of a simulated underworld journey, not a constant ritual rebounding between stone and wood, from major and minor southern and northern lunar standstills. If this latter claim is correct, ritual completion to an underworld journey should be signified in some way in the design of the West Kennet Palisades. To this we now turn. 4.4 The skyscape archaeology of Enclosure 2 of the West Kennet Palisades Whittle suggests that the architecture of the West Kennet Palisades structures movement and ritual progression through nested concentric enclosures with heavily prescribed views of associated monuments (Whittle 1997, 164). Three structuring devices are enshrined in the architecture of Enclosure 2. First, the large empty oval space directs the eye along its long axis from the inner three 31

Lionel D. Sims would expect this to be elaborated in some manner by the views afforded through the design details of the West Kennet Palisades − a fifth contemporaneous position from which is prescribed another view of Silbury Hill, not considered in that earlier study.

Silbury Hill with the Sun. We can test this ethnographic hypothesis as we proceed. Now turning to Structure 4, which is placed so that the view of Silbury Hill is not interrupted by the hill salient, the respective values are an azimuth of 32º north of west and an altitude of 1º.6, which becomes a zero degree altitude horizon alignment of 35º.2 north of west. Given that this orientation is as equally far from the northern minor standstill moonsets at 30º.9 north of west for 2250 BC at latitude 51º as it is for the summer solstice sunsets at 41º.8, we now come to the second conundrum for archaeoastronomy. Faced with one unobservable alignment and one orientation ≈5º apart from either a solstice or a standstill alignment, the common response would be twofold: either to seek some other celestial target for the second orientation and dispense with the first, or to discount any ‘astronomical’ significance to either finding. But since our earlier model predicts that the highly prescriptive views of Silbury Hill will display lunar properties, again by following the ‘ontological turn’ we stay with what to us might appear to be a nonsensical ‘astronomy’ and continue our analysis of the West Kennet Palisades to seek within what context these paradoxical findings are embedded. If we find no explanatory context, then our use of the ontological turn has failed.

The ‘sacred precinct’ of Enclosure 2 was approached from the south east from the post circle Structures 4 and 5 and between the connecting Palisades of Outer Radials 1 and 3 (Figure 1; Whittle 1997, 157, 164). The converging timber fences of the 3 metre high funnelling facade, when walking northwards from Structures 4 and 5 towards Enclosure 2, cuts off seeing much of the landscape to the west and the east. Simultaneously when approaching Enclosure 2, its seven metre high Palisade will, for an adult Neolithic man with an estimated eye height of 1.65 metres, after about 30 metres cut off viewing all landscape to the north and northwest. From Structure 5 the orientation to the summit centre of Silbury Hill is at an azimuth of 38º north of west. Since Silbury Hill’s flat summit is at an altitude of 1º.7, and at this latitude of 51º north, every degree of altitude reduces zero-degree altitude horizon by two degrees, then the standardised zero level horizon azimuth becomes 41º.4 north of west. For 2250 BC at this latitude the alignment on summer solstice sunset is 41º.8 (North 1996, 571) and, since our fieldwork Suunto compass provides a reading to half a degree, this should mean that Structure 5 is aligned on Silbury Hill to observe the summer solstice Sun setting into its summit. However, from Figure 4.3 it can be seen that the builders placed this Structure 5 behind a hill salient which, setting an intervening horizon of 1º.9, interrupts any direct view of Silbury Hill from Structure 5.

The distance from Structure 4 to the 7 metre high Palisade fence of Enclosure 2 is about 220 metres and for an eye height of 1.65 metres this nearest Palisade sets an altitude of 1º.5. However, the summit level platform of Silbury Hill is at an altitude of 1º.6 and so from Structure 4 the cropped top of Silbury Hill, which is the hill’s top terrace, appears proud of Enclosure 2’s perimeter Palisade. This is exactly the same type of truncated view of the Silbury Hill top terrace made by the monument builders as seen at Fox Covert and the Avebury inner southern circle. Now processing forward towards Enclosure 2 within and surrounded by a funnelling canyon of walls of oak creates a sensation of slowly sinking as the engulfing and encroaching horizons appear to grow higher. This effect narrows the view of Silbury Hill’s top terrace creating the effect that this sliver of chalk is simultaneously narrowing, sinking and reducing its azimuth from 35º north of west until, after about 30 metres of processing towards Enclosure 2 its last glint is at azimuth 33º north of west. Anticipating the insight that this chalk face of Silbury Hill’s top terrace acted as a facsimile of the crescent Moon as at the four other prescribed observation positions (Sims 2009a), then from those within a habitus of a planar stationary geocentric earth, it could be deduced that this south-moving aspect of chalk was crescent Moon approaching its northern minor lunar standstill horizon limit but not a solar symbol moving north towards summer solstice horizon sunset. This supports our earlier assumption in keeping with the ontological turn, to stay with field data that does not fit the conceptual vocabulary of heliocentric astronomy, that a monumental facsimile of the Moon can be inferred in spite of an azimuth that does not coincide with either a lunar or solar alignment. The same illusion of perceiving a setting crescent Moon was

According to an archaeoastronomy model which assumes observational horizon astronomy, it makes little sense to place an ‘observatory’ behind a hill which obstructs the target horizon. However, the ‘ontological turn’ (Holbraad and Pederson 2017) suggests that we follow ethnographic data which clashes with our modern concepts to see where they might lead. Instead of dispensing with this finding it may be that this deliberate obscuration of an intentional summer solstice alignment halts any bracketing of

Figure 4.3. West Kennet Palisades and Silbury Hill in its landscape.

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Returning from the Underworld Moon − when the Moon, and by their own agency those that view it, have emerged from the underworld.

manufactured by the monument builders when processing anti-clockwise round the ‘D’ feature in the centre of the southern inner circle of the Avebury Circle, whereas there the alignment is around 80º south of west and therefore, in this prehistoric culture, an underworld alignment (Sims 2009a). Silbury Hill is next seen when inside Enclosure 2 and standing on the mound in the middle of Structure 1. From this position again, the cropped top of Silbury Hill stands proud of the opposite northwest end of the Enclosure (Figure 4.4). At an azimuth of 28º north of west and an altitude of 1.58º, the standardised zero horizon altitude azimuth is 31º.2 north of west. Since the monthly horizon azimuths for the two or so years of every lunar standstill are observably different within a range of about 3º (Fisher and Sims 2019; Sims 2019), it is interesting that the width of the flat top of Silbury Hill when viewed from Structure 1 in Enclosure 2 also subtends an angle of about 3 degrees. This ensures that at the northern horizon limit of the minor standstill the Moon, in time lapsed reversed phases (Sims 2006), sets into the summit of Silbury Hill culminating with dark Moon at summer solstice. In turn this allows the inference by the agency of those inhabiting the habitus of the monument builder’s culture that the top terrace, a gleaming sliver of chalk on the north-western horizon, can here be understood as waxing crescent

4.5 Conclusion Whittle demonstrates how the design of the West Kennet Palisades suggest rituals of seclusion with highly prescribed views of other related monuments and vistas. This emphasis on form in contrast to Parker Pearson’s emphasis on content, reveals at Avebury the sophisticated use of a lunar template synchronised with and displaced by the solstices. The views of Silbury Hill’s top terrace as a horizon sliver of chalk rotate clockwise from east to west when viewed in turn from Fox Covert − Bray Street Bridge − Avebury Henge − Sanctuary − West Kennet Palisades. All these views simulate the Moon’s perceived westwards underworld journey just before, during and after dark Moon. This journey takes place across a 9−10 year cycle. It begins with a ritual death at the Avebury stone circle during the darkest night − at winter solstice sunset during the southern major standstill of the Moon. It ends 9−10 years later with a ritual resurrection at the West Kennet Palisades at summer solstice during the northern minor standstill of the Moon. To mediate these long-term lunar-solar time spans, the Sanctuary’s complete repertoire

Figure 4.4. Virtual model showing the view of the cropped top of Silbury Hill from Structure 1 in Enclosure 2 of the West Kennet Palisades.

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Lionel D. Sims of lunar solar alignments link both the simulated journey through the underworld from the Avebury Circle to the West Kennet Palisades over the course of 9−10 years, and then for repeating by return back to the Avebury Circle for its re-launch of another underworld journey to the Palisades 10−9 or 9−10? years later. What appears to be a continual rebound from pillar to post when considering the Sanctuary alone as the ritual terminus, by including the West Kennet Palisades into the ritual circuit of the Avebury monument complex it becomes a single journey into and returning from the underworld that requires repetition for the next cohort of neophytes.

Pollard, J. And Reynolds, A. 2002. Avebury: The biography of a landscape. Stroud: Tempus. Sims, L. D. 2006. “The solarisation of the Moon: manipulated knowledge at Stonehenge”. Cambridge Archaeology Journal, 16:2, 191–207. Sims, L. D. 2009a. “Entering, and returning from, the underworld: reconstituting Silbury Hill by combining a quantified landscape phenomenology with archaeoastronomy”. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. 15:2, 386−408. Sims, L. D. 2009b. “The logic of empirical proof: a note on the course of the Beckhampton Avenue”. Time and Mind. 2(3): 333−46.

References Barber, M. 2003. Late Neolithic Palisade Enclosures at West Kennet. Swindon: English Heritage.

Sims, L. D. 2013. “Stonehenge Decoded?”. Culture and Cosmos. 17:2, 138−42.

Cleal, R. M. J., Walker, K. E. and Montague, R. 1995. Stonehenge in its Landscape. London: English Heritage.

Sims, L. D. 2019. “A Commentary on L. V. Morrison, “On the Analysis of Megalithic Lunar Sightlines in Scotland”. Journal of Skyscape Archaeology 5:1, 79–89.

Gibson, A. 2002. “The Later Neolithic Palisaded Sites of Britain”. In Behind Wooden Walls: Neolithic Palisaded Enclosures in Europe. Edited by Alex Gibson, 5−23. Oxford: BAR Publishing, British Archaeological Reports (BAR) International, 1013.

Sims, L. D. 2020. “Toads turning time: verifying visualisations of the Sanctuary (Avebury, Wiltshire) by interdisciplinary method”. In Visualising Skyscapes: Material Forms of Cultural Engagement with the Heavens. Edited by L. Henty and D. Brown, 112−132. London: Routledge.

Gillings, M., Pollard, J., Wheatley, D. and Peterson, R. 2008. Landscape of the Megaliths. Oxford: Oxbow. Higham, R. and Carey, C. 2019. The Durrington Walls Sarsen Burial relocated and reconsidered. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine. 112, 74–84.

Sims, L. D. and Fisher, D. 2017. “Through the gloomy vale: underworld alignments at Stonehenge”. In The Marriage of Astronomy and Culture: Theory and Method in the Study of Cultural Astronomy. Edited by L. Henty, B. Brady D. Gunzerg, F. Prendergast and F. Silva, 11−30. Sophia Centre Press.

Holbraad, M. and Pedersen, M. A. 2017. The Ontological Turn. Cambridge: University Press. MacDonald, J. 2006. “New media applications and their potential for the advancement of public perceptions of archaeoastronomy and for the testing of archaeoastronomical hypotheses”. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, 6:3, 181−184.

Sims, L. D. and Fisher, D. 2020. “Through the dark vale: interpreting the Stonehenge Palisade through inter-disciplinary convergence”. Journal of Skyscape Archaeology. 6:1, in press. Thomas, J. 2007. “The internal features at Durrington Walls: investigations in the southern circle and Western Enclosures”. In From Stonehenge to the Baltic. Edited by M. Larsson and M. Parker Pearson, 145−57. Oxford: BAR International Series 1692.

Maddock, K. 1979. A structural analysis of paired ceremonies in a dual social organisation [online] Accessed June 2020 https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/41017993_A_structural_analysis_of_ paired_ceremonies_in_a_dual_social_organization.

Ucko, P. J. Hunter, M., Clark, A. J. and David, A. 1991 Avebury Reconsidered. London: Unwin Hyman.

Marshall, S. 2016 Exploring Avebury: the Essential Guide. Stroud: The History Press.

Whittle, A. 1997 Sacred Mound, Holy Rings. Oxford: Oxbow.

Mortimer, N. 2003. Stukeley Illustrated: William Stukeley’s Rediscovery of Britain’s Ancient Sites. Sutton Mallet: Green Magic. North, J. 1996. Stonehenge: Neolithic Man and the Cosmos. London: Harper Collins. Parker Pearson, M. 2012. Stonehenge. London: Simon & Schuster. Pitts, M. W. 2001. Hengeworld. London: Arrow. Pitts, M. W. 2017. “The Rings of West Kennet: A new study for Avebury”. British Archaeology July/August: 32–9. 34

Part 2 Frontiers in Theory, Methodology and Education within Cultural Astronomy Part editors: Michael A. Rappenglück and Georg Zotti This part focuses on the theoretical, methodological and educational frontiers of cultural astronomy. Papers reflect on current approaches and push the field forward by presenting new tools, proposing new theoretical frameworks and methods and discuss the state of education within cultural astronomy. Questions include: What are the assumptions of present approaches? Which methodologies can be successfully applied and how are they related? Under what conditions can astronomy help with dating, if at all? Were there any early tools for sky watching? What statistical inference methods are relevant? Which tools can be used to aid the scholar in visualizing prehistoric skies, or to communicate results to a broader audience? How can the borders between pseudoscience, amateur science, bad science, pathological science, and even popular science be demarcated and evaluated? How can we attract interest and teach students and the public?

From its inception, research in archaeoastronomy relied essentially on ‘alignment hunting’, with little theory, systematic methodology or engagement with the wider sociohistoric record. Such an approach is today still present − however, the field evolved and expanded into other areas of scholarly research, always seeking the appropriate way to identify and reconstruct the role played by celestial objects in the lifeworld and cosmovision of the societies under study. Current approaches allow one to draw inferences from the material record of past societies relating to their views on celestial objects, time sequences, cosmic structures and powers. Computational advances allow for robust statistical tests to be widely implemented, whereas new visualization tools can help scholars reach a wider audience. In addition, other fields within the aegis of Cultural Astronomy, bring their own theories and methods to look at the historical and anthropological records − making this a truly multidisciplinary field with its own rewards but also its own challenges.

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5 Beyond Paradigms: Archaeoastronomy as a New Interpretation Key to Understand the Function and Meaning of Ancient Roman Buildings Marina De Franceschini Abstract: Archaeoastronomy can give an important contribution to Archaeology for a better understanding of the function and meaning of some ancient Roman buildings. I have a first-hand direct experience, and I will present two case studies, Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli (near Rome) and the Pantheon in Rome, both of the 2nd century AD. They prove how Archaeoastronomy allowed us to go “beyond the paradigms”, with a new and innovative approach in looking at ancient Roman monuments which have been studied for centuries, but somehow are still unknown as far as their function and meaning are concerned. Keywords: Archaeoastronomy, Roman religion, Archaeology, Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli, Pantheon, “Kiss of the Sun”, hierophanies. 5.1 Foreword

Veneziano: in Italy, we are one of the few who are currently investigating archaeo-astronomical orientations in ancient Roman buildings1.

Archaeoastronomy is a multidisciplinary science summing up ‘scientific’ and ‘humanistic’ aspects. The ‘scientific’ part is up to (archaeo)astronomers or astrophysicists, who use algorithms and software (such as StarryNight. pro) to reconstruct the position of the Sun, the Moon and other celestial bodies in a given historical period. They check whether the luminous phenomena (hierophanies) that we see today also occurred in ancient times, and in which date.

Given the limited number of pages, we will briefly talk about Hadrian’s Villa (we published our discoveries in the book Villa Adriana. Architettura Celeste. I Segreti dei Solstizi and in other articles; De Franceschini and Veneziano 2016; De Franceschini 2017. See also Frischer and Fillwalk 2012; Frischer and Zotti 2016), then we will discuss in detail the archaeo-astronomical studies and discoveries that we made in the Pantheon of Rome.

On the other hand, the ‘humanistic’ part is up to archaeologists and historians, who study the ancient buildings, their construction techniques and their chronology, to see if the structures that (still) produce the hierophanies are the original ones. They also study the ancient sources and cults to understand their function together with the symbolic and religious meaning of the dates set by the astronomers.

5.2 Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli (Rome) I first approached Archaeoastronomy in emperor Hadrian’s Villa − the largest and most important Roman imperial villa, built in the 2nd century AD2. In 2006, during the surveys for my Accademia Project, standing in the Temple of Apollo of the Accademia (De Franceschini and Veneziano 2011, XIII) I noticed a wall panel perfectly illuminated by the sun: a rectangular spot of light which was too perfect to be a coincidence. Thanks to the help of archaeoastronomer Giuseppe Veneziano, we discovered that the building was oriented along the solstitial axis linking the sunset of the summer solstice to the sunrise of the winter solstice. Our discovery was confirmed by a similar one made in 1988 by the american architects Robert Mangurian and Mary-Ann Ray at Roccabruna (also in Hadrian’s Villa. Built at one end of the Accademia esplanade, the artificial terrace where the Accademia stands. Mangurian and Ray 2011), which was astronomically oriented along the same solstitial axis.

The 2019 SEAC Conference in Bern gave us the opportunity to discuss the sometimes controversial relationship between ‘scientific’ and ‘humanistic’ disciplines: the latter too often are underestimated or looked at with raised eyebrows, as if archaeologists could not have the ‘scientific’ approach that indeed they have. And the other way around, since sometimes astronomers know very little about ancient building techniques and cults. We must overcome this separation and mistrust, because mathematical calculations alone or archaeological studies alone are not enough. To make new and original discoveries, archaeo-astronomers and archaeologists must work together with equal dignity and mutual trust. As I did since 2009 with archaeoastronomer Giuseppe

See the author’s website www.villa-adriana.net and articles published on Academia.edu: https://independent.academia.edu/MDeFranceschini. 2  See the author’s website: www.villa-adriana.net. 1 

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Marina De Franceschini same observations of Tavolaro about the height of the spot of light and the hierophanies of the Equinox, adding a new hierophany: the illumination of the bronze door on April 21st, the Dies Natalis of the city of Rome (measured with Starry Night Pro 6.0 and Voyager 4.5.4).

At sunset of the summer solstice a hierophany in the shape of a blade of light still appears inside its domed hall, as confirmed by our on-site observations in 2009−2010. Those data and a new archaeo-astronomical approach gave us the opportunity to “go beyond the paradigms” in studying Hadrian’s Villa. The Accademia Esplanade probably was the sacred area of the Villa, the highest one, closer to divinity; it was the true Acropolis of the Villa, isolated and secluded. The Temple of Apollo in the Accademia and the Temple of Roccabruna were probably dedicated to Isis/Fors Fortuna and Osiris/Dionysos, as suggested by the iconography of the statues found there.

In many ancient cultures (starting from Mesopotamia and Egypt) the Sun was identified with gods, and light was a symbol of their presence. Hierophanies also were a ‘sacred signal’ that the right day and moment had come to celebrate rites, ceremonies or sacrifices: to be sure that the divinity would favorably accept them, it was extremely important to perform them in the right day at the right time. The ‘sacred signal’ of hierophanies tested and confirmed the accuracy of the Roman calendar: this is why the Pantheon can be considered a sort of “seasonal sundial”.

5.3 The Pantheon This extraordinary building is one of the masterpieces of Roman architecture, and still is the largest unreinforced cement dome of the world. Its only source of light is the oculus on top of the dome, while the entrance is on the north side, with a monumental bronze door accessed through a porch with massive granite columns.

5.3.2 The hierophanies of the Pantheon The Pantheon is approximately oriented to the north (De Franceschini and Veneziano, 2011, 78−83. We measured a difference of about 3 degrees compared to true north, using a satellite image of Google Earth Pro. Hannah and Magli report instead a difference of 5.5 degrees, calculated with a Suunto Tandem compass: see Hannah and Magli 2011, 490; De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 125). Every day at local noon the rays of the sun enter from the oculus, creating a spot of light which illuminates its north side, where the bronze door opens; the height of the light spot varies according to the seasons (Figs 5.1−5.2). We will now summarize what happens during the main

5.3.1 Previous studies Already in the 3rd century AD, Dio Cassius (Dio Cassius, Roman History, LIII, 2.7. Summary of previous sources and theories on the Pantheon as a sundial is in De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 123−125) wrote that «the Pantheon because of its vaulted roof it resembles the heavens». In 1966, De Fine Licht (De Fine Licht 1966, 199; De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 123) first thought that «the geometrical form of the Pantheon was created as an allusion to the cosmos». In 1976 Passuello and Dissegna (Passuello and Dissegna 1976, 64−65; De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 123) made the first modern connection of the Pantheon with (archeo) astronomy, calculating that it was oriented 175°, towards the sunrise of April 1st (feast of Venus) and of September 16th (date of the Ludi Romani). The real turning point was in 1991, when the Italian astronomer Aldo Tavolaro (Tavolaro 1991, 19−24; De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 123−124) gave a new archaeo-astronomical interpretation of the dome: «it represented the celestial vault, and the molding represented the celestial equator». He was the first to notice that in the days of the Equinox (March 21st and September 23rd) a spot of light created by the oculus illuminated the molding above the door at local noon (Tavolaro 1991, 21−22). He wrote that the Pantheon functioned as a sort of seasonal sundial (Tavolaro 1991, 22−23): «by observing the position of the light spot at the astronomical noon, it is possible to determine the dates of the year. If it is winter, the oval of light never falls below the molding, if it is summer it goes down to illuminate the floor of the temple».

Figure 5.1. Hierophanies in the Pantheon: A. in Winter the circle of light hits the dome; B. on the Equinox is on the molding; C. on April 21st Dies Natalis, illuminates the door; D. on summer Solstice a large circle of light appears on the floor (photo Author).

In 2009 and 2011 Hannah and Magli (Hannah and Magli 2009; Hannah and Magli 2011, 497, and Figs 6, 7 and 9; De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 124−125) made the 38

Beyond Paradigms

Figure 5.2. The different heights of the spot of light according to the seasons. (©2011 Frischer Consulting, Inc. Elaboration of the author with kind permission).

astronomical events of the year (solstices and equinoxes), to find out how long the hierophanies lasted and if they can be related to a precise and symbolic date or divinity. 1. Winter solstice: the spot of light is very close to the oculus (De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 125; Fig 5.1a). In Autumn and Winter, it always hits the dome above the molding at the base of the dome, for a period of six months between the two Equinoxes (from September 23rd to March 21st), so there could be no relationship with a single feast or divinity of the Roman calendar. 2. Equinox: the spot of light illuminates the molding and goes through the grate above the door3 (Fig 5.1b). This happens twice a year, in March (from the 17th to the 24th) and in September (from the 20th to the 27th), for a total of fifteen days. Again, there cannot be a connection with a specific feast or divinity. 3. April 21st, Dies Natalis of Rome: the sun completely illuminates the bronze door (Fig 5.1c), for fifteen days, in April (from the 15th to the 29th), when the sun has the required height of 60°4. The same happens four months later, in August (from the 13th to the 27th), but those dates are not related to any particular feast of the Roman Calendar − except for the Feriae Augusti (August 15th). Therefore, the bronze door is illuminated for a total of a month, making it unlikely that the single dates of April 21st (Dies Natalis) or August 15th (Feriae Augusti) were driving those hierophanies. 4. On summer solstice, a large spot of light appears almost in the center of the floor (Fig 5.1d), when the sun has a height of 71−72°. Also, in this case, the hierophany

Figure 5.3. The Arc of Light perfectly matching the masonry arch above the entrance (photo Author).

is not limited to the day of June 21st5: it is visible for more than a month (from June 5th to July 7th); again, it cannot be related to a specific date or deity, but only generically to the summer season. 5.3.3 Our discovery: the hierophanies of the Arc of Light and the Square of Light Hierophanies reported by the previous scholars had only a generic connection with the seasons, and were lasting from fifteen days (equinox) to a couple of months (summer solstice). So, as we said there is no proven connection with a single date or a particular deity. In 2011 the author of this article saw a video about the Pantheon and its hierophanies made by Nick Glass for

3  On the Equinox the sun has a declination δ = 0°, and at Rome its height is about 48°(at the true local noon). We considered an height from 47 to 49 degrees, required to hit the molding. Source: Solar ephemerides in Ricci 2011, 26−30. 4  On April 21st (Dies Natalis Romae), at Rome the Sun has a declination of δ = +12°, and its height is about 60° (at the true local noon). Source: Solar ephemerides in Ricci 2011, 26−30.

On the Summer solstice, at Rome (June 21st), the Sun has a declination in the sky of δ = + 23.5°, reaching its a maximum height of about h = 72°(at the true local noon). Thanks to this height, the circle of light illuminates the pavement at its innermost point. Source: Solar ephemerides in Ricci 2011, 26−30. De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 127. 5 

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Marina De Franceschini

Figure 5.4. The Square of Light matching the pattern of the floor with a square enclosing a circle (photo Author).

CNN6 showing an incredible Arc of Light matching so perfectly the masonry arch above the bronze door, that it could not be by chance (Fig 5.3). No scholar ever wrote about it, besides us7. It was not visible on April 21st, as we had thought: and in fact the video assembled several shots made in different days (due to bureaucratic problems, as Nick Glass himself remarked. De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 127).

door, perfectly matching the pattern of the floor: a square of pavonazzetto marble enclosing a circle of gray granite (De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 129; Fig 5.4). All the architectural elements producing those hierophanies are the original ones of the 2nd century AD. The oculus is still framed by its original bronze molding (De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 128: «The width of the oculus obviously “was not fixed randomly” and the same goes for the masonry arch: see Hannah and Magli 2011, 494»). The arch above the entrance is also original, as proven by Renaissance drawings made by Raphael and Palladio, before the XVIII century restorations. The masonry arch is 9 meters wide, the diameter of the oculus is 9 meters: this is why the spot of light created by the oculus perfectly matches the arch, which is located about 35 meters below and has a horseshoe shape to better match the circle of light (Fig 5.5).The bronze door of the Pantheon − which “cuts” the rays of the sun creating the Square of Light − is the original one (for the survey of the original parts of the Pantheon see De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 128).

Which was the exact date? Archaeoastronomer Giuseppe Veneziano8 calculated that the arch above the entrance could be perfectly illuminated at local noon only when the sun has a height in the sky of about 55°. During our first on-site verification (April 7th, 2014) his calculations were confirmed9. The Arc of Light is visible in the days 6–7–8 of April and 4–5–6 of September10. In those same days we discovered another unexpected hierophany: a Square of Light in the portico outside of the bronze Video of the illumination in the Pantheon by Nick Glass, The Revealer, CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2011/12/08/the-revealerpantheon.cnn. 7  Giuseppe Veneziano and I, see bibliography. Giulio Magli, who was interviewed in the video, did not make any comment about the Arc. 8  He used an accurate section of the Pantheon, made by the University of Bern, Switzerland: The Digital Pantheon Project, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Excellence Cluster 264 Topoi, Universität Bern: http:// repository.edition-topoi.org/collection/BDPP. De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 127. 9  A short video of the hierophany is on YouTube: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=unL6LZBfdUI. 10  According to solar ephemerides (Ricci 2011, 19−22), the Sun has a declination δ of +7° from April 7th to 10th and from September 2nd to 5th. Our on-site observations produced slightly different dates, April 6th to 8th and September 4th to 6th. This happens because the Pantheon is not perfectly oriented to the north: see De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 126−127. 6 

Therefore, what we see today was visible also in Roman times. It must be pointed out that since the 2nd century AD the position (azimuth) of the Sun varied of only about 20’, and this is why we see the same hierophanies planned by emperor Hadrian and his architects in Hadrian’s Villa (De Franceschini and Veneziano 2011, table on page 174) and in the Pantheon; Tivoli and Rome have the same latitude. The precession of equinoxes does not affect the position of the Sun, only that of the planets and the stars. 40

Beyond Paradigms However, comparing our modern calendar (the Gregorian calendar) to the Roman calendar, there is a difference of roughly one day, due to the gregorian reform of the calendar which in 1582 cancelled the days from October 5th to14th, to correct the inaccuracy that had summed up during the centuries. This means that the coordinates of the sun that we have today on September 7th were the same on September 6th at the time of emperor Hadrian, 2nd century AD, and the date of the hierophanies was one day later. 5.3.4 The symbolic meaning of the Arc of Light The Arc of Light is so unique and impressive that it must be considered the real and most significant hierophany of the Pantheon. Archaeoastronomy gave us two sets of dates (in April and September) and the opportunity to go “beyond the paradigms”, since they were linked to very important and significant feasts and divinities of the Roman Calendar (De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 127−128). 1. April 6th: feast in honor of Diana, goddess of the Moon, symbolized by the crescent − the Arc of Light. 2. April 7th: dedicated to Apollo, the god of the Sun, symbolized by an arc (again the Arc of Light). 3. April 7th to 10th: Ludi Megalenses, feasts and banquets in honor of the Magna Mater, a mother goddess who was identified with the goddess Cybele, “the mother of all gods”.

(a)

The cult of Cybele was imported into Rome in order to defeat the Carthaginians, as commanded by a prophecy; Cybele also was the mother of Sabatios, the Phrygian Dionysus. Her cult was a mystery cult − like the one of Isis − and was also linked to the death and resurrection of Attis (De Franceschini and Veneziano 2014, 138−139). It is important to point out that a medieval text, the Mirabilia Urbis Romae, written in 1140, proves a connection with Cybele (Marder and Wilson Jones 2015, 236 and 233. The original text of the Mirabilia Urbis Romae is on-line: http://www. documentacatholicaomnia.eu/04z/z_1140−1143__ A n o n y m u s _ _ M i r a b i l i a _ U r b i s _ R o m a e _ _ LT. p d f . html. See De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 130): «Santa Maria Rotunda, which once was the temple of all gods, and most of all dedicated to Cybele, mother of all gods, was transformed by Pope Boniface IV into the church called Sancta Maria ad Martyres, dedicated to the cult of the Mother of God and to all Saints, especially to the Martyrs». That happened in 609 AD, when the Pantheon was donated to the pope by Emperor Phocas, saving it from destruction.

(b)

(c)

Also, we know that «in 1545 the last remaining trace [of its statuary], supposedly a bust of Cybele, was removed from its position in the wall of the chapel left of the entrance» (Thomas 2017, 146 notes 2 and 3; De Franceschini

Figure 5.5. The oculus and the Arc of light (also in detail) have the same width, 9 meters. (photos by Francesco Lerteri; ©2011 Frischer Consulting, Inc. elaboration of the author with kind permission).

41

Marina De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 131). This information further supports our interpretation of the symbolic meaning of the hierophany of April 7th, as linked to the goddess Cybele. 4. September 4th to 6th: the Arc and the Square of Light are visible for the second time during the year. In the Roman calendar, we found a connection in those days with Jupiter Optimus Maximus: the patron god of the city of Rome, keeper of the oaths, protector of justice and of good governance. From September 2nd to the 5th the Ludi Romani were celebrated to honor Jupiter, with a solemn procession that started from the Capitoline Hill and reached the Circus Maximus, where sacrifices were made, chariot races took place, and dramas were performed (De Franceschini and Veneziano 2014:138−139). Moreover, Jupiter/Zeus was the son and husband of Cybele, and was also identified with the ancient Italic god Diespiter, a celestial deity who manifested himself with the sunlight during the day.

Figure 5.6. The Templum, Etruscan symbolic division of space in the ancient world (from De Franceschini and Veneziano 2011).

so that during a religious rite, when the statue of the Sun was brought inside the temple at dawn, a spot of light illuminated the statue of Serapis as if the Sun was “kissing” the god, «to evoke the astonishment and admiration of visitors». We believe that something similar happened in the Pantheon: a “Kiss of the Sun” illuminated emperor Hadrian as a theatre spotlight. He could enact a spectacular entrance, standing in front of the bronze door, at the center of the Square of Light. Its religious meaning is explained by Varro (Varro, De Lingua Latina, IV, 2): the square containing a circle is a symbolic representation of the Templum, the space dedicated to the gods (Fig 5.6). The Square − oriented to the cardinal points as the one in the pavement of the Pantheon − corresponds to the Earth, while the Circle represents the Heavens. So the emperor was symbolically standing in the center of the world, between Heavens and Earth, acting as the intermediary between God and Man (Fig 5.7a).

5.4 Conclusions on the Pantheon Previous scholars tried to identify the deities worshiped in the Pantheon, the “Temple of all gods”, mainly focusing on the twelve Olympian gods (Dio Cassius, Roman History, LIII, 27; De Fine Licht 1966, 180−184; Thomas 2017, 148. For a summary of previous studies on the subject see De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 130−131). Thanks to archaeoastronomy we identified two sets of dates (three days each), which allowed us to focus on two couples of male/female deities: Apollo & Diana, Cybele & Jupiter. Here we have the same symbolic dualities seen in Hadrian’s Villa: Male & Female deities, Sun & Moon, Light & Darkness, Life & Death, and also resurrection and hope of afterlife.

During the Triumphal ceremonies, when the Emperor passed under the triumphal arch «his figure was exalted and almost deified» (Passuello and Dissegna 1976, 59−60; De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 134). The same happened when the Emperor entered inside the Pantheon: passing under the masonry arch, he would be framed by the Arc of Light (Fig 5.7b).

Thanks to Archaeoastronomy we were able to “go beyond the paradigms”, supposing that in the Pantheon there were statues representing those four deities, and sacred rites were performed in their honor − although no ancient source mentions them. We also know that Emperor Hadrian «held court in the Pantheon, seated on a tribunal» (Dio Cassius, Roman History, LXIX, 7; De Fine Licht 1966, 183; De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 131). It is possible that on certain occasions the Emperor himself presided sacred ceremonies linked to those four deities and to the Seasons, acting as Pontifex Maximus, the highest Roman religious office.

The hierophanies of the Pantheon were a sign of the presence of the gods and of divine power: the emperor could boast that he was so powerful as to “command the course of the Sun”. They proved that the Roman emperor was semi-divine, legitimating the imperial power and succession. And also, the emperor controlled Time and therefore Power: acting as Pontifex Maximus, he verified the accuracy of the Calendar with the hierophanies, and set the dates of the religious ceremonies, which as we said must take place on the right day and at the right time, in order to be favorably accepted by the gods. The Arc and the Square of Light were a sign of the (favorable) presence of the gods.

Hierophanes often took place in mystery cults sanctuaries, dedicated to Isis and Serapis, Cybele or Mithras. A late antique text by Rufinus of Aquileia (4th century AD; Historia Ecclesiastica, XI, 2.23; De Franceschini and Veneziano 2018, 132−133), describes a hierophany visible in Temple of Serapis at Alexandria (in Egypt), which he called the “Kiss of the Sun”. A small window was designed

42

Beyond Paradigms archeologico Latino − Colli Albani − Bruno Martellotta), 12: 71−86. De Franceschini, Marina, and Veneziano, Giuseppe. 2011. Villa Adriana. Architettura Celeste. I Segreti dei Solstizi. Roma: L’Erma di Bretschneider. De Franceschini, Marina, and Veneziano, Giuseppe. 2014. “Il Pantheon di Roma. Nuove immagini dei fenomeni luminosi”. Atti del 16 ̊ Seminario di Archeoastronomia ALSSA, Genova 12−13 aprile 2014, 129−140. https:// www.academia.edu/10071101/The_Pantheon_in_ Rome_New_Images_of_Li ght_phenomena._The_ Arch_of_Light. De Franceschini, Marina, and Veneziano, Giuseppe. 2016. “Villa Adriana di Tivoli, una nuova scoperta a Roccabruna”. Atti del 18° Seminario di Archeoastronomia ALSSA, Genova 19−20 marzo 2016, 14−22. http://www. archaeoastronomy.it/XVII%20seminario.pdf.

(a)

De Franceschini, Marina, and Veneziano, Giuseppe. 2018. “The Symbolic Use of Light in Hadrianic Architecture and the Kiss of the Sun”. Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Technologies 6(1), 111−137. http://aaatec.org/art/a_fm1. Frischer, Bernard and Fillwalk, John. 2012. The Digital Hadrian’s Villa Project. Using Virtual Worlds to Control Suspected Solar Alignments, 49−54. (http:// vwhl.soic.indiana.edu/villa/assets/_papers/Frischer_ Fillwalk_VSMM-2012.pdf) Frischer Bernard, and Zotti Georg, Mari Zaccaria, Capriotti Vittozzi Giuseppina. 2016. “Archaeoastronomical experiments supported by virtual simulation environments: Celestial alignments in the Antinoeion at Hadrian’s Villa (Tivoli, Italy)”. Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage 3: 55−79. Hannah, Robert, and Magli Giulio. 2009. “The Role of the Sun in the Pantheon’s design and meaning”. http:// arxiv.org/abs/0910.0128. Hannah, Robert, and Magli Giulio. 2011. “The Role of the Sun in the Pantheon’s design and meaning”. Numen 28: 486−513. Mangurian, Robert and Ray, Mary Ann. 2011. “Notes on finding solstice secrets”. De Franceschini and Veneziano 2011, XV–XXI. Marder, Tod, and Wilson Jones, Mark. 2015. The Pantheon. From Antiquity to the Present. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

(b) Figure 5.7. The “Kiss of the Sun” in the Pantheon. A: Emperor Hadrian as Pontifex Maximus illuminated by the sun in the center of the Square of Light, symbolizing the Templum; B: Emperor Hadrian enacts a spectacular entrance in the Pantheon under the Arc of Light (photomontage and photo author).

Passuello, Francesco, and Dissegna, Maria Grazia. 1976. I Mausolei imperiali romani, templi del Sole: la Rotonda di Tessalonica. Firenze: Mondadori. Ricci, Pierpaolo, 2011. Almanacco Astronomico per l’anno 2011. http://www.pierpaoloricci.it/download/ almanacco2011.htm.

References De Fine Licht, Kjeld. 1966. Die Rotunda in Rome. Roma.

Tavolaro, Aldo. 1991. Pietre come libri. Bari: Bravi, 19−24.

De Franceschini, Marina. 2017. “Studi e scoperte di Archeoastronomia nella Villa Adriana di Tivoli”. Bollettino della Unione Storia e Arte. (Gruppo

Thomas, Edmund. 2017. “The Cult Statues of the Pantheon”. Journal of Roman Studies 107: 146−212. 43

6 Astronomical Data and Their Usefulness for Dating Ancient Societies Rita Gautschy University of Basel, Switzerland Abstract: Documented astronomical observations such as the heliacal rising and setting of stars and planets, eclipses or the first and last visibility of the lunar crescent can be used to establish absolute dates for ancient societies. Frequently utilised in earlier times, the usefulness of ancient astronomical observations for dating purposes was questioned and even rejected during the last thirty years. Referring to preserved data from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia from the second millennium BCE the potential of different sets of astronomical data as well as the uncertainties and possible pitfalls of this dating method will be discussed. Keywords: chronology, astronomical data, Egypt, Mesopotamia, second millennium BCE. 6.1 Introduction

6.2 Ancient Egyptian Calendars

Historians usually regard chronology as the backbone of history. As long as one is concerned with only one culture in a narrow geographical region, relative chronological sequences established based on strata in excavations may be sufficient for investigations. But as soon as one is interested in cultural interconnections absolute dates are helpful and sometimes even a prerequisite for a proper understanding. The most important techniques for obtaining absolute dates are dendrochronology, radiocarbon dating and astronomical dating.

Already in the early parts of the third millennium BCE a calendar with 365 days was in use in Egypt (Fig. 6.1). This rather early occurrence of a combination of a solar and a stellar calendar is probably due to the strong dependency of the ancient Egyptians on the river Nile and its annual inundations. The Egyptians had realized that approximately at the time of the commencement of the annual inundation the star Sirius became visible again in the morning sky shortly before sunrise after a period of invisibility in the sky. This event is called the heliacal rising of Sirius.

In this paper I will focus on Egypt and Mesopotamia in the first half of the second millennium BCE. In this region and in the mentioned time frame astronomical data have still the largest potential to provide accurate absolute dates for pharaohs and Mesopotamian kings. It is therefore not surprising that the technique of astronomical dating has been frequently used from the early days of modern chronological research (e.g. Ideler 1825/1826; Parker 1950; Luft 1992; Huber 2000; Krauss 2006; Mebert 2010; Gautschy 2011a). However, during the last 30 years or so, this technique lost at least some of its reputation (e.g. Spalinger 2002; Schneider 2008, 287; Eder 2004, 192−193), in my view mainly because researchers are too little aware of the possibilities and limitations of this method. The aim of this paper is to outline what one can expect from astronomical dating and what one cannot.

However, the Egyptian year, consisting of three seasons with four months each and of five additional so-called epagomenal days at the end of the year, was short by a quarter of a day each year in comparison to the tropical solar year. It lacks the intercalary day we nowadays add almost every fourth year. The special feature of this calendar is that seemingly never any intercalation was attempted until Ptolemaic times in the third century BCE. But this means that after 500 years the seasons − named ‘inundation’, ‘sowing/going forth’ and ‘harvest/heat’ − did not coincide with actual conditions anymore. However, such a calendar with 365 days and no intercalations is the perfect tool for astronomical calculations where distances between two dates are involved. Beside this so-called civil calendar, the lunar phases played a very important role in the temples for religious purposes. Several feasts in the temples were celebrated on fixed lunar days, e.g. the fourth or the ninth. Lunar days were counted from the first day of invisibility of the lunar crescent in the morning sky − in about 70 percent of all cases this day coincides with New Moon day.

Due to the varying nature of the Egyptian and the Mesopotamian calendars it is necessary to look at each region separately.

45

Rita Gautschy

Figure 6.1. Structure of the Egyptian civil calendar.

6.3 Ancient Mesopotamian Calendars

these documents fulfilled religious and administrative purposes. This means that the astronomical data are not available directly − instead, a data reduction is necessary to extract the required information for a comparison with modern calculations. And it is mainly this data reduction process or the interpretation of the data − whether they are observed, predicted or calculated − which leads to different chronological solutions. Second, astronomical events are recurrent, periodic. In the Egyptian calendar the last lunar day and hence also the following first lunar day

In Mesopotamia lunisolar calendars were used with a new month starting with first visibility of the lunar crescent after New Moon. In order to keep such a calendar in line with the solar year, an intercalary month approximately every third year is needed. However, although a synchronization of the lunar and the solar year was attempted for, intercalary months were fitted in on a rather irregular basis until only very late in history, namely from the 7th century BCE onwards (see e.g. Britton 2007). This crude fact leaves us with the uncomfortable situation that although from the day number of a Mesopotamian calendar date it is immediately clear which day of a lunar month it concerns, nonetheless it is not clear to which month in our Gregorian calendar it belongs during the second millennium BCE. The uncertainty can amount several months and one can never be sure how many months between two Mesopotamian calendar dates elapsed as long as the sequence of intercalary months cannot be reconstructed from other documents such as e.g. economic texts. The recorded sequence of intercalations during te reign of Hammurapi nicely illustrates the problem (Huber 1982: 57).

Table 6.1. Julian and Egyptian calendar dates of last visibility of the lunar crescent in 1870/69 BCE and 1845/44 BCE for Thebes (Gautschy 2012). Only in month II Shemu there is a deviation of one day, all other Egyptian calendar dates repeat themselves after 25 years. Julian date (BCE) 08.12.1870

6.4 General problems Before looking at one specific example from Egypt and one from Mesopotamia, the following two facts have to be kept in mind which hold for all documents from the first half of the second millennium BCE: First, the documents which contain the astronomical data − namely papyri and clay tablets from temple libraries − were not written with the purpose to record dates of astronomical phenomena. Rather, 46

Egyptian date I Akhet 5

Julian date (BCE) [+ 25 years]

Egyptian date [+ 25 years]

01.12.1845

I Akhet 5

06.01.1869

II Akhet 4

30.12.1845

II Akhet 4

05.02.1869

III Akhet 4

29.01.1844

III Akhet 4

05.03.1869

IV Akhet 3

27.02.1844

IV Akhet 3

03.04.1869

I Peret 2

28.03.1844

I Peret 2

03.05.1869

II Peret 2

27.04.1844

II Peret 2

01.06.1869

III Peret 1

26.05.1844

III Peret 1

01.07.1869

IV Peret 1

25.06.1844

IV Peret 1

30.07.1869

IV Peret 30

24.07.1844

IV Peret 30

29.08.1869

I Shemu 30

23.08.1844

I Shemu 30

27.09.1869

II Shemu 29

22.09.1844

II Shemu 30

27.10.1869

III Shemu 29

21.10.1844

III Shemu 29

26.11.1869

IV Shemu 29

20.11.1844

IV Shemu 29

Astronomical Data and Their Usefulness for Dating Ancient Societies fall on the same days of the months in the civil calendar after 25 years to a high percentage (see Tab. 6.1).

heap. They date to the reigns of the Middle Kingdom kings Senusret III and Amenemhet III.

This implies that a date of an astronomical event without further limiting constraints can never provide an unambiguous dating option. Limiting constraints can be obtained e.g. by information from king lists, known synchronisms with other regions, C14 determinations or other astronomical data of a different kind. Concerning astronomical data, it is also necessary to keep in mind that observations − especially close to the horizon − are very susceptible to the prevailing seeing conditions. Even if we think that the weather is fine, dust in the air or a slight cloud coverage close to the horizon can easily prevent a successful sighting of a first or last lunar crescent or the heliacal rising of a star or planet. Such differing conditions can be roughly accounted for by varying the input parameters of the calculations. The basic input values are the so-called arcus visionis of the celestial object and the object’s elevation above the horizon. The arcus visionis of an object is the minimum difference in elevation between the Sun and the object which is necessary that the object can be successfully spotted in the sky. The arcus visionis is dependent on different factors, e.g. the brightness of the object, its difference in latitude from the Sun, and the prevailing seeing conditions. In available planetarium software various rules of thumbs are implemented − one should be aware that in reality the star may only be observable one or more days later. Assuming a range of reasonable arcus visionis values for a star instead of one specific value is a useful workaround to account for the uncertainties. For the planets and especially the Moon, however, the situation is more complex since there is not one fix arcus visionis value.

A known date of a heliacal rising of Sirius allows to define a time span in which the event took place (Fig. 6.2). Theoretically, due to the shift of one day in four years of the Egyptian calendar in comparison to the Julian calendar, the time range would be 4 years only. In reality, the time span will be larger: if the seeing conditions are not perfect and the date in question concerns an observation, Sirius may have been observed a few days later than modern calculations suggest. To be on the safe side, one should allow for a time span of at least 15 years. However, more important in the case of ancient Egypt is the fact, that the point of observation/ reference for this event is not known with certainty. From the southern border to its northern end Egypt comprises more than 7 degrees of latitude. As a rule of thumb for Sirius holds that the date of its heliacal rising shifts by one day when moving 1 degree to the north. This uncertainty of 7 degrees implies a broadening of the time span for further 28 years, thus amounting in total to about 45 years. The second available set of astronomical data, the lunar data, fall on the same Egyptian calendar date to a high percentage after 25 years (see Tab. 6.1). Therefore, they allow for picking discrete solutions from the broad range defined by a date of a heliacal rising of Sirius (Fig. 6.2). The main problem concerning the lunar data is that a data reduction is necessary to obtain the first day of the corresponding lunar month which is needed for a comparison with modern calculations for the last visibility of the lunar crescent (Gautschy 2012). In very few cases it is known with certainty on which lunar day a certain feast was celebrated, e.g. for the feast of the fourth lunar day. However, frequently the corresponding lunar day has to be calculated by means of distances to other feasts. Not for all feasts mutual agreement exists concerning the lunar days when they were celebrated − see e.g. Luft (1992) and Gautschy (2011a) versus Krauss (2006) for differing opinions on the day of the celebration of the Wagy feast (lunar day 18 versus lunar day 17).

6.5 Egypt in the first half of the second millennium BCE From the first half of the second millennium BCE in Egypt, the time of the so-called Middle Kingdom, two different kinds of astronomical data are known: one predicted date of the heliacal rising of Sirius and 42 lunar feast data. All information stems from papyri of the temple archive of elLahun in the Fayum region, which were found in a rubbish

From el-Lahun the predicted Egyptian calendar date of a heliacal rising of Sirius is known from the seventh year of

Figure 6.2. Schema illustrating the potential of different kind of astronomical data. While a date of a heliacal rising of Sirius defines a broad time range, lunar data allow to pick discrete solutions from this time range.

47

Rita Gautschy pharaoh Senusret III as well as 42 lunar feast data from the reigns of Senusret III and his successor Amenemhet III. The Sirius date allows to narrow the time range for year 7 of Senusret III to the years 1881 BCE to 1835 BCE. The lunar data then leave us with only two feasible options for his year 7: 1866 BCE and 1841 BCE, known as High and Low Chronology, respectively. For a more detailed analysis of these data, see Luft (1992), Krauss (2006) and Gautschy (2011a; 2011b).

Table 6.2. Chronologies proposed for the First Dynasty of Babylon during the last decades

Chronology

6.6 Mesopotamia in the first half of the second millennium BCE The most famous set of astronomical data from Mesopotamia from the first half of the second millennium is the so-called Venus tablet of Ammiṣaduqa containing observed as well as calculated dates of heliacal risings and settings of the planet Venus. Together with the available month length data and the known intercalary pattern during the reigns of kings Ammiṣaduqa and Ammiditana these Venus data theoretically provide a means of dating the whole Hammurapi dynasty since the chronological order of all kings and their reign lengths are well known. Additionally, a few accounts of lunar eclipses and of one solar eclipse are preserved. However, the description of these eclipses is either not detailed enough or their historicity is at least questionable − it is conspicuous that they should have occurred in connection with the birth and death of rulers − in order to be of much help in deciding for or against a proposed chronological option. Thus, in the following only the Venus and the lunar month length data will be considered. For a thorough discussion of all the available astronomical data see Pruzsinszky (2009, 69−82) and Mebert (2010).

1st Dynasty of Babylon (BCE)

Hammurapi Ammiṣaduqa (BCE) (BCE)

High

1950−1651

1848−1806

1702−1682

Middle

1894−1595

1792−1750

1646−1626

Low

1830−1531

1728−1686

1582−1562

Mebert (2010)

1822−1523

1720−1678

1574−1554

Ultra-Low

1798−1499

1696−1654

1550−1530

further limit the options to every fifty-sixth or sixty-fourth year. Based on the Venus data and the lunar month length data three different chronologies with a number of sub-variants have been proposed during the last decades (see Tab. 6.2): High Chronology (e.g. Huber 2000), Middle Chronology (e.g. Weir 1972) and Low Chronology (e.g. Van der Waerden 1945−1948). During the last years there seems to be a trend for a preference of the Low Chronology and its sub-variants (Mebert 2010), even a so-called Ultra-Low Chronology (Gasche et al. 1998) was put forward. While the dates of the High, Middle and Low Chronology are separated by 56 or 64 years as explained above, the chronology favored by Joachim Mebert (2010) and the Ultra-Low Chronology deviate by 8 and 32 years from the Low Chronology, respectively. How is this possible if a combination of Venus data and lunar month length data allows for picking discrete solutions every 56th or 64th year? The answer to this question lies in the data reduction process and the evaluation of robustness of these data. Gasche et al. (1998) only rely on the sequence of inferior and superior conjunctions of Venus, but not on the lunar month length data. Instead, they used two of the lunar eclipses to further narrow down the range of possibilities of the 8-year cycles. The approach of Mebert (2010) to the problem follows the traditional path, but he uses other values of the arcus visionis for the Venus phenomena than e.g. Huber (1982) and restricts himself to those data on the tablet where he is convinced that they were

In a graphics similar to Fig. 2 which illustrates the situation for Egypt, for Mesopotamia a time span can be defined by a historically feasible range obtained by information from king lists (Fig. 6.3). Within this range the dates of the heliacal risings and settings of Venus allow to narrow down the options to every eighth year. The additional information available from the lunar month length data in combination with the Venus data render it possible to

Figure 6.3. Schema illustrating the potential of different kind of astronomical data. While the dates of heliacal risings and settings of the planet Venus allow to narrow down possible chronological options to every eighth year only within a historically feasible range, the lunar month length data help to further narrow down the options.

48

Astronomical Data and Their Usefulness for Dating Ancient Societies References

actually observed ones. The differing values of the arcus visionis and the selection of data causes the observed Venus phenomena in the mean to fall one to two days later compared to Huber (1982) which shifts the possible chronological options to other 56- or 64-year cycles. For a detailed discussion of the differences in their approaches see Huber (2011). Applying a range of arcus visionis values instead of fixed ones for the Venus phenomena would cause that the Venus data can be matched more often than every eighth year and multiply the possible chronological options.

Britton, John P. 2007. “Calendars, Intercalations and YearLengths in Mesopotamian Astronomy”. In Calendars and Years. Astronomy and Time in the Ancient Near East, edited by John M. Steele, 115−132. Oxford: Oxbow Books. Eder, Christian. 2004. “Assyrische Distanzangaben und die absolute Chronologie Vorderasiens”, Altorientalische Forschungen 31: 191−236. Gasche, Hermann, Armstrong, Jack A., Cole, Steven W., Gurzadyan, Vahe G. 1998. “Dating the Fall of Babylon. A Reappraisal of Second-Millennium Chronology”. Chicago: The Oriental Institute.

6.7 Conclusions Currently, astronomical data from the second millennium BCE in Egypt and Mesopotamia cannot provide one single chronology − there are two or more chronological options left. In the case of Egypt minor disagreements between various scholars about the data reduction process exist which have no influence on the two proposed chronologies − the High and the Low Chronology of the Middle Kingdom. Preference of the one or the other is basically a matter of taste, there are no statistical arguments suggesting that one of them should be preferred. There is mutual agreement that one of these two chronologies is indeed the correct one. Hence, the tool of astronomical dating proved to be a very valuable instrument for obtaining absolute dates of Egyptian pharaohs so far. In this regard it is a reasonable assumption that if it will be possible in the future to narrow down the time range − either by additional astronomical data or by other methods − then it may become possible to pin down historical events in Egypt to one certain year in the first half of the second millennium BCE. This could not be obtained by any other dating method. In my view, no eligibility to discard the astronomical data from the Middle Kingdom for chronological purposes exists.

Gautschy, Rita. 2011a. “Monddaten aus dem Archiv von Illahun: Chronologie des Mittleren Reiches”, Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 138, no. 1: 1−19. Gautschy, Rita. 2011b. “Lunar and Sothic Data from the archive of el-Lahun revisited: chronology of the Middle Kingdom”. In Current Research in Egyptology 2010, edited by Maarten Horn et al., 53−61. Oxford: Oxbow Books. Gautschy, Rita. 2012. “Last and first sightings of the lunar crescent”. http://www.gautschy.ch/~rita/archast/mond/ Thebenletzte.txt. Huber, Peter. 1982. “Astronomical Dating of Babylon I and Ur III”, Monographic Journals of the Ancient Near East, Occasional Papers 1/4. Malibu: Undena Publications. Huber, Peter J. 2000. “Astronomy and Ancient Chronology”, Akkadica 119−120: 159−176. Huber. Peter J. 2011. “Review of Die Venustafeln des Ammi-ṣaduqa und ihre Bedeutung für die astronomische Datierung der altbabylonischen Zeit, by Joachim Mebert”, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie 101: 309−314.

The situation in Mesopotamia in the first half of the second millennium BCE is different. Several well-founded investigations and analyses of the available astronomical data have come up with diverging and even contradicting chronological solutions. There are good arguments for and against certain assumptions imposed during the data reduction process by various scholars. This means that the available astronomical data are not robust enough to be the decisive element for establishing a chronology − more and better data are needed for such a task. Wouldn’t it be wiser then to discard such data completely? In my view, the clear answer to this question is no. Although astronomical data from the first half of the second millennium BCE in Mesopotamia may have turned out to be inappropriate to form the base of chronological investigations, they may nevertheless be still useful to further narrow down the time range of chronological options which were developed by using e.g. king list data and synchronisms with other regions. If one is not willing to rely on the Venus and the eclipse data, at least the lunar month length data still can be used to exclude certain years as e.g. accession year of king Ammiṣaduqa.

Ideler, Ludwig. 1825/1826. Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen Chronologie. Berlin: August Rücker. Krauss, Rolf. 2006. “Lunar Dates”. In Handbook of Egyptian Chronology edited by Erik Hornung et al., 395−431. Leiden: Brill. Luft, Ulrich. 1992. Die chronologische Fixierung des ägyptischen Mittleren Reiches nach dem Tempelarchiv von Illahun. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Mebert, Joachim. 2010. “Die Venustafeln des Ammiṣaduqa und ihre Bedeutung für die astronomische Datierung der altbabylonischen Zeit”. Archiv für Orientforschung Beiheft 31. Vienna: Institut für Orientalistik der Universität Wien. Parker, Richard A. 1950. “The Calendars of Ancient Egypt”. Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 26. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 49

Rita Gautschy Pruzsinszky, Regine. 2009. Mesopotamian Chronology of the 2nd Millennium B.C. An Introduction to the Textual Evidence and Related Chronological Issues. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Schneider, Thomas. 2008. “Das Ende der kurzen Chronologie: Eine kritische Bilanz der Debatte zur absoluten Datierung des Mittleren Reiches und der Zweiten Zwischenzeit”. Ägypten & Levante 18: 275−313. Spalinger, Anthony J. 2002. “Egyptian Festival Dating and the Moon”. In Under One Sky. Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient Near East edited by John M. Steele and Annette Imhausen, 379−403. Münster: Ugarit Verlag. Van der Waerden, Bartel L. 1945−1948. “On Old Babylonian Astronomy I. The Venus Tablet of Ammiṣaduqa”, Jaarbericht van het VooraziatischEgyptisch Genootschap Ex Oriente Lux 10: 414−424. Weir, John D. 1972. The Venus Tablets of Ammizaduga. Istanbul: Nederlands Historisch-Archeologisch Instituut in het Nabije Oosten.

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7 Teaching Cultural Astronomy to Undergraduates with an Interdisciplinary Frame Jarita C. Holbrook University of the Western Cape Abstract: Cultural Astronomy is interdisciplinary connecting the arts, humanities, social & physical sciences. Data collection methods and theories are used from many disciplines and meld with methods and theories within cultural astronomy. The burden on the student is that to do cultural astronomy research it is necessary to be widely read within and across disciplines. I developed a series of courses that divided cultural astronomy content into broad regions such as Africa, North America, and the Pacific. The courses were structured to accommodate students from all parts of the university, but had to have enough mathematics and science to serve as a general science requirement. The majority of the grade for the course lay with the final project, which included a presentation and a written document. Thus, the course was designed to give the students a foundation for doing this final project that had to be original research. The students rarely opted to collect their own data, instead they re-analysed existing materials. The students learned critical thinking, formulating hypotheses, and how to test their hypotheses, as well as how to understand cultural astronomy data. Keywords: Cultural Astronomy, Undergraduate Education, Interdisciplinary Education. 7.1 Introduction

While a faculty member at the University of Arizona, I helped design a cultural astronomy program for undergraduates and postgraduate students. At the postgraduate level, three classes are required to get a graduate minor in a subject. A cultural astronomy class focused on the anthropology of astronomy taught by me and an archaeoastronomy class taught by Dennis Doxtater were two of the three, a third untaught class was to focus on history of astronomy and historical astronomy. The University of Arizona has three times as many undergraduates than postgraduate students (University Analytics and Institutional Research, 2018), thus it is primarily an undergraduate institution. An undergraduate cultural astronomy focused program was possible given the structure of USA universities: to obtain a bachelors degree it is necessary to complete classes in general education as well as classes specific to a student’s academic major. The general education classes are offered by all academic departments and are meant to attract majors and non-majors. The cultural astronomy classes were part of the astronomy department and a mix of mathematics, science, and writing to meet the requirement for being an upper level general education class. Thus, these interdisciplinary cultural astronomy classes could be used to meet the science requirement for any academic major at the University of Arizona and when taught, the classes were full.

Archaeoastronomy, ethnoastronomy, history of astronomy and cultural astronomy are fascinating fields that have struggled to establish themselves within the academic context. However, there have been successes with the establishment of postgraduate programs over the last two decades such as those established at James Cook University in Australia now in Thailand, Bathspa University in the UK now in Lampeter UK, and Ilia State University in the Republic of Georgia (Orchiston et al. 2011; Nick Campion 2008; Nicholas Campion and Malville 2011; Andrews 2011). Each of these programs are not associated with universities so much as to passionate individuals that are the visionaries of the programs i.e. Nick Campion, Wayne Orchiston, and Irakli Simonia. If they move, the programs move with them. Also, oftentimes the programs are not referred to by their name or university but to these individuals. Having a visionary leader does not mean that they are the only faculty, in fact they have brought together experts from around the world to teach modules and lecture in their areas of expertise. For example at the Sophia Centre in Lampter UK, archaeoastronomers Kim Malville (J. M. K. Malville, Eddy, and Ambruster 1991; J. M. Malville et al. 1998; J. M. K. Malville et al. 2007) and Fabio Silva (Silva and Campion 2015; Silva 2014) are instructors. Perhaps the newest program is at the University of Oklahoma in the USA run by Steve Gullberg and Andrew Munro (“Archaeoastronomy Graduate Certificate” n.d.). As with the other programs mentioned, it is a postgraduate program.

7.2 What to teach? An obvious starting point is an introduction to all the terms used as well as the terms used in adjacent fields such as 51

Jarita C. Holbrook astrophysics, anthropology, and archaeology. An overview of the history of cultural astronomy going back to the turn of the previous century (S. N. Lockyer 1893; N. Lockyer 1905; J. N. Lockyer and Penrose 1902) highlighting the organizing of societies, conferences, and journals since the 1980s. The most difficult parts of cultural astronomy are covered first − namely the astronomy content. The class was structured socially in that the students divided themselves into celestial groups. Each celestial group had to focus on a celestial body or bodies, and report on their findings as part of weekly discussions. Possible groups included the Sun, the Pleiades, Eclipses, the Zodiac and many more celestial bodies that would have stories or myths attached to them. Each celestial group was required to give detailed scientific explanations of their celestial focus, give visibility updates, and present relevant myths and legends broken down into five-minute reports delivered each week.

Figure 7.1. Stellarium image of the night sky with an architectural structure on the ground. Reproduced with permission from Georg Zotti.

In addition to geographical maps of the region of interest and maps of the night sky, students must understand how archaeoastronomers map sites and potential celestial alignments of a site. Archaeology site maps had to be understood in terms of the difference between true north and magnetic north. Two types of alignment maps needed to be understood − the radial maps and the histogram waveform type maps. Figure 7.2 shows a radial map of the alignments of four different types of churches in Spain reproduced from Gonzalez-Garcia (GonzalezGarcia, Belmonte, and Ferrer 2016). The second example, Figure 7.3 shows an example of a histogram waveform map for a subset of churches in Spain (Gonzalez-Garcia, Belmonte, and Ferrer 2016).

Graded items included quizzes, homework assignments, and at the end of the class a final paper and oral presentation. The final paper and presentation were also group efforts of two to four students. In scientific terms, the final paper had to address an original question/hypothesis with at least three supporting arguments to support their conclusions. Two required activities to facilitate the final paper were to pass the USA national ethics examination for doing research on people (“CITI Program − Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative”) as well as learning referencing software to reduce plagiarizing. The software available to the students at the time for referencing was Refworks (“ProQuest RefWorks”), now Zotero is more popular (“Zotero | Your Personal Research Assistant”).

7.4 Data Collection Methods and Case Studies

7.3 Astronomy, Maps, and Mapping

The introductory text used was Fabian’s “Patterns in the Sky: An Introduction to Ethnoastronomy” (Fabian 2001). General texts recommended by other cultural astronomers include “The Power of Stars: How Celestial Observations have Shaped Civilization (Penprase 2011)”, “History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy (Evans 1998)”, and “Exploring Ancient Skies: A Survey of Ancient and Cultural Astronomy (Kelley and Milone 2011). Further data collection methods were covered in relation to case studies (J. C. Holbrook and Baleisis 2008). Shorter case studies were covered in articles, but after several weeks, the next phase was to dive into more complete case studies on specific ethnic groups or the works of particular researchers (e.g. Ammarell 1999; LaPin and Speed 1984). Included were guest lectures tapping into the expertise held within the Tucson community including astrophysicists such as Chris Impey (Impey and Petry 2004), Maghreb astronomy expert Danielle Adams (Adams 2015), and Sirius expert Jay Holberg (Holberg 2007). The enthusiasm brought by these guests breathed life into their topics and showed that cultural astronomy is a vibrant community albeit a small one. In some years, films were included which tended to present data more clearly than articles.

The first quiz focus was naming the countries on a geographical map of the region under study. The geographical focus of the class changed each year rotating through Africa, the Pacific, and the Americas. It could be envisioned to do similar classes on Asia and another on Europe. From a geographical map, to maps of the night sky, students were tasked with becoming familiar with the night sky with the goal of having a night quiz at a dark location where they were required to identify ten objects correctly. Though planispheres were available, Stellarium (Chéreau 2003) was the best way for students to practice short of going outside at night. Stellarium had the advantage in that the horizon, zenith, and cardinal points are clearly marked and comprehensible. In contrast, a 2D sky map is meant to be understood as if you are lying on the ground looking up thus east is to the left if north is the top, which can be confusing for students. The Stellarium images were easy to understand because the cardinal directions were marked as well as the ground and horizon. For example see Figure 7.1, a Stellarium image showing an archaeological site on the ground and how the sky looked at that time (Zotti and Neubauer 2016). Other astronomy content includes understanding the phases of the moons, calculating lunar and solar calendars versus the tropical year, the ecliptic, and horizon astronomy. 52

Teaching Cultural Astronomy to Undergraduates with an Interdisciplinary Frame

Figure 7.2. Example of a Radial Map. The dashed lines show the physical limits of the sun and moon relative to the alignment axes of the churches − the short solid lines. Reproduced by permission from A. César Gonzalez-Garcia.

thinking about what’s missing in each work presented was part of the training. The lessons were discussion based allowing for thorough exploration. The students came to understand that one site with alignments was not enough to prove a relationship between people and the sky, and that other sites with the same alignments along with other types of data such as related artifacts or ethnographic support were needed to solidify proof. That alignments had to take into account horizon features as well as the topography of the site, was another important lesson. Students did not like the circular maps because the authors didn’t always indicate from which point they were doing the measuring. The night sky activity and quiz with laser pointer was exciting for the students.

Figure 7.3. Example of a histogram map for churches in Spain. The waveforms capture both the direction of alignment and the number of churches with their axes so aligned. The short solid and dashed lines are the physical limits of the sun and moon. Reproduced by permission from A. César Gonzalez-Garcia.

In terms of their final project, most students chose to bring together existing data to answer their question rather than collect their own data. Perhaps this is not unexpected given that the area of interest was relatively distant such as Africa or the Pacific, however, Tucson has an African refugee population as well as students from those locations that could have been surveyed on their sky knowledge as part of an original project.

7.5 Student Responses The classes were well received by the students. Placing the mathematics and astronomy topics at the beginning of the class had the effect of driving away the students that thought it would be an easy class. Being critical and

7.6 Conclusions The interdisciplinary undergraduate classes introduced students to cultural astronomy, the tools of cultural 53

Jarita C. Holbrook astronomy, and gave them the opportunity to do a small cultural astronomy research project. For SEAC and the international cultural astronomy community, teaching undergraduates may or may not lead to future researchers; however, it fosters the possibility of younger researchers becoming active, which can lead to new developments if they spend more of their academic life undertaking cultural astronomy research. The structure of the university in the USA feeds a demand for cultural astronomy classes at the undergraduate level. This may not be the case in other countries where there aren’t general education requirements. Finally, cultural astronomy is an attractive field for students regardless of the nearly nonexistent job prospects.

Conference, edited by Michael A Rappenglück, Barbara Rappenglück, Nicholas Campion, and Fabio Silva, 255−59. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports Ltd. Holberg, Jay B. 2007. Sirius: Brightest Diamond in the Night Sky. New York: Springer-Verlag. https://doi. org/10.1007/978−0-387−48942-1. Holbrook, J. C., and Baleisis, Audra. 2008. “NakedEye Astronomy for Cultural Astronomers.” African Cultural Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, Volume 6. ISBN 978−1-4020−66382. Springer Science+Business Media B.V., 2008, p. 53 6 (January): 53. https://doi.org/10.1007/978−14020−6639-9_5. Impey, Chris, and Petry, Catherine, eds. 2004. Science and Theology: Ruminations on the Cosmos. Vatican City: Vatican Press.

References Adams, Danielle. 2015. “Arab Star Calendars | Two Deserts, One Sky » Two Deserts, One Sky: Our Journey Begins.” 2015. http://onesky.arizona.edu/2015/09/twodeserts-one-sky-our-journey-begins/.

Kelley, David H., and Milone, Eugene F.. 2011. Exploring Ancient Skies: A Survey of Ancient and Cultural Astronomy. 2nd ed. New York: Springer-Verlag. https:// doi.org/10.1007/978−1-4419−7624-6.

Ammarell, Gene. 1999. Bugis Navigation. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies.

LaPin, Deirdre Ann, and Speed, Francis. 1984. Sons of the Moon [Videorecording]: A Film / by Deidre LaPin and Francis Speed. University of California Extension Media Center, 1984.

Andrews, Bill. 2011. “Archaeoastronomy in Georgia.” Astronomy Magazine Blog (March). http://cs.astronomy. c o m / a s y / b / a s t r o n o m y / a r c h i v e / 2 0 11 / 0 3 / 2 9 / archaeoastronomy-in-georgia.aspx.

Lockyer, Joseph Norman, and Penrose, Francis Cranmer. 1902. “An Attempt to Ascertain the Date of the Original Construction of Stonehenge from Its Orientation.” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 69 (451−458): 137−47. https://doi.org/10.1098/ rspl.1901.0090.

“Archaeoastronomy Graduate Certificate.” n.d. Accessed December 24, 2019. https://pacs.ou.edu/certificates/ archaeoastronomy/. Campion, Nicholas, and J. McKim Malville. 2011. “Masters-Level Education in Archaeoastronomy at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.” Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 7 (S278): 357−63. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743921311012804.

Lockyer, Norman. 1905. “Notes on Stonehenge 1.” Nature. 1905. https://doi.org/10.1038/072246a0. Lockyer, S. N. 1893. The Dawn of Astronomy: A Study of the Temple-Worship and Mythology of the Ancient Egyptians. Macmillan and co.

Campion, Nick. 2008. “Teaching Cultural Astronomy: On the Development and Evolution of the Syllabus at Bath SpaUniversity and the University of Wales, Lampeter.” In African Cultural Astronomy, edited by Jarita C. Holbrook, Johnson O. Urama, and R. Thebe Medupe, 109−119. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

Malville, J. M. K., Eddy, F. and Ambruster, C. 1991. “Lunar Standstills at Chimney Rock.” Archaeoastronomy 16: 43−50. Malville, J. M. K., Schild, R., Wendorf F, and Brenmer, R. 2007. “Astronomy of Nabta Playa.” African Skies / Cieux Africains 11: 2−7.

Chéreau, Fabien. 2003. Stellarium. http://stellarium.org/. “CITI Program − Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative.” n.d. Accessed December 24, 2019. https:// about.citiprogram.org/en/homepage/.

Malville, J. McKim, Wendorf, Fred, Mazar, Ali A and Schild, Romauld. 1998. “Megaliths and Neolithic Astronomy in Southern Egypt.” Nature 392 (6675): 488−91. https://doi.org/10.1038/33131.

Evans, James. 1998. The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy. New York: Oxford University press.

Orchiston, Wayne, Duerbeck, H., Glass, I., Malville, K., Marsden, B., Simonia, I., Slee, B. et al. 2011. “History of Astronomy at James Cook University, Australia.” American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #217 217: 146.11.

Fabian, Stephen Michael. 2001. Patterns in the Sky: An Introduction to Ethnoastronomy. Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press. Gonzalez-Garcia, A. César, Belmonte, Juan A and Costa Ferrer, Lourdes. 2016. “The Orientation of PreRomanesque Churches in Spain: Asturias, A Case of Power Re-Affirmation.” In Astronomy and Power: How Worlds Are Structured: Proceedings of the SEAC 2010

Penprase, Bryan E. 2011. The Power of Stars: How Celestial Observations Have Shaped Civilization. New York: Springer. http://public.eblib.com/choice/ publicfullrecord.aspx?p=646379. 54

Teaching Cultural Astronomy to Undergraduates with an Interdisciplinary Frame “ProQuest RefWorks.” n.d. Accessed December 24, 2019. http://refworks.proquest.com/. Silva, Fabio. 2014. “A Tomb with a View: New Methods for Bridging the Gap Between Land and Sky in Megalithic Archaeology.” Advances in Archaeological Practice 2 (1): 24−37. https://doi.org/10.7183/2326−3768.2.1.24. Silva, Fabio, and Campion, Nicholas. 2015. Skyscapes: The Role and Importance of the Sky in Archaeology. Oxbow Books. University Analytics and Institutional Research,. 2018. “Enrollment (University of Arizona).” University Analytics and Institutional Research. August 9, 2018. https://uair.arizona.edu/content/enrollment. “Zotero | Your Personal Research Assistant.” n.d. Accessed December 24, 2019. https://www.zotero.org/. Zotti, Georg, and Neubauer, Wolfgang. 2016. “Kreisgrabenanlagen: Expressions of Power Linked to the Sky.” In Astronomy and Power: How Worlds Are Structured: Proceedings of the SEAC 2010 Conference, edited by Michael A Rappenglück, Barbara Rappenglück, Nicholas Campion, and Fabio Silva, 57−62. BAR International Series 2794. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports Ltd.

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8 The Chiemgau Impact: Evidence of a Latest Bronze Age/Early Iron Age Meteorite Impact in the Archaeological Record, and Resulting Critical Considerations of Catastrophism Barbara Rappenglück1, Michael Hiltl 2 and Kord Ernstson3 Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, D-82205 Gilching, Germany, 2 Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH, D-73447 Oberkochen, 3 Faculty of Philosophy I, University of Würzburg, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany 1

Abstract: The claim that meteorite impacts shaped human history is a well-known element of (neo-)catastrophism. But many methodological caveats, shortly summarised in the first part of this article, should be considered before drawing such far-reaching conclusions. So far, no evidence existed of any archaeological site directly being involved in an impact process. Such evidence has now resulted from the examination of ‘slags’ from an excavation at ChiemingStöttham (SE-Germany) and is presented in the second part. Analyzed by polarising microscope and Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), several samples turned out to be complex combinations of rock with metallic residues: The rocky components show typical shock metamorphism, characteristic of a meteorite impact. The metallic components are high lead bronze and processed iron, i.e. remnants of artefacts. To the best of our knowledge, the samples are the first evidence worldwide of artificial remnants becoming part of an impact rock. They yield a unique attestation of a meteorite impact in an archaeological context. The finds are linked to the Chiemgau Impact, a prehistoric meteorite impact, which hit SEGermany and caused more than 100 craters of five to several hundred meters diameter in an area of ca. 60 × 30 km. It is dated to ca. 900−600 BC. In view of the Chiemgau Impact being the biggest confirmed Holocene impact, its excellent data base, the explicit archaeological evidence, and its comparably good dating, it should actually be a candidate for disastrous cultural consequences. But the exemplary work on two methodological questions, treated in the third part, illustrates that despite the good database the assumed scenario of a cultural catastrophe can neither be confirmed nor denied. This results in critical considerations to the paradigm of catastrophic cultural consequences of meteorite impacts or cosmic airbursts. Keywords: catastrophism, neocatastrophism, meteorite impact, Holocene, prehistory, archaeology. 8.1 Introduction: Did meteorite impacts shape human cultures?

in the fields of archaeology and astrophysics: In the field of archaeology disaster archaeology established itself, which includes the issue, whether extreme natural events caused cultural changes, eventually even the collapse/ decline/disintegration of societies and civilisations (for a comprehensive compilation of literature on this topic see Middleton 2012, 2017). In the field of astrophysics the awareness of NEOs (near-Earth-objects) and their potential threat to life on Earth gained territory (Morrison 2007).

Within the last four decades the concept of catastrophism has experienced a revival (Marriner et al. 2010). Catastrophism originated in the field of geology, with one of its most prominent propagators being George de Cuvier (1769−1832). It assumed that sudden, short-lived, extreme events such as enormous floods, eruptions of volcanoes, or earthquakes had formed the Earth geologically. While this concept has for a long time been marginalised by the competing concept of uniformitarianism, neocatastrophism of the last decades ‘has been coined to describe a new integrated view that gradual changes in the earth’s history have been punctuated by catastrophic events’(Marriner et al. 2010, 43). Timely closely correlated, new topics emerged

The concept of ‘coherent catastrophism’ (Asher et al. 1994) merged these different approaches, assuming that the Earth has been and is periodically bombarded by fragments of a disintegrated comet, with allegedly far-reaching cultural effects (Clube and Napier 1982, 157−272). This hypothesis 57

Barbara Rappenglück, Michael Hiltl and Kord Ernstson inspired a number of authors to develop scenarios of radical cultural changes up to the collapse of civilisations, in their opinion caused by meteorite impacts, cosmic airbursts, or cosmic dust events (examples see Rappenglück 2008, 268, Rappenglück 2013). One of the most popular topics of speculation about the cultural effects of suspected meteorite impacts and airbursts is the destruction of the biblical, God-destroyed cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, their pretended archaeological identification and the dating of their obliteration (ca. 7500 BC: Tollmann and Tollmann 1993, 264; 3123 BC: Bond and Hempsell 2008, 101; 2188 BC: Masse 1998, 80; ca. 1700 BC: Silvia et al. 2008, 1).

as there is the geology and topography of the target area, the season, the weather, and the development of vegetation at the time of the event. These and other environmental factors influence the reaction options of humans. 5. The same applies for social conditions, such as the social structure, the intensity of kinship relations into other regions, the basis of subsistence, the pattern of settlement, dependency on trade, and religious ideas. Further problems arise with data gathering and data interpretation: 6. What characterises archaeological relicts as being undoubtable traces of a natural catastrophe (Ambraseys 562−63)? 7. The known archaeological database of a region, which has been affected by an impact, may be too poor or otherwise inappropriate to draw reliable conclusions on cultural implications. 8. Problems of precise dating hamper from correlating an impact and presumed cultural effects. The Estonian Kaali crater provides an instructive example, as the suggested dates which have been obtained by different dating methods, span 6000 years (Losiak et al. 2016, 683). Suspected cultural effects (Veski et al. 2004) are hard to establish due to such uncertain dating. Time spans of several centuries and even several decades rule out, or at least make it more difficult to determine whether an effect was only coincidentally correlated with or triggered a cultural change (Torrence & Grattan 2002, 2). 9. Hermeneutics provide essential methodological caveats (Rappenglück 2013) when myths and iconographic motifs are used to ‘prove’ supposed Holocene meteorite impacts (e. g. Clube and Napier 1990, 176ff.; a recent example: Sweatman & Tskikritsis 2017) for which there is no hard evidence according to the requirements of meteorite impact research (see 1.). 10. Awareness of definitions is fundamental, e. g.: What is the concept behind when we use the terms ‘catastrophe’, ‘decline’, ‘collapse’, or ‘disaster’ (see discussions Middleton 2012; Middleton 2017, 11−36)?

The verification of such scenarios, typically linked to prehistoric or ancient cultures, faces quite a number of problems. These are summarised in this article and exemplarily discussed against the background of new results from the prehistoric Chiemgau meteorite impact in southeast Germany. 8.2 Holocene meteorite impacts and presumed cultural implications: some caveats While there exists a solid basis of literature critically discussing methods of verifying cultural consequences of natural hazards like volcano eruptions, earthquakes, droughts or tsunamis, such literature is almost entirely missing when it comes to cultural consequences of prehistoric meteorite impacts or cosmic airbursts. Exceptions are contributions by Rappenglück (2008, 2013), Rappenglück et al. (2009) and Barrientos and Masse (2012). Problems of fixing cultural implications of Holocene meteorite impacts or airbursts discussed therein in more detail are shortly summarised and categorised in the following (without any claim for completeness).

In view of the methodological problems presented, Barrientos and Masse (2012, 196−97) have summarized what applies to the assertion of cultural effects of meteorite impacts or airbursts: ‘Currently nothing resembles a “smoking gun”, i.e., a specific find or set of finds about past human populations that can indisputably be attributed to direct or indirect effects of a confirmed cosmic impact.’

The concerns arise from various problem areas: Above all, there are factors of the cosmic impact event itself. 1. A key issue concerns the verification, which must meet certain criteria. Among those, the most reliable ones are not craters, but specific alterations in minerals, so-called shock metamorphism. This is caused by enormous shock pressure which changes the crystal lattice of minerals. Such enormous pressure occurs in nature only in the context of meteorite impacts (Grieve, Langenhorst, and Stöffler 1996, 7). So far, until recently such proof of a meteorite impact in direct combination with an archaeological site or an archaeological artefact did not exist. 2. What size must an impact or airburst have been in order to trigger cultural changes? There are rough model calculations on physical effects (see several contributions in Bobrowsky and Rickman 2007; Marcus, Melosh, and Collins 2010), but for the few confirmed and mostly very small prehistoric Holocene impacts (see Expert Database on Earth Impact Structures) cultural effects could not be attested until recently on an archaeological basis. 3. Beyond the size of an impact, some attention must be paid to its possible secondary effects, such as forest fires, earthquakes, soil liquefaction, acid rain. They may have a significant impact on how people can survive and respond to such an event. 4. The primary event and the secondary effects interact with environmental factors

8.3 New aspects from the Holocene Chiemgau meteorite impact New results from the Holocene Chiemgau meteorite impact in southeast Germany, revealing the extraordinary appearance of this event in the archaeological record, now contribute new aspects to the question of Holocene meteorite impacts and their cultural implications. Before discussing this aspect in detail, the event may be outlined. 8.3.1 The Holocene Chiemgau Impact Multiple fragments of an exploded celestial object created more than 100 craters in the area between Altötting, the Lake Chiemsee, and the Alps (Fig. 8.1). The size of craters ranges from 5 m diameter to several hundred meters Ø, among them the Lake Tüttensee crater (close to the village of Grabenstätt) 58

The Chiemgau Impact

Figure 8.1. Location map for the Stöttham archaeological excavation site within the roughly elliptically encircled Chiemgau meteorite impact strewn field.

with ca. 600 m Ø, and a double crater with ca. 900 × 400 m Ø at the bottom of Lake Chiemsee. The field of craters covers an area of about 60 km length and 30 km width.

situated close to the Eastern shore of Lake Chiemsee, and at the location ‘Mühlbach’ close to the Tüttensee crater. Stöttham

Finds of meteoritic material like the minerals xifengite, gupeiite and hapkeite (Hiltl et al. 2011, Rappenglück, M. et al. 2013, Bauer et al. 2019), and abundant evidence of impact-diagnostic shock metamorphism in minerals prove a meteorite impact. More and more there are increasing indications that not only meteorite fragments impacted, but that also near-surface airbursts took place (Ernstson et al. 2020). An impressive variety of secondary effects is documented, with acid rain (Ernstson 2010, 53−56), soil liquefaction (Ernstson et al. 2011, 391−94), and shock coalification of biomass (Shumilova et al. 2018, 2179−200). Rappenglück, M. et al. (2017, 235−60) present the latest summary of the hitherto made discoveries and results, with complete references to detailed studies. The event is currently the biggest confirmed Holocene meteorite impact. Its dimensions apart from the crater field may be visualized as follows: The fiery entrance of the celestial object(s) into the atmosphere must have been visible across at least all northern Eurasia. The explosion of the object(s) in the atmosphere could be seen within a radius of at least 500−600 km. The sound of the explosions could be heard from a distance of 1000 km and more. The Chiemgau Impact is relatively precisely dated to the very late Bronze Age / Early Iron Age, ca. 900−600 BC (Rappenglück et al. 2020 B).

An archaeological rescue excavation carried out at Stöttham (47°54′26″ N, 12°31′29″ E, ca. 530 m a.s.l. [today Stöttham, Dorfäcker]) in 2008/2009 revealed finds from the Neolithic period, Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age and the Roman period. Finds of the Early Iron Age Hallstatt culture are very scarce, and none do exist of the subsequent La Tène culture. The archaeological finds were integrated into a complex geoarchaeological stratigraphy which, as we could prove (Ernstson et al. 2012, Rappenglück et al. 2019, Rappenglück et al. 2020 A and B), had been influenced by a meteorite impact. Six archaeological finds from the Stöttham site, on first sight labelled as ‘slag’ by the excavator, were thoroughly analyzed by SEM-EDS as well as in thin section under the polarizing microscope (Rappenglück et al. 2019, Rappenglück et al. 2020 A and B). All of them exhibited major melt rock components, which are intensively intermingled with glass and metallic components up to their innermost structure (Fig. 8.2). The stony components gave abundant evidence of shock metamorphism, which manifests itself in various forms as there are impact-diagnostic planar deformation features (PDF) and diaplectic glass (Rappenglück et al. 2019). These features are internationally accepted as criteria of a meteorite impact. The required shock pressures exceed 35 GPa and in nature occur in meteorite impacts only. The metallic components of the samples turned out to be remnants of artifacts, namely high lead bronze (lead content ranging between 24 and 44% wt; one sample,

8.3.2 The verification of a meteorite impact in an archaeological context by artefacts constituting part of an impact rock − the first evidence worldwide The Chiemgau Impact manifested itself archaeologically at two locations in the crater field: at Stöttham, a village 59

Barbara Rappenglück, Michael Hiltl and Kord Ernstson

Figure 8.4. SEM-EDS; spectrum of the iron particles of samples Stö 4 and 6. Remarkably: the mostly purity of the iron inclusions.

metallic artefacts have been overprinted by a meteorite impact, forming together an impact rock with artificial metallic constituents. Mühlbach Comparable evidence was found at the location ‘Mühlbach’, about 800 m east of Lake Tüttensee. A whole series of geological excavations carried out there, encountered the ejecta of the Tüttensee crater, with a thickness up to 1 m. In parts it consists of a Bunte Breccia, a polymictic matrix-rich breccia composed of heavily fractured cobbles and boulders of Alpine lithology, which feature abundant impact-diagnostic shock metamorphism (Ernstson et al. 2010, 89−90). As part of this Bunte Breccia some artefacts were discovered: a hammerstone, the quartzitic workpiece of a Neolithic or Bronze Age ax, a number of potsherds at least dating to the Late Bronze Age if not younger, and

Figure 8.2. ‘Slag’ samples Stö 2, 3, and 5: rocky components and metallic ones (Cu copper, Fe iron, Pb lead, Sn tin) intensively intermingled.

Fig. 8.3) or iron in an advanced stage of processing (three samples, Fig. 8.4; Rappenglück et al. 2020 B). The particular characteristics of the stony as well as the metallic components and their intense mingling testify that

Figure 8.3. SEM-EDS; element mapping scans and spectra of the leaded bronze particle of sample Stö 2 (Fig. 2 A and D). Cu and Pb are intimately mixed.

60

The Chiemgau Impact an iron pin of 2 cm length and 1,5 mm diameter. Similar to Stöttham, at the location ‘Mühlbach’ the artefacts had become component of the impact rock, in this case of the Bunte Breccia.

8.4.1 Consequences on the supra-regional level?

To the best of our knowledge, the examples from ‘Mühlbach’ and Stöttham are the first evidence worldwide of artificial remnants becoming part of an impact rock Rappenglück et al. 2020 C). They provide a unique attestation of a meteorite impact in an archaeological context. Thus they represent the ‘smoking gun’ from whose discovery Barrientos and Masse hope to gain more profound insights into human reactions to cosmic impacts (Barrientos and Masse 2012, 196−97).

Meteorite impacts may affect the Earth’s atmosphere and subsequently its climate by the injection of extraterrestrial material, dust, water vapor, climatically active gases like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, etc. (MacCracken 2007, 280−87; Birks et al. 2007). In consequence, environmental and climatic responses even to small impacts are considered to have the potential for causing dramatic cultural consequences (Pierazzo & Melosh 2012, 400).

The first aspect to be addressed here is that of causal link or accidental coincidence.

Within the dating frame of 900−600 BC discussed for the Chiemgau Impact, paleoclimatologists have spotted a rapid (‘probably within a decade’: Beer & Geel 2008, 154) climatic shift to cooler and wetter conditions in the 9th century BC, the so-called ‘2.8 ka event’. It is argued to have triggered most different cultural responses in Europe and Central Asia (Groenman-van Waateringe 2016, 2), as e.g. the disappearance of lakeside villages in Southeastern France and Switzerland after 850 BC, the expansion of the Central Asian Scythian culture after 850 BC, or raised bed agriculture as an important adjustment in Iron Age farming of continental northwestern Europe (Groenmanvan Waateringe 2016). This event which represents ‘one of the most severe climate changes during the Holocene’ (Groenman-van Waateringe 2016, 1) is ascribed to a sudden decline in the solar activity (Geel et al. 2014, 1475, Groenman-van Waateringe 2016, 1).

8.3.3 The dating of the Holocene Chiemgau meteorite impact Artifacts which have become component of an impact rock must be older or contemporaneous with the meteorite impact that affected them. This means that the artificial components of the described samples from Stöttham and ‘Mühlbach’ specify the terminus post quem. In this context the iron components are of special interest. In the last period of the Urnfield Culture (Ha B3, from ca. 900 BC) the number of iron artifacts, which were previously very scarce in Central Europe, increased significantly. Therefore, the date 900 BC defines the terminus post quem for the Chiemgau Impact. Furthermore, the presence of iron artifacts in impactites at two different locations − both at Stöttham and Mühlbach − suggests that the Iron Age was not only approaching but was already developing when the Chiemgau meteorite impact took place.

With regard to the Chiemgau Impact and the potential climate relevance of a meteorite impact several questions arise: Did a decline in solar activity really cause the 2.8 ka event, or is this apparent decline suggested by influences of the meteorite impact on the atmosphere? Was in reality the Chiemgau impact the actual trigger of the 2.8 ka event − and of its cultural consequences? Or: Does the climate signal of the Chiemgau Impact inextricably coincide with a climate signal which had been provoked by another trigger, the solar activity? Or: Did the Chiemgau Impact influence the local or regional weather, but without triggering a more far reaching climate signal? Is it possibly misleading at all, to relate the meteorite impact on a climate event in the period 900−600 BC? Is the impact to be located at a different time within this period, without any signal in the climate record? At present, none of these questions can be answered. A causal link between the Chiemgau Impact and climatic changes is currently not graspable. Climate effects of the Chiemgau Impact and resulting cultural consequences on a supraregional level can neither be confirmed nor contradicted.

The terminus ante quem is defined by the Late Hallstatt site of Nußdorf ‘Moosholz’. It is located ca. 4,5 km afar from Stöttham, just atop of the geological Eglsee structure, which according to recent research results has been shaped by the meteorite impact (Poßekel and Ernstson 2019). Archaeological finds signal that the occupation of the site ‘Moosholz’ started roughly 600 BC (transition from HaC to HaD). The Chiemgau Impact must have happened before. In sum, this event can be narrowed down to roughly 900−600 BC (Rappenglück et al. 2020 B), which is a remarkably tight dating frame for a prehistoric Holocene meteorite impact. 8.4 The question of a cultural catastrophe scenario In light of this relatively narrow dating, the abundance of available data on various aspects of the Chiemgau Impact and its manifestation in the archaeological record, this event, as the largest confirmed Holocene meteorite impact, seems to be an ideal candidate for a major cultural disaster scenario. Is it possible to conclude anything about cultural consequences of the Chiemgau Impact, in consideration of the caveats mentioned above? On the basis of two of the caveats, this question will be considered in the following on a supra-regional and a local level.

8.4.2 Consequences on a local scale? Considering once again the Stöttham excavation site sheds light on the problems of interpreting an interruption in the archaeological findings of a site and illustrates the difficulty of drawing viable conclusions from the archaeological inventory of a region. 61

Barbara Rappenglück, Michael Hiltl and Kord Ernstson As described above, at the Stöttham site there are very scarce finds of the Hallstatt culture, and none of the subsequent La Tène culture. In view of the fact that a catastrophic natural event has left its mark on the stratigraphy of Stöttham, the lack of finds might be interpreted as an immediate consequence and as an indicator of a several hundred years lasting abandonment of the settlement site or − as it might seductive to extrapolate − even of the region. But the already mentioned Late Hallstatt site of Nußdorf ‘Moosholz’ located only ca. 4,5 km afar from Stöttham relativises such a scenario. The site indicates that at least from ca. 600 BC on the region had been occupied again, which is consistent with other evidence of Late Hallstatt presence in the region (Hauser 2011, 57−58). These observations call into question the cause of the gap in occupation at Stöttham that spanned several centuries: the duration of this gap is either due to the meteorite impact only for the Early Iron Age, and the lack of settlement during the Late Iron Age had another cause, or the re-use of the region varied substantially both in time and space.

airburst or cosmic dust event, even when the underlying database is very good. The results presented here illustrate the difficulties in recognising and interpreting cultural effects of a meteorite impact in the geological and archaeological context. Effects may be much more diverse than it is suggested by major disaster scenarios favoured by (neo)catastrophism, varying on a gradual scale, on the scale of different distances, and on the time scale. References Ambraseys, Nicholas. 2005. “Archaeoseismology and Neocatastrophism.” Seismological Research Letters 76 (5): 560−564. Asher, D. J., S. Victor M. Clube, William M. Napier, and Duncan J. Steel. 1994. “Coherent Catastrophism.” Vistas in Astronomy 38: 1−27. Barrientos, Gustavo, and W. Bruce Masse. 2014. “The Archaeology of Cosmic Impact: Lessons from Two Mid-Holocene Argentine Case Studies.” Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 21: 134−211. DOI 10.1007/s10816−012-9149−0.

The Nußdorf site illustrates further problems of interpretation: The site, which has been interpreted either as a settlement, a sacrificial site, or as a site combining both aspects (see Hauser 2011, 56−57, 105, 108−11), yields clear evidence of late Hallstatt presence and considerably narrows the duration of potential abandonment of the region. But when we ask for cultural consequences, the site veils the picture. Some of the metallic finds from Nußdorf (several fibula, a silver coin and a silver ring with inscription) point to long range contacts, possibly as far as southern France (Hauser 2011, 114). Hauser considers the site to be a sacrificial place connected to a long-distance trade route (Hauser 2011, 111). But regarding the accentuated location of the site, which offers an overview of the landscape strongly influenced by the meteorite impact, someone looking for presumed cultural consequences of the event might be inclined to interpret a sacrificial place as a cultural response to the ‘fall of the sky’ − as it had been proposed for the archaeological structures at the Kaali crater in Estonia (Veski et al. 2004, 204). These remarks on the archaeological site of Nußdorf are not meant as an appraisal on its significance (sacrificial place, settlement, or both), but solely as an illustration of the quite different cultural scenarios that can be arrived at depending on the context in which the cultural relics are placed by an interpreter.

Bauer, Frank, Michael Hiltl, Michael A. Rappenglück, and Kord Ernstson. 2019. “Trigonal and Cubic Fe2Si Polymorphs (Hapkeite) in the Eight Kilograms Find of Natural Iron Silicide from Grabenstätt (Chiemgau, Southeast Germany).” 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Abstract #1520. https://tinyurl. com/y4tyxqso. Beer, Juerg, and Bas van Geel. 2008. “Holocene climate change and the evidence for solar and other forcings.” In Natural Climate Variability and Global Warming: A Holocene Perspective, ed. by Richard W. Battarbee, and Heather A. Binney, 138−162. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Birks, John W., Paul J. Crutzen, and Raymond G. Roble. 2007. “Frequent Ozone Depletion Resulting from Impacts of Asteroids and Comets.” In Comet/Asteroid Impact, ed. by Peter Bobrowsky, and Hans Rickman, 225−245. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer. Bobrowsky, Peter, and Hans Rickman (eds.). 2007. Comet/ Asteroid Impact and Human Society. An Interdisciplinary Approach. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer. Bond, Alan, and Mark Hempsell. 2008. A Sumerian Observation of the Köfel’s Impact Event. London: Alcuin academics.

8.5 Conclusion

Clube, Victor, and Bill Napier. 1982. The Cosmic Serpent. A catastrophist view of Earth History. London: Faber and Faber.

The Chiemgau Impact is documented with exceptional data on many different aspects, it is relatively closely dated to 900−600 BC, and it provides unique evidence of the meteorite impact in the archaeological records at Chieming-Stöttham and Mühlbach. Two methodological problems related to the Chiemgau Impact, the question of causal link or accidental coincidence, and interpreting the regional archaeological inventory, underline drastically that one can hardly be careful enough when trying to understand the cultural effects of a meteorite impact,

Ernstson, Kord. 2010. Der Chiemgau-Impakt. Ein bayerisches Meteoritenkraterfeld. Teil 1, Traunstein: Chiemgau Impakt e. V. Ernstson, Kord, Werner Mayer, Andreas Neumair, and Dirk Sudhaus. 2011. “The sinkhole enigma in the Alpine Foreland, Southeast Germany: Evidence of 62

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Ernstson, Kord, C. Sideris, Ioannis Liritzis, and Andreas Neumair. 2012. “The Chiemgau Meteorite Impact Signature of the Stöttham Archaeological Site (Southeast Germany).” Mediterranean Achaeology and Archaeometry 12 (2): 248−259.

Marcus, Robert, H. Jay Melosh, and Gareth Collins. 2010. Earth Impact Effects Programm. URL: https://impact. ese.ic.ac.uk/ImpactEarth/ImpactEffects/

Ernstson, Kord, Jens Poßekel, and Michael A. Rappenglück. 2020. “Near-ground airburst cratering: petrographic and ground penetrating radar (GPR) evidence for a possibly enlarged Chiemgau Impact event (Bavaria, SE-Germany).” 51st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Abstract #1231. URL: https://www.hou. usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2020/pdf/1231.pdf.

Marriner, Nick, Christoph Morhange, and Stephan Skrimshire. 2010. “Geoscience Meets the Four Horsemen?: Tracking the Rise of Neocatastrophism.” Global and Planetary Change 74: 43−48. Masse, W. Bruce. 1998. “Earth, Air, Fire, and Water: The Archaeology of Bronze Age Cosmic Catastrophes.” In Natural catastrophes during Bronze Age civilisations. Archaeological, geological, astronomical and cultural perspectives, ed. by Benny J. Peiser, Trevor Palmer, and Mark E. Bailey. 53−92. Oxford: BAR Publishing.

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Middleton, Guy D. 2012. “Nothing lasts forever: Environmental Discourses on the Collapse of Past Societies”. Journal of Archaeological Research 20: 257−307.

Geel, Bas van, Dan J. Charman, Henk Heijnis, and Gareth Thompson. 2014. “Bog burst in the eastern Netherlands triggered by the 2.8 kyr BP climate event.” The Holocene 24 (11), 1465−1477. DOI: 10.1177/ 0959683614544066.

Middleton, Guy D. 2017. Understanding Collapse. Ancient History and Modern Myths. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Grieve, Richard A. F., Falko Langenhorst, and Dieter Stöffler. 1996. “Shock metamorphism of quartz in nature and experiment: II. Significance in geoscience.” Meteoritics & Planetary Science 31: 6−35.

Morrison, David. 2007. “The Impact Hazard: Advanced NEO Surveys and Societal Responses”. In Comet/ Asteroid Impact, ed. by Peter Bobrowsky, and Hans Rickman, 163−173. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer.

Groenman-van Waateringe, Willy, and Bas van Geel. 2016. “Raised bed agriculture in northwest Europe triggered by climatic change around 850 BC: a hypothesis.” Environmental Archaeology 22 (2): 166−170. DOI.or g/10.1080/14614103.2016.1141085.

Pierazzo, Elisabetta and H. Jay Melosh. 2012. “Extraterrestrial Causes of Environmental Catastrophes.” In The SAGE Handbook of Environmental Change 1, ed. by John A. Matthews, 384−404. London: SAGE Publications.

Hauser, Florian. 2011. “Ein Opferplatz im Chiemgau? Die hallstattzeitlichen Metallfunde von Nußdorf ‘Moosholz’ (Lkr. Traunstein).“ Bayerische Vorgeschichtsblätter 76: 55−142.

Poßekel, Jens, and Kord Ernstson. 2019. “Anatomy of young meteorite craters in a soft target (Chiemgau Impact strewnfield, SE Germany) from ground penetrating radar (GPR) measurements.” 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Abstract #1204. URL: https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2019/ eposter/1204.pdf.

Hiltl, Michael, Frank Bauer, Kord Ernstson, Werner Mayer, Andreas Neumair, and Michael A. Rappenglück. 2011. “SEM and TEM analyses of minerals xifengite, gupeiite, Fe2Si (hapkeite?), titanium carbide (TiC) and cubic moissanite (SiC) from the subsoil in the Alpine Foreland: Are they cosmochemical?” 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Abstract 1391.pdf. URL: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2011/pdf/ 1391.pdf.

Rappenglück, Barbara. 2008. “Cosmic catastrophes and cultural disasters in prehistoric times? The chances and limitations of a verification.” Archaeologia Baltica 10: 268−272. Rappenglück, Barbara. 2013. “Myths and motifs as reflections of prehistoric cosmic events: some methodological considerations.” In Ancient cosmologies and modern prophets. Proceedings of the SEAC 2012 conference. ed. by Ivan Šprajc and Peter Pehani, 67−83. Ljubljana: Slovene Anthropological Society (= Anthropological Notebooks year XIX, supplement).

Losiak, E. M., W. D. Wild, W. D. Geppert, M. S. Huber, A. J. Oeleht, A. Kriiska, A. Kulkov, K. Paavel, I. Pirkovic, J. Plado, P. Steier, R. Välja, J. Wilk, T. Wisniowski, and M. Zanetti. 2016. “Dating a small impact crater: An age of Kaali crater (Estonia) based on charcoal emplaced within proximal ejecta.” Meteoritics & Planetary Science 51 (4): 681−695. DOI: 10.1111/maps. 12616.

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9 How Do We Know What They Were Thinking? Archaeoastronomy between Science and Speculation − Palaeolithic Case Studies Michael A. Rappenglück Director of the adult education centre and observatory Gilching Abstract: This short study discusses the problem of demarcation between non-science, fringe science, pseudoscience, and science in the case of Archaeoastronomy and with reference to some selected case studies of astronomical knowledge in the Palaeolithic. The resulting considerations lead to the formulation of a new generic term and the presentation of an appropriate methodology: Cultural Cosmology and Transdisciplinarity. Keywords: Archaeoastronomy, Palaeolithic, Fringe science, Pseudoscience, Methodology, Cultural Astronomy, Cultural Cosmology 9.1 Introduction

establishing a suitable multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary methodology and coining a concept of science that does justice to the entire field of research: Cultural Cosmology.

Archaeoastronomy as a branch of cultural astronomy is popular, extremely media-effective, ­and marketable, on a par with dinosaurs, prehistoric human, natural disasters, black holes, and extra-terrestrials. The fascination paired with a maximum of imagination, with little or no methodological demands, leads some people to interpret archaeological objects only from (today’s) astronomical perspectives. The ‘discoveries’, which usually seem surprisingly coherent to the authors, are enthusiastically published in the new media. A growing number of such constructs, whose proofs are mostly questionable and methodologically unfounded, circulate worldwide and give non-specialists and experts a distorted picture of Archaeoastronomy, its rationale, objects of research, methods, results, and limits. The expression of pure ideas without facing the timeconsuming work of methodologically sound justification and scientific discussion is already considered the ‘state of knowledge’. An apt example of specific interpretations which seem apparent, conclusive, and even compelling, but which go wrong when examined in detail, is given by Cornelis de Jager in a short study titled ‘Radosophy − or everything fits so perfectly’ (Jager 1992). From the length proportions of a standard Dutch bicycle in relation to the diameter of the pedal travel, the front wheel, the front lamp, and the bell, measured in ‘holy bicycle inches’ of 17 mm (prime number 1 and 7), physically significant constants can be derived with mathematically simple formulas. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss methodological questions of Archaeoastronomy / Cultural Astronomy and work out the demarcation problem between non-science, fringe science, and established science. I started this in an earlier work using examples coming from paleoastronomy (Rappenglück 2013a, 84−85). This study deepens the discussion of the earlier work with two objectives:

9.2 From Astro-Archaeology to Cultural Astronomy A look at the development of Archaeoastronomy up to Cultural Astronomy contributes to a deeper selfunderstanding of this field of research and its relation to other sciences, especially archaeology. Since the 18th and 19th century some authors tried to prove that archaeological relics are related to a primaeval ‘astronomy’ in prehistory and ancient history (Bolten 1781−1782, 249, Fussnote; Büsching 1824; Moore 1835, 24−49, 80−83; Preusker 1841, 15, 1844, 173−76; Clostermeier 1848, 1−2; Nissen 1873, 1906−1907; Gaillard 1897; Johnson 1912, 225; Michell 1977; Hoskin 2001, 7; Rappenglück 1999, 15−16, 291; 2013a, 89). The first approaches of scientific reappraisal led to the concept of Astro-Archaeology (Michell 1977). The subject of Archaeoastronomy is the study of human preoccupation with celestial phenomena and their relationship to life in prehistoric cultures. The research is mainly based on archaeological data. In the 18th and 19th centuries other authors (e.g., Jean S. Bailly, Charles F. Dupuis, Gustave Schlegel) studied the different forms of astronomy as they are handed down verbally and in writing in cultures worldwide. This direction of research evolved into Ethnoastronomy and the History of Astronomy. Ethnoastronomy studies celestial observations and cosmovisions in recent and contemporary cultures with reference to anthropology. Historical Astronomy uses ancient written astronomical records to solve astronomical problems. The History of Astronomy is dedicated to historical documents to reconstruct ancient scientific astronomical knowledge in 65

Michael A. Rappenglück practice and theory. The History of Astrology examines the historical development of the relationships and differences between astrology and astronomy. Further research focuses on astronomical phenomena, processes, and models connected with music, literature, fine arts, politics, futurology etc.: This led to the concept of Cultural Astronomy, intended to create a generic term for all old and possible new fields of research.

methodology follows the so-called Hermeneutic Spiral as a process of assuring integrative comprehension (Stegmüller 1996). I already have developed initial ideas for an Integral Methodology (Rappenglück 1999, 2013a). It does not simply mean collecting results and methods from different sciences (multi-disciplinarity), critically tested, and bringing them together or combining them (cross-/inter-disciplinarity), but rather integrating them transdisciplinary (Rousseau et al. 2018, 47−62). Important basic subjects are anthropology (especially cultural anthropology), religious studies, history science (including the history of science and technology), and astronomy. There are also many other natural sciences and humanities, which are added as appropriate. It thus models very well the world view of cultures that existed before modern times. A holistic and ecomorphic perception and interpretation of the world, related to human life and the living environment, characterised that world view (Rappenglück 2009, 2013b, 2014). A Cultural Cosmology aims to reconstruct archaic prehistoric and historical cosmologies (and cosmogonies) and the respective current ideas about the position of man in the cosmos.

9.3 How can the range of topics and the methodology of Cultural Astronomy be determined? In its still young history, there have been repeated attempts to define the range of topics and methods of Archaeoastronomy (Pedersen 1982; Aveni 1986; Ruggles. 1993b; McCluskey 2004; Sinclair 2005; McCluskey 2005; Aveni 2014). Overviews provide information about contents and scientific standards of the subject (Ruggles. 1993a; Schlosser and Čierny 1996; Ruggles. 2005; Ruggles, C. L.N 2015; Magli 2016; McCluskey 2004; Gummerman and Warburton 2005; Ruggles. 2011; McCluskey 2005; Aveni 2014). The answer to this question has been urgent for several decades and remains open today. Of particular importance was and is the discussion and criticism of the methodologies applied (Aveni 1981; Bialas 1986, 1988, 1989; Aveni 2006; Sims 2007, 2016; Ruggles. 2011; Rohde 2012; Antonello 2013; González García 2013; Rappenglück, B. 2013; Rappenglück 2013a). A distinction was also made between the Green and the Brown Archaeoastronomy (Aveni 1989, 1). While the former is mainly concerned with alignments and uses a statistical methodology, the latter is more culturallyanthropologically based. How can one proceed methodically in a reasonable and sufficiently exact way to research in the field scientifically and not always ‘running around the same circles’ (Ruggles. 2011)? Essential works on Cultural Astronomy and the positioning of Archaeoastronomy as a research discipline have been published over the years by Stanisław Iwaniszewski (Iwaniszewski 1991, 1995, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2010). But is the term Cultural Astronomy even appropriate to describe the objects of research? The present study coins a new term − Cultural Cosmology − and proposes a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary Integral Methodology (Rappenglück 1999, 2013a). I have discussed insufficiently scientific and I have discussed insufficiently scientific, pseudoscientific, and unscientific approaches and unscientific approaches elsewhere based on Palaeolithic case studies (Rappenglück 2013a). Here I will briefly summarise some. The same or similar problems of methodology also exist with studies on finds from other epochs.

9.5 Some points of an Integral Methodology The basis for a methodical approach is the classical linguistic tripartite division of references: syntax, semantics and pragmatics (Rappenglück 2013a, 85). The syntactic factor refers to the construction and arrangement of symbols, the appropriate measurement tools and techniques, the formation of object classes and formal relationships for data collection. Structural, logical, statistical, and metrological methods are used for the preparation of the data. The semantic factor includes the relation of symbols and associated meanings. Humanities with various methods, e.g., anthropology (especially cultural anthropology, biological, linguistic anthropology), ethnosciences, mythology, religious studies, psychology, provide interpretations. The pragmatic factor bears on the lifeworld and life-practice of the respective culture. Archaic cultures were particularly capable of integrating different aspects and levels of meaning of their world view into a single conception, making intensive use of a symbolical, mythical, and ritual language. Cultural Cosmology requires an understanding of the perception, conception, and coherent worldviews of ancient cultures, which consist of ideas, processes, and evaluations with which we are usually no longer familiar, such as divination, astrology, and particular religious concepts. Moreover, the practice to use certain measuring tools and modes of observation for sky watching is another necessary field of research, usually neglected. Experimental reconstructions can help to determine possibilities and limitations.

9.4 The Integral Methodology as a scientific approach − Case studies from the Palaeolithic

Phenomenological approach: In the first step, a phenomenological approach (Husserl 1986) is started. The own observation, if possible, has priority. Wherever possible, primary sources of knowledge should be preferred to secondary ones. If secondary sources are used, one should ensure that they are reliable and

The Integral Methodology to be applied is multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary. It is based on a system-theoretical model (Rousseau et al. 2018) and follows the coherence principle (Rescher 1973; Thagard 2000) to increase the probability of a hypothesis or theory. The 66

How Do We Know What They Were Thinking? recognised according to the current state of scientific knowledge. One should research with as many different senses and instruments as possible: Everything, whether overt or still hidden, can be significant for later evaluation and interpretation, even if it is not understood now. In addition to a purely rational view, the value of one’s own emotional experience may also be significant. The specific temporal distance to the cultural epoch under investigation must be considered (hermeneutical difference: linguistic, historical, biological/psychological, etc.). That includes considering that the environment and lifestyle can change (significantly). In any case: Even (quantitatively measured) ‘facts’ (González García 2013, 50) do not ‘per se’ meet the truth. They are not only based on required disclosed assumptions (devices, measurement procedures, circumstances during measurement, selection of starting positions and boundary conditions, environmental conditions in the respective epoch, etc.), but also on assumptions unknown or unconsciously hidden at the time of observation and measurement. Thus, it is necessary to avoid preconceived ideas through the detailed phenomenological description by defining classes of characteristics and observing the ways of perception. That requires abstaining from prejudging the data and employing an open-minded approach and a disposition to be receptive to the object’s properties. One should be aware of the psychology of perception (human sensory perception, information processing in the brain, fantasies, imaginations, etc.). The various pitfalls of brain delusions known from perceptual psychology, must be considered. Knowledge of the laws of gestalt, the psychology of perception, and cognitive psychology are helpful (Çetin et al. 1999; Bollnow 2010; Wearden 2016; Galotti 2018; Hergovich 2018; McBride and Cutting 2019). When doing research, the first pitfall to overcome is the variety of ways human perception and cognition work. Usually, scarcely anybody cares about the properties of cognitive illusions and one’s hidden preferences, prejudices, and epistemological interest (Chabris and Simons 2011). Science has to bring these to the fore, think about them, and discuss the preconditions of the respective approaches, assumptions, and personal preferences and biases. Therefore, training is necessary to recognise ambiguous illusions, separation from the ground, figure-ground reversals, fictions, and context problems. Astronomers are familiar with various kinds of such cognitive illusions, for example, the perception of patterns in the arrangement of the stars (asterisms/ constellations), shapes or faces in the moon or Mars channels. Depending on the context (semantic, pragmatic) of respective cultures, a certain star pattern (syntax) is interpreted in different ways. Moreover, since the Upper Palaeolithic, people themselves intentionally used just a lot of these cognitive illusions for illustrating multiple levels of meaning in single depictions (Alpert 2008, 119−92). That increases the number of traps to fall in. And finally, one must also know about emotional penetration − we have hidden likes and dislikes − as well as about the ecological basis of our thinking (Gibson 2015; Hergovich 2018). In addition, there is evidence that at least during the

Upper Palaeolithic, those who created the artwork had a particular spatiotemporal perception that differed from the average of people today. They were skilled at observing and depicting animals’ behaviours (Rappenglück 1999, 2015a, 2015b), sometimes much better than in the modern era. Being hunter-gatherers, they had a sense for dynamical processes, which they illustrated in their artwork, e.g., by dissolving continuous movements into a superposition of succeeding images (which can be reversed to a ‘film’). Moreover, three-dimensionality was experienced by motion, which creates the concept of a hodological space (Rappenglück 1999). These cognitive abilities of Upper Palaeolithic peoples would have profoundly affected their perception of astronomical phenomena (Rappenglück 1999). Comprehensive, detailed analysis: In a second step, a comprehensive, detailed analysis and description of the method(s) applied must be performed with the required accuracy for each object. The following question words help do that: What? Where? When? Who? Neutral description: The phenomenological approach is accompanied using a neutral description. Scepticism towards others and one’s own conscious and unconscious, subliminal interpretations (Epoché: abstinence) is necessary: not only the pitfalls of cognitive illusions (see above) must be considered, but also prejudices and sweeping statements, scientific mainstreams, which may or may not be correct, one’s own and other people’s particular interests (“preferences”, “expectations”, “assessments”). Questions, hypotheses, definitions, terms, categorisations, experiments, instruments, and methods should be well-founded and well-defined. If the decoration could be read as symbolic writing, emphasis should be placed on iconographic syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic consistency. Number Jugglers: Many authors are counting fanatics and are fascinated by coherent numerology (Rappenglück 2013a, 86−87). They count and compute all that might be countable and computable. But first: Is the object with the proposed counting sets, e.g., a tally stick, complete? Then: what counts? First a well-defined typing must be made. A few sets of countable types are insufficient: Here, the statistical method becomes indispensable. Counting without knowing the original units (‘adding up apple and pears’) is also frequently. Is there any additional ‘context’, apart from pure reckoning, that permits attaching value to the counting sets? In most cases, a bias of the number jugglers regarding the results to be achieved and a fascination for the coherence of number references can be observed. The author’s unwitting anticipation— or presumption of astronomically relevant numbers— can bias a result, too. Moreover, one must show that a pattern, which is purported to be read as a kind of counting, is not a pure decoration or that another reasonable interpretation could explain the pattern. It is necessary to define feature classes of counting sets on the respective object that bears the code and keep in mind the type of the object under study. Then additional semantic input coming from social sciences allows the researcher 67

Michael A. Rappenglück to set up a model, which, in turn, must be verified through the analysis of comparable objects. That requires a statistical approach. Overlay Freaks: Often uncritically, i.e., with little justification, asterisms are formed from the presented material or identified with it. Burles (2017) and Collins (2019) are good current examples of this. I have collected more cases elsewhere (Rappenglück 1999, 18−24, and ch. 1, fn. 46, 2013a;). There are numerous other examples concerning the Palaeolithic on the Internet and in grey literature. Göbekli Tepe was also interpreted in the same pseudoscientific way (Burles 2017; Sweatman and Tsikritsis 2017b; Sweatman 2019; Collins 2019). Identification should not be derived solely from the similarity to asterisms existing in other cultures but must be made concerning a wider syntactic and semantic context. In very distant epochs, e.g., the Upper Palaeolithic, the proper motions of some stars must also be considered (Rappenglück 1999, 78, 2013a). It is crucial to know and name the software’s accuracy and errors (Rappenglück 1999, 76−80, 2013a; Lorenzis and Orofino 2018). Problems of reconstruction and restoration: It is necessary to be clear about the originality and integrity of an object (and of a landscape). The problems of restoration and reconstruction must not be ignored (Rappenglück 2013a, 88). If the examination is done or must be done on a replica because the original is not available, it must be ensured that it represents the original authentically. Dating Hoppers: Time and again, the relative and absolute age determination of archaeological finds for which astronomical references are suspected or claimed is insufficiently included and discussed. For a possible astronomical interpretation, it is essential to determine the age of the objects studied as accurately as possible, using various independent, scientifically proven dating methods. The different methods must support and complement each other (Rappenglück 1999, 43−48). In dating intentional depictions in Upper and Middle Paleolithic times as accurately as possible, a severe problem occurs (Rappenglück 2013a, 93−94). In most cases, there is no way to get a direct and definitive result. Though rock pictures in a composition are stylistically similar, their age differs significantly. The errors in dating may arise because Palaeolithic artists used already old material. But the differences of dating within the same depictions are not really understood (Corchón et al. 2012, 134). Research concerning different radiometric methods amplifies the dating problem. Up to now, there is no real agreement about the unambiguity of dating methods and results. Dating based on different, preferably independent methods, like radiometric, stratigraphy, pollen analysis, style etc. and calibration procedures are necessary. It helps in delimiting the range of possible dates assigned to the object. Hence, only the multiplicity and evaluation of archaeological dating offer a certain time frame for astronomical statements (Rappenglück 1999, 43−48). Extremely problematic in this respect is the wild linking of different objects of investigation across several epochs concerning a few dates here and there and without discussion of the errors of age determinations and standard deviations (Sweatman and Tsikritsis 2017b; Sweatman

2019). Therefore, all applicable relative and absolute dating methods, including astronomical age determinations (if available and justifiable), must be included and discussed regarding errors and discrepancies. Mutual consideration and calibration are important. Cultural context: The current state of knowledge about the respective cultural environment (living environment and life practice) must be considered: Cultural Anthropology is helpful here. If the focus is on a unique specimen or only on a few objects and statements made about them, a rich and differentiated context is essential. It is necessary to address and describe the object (or/and landscape) as precisely as possible, to localise and to date it, and to place it in the context of its former living environment. Individual and collective abilities of different detail and complexity can coexist in different places at the same epoch. Archaic cultures (hunter-gatherers, horticulturalists, pastoralists, fishers, arable farmers) have their perspectives and approaches to their world that are different to ours. However, they can reach a considerable level of knowledge and skills among these other paths, which should not be subordinate to our cultural level. Archaic cultures integrate different spheres of meaning into their artefacts and worldview, making intensive use of symbolic, mythical, and ritual forms of representation. It is necessary to consider the characteristics of Palaeolithic people, their life world and life praxis, to develop the cultural framework in which astronomical knowledge may have been an issue. In which landscapes did people live and move? Which climate prevailed? What were flora and fauna like? What were the characteristics of the respective human species? What form of society and economic system was there? Which skyscape could be seen? These questions and others are usually hardly or not at all asked and answered. However, they are important for astronomical reconstructions, e.g., the visibility of celestial objects, skills of orientation and time-reckoning of Palaeolithic cultures, and interpretations regarding the human living environment of that time. It is well documented that hunter-gatherers, much the same as farmers, had been able to carefully watch celestial phenomena and pass the astronomical knowledge on (Rappenglück 1999, 2015b, 2015a; Hayden and Villeneuve 2011). Accuracy fanatics: The use of today’s technical measuring instruments and computers tempts some authors to either accuse the ancient cultures of great deficiencies in their observations and results (Bialas 1986, 221) or, conversely, to attribute extreme abilities to them (Sweatman 2019). To avoid these both misjudgements, it is necessary to correlate the postulated abilities of archaic cultures with the archaeological and anthropological knowledge available according to the present state of knowledge. A kind of ‘experimental archaeoastronomy’ is also helpful here: How could one make which observations with which tools? What mistakes are made in the process? What conclusions were possible for the ‘experts’ of the time? Did they have protomathematics, and what did it look like? I have described some examples of the Palaeolithic time in detail (Rappenglück 2019). Relations: In a third step, references are made visible (relation): the 68

How Do We Know What They Were Thinking? relationship of the parts is significant here. At that stage, a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary methodology is fundamental. Qualitative and quantitative procedures may and must be used together. However, care must be taken to use quantitative or qualitative methods appropriately rather than excessively. It is considered how the components and methods are intertwined (superposition, entanglement), complement each other (complementarity, polarity) or contradict each other (inconsistency, dichotomy). If sufficiently large and standardised data sets are available, statistical methods (univariate, bivariate, multivariate) can gain insight. Crucial are statistical hypothesis tests and Bayesian statistics if a smaller amount of information and the degree of belief in an event form the basis. It is important to discuss the accuracy, errors and reliability of observations, categorisation, measurements, calculations, data processing, transmission and translation, sources, and references. Error calculation helps determine the tolerance range of measured variables and in scientific data verification. However, overstretching of statistics as the mother of all methods is faulty: Evidence of statistical methodology and cluster analysis is important and necessary (González García 2013), but requires a well-structured, well-defined, and comprehensive database and method of collection. Moreover, problems and paradoxes of statistics must be considered (Stegmüller 1973). If this is not done rigorously and seriously, flaws and fallacies appear (Gardenier and Resnik 2002; Campbell 2012) ending up at risk of drawing false conclusions and passing them off as confirmed by a scientific method. Unfortunately, Sweatman and Tsikritsis (Sweatman and Tsikritsis 2017a, 2017b; Sweatman 2019) give an excellent example for manoeuvring themselves into several of the pitfalls mentioned above. They present an extremely weak scientific, sometimes even pseudoscientific argumentation in their studies on Göbekli Tepe (Notroff et al. 2017; Burles 2017), when the statistical method is unique. Their research results are based on insufficient data, a lack of understanding of iconographic categorisation and astronomical conditions, the omission of the discussion of dating problems and the neglect of the respective archaeological features. In any case, the hypothesis developed from the data should be verifiable and testable. It should not be “immunised” against tests. The same applies to theories. Despite the multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary methodology, care should be taken to ensure that the assumptions are reasonably economic. However, the following also applies heuristically: Do not perform unfounded mental acrobatics and do not follow the desire to “smooth things over” when contradictions arise. Synopsis and Integration: Finally, a fourth step leads to the synopsis and integration using a transdisciplinary methodology based on General Systemology (Rousseau et al. 2018). The interpretation of the data follows two further questions: Why and how did people do it? That approach requires that the diversity of data and methods from the humanities and natural sciences be used in a complementary manner and with strict consideration of the individual specifics and circumstances. It is necessary to relate research results to the meaning/function of astronomical objects, phenomena, and processes:

Astronomical objects, images and concepts can be used as linguistic codes (e.g., cosmograms, symbols, myths, emblems, allegories, etc.) to convey other contents. Astronomy then serves as a tool for the actual purpose of environmental, economic, social, political, or spiritual levels. Here, a low quantitative precision is sufficient, with high demands on the qualitative model. The findings can be classified as quasi-astronomical. Astronomical phenomena, processes and structures are regarded as the main thing: For this purpose, e.g., observatories are built, measuring instruments, and measuring methods, exact time calculation and navigation techniques, and exact cartography of the starry sky are developed. The findings can be classified as exact-astronomical but may be tied to different subsidiary matters. For the interpretation(s), it is essential to perceive, elaborate and relate several levels of meaning (synopsis). Moreover, it is necessary to know convergence: Different processes can lead to similar phenomena/results. Contradictions, inconsistencies, and circular conclusions of the respective interpretation(s) are to be disclosed, discussed and, if possible, classified under a new model of knowledge (transdisciplinarity). 9.6 Conclusion Based on some case studies from the Palaeolithic, the considerations suggest that the discipline should not be called Archaeoastronomy or Cultural Astronomy, but rather Cultural Cosmology as a generic term for various subdisciplines. From the discussions on content and methods, it is possible to determine the scope and methodology of such a science, which takes up previous approaches from Archaeoastronomy to Cultural Astronomy and integrates them using a transdisciplinary method. Cultural cosmology is concerned with how a culture sees itself in its world (cosmos). References Alpert, Barbara Olins. 2008. The Creative Ice Age Brain: Cave Art in the Light of Neuroscience. [New York]: nyehaus/foundation 20 21. Antonello, Elio. 2013. “Cultural Astronomy and Archaeoastronomy: An Italian Experience.” In Šprajc and Pehani 2013, 507−13. Aveni, Anthony F. 1981. “Archaeoastronomy.” Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory 4: 1−81. Aveni, Anthony F. 1986. “Archaeoastronomy: Past, Present, and Future.” Sky and Telescope 72: 456−60. Aveni, Anthony F., ed. 1989. World Archaeoastronomy: Selected Papers from the 2nd Oxford International Conference on Archaeoastronomy, Held at Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, 13 − 17 January 1986. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Aveni, Anthony F. 2006. “Evidence and Intentionality: On Evidence in Archaeoastronomy.” In Viewing the Sky Through Past and Present Cultures: Selected 69

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McCluskey, Steven C. 2005. “Different Astronomies, Different Cultures and the Question of Cultural Relativism.” In Fountain and Sinclair 2005, 69−78. Michell, John. 1977. Secrets of the Stones: The Story of Astro-Archaeology. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books.

Rappenglück, Michael A. 2014. “Weltgehäuse: Zur kosmographischen Symbolik von Höhle, Heiligtum und Haus.” In Symbolon NF 19, edited by Hermann Jung, 237−62. Frankfurt a. Main: Peter Lang.

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Nissen, Heinrich. 1873. “Ueber Tempel-Orientirung: Erster Artikel.” Rheinisches Museum für Philologie N.F. 28: 514−57. Nissen, Heinrich. 1906−1907. Orientation: Studien Zur Geschichte Der Religion. Heft 1 und 2. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung.

Rappenglück, Michael A. 2015b. “Possible Calendrical Inscriptions on Paleolithic Artifacts.” In Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, edited by Clive L.N. Ruggles, 1197−1204. New York, NY: Springer.

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Rappenglück, Michael A. 2019. “Die Urgeschichte des Zählens, des Rechnens und der Rechenhilfen in der Steinzeit.” In Vom Abakus zum Computer: Geschichte

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der Rechentechnik, edited by Gudrun Wolfschmidt, 17−55. Nuncius Hamburgensis 21. Hamburg: tredition. Rescher, Nicholas. 1973. The Coherence Theory of Truth. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rohde, Claudia. 2012. Kalender in der Urgeschichte: Fakten und Fiktion. Archäologie und moderne Gesellschaft 3. Rahden, Westf.: Leidorf.

Stegmüller, Wolfgang. 1973. Probleme und Resultate der Wissenschaftstheorie und analytischen Philosophie: Zweiter Halbband: Statistisches Schließen, Statistische Begründung, Statistische Analyse. Berlin: Springer.

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10 Archaeoastronomical Sites as Fields of Relationship Stanisław Iwaniszewski Posgrado en Arqueología, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia − Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Ciudad de México Abstract: Studies dealing with astronomical alignments encoded in public, ceremonial or funerary architecture not only inform us how the heavens were known and experienced in particular places but also provide insights into how they were positioned within a broader context of human activities within which they functioned. In order to treat archaeoastronomical sites as Ingold’s relational fields, the sightlines connecting sites with celestial targets should be viewed as embodying relationships between those sites, particular landmarks and celestial targets, and human beings. These elements constitute webs of meanings within which specific activities were generated, performed, and negotiated. To conclude, structures encoding celestial alignments embody the joint participation of different human and nonhuman entities whose actions were regulated through the skywatching and timekeeping. Keyword: relational ontologies. 10.1 Introduction

that see the world in terms of dichotomies that separate culture and nature, subject and object, peoples and the skies.

Archaeoastronomy is a means by which we learn about the origins and development of the human awareness of the sky. For the vast period before the invention of the written records, it is the only means of assessing the role that celestial objects played in the social world. Recent theorizing on skyscape has introduced new ways of thinking about human conceptions of the skies. This includes discussions of the research perspectives which incorporate non-Western ontologies to understand better past realities. Such ontologies deal with the critical aspects of the social life, including ideas about the self, personhood, the community of human and non-human entities, offering new perspectives to get insights into the study of the ways in which non-Western and pre-modern peoples related to the sky. The importance of these new theoretical trends to archaeoastronomy has recently been recognized by the participants of the Round Table discussion at SEAC 2018 meeting in Graz.

The idea that the world is already composed of selfcontained, bounded and autonomous entities may be opposed to the concepts generated by many non-Western and pre-industrial societies that see themselves as connected to and entangled other human and nonhuman entities (Herva 2009: 389 − 391). The development of modern industrial societies and the rapid growth of cities had a serious impact on the traditional sense of selfhood, linking modernity to the concept of individuality (Thomas 2004: 123−125). In the West, human beings are created and maintained through interactions designed to produce individual, autonomous and impermeable persons, separated from the world in which they are. However, non-Western societies may experience human beings as composed of diverse elements and relationships, including relationships with material objects, places, plants, animals, heavenly bodies, and the spiritual entities (e.g., Fowler 2004:7). Consequently, the forms of personhood that existed in the pre-modern past may not be compatible with the modern individual.

As a product of contemporary societies, archaeoastronomy tends to assess the value of material evidence in terms of modern astronomy. It means it justifies the tendency of treating past material record as if it was produced in our world though under different circumstances. This is why many of the approaches to the past material record tend to emphasize human cognitive responses to the skies independently of the social context of their manifestations. While these perspectives provide structure to the current inquiry, they also tend to reify Western discrete categories

Similarly, Western perceptions of material objects may also be seen as anachronistic when applied to the distant past (Olsen et al. 2012: 196−209). In Western thought, artifacts and monuments may be assumed as passive or inert entities until they are perceived and imbued with meaning by human agents. Non-Western ontologies may

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Stanisław Iwaniszewski perceive them as already activated and human-like actants treated in equal terms with human persons (González Ruibal et al. 2011: 2−3).

relationships with other objects, places, plants, animals, seasonal phenomena, and connections that are never the same (Ingold 2011: 85).

At first glance, an ontological approach should assume that humans and heavenly bodies occupy the same existential sphere. In other words, we should begin our research with celestial objects and phenomena and the past material record, treating them as things that may offer different ontological possibilities. Things, the physical world, monuments, astronomical and meteorological events, and their associations are situated within the skywatching activity. Examining their connections and internal relations should enable us to understand how people configurated their relations with the surrounding world. Like all other entities in the human lifeworld, distant stars and human beings may be considered as persons defined or determined by the relations they enter into or as discrete, distinct, and bounded entities that interact with each other through some mechanistic patterns (Iwaniszewski 2011: 126; 2016: 15−17)11.

In such a short paper as this, it is impossible to cover the complex nature of diverse nuanced relationships between humans and their celestial surroundings, so I attempt to interpret “archaeoastronomical sites” as relational fields. Due to the same space constraints, I will not provide any case studies, though initially, I intended to focus on Neolithic Poland and Postclassic Mesoamerica. To pick up the challenge presented by the ontological turn and formulate a novel conception or useful framework for studying the different forms of human engagements with the heavens, I will focus on the concept of archaeoastronomical sites. Archaeoastronomical sites may briefly be defined as places that have been appropriated or transformed by peoples to express or represent their relations to celestial phenomena. This term aims at pointing to a specialized kind of data set useful for understanding the past relationship between human and celestial. Such places cannot be seen in isolation (like modern astronomical observatories) but constituted through human-celestial relationships that produce meaningful configurations that are actively negotiated or manipulated by various social agents to attain their specific purposes.

It may be argued that the adoption of the ontological turn in archaeoastronomy is much more complicated than in ethnoastronomy. Archaeoastronomy often deals with non-Western forms of human engagements with the skies in many different forms and across various temporal and spatial scales. It involves types of engagements that cannot correctly be understood if we solely use Western dichotomies. It presents a challenge to current archaeoastronomy because the ongoing research tends to examine the material evidence within a single homogenous (scientific) framework. As a social science, archaeoastronomy is usually concerned with patterns of the past astronomical alignments; however, if it exclusively uses statistical inferences, it effectively erases the practices and types of engagement that contributed to their production. It is not enough to demonstrate that ancient societies intentionally aligned their structures; it is also necessary to infer the reasons for determining such alignments. One way is to complement such research by exploring the range of possible experiences that people could have had with them. The “relational ontological” approach dissolves the boundaries between nature and culture, and subject and object and rejects a conception of the sky as a discrete entity in itself. In working towards a relational concept of the sky, we need to understand the nature of heavenly relationships with other objects, things, places, humans, and nonhumans. Since there is no a priori reason to separate humans from things, places, and nonhumans (Witmore 2007), it is possible to conceive individual human persons as networked agents or persons-in-networks. Relational thinking also emphasizes the ever-changing, fluid character of those relationships. In working towards a relational concept of the sky, we need to understand it both in terms of its

10.2 Relational Ontologies The recent archaeological concern with how people relate themselves to the environments around them gave rise to the growth of the so-called “alternative” ontologies. The conceptual distinction between culture and nature, which lies at the heart of modernist epistemologies, provides an inadequate understanding of the interactions and relationships between non-Western societies and their environmental settings. Anthropologists and archaeologists have chosen to use the so-called relational ontological approach to deal more appropriately with premodern and indigenous ontologies to remedy this situation. Modern essentialist orientation towards reality is replaced with a relational ontological approach (Alberti and Bray 2009: 338). The term “relational” refers to the physical (material) and intangible features and properties ascribed to various components of the natural environment, which are seen as being dependent on how they relate to other things and persons (Watts 2013:1). The term ontology refers to “a discourse about the nature of being”. However, as Graeber (2015:15) has noticed, anthropologists often consider ontology as a “way of being” or “manner of being”. Ontology provides an appropriate research framework for analyzing how (human and nonhuman) entities understand and create their worlds that are entangled with how they know that world. For Descola (2013: 337), “an ontology is simply a concrete expression of how a particular world is composed, of what kind of furniture it is made of, according to the general layout specified by a mode of identification”.

11  Historically, this nature-culture dualism strongly links with the positivist, naturalist, and empiricist philosophies. It does nor refer to all Western traditions.

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Archaeoastronomical Sites as Fields of Relationship Rather than dealing with people and things as bounded and fixed entities, the focus is shifted to the relationships that link them. The engagement with the entities has to be understood in terms of specific relations and not as abstract. In other words, what distinguishes the beings (both the human and non-human ones) is their involvement in relations with diverse subjects and objects rather than their nature or essence. The relations between diverse kinds of entities are ontologically more fundamental than the entities themselves.

The problem of relationality moves between two different theoretical perspectives. The one is by Bruno Latour (1993), who proposes a continuous revival and reordering of peculiar assemblages in the social life arising from interactions between human and non-human agents. However, their continuous fluidity denies any possibility for the more durable stability of these relational systems. In contrast to Latour, Tim Ingold (2000, 2011) proposes a more phenomenological view derived from the perspective based on the notion of dwelling-in-theworld. The construction of relational systems made through inhabiting the world is much more stable, and the networks of significance find their fixed connections with the material world.

Human persons subjectively perceive and interpret their environments. They also inhabit the world together with things, spirits, landscape features, animals, and plants with whom they create a maintain a dynamic system of interactions and relationships. Through repeated interaction with the world, they infer the kinds of beings that exist and how they relate to each other (Descola 2014: 277). Each person is always perceived in the process, as a kind of a composite being, continuously being shaped and re-shaped through diverse networks of relationships, including those between people and their physical environments (Bird David 1999; Gell 1998; Ingold 2000). In sum, relationships between entities determine entities’ identities and properties (Herva (2009: 388).

10.3 Ingold’s relational fields In a seminal contribution to the study of humanenvironment relations, Tim Ingold (2000: 147−149) has proposed this concept to analyze fields of social relations involving humans, places, animals, plants, things, and other nonhuman features of surrounding environments. The relational field is a node that brings together human and nonhuman beings that occupy different positions within the human lifeworld. “To exist …is already to be positioned in a certain environment and committed to the relationships this entails Ingold 2000: 149).” Relational thinking considers the sky as an integral part of the human lifeworld. Relational thinking shows no a priori dichotomy between the sky and the earth, between the heavens and the humans. It also proposes that places, objects, human and nonhuman beings inhabit a world of relationships in which they are continuously engaged in creating, transforming, or negotiating their identities, statuses, and positions. Connections with the sky are always in motion: becoming and reproducing themselves in a continuous flow of disintegrating and integrating networked agents. Traditional research to understand archaeoastronomical sites gives primacy to a fixed association between the sun, distant horizon features, and monuments’ alignments constructed around a framed sequence of events activities. A relational approach may explore their implications for the construction of different types of engagement and identity. The relational perspective sustains that networked agents are persons created through networks of relationships with other people, objects, and surroundings rather than bounded, fixed, independent, and autonomous persons separated from their surroundings (see Table 10.1). 

It may be expected that these ideas have been expressed, at different scales, in peoples’ artifacts and architecture, thus enabling archaeologists to develop research strategies and methodologies to understand their ontologies. Therefore, the past’s ontology might be sought and inferred from relational systems materialized in the archaeological record (Alberti and Marshall 2009 and González Ruibal et al. 2011). Different authors emphasized (e.g., Descola 2013; Watts 2013) that for inferring these ontologies, it is necessary to (re)create the networks of relationships that once were knotted between humans and their social environments. Relationality and relational systematics become a necessary framework for analyzing the archaeological record (Zedeño 2013). To learn how to make things in the world is to learn how they interact with (material or immaterial) objects according to different kinds of inference about the identities of beings. Each kind of specific arrangements found in the archaeological record may be informative of the particular all-embracing conceptual framework in which those beings were once immersed (Descola 2014: 278). In this context, the fourfold typology (involving the notions of animism, totemism, analogism, and naturalism), as proposed by Descola (2013), may be considered a useful analytical tool.

The concept of a relational field provides a context for people to negotiate the features of their identities.

Table 10.1. Two concepts of a (human) person Western epistemology

Relational ontology

person = bounded, fixed, independent, an autonomous entity, separated from its surroundings

person = an entity produced through networks of relationships with other people, objects and surroundings

materiality (substance) is what is used to distinguish a person from a person, a person from an object, an object from an object

relationship is what is used to distinguish a person from a person, a person from an object, an object from an object

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Stanisław Iwaniszewski Each time people visit such fields, they may differently accentuate their own agency and personhood and their forms of engagement with environments.

sense, for determining alignments and directions. The sun’s movement across the sky is its way of interacting (communicating) with the people. The ability to move” is essential in determining the animacy of an object or entity” (Bassett 2015: 13).

10.4 Towards a relational ontological approach in archaeoastronomy

Nevertheless, the same can be said when the sun touches prominent features, casts shadows in a determined direction, burns the crops, or is eclipsed. During the motion across the daily skies, the sun interacts with many other entities. Understanding the design of a monument or place is then best done by looking at them as a network of connections or a “web of relationships” (or meshwork, Ingold 2011: 67−75) in the process of becoming. Alignments play a role in providing contexts in which the particular sightlines integrate into meshworks. Each time when the sun aligns with a spot or structure, it re-connects skywatchers with nonhuman entities. Therefore, such alignments do not represent fixed or static human-celestial relationships; rather, they continuously re-create them (as Ingol’s concept of a meshwork would suggest).

Furthermore, while the rotating skies and circulating bodies may be regarded as essential constituents of the celestial vault, the patterns they reveal can only in part be identified as fixed, static, or bounded configurations. The fact that the sky is always in motion allows us to propose to “think the sky relationally”. Each time heavenly bodies reappear in the sky, they meet human and nonhuman agents engaged in different activities. Just as the surrounding landscape tends to be a static structure of relatively stable relationships, observing how heavenly bodies each time differently act on particular skyscape features may reveal different “modes of identification and relation” (Fowler 2004: 122−129; Descola 2013: 112−115). 10.5 Alignments

10.6 Archaeoastronomical sites as relational fields

Astronomical alignments encoded in monuments and sites appear to create direct associations between places and phenomena that might otherwise exist in isolation. This fact may inform us about the forms of social engagements with the environment. Except for lightand-shadow observations, the use of the sun’s horizon positions (or other heavenly bodies) seems to be one of the simplest ways to keep track of the moving celestial bodies (Hardman, Jr. and Hardman 1992: 149−150). It might be argued that correlations between astronomical objects, seasonal changes, and corresponding subsistence and ritual activities were born out of such observatory places. Sightlines drawn from such places might embody relations between peoples, conspicuous horizon features, and celestial targets. An essential assumption here is that peoples’ engagements with their heavenly environment may be represented, symbolized, or embodied through sightlines and astronomical alignments.

A relational approach places skywatching into a broader range of ontological principles. A particular form of skywatching takes place within specialized or archaeoastronomical sites. The continuous use proves that their structural, material, or phenomenological properties receive shape out of human-celestial relationships. A relational approach should then focus on those networks of relationships that render skywatching meaningful. Knowing that culturally and historically specific ontologies produced different human-celestial engagements, we can expect that those sites’ designs would have engaged different ontological principles. Ethnographic reports indicate that peoples’ relationships with the significant components of their lifeworld are usually modeled upon social relations (Ingold 2000: 51−52). The type of sociality depends on the person’s position within a relational field of activity (Ingold 2000: 97). So different experiences of the bright and dark skies may refer to different aspects of their social identity. Depending on the types of Descola’s (2013) ontological principles, identities based upon relationships with heavenly bodies, skywatching places, and other persons would create individual or dividual persons.

How people perceive the objects in the sky are, obviously, partially determined by their location, or the place from which they watch. The phenomena of the rising and setting heavenly objects must be perceived from a certain distance, from specially designed sight-seeing places (structures) that have been designed and constructed with a specific purpose. The way of seeing the distant celestial objects is a way of defining it, “suggesting that it does not belong to our ordinary day-to-day experience”. It is important to stress that there is a fixed association between the sky’s and landscape features, and sight-seeing or observatory places. On the other hand, the rising and setting directions od celestial objects also produce a fixed sequence of events and activities.

Ethnographic analogies or cross-cultural comparisons can be useful in explaining non-Western ontologies; however, they should not absolve scholars from redesigning an archaeoastronomical analysis of alignments. Such a proposal might create a methodology that could guide scholars in interacting with material and nonmaterial entities that might have participated in past skywatching activities.

As the sun’s daily displacement along the horizon indicates where to watch or align structures, the sun itself can be perceived as being responsible, in some

Accepting that much of the pre-modern skywatching, stargazing or calendar-making activities was motivated by various social and cultural reasons, it becomes possible 76

Archaeoastronomical Sites as Fields of Relationship to conceive archaeoastronomical sites not only as ancient observatory stations but also as kinds of relational fields. Such sites have to be located so that the sightlines that connect them with the targets on the horizon display astronomical alignments. Some of them would only work in combination with other features (mountain peaks, passes, or distant boulders, trees, or buildings) annexed and brought into the social world through the perception of the moving heavenly bodies. They also come into being through the movement of a human person within the landscape; they appear as an encounter, as an experience of the site associated “with something or someone” (Cummings and Whittle 2004: 9−10). The sightlines drawn from watching places to the sun’s positions on the horizon can adequately be understood only in the context of the observed astronomical events. So, while repeated visits to those stations may produce sensations of producing enduring relationships with the surrounding landscape constituents, each skywatching place is necessarily framed by time. The sun moving along the horizon arrives at a particular position that “activates” the relational field in which the sun watchers are already immersed. The sunwatching activity aligns (relates) to the observatory station with a horizon marker and time interval. Astronomical event-based intervals refer to calendar-based intervals. The sun’s movement never stops, and though it happens on the fringe of a site, it may involve all potential agent-like entities. From the standpoint of a relational ontology, the combination of the perceived rising/setting astronomical object at the desired horizon position and a moment become together a kind of a starter that activates the realm of human and nonhuman entities. In other words, different objects, landscape features, seasonal climatic, and meteorological changes create enduring dispositions as they interact with sun-watchers at the moment of their repeated observations. So, the places from which such observations are performed, embody the participation of different human and nonhuman persons whose activities must be coordinated through skywatching and timekeeping activities.

human and nonhuman persons. Specific relationships with the heavens create skywatchers, who continuously act with such an environment, so they are continuously being constituted (Ingold 2000). Skywatchers enter into a dynamic dialogue with the celestial bodies sharing their agency with others. It is possible to identify some of the environmental constituents that relate to the skywatchers. They may be listed as follows: the dark (night) or blue (day) sky, the range of observed astronomical phenomena, weather conditions, seasonal changes, the skills and adequate tools of the skywatchers, etc. To them must be added: the accessibility or distribution of observatory stations, associated social activities (ranging from primary subsistence activities to religious ceremonies and political engagements), cognitive motivations, and other life processes. Such an approach allows imagining things, landscape features, meteorological and astronomical phenomena, animals and plants as active members of the skywatching activities (Mills and Ferguson 2008: 340; Brown and Walker 2008: 298; Zedeño 2009). Therefore, their meaning can only be grasped if they are viewed as acting within a web of relationships (see Figure 2). An archaeoastronomical site conceived as a relational field draws together all the components of the past skywatching activities. The sites with astronomical alignments must be experienced in situ, if we want to understand their past ontology. It means the archaeoastronomical fieldwork cannot solely depend on short-time visits on spots and recording of astronomical relevant alignments. Such narrow research purposes do not allow us to appreciate and incorporate additional kinds of alignment information. To view alignments as merely astronomical alignments or to research a particular type of astronomical event as a discrete form of ancient astronomical knowledge is to consider them physically and temporally separated from the lifeworld. On the other hand, a relational perspective forces the researcher to take a more active role in experiencing the surrounding world from an archaeoastronomical site. Phenomenological methodologies offer many more opportunities for experiencing the world.

Following Ingold (2000), it might initially be argued that skywatchers are composed of social relations with other

Figure 10.1. Archaeoastronomical site a relational field.

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Stanisław Iwaniszewski A relational field concept proposes that all significant entities engaged in skywatching or stargazing activities are constituted by their specific relationships with each other (Ingold 2000). This approach does not prejudge whether the entities immersed in such a network should be perceived as animate or inanimate. Caution should be applied when hypothesizing about non-human or agentlike entities. Such engagements with the environment may only depend on the “four different kinds of inference about the identities of beings in the world” (Descola 2014: 277 but also on different modes of acting persons (permeable, partible, or fractal, Fowler 2017).

Bassett, Molly H. 2015. The Fate of Earthly Things. Aztec Gods and God-Bodies. University of Texas Press, Austin. Brown, Linda A. and William H. Walker. 2008.“Prologue: Archaeology, Animism and Non-Human Agents”. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 15(4): 297−299. Cummings, Vicki and Alasdair Whittle. 2002. Places of special virtue: megaliths in the Neolithic landscapes of Wales. Cardiff Studies in Archaeology, Oxbow Books, Oxford. Descola, Philippe. 2013. Beyond Nature and Culture. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.

10.7 Conclusions From a relational perspective, people’s relationship with a particular element of the sky is primarily pragmatic and limited to the specific context of a given relational activity (Ingold 2000: 140−150). A given celestial object can equally be perceived either as an animate being or just as an inert object, with its current status wrapped into the relational “context in which it is placed and experienced” (Ingold 2000: 97). Discovering astronomical alignments within different skyscapes informs us how the heavens have been known and experienced in particular places. Relational archaeoastronomy should additionally provide insights into how they became engaged within a broader context of human activities within which they operated.

Descola, Philippe. 2014. “Modes of being and forms of predication”. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 4(1): 271−280. Dobres, Marcia-Anne. 2014. “Agency in Archaeological Theory”. In: Claire Smith (ed.) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, New York, pp. 2507−2514. Fowler, Chris. 2016. “Relational Personhood Revisited”. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 26(3): 397−412. Gell, Alfred. 1998. Art and Agency: An Anthropological Theory. Oxford University Press, Oxford. González Ruibal, Alfredo, Almudena Hernando and Gustavo Politic. 2011. “Ontology of the self and material culture: Arrow-making among the Awá hunter-gatherers (Brazil)”. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 30: 1−16.

Traditional archaeoastronomy sees skywatching as a way of connecting already made identities into a network of ties between human beings and their lifeworld. The relational approach brings the possibility of breaking out with this narrow traditional framework to perceive the remote skywatchers as belonging to the same ontological realm as the world with which they interact.

Graeber, David. 2015. “Radical alterity is just another way of saying “reality”. A reply to Eduardo Viveiros de Castro. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 5(2): 1−41.

As part of cultural astronomy, archaeoastronomy is the study of the human deep-past engagements within the heavens. The multiple forms of those engagements derive from how the environmental entities, both human and nonhuman, socially relate and communicate. A relational field concept is an analytical tool useful to infer how past or non-Western societies conceptualized their celestial environment and their relation to it.

Hardman Jr., Clark and Marjorie, Hardman. 1992. “Linear Solar Observatory Theory: The Development of Concepts of Time and Calendar”. North American Archaeologist, 13(2): 149−172.

Acknowledgments

Ingold, Tim. 2000. The perception of the environment. Essays on livelihood, dwelling and skill. London and New York: Routledge.

Herva, Vesa-Pekka. 2009. “Living (with) Things: Relational Ontology and material Culture in Early Modern Northern Finland”. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 19(3): 388−397.

I would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.

Ingold, Tim. Being Alive. 2011. Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description. London and New York: Routledge.

References Alberti Benjamin and Yvonne Marshall. 2009.“Animating Archaeology: Local Theories and Conceptually Openminded Methodologies”. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 19(3): 344−356.

Iwaniszewski, Stanislaw. 2011 “Cultural Impacts of Astronomy”. In Anna Teresa Tymieniecka and Atilla Granpierre (eds.) Astronomy and Civilization in the New Enlightenment: Passions of the Skies. Analecta Husserliana, The Yerabook of Phenomenological Research, Vo. CVII. Springer, Dordrecht, Heidelberg, London, New York, pp. 123−128.

Bird-David, Nurit.1999. ““Animism” revisited: Personhood, Environment, and Relational Epistemology”. Current Anthropology 40, suppl. S67-S91. 78

Archaeoastronomical Sites as Fields of Relationship Iwaniszewski, Stanislaw. 2016 “The Social Life of Celestial Bodies: The Sky in Cultural Perspective”. In Michael A. Rappenglück, Barbara Rappenglück, Nicholas Campion, Fabio Silva (eds.) Astronomy and Power: How Worlds Are Structured. Proceedings of the SEAC 2010 Conference. BAR International Series 2794. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford, pp. 13−18. Latour, Bruno. 1993. We Have Never Been Modern. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Mills, Barbara J. ad T.J. Ferguson. 2008. “Animate Objects: Shell Trumpets and Ritual Networks in the Greater Southwest”. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 15(4): 338−361. Olsen, Bjørnar, Michael Shanks, Timothy Webmoor, Christopher Wirmore. 2012. Archaeology: The Discipline of Things. Berkeley: University of California Press. Thomas, Julian. 2004. Archaeology and Modernity. Londo: Routledge. Watts, Christopher. 2013.“Relational Archaeologies: Roots and Routes”. In: Christopher Watts (ed.) Relational Archaeologies: Humans, animals, things. Routledge, London, pp. 1−20. Witmore, Christopher. 2007. “Symmetrical Archaeology: Excerpts from a Manifesto”. World Archaeology 39(4): 546−562. Zedeño, Maria Nieves. 2009. “Animating by Association: Index Objects and Relational Taxonomies”. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 19(3): 407−417. Zedeño, Maria Nieves. 2013. “Methodological and Analytical Challenges in relational Archaeologies: a view from the Hunting Ground”. In Christopher Watts (ed.) Relational Archaeologies. Routledge, London, pp. 117−134.

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11 Some Thoughts on the Skycultures in Stellarium Georg Zotti1 and Alexander Wolf 2 1

Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology, Vienna 2 Altai State Pedagogical University, Barnaul, Russia

Abstract: The open-source desktop planetarium Stellarium can show constellation patterns that differ from the common 88 constellations canonized by the International Astronomical Union. Over the past years this functionality has been enhanced in various ways, but more work will be necessary to cater for more advanced needs of research and education in cultural astronomy. Keywords: Constellations, sky cultures, heritage, outreach, software. 11.1 Introduction

11.2 The “skyculture” concept in Stellarium

Since Paleolithic times humans have seen figures formed by star patterns in the sky (Rappenglück 1999). The prevalent collection of constellations in use today is rooted in Mediterranean antiquity. After centuries of additions by cartographers, mainly starting in the European Age of Discoveries, the International Astro­nomical Union (IAU) as today’s scientific authority on celestial nomenclature has canonized the sky areas of 88 constellations (Delporte 1930), also removing a status of “constellation” from a few figures. In the 20th century popularizing authors have used the term “asterism” to describe figures not named for or confined to the official constellation regions, either as parts of constellations even regionally named differently (e.g. the “Big Dipper”, British “Plough”, or German “Greater Wagon”, as name of the most conspicuous seven stars of the Greater Bear), or as auxiliary figures spanning the brightest stars of several constellations, which remain visible also from moderately light-polluted locations. Note that in other historical or scientific contexts, “asterism” can have slightly different meaning.

The term “skyculture” as used in Stellarium describes the collection of sky-related names, imaginative figures and associated stories used by a human culture to give names and structures to the objects visible in sky. Technically, a skyculture in Stellarium is a directory con­taining files that help to describe the figures which mem­bers of a certain culture see in the sky. Skycultures can be switched from the graphical user interface (GUI) of the program, and only one skyculture can be active and displayed at a time. Those files consist of Description: A thorough textual description of the skyculture in HTML. This should give some context information like geographic location, historical and ethnological information as needed, followed by the description of the constellations and, depending on the described culture, a discussion of the role of celestial bodies or background information on the mythology or cosmology of the culture in question. Many existing skycultures especially from the early years of the Stellarium project unfortunately do not provide enough context information to really gain more than a cursory glance on the unfamiliar sky. The description texts can be translated by Stellarium’s team of volunteer translators into the many languages supported by Stellarium. Constellation names: These can be presented in the original spelling or translated to the user’s selected language. Constellation lines: stars are connected into stick figures. In the western atlases this style has come into use only in the 19th century, but the lines have not been standardized by the IAU, so that meanwhile several variants of the “Western” skyculture have been worked out, following distinct atlases. Of the non-European cultures, Chinese or Korean maps of the constellations are known to have used such connecting lines for many centuries, which allows Stellarium to be used to illustrate astronomical reports from those cultures (Figure 11.2).

A popular feature of the free and open-source desktop planetarium program Stellarium (2019) is the possibility to show constellation figures different from the usual IAU constellations. No less than 40 “skycultures” are included in the current (late 2019) version 0.19.3. However, a short review will find that some of them are less complete and polished than others, and in some examples, we can see current limitations and best-effort workarounds required to bring non-“Western” skycultures into Stellarium. This paper aims at providing some insight on the current state of development and the developers’ current plans for future versions of the program, for which we also invite our scientific users to contribute requirements or even software solutions, and their results in skyculture research. 81

Georg Zotti and Alexander Wolf

Figure 11.1. A few variants of presenting the sky around Orion in Stellarium 0.19.3: left column from top: Only stars; stars with constellation artwork; constellation lines, artwork, asterism lines (green; esp. part of the Winter Hexagon), and a ray helper line (yellow) finding Sirius by Orion’s belt; constellation lines, names and asterisms (the Egyptian Cross centered on Sirius); right column from top: constellation names and lines; a variant of the “Western” constellation as given by H.A.Rey, showing an oddly “reversed” bull; constellation lines and the IAU borders; only IAU borders and names.

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Some Thoughts on the Skycultures in Stellarium Constellation borders (optional): Starting in the 18th century atlases showed curvy borders between the constellations which helped to indicate which stars belonged to the respective constellations, according to the star catalogue which belonged to the respective atlas. The scientific requirements especially with designation of ever more variable stars in the later 19th century drove the development of standardized constellation borders for a standardized set of constellations, which was developed by E. Delporte (1930) on the basis of the Uranometría Argentina (Paolantonio and García 2019). Constellation art (optional): Celestial maps and atlases in the European tradition until the early 19th century usually depicted not only the stars, but sumptuously decorated images of the animals and mythological figures imagined in the constellations. In this old tradition, artist Johan Meuris created Stellarium’s original artwork of the 88 constellations that we can display today by default. Each picture, stored as raster image, is linked to three stars of a constellation, the pixel coordinates of which have to be given in the configuration file. For possible future editions of Stellarium which could include renditions of the classical copper print atlases like Bayer or Hevelius, scans of the original artwork should at least be cleaned from stars and coordinate grids. In some cases, the original projection causes strong distortion when the figure is displayed on Stellarium’s sky with only 3 link points, especially for large constellations like Ophiuchus or Hydra. In these cases, the artwork has to be pre-distorted for a better fit. The stereo­graphic projection seems to provide the best base for such reprojection. A more thorough solution could be the development of a “rubberband stretch” algorithm, so that the artwork image could be linked to more stars, and the image stretched in non-linear ways. Named stars (optional): Bright or otherwise conspicuous stars often bear proper names. In Stellarium, star names can be translated into any of the supported user languages. We have started to add source information for the star names. The user should be enabled to select which sources for star names should be used by the program in each skyculture.

Planet names (optional): most cultures in non-Europ­ean tradition have their own names for the planets. These can be shown in original language or translated. Names for Deep-Sky objects (optional): A few cultures have assigned proper names for the few non-stellar objects visible to the unaided eye, like the Andromeda galaxy or the Magellanic Clouds. Since version 0.16.1 Stellarium has been enhanced to additionally support Asterisms (optional): In the “Western” understanding used in most introductory 20th century textbooks also geared towards amateur observers, an asterism is a non-canonized or auxiliary figure formed either from a part of a constellation (e.g., the Sickle from the Lion’s head and breast, or the Big Dipper from the rear of Ursa Major). Another class are “telescopic asterisms”, groups of stars visible in wide-field telescopes and usually named by amateur astro­nomers in the 20th and 21st centuries, like the “Coathanger” (the open cluster Collinder 399). Technically, asterisms are specified very simil­arly to constellations with translatable names and lines, but they cannot currently display artwork. “Ray helpers” (optional), long connections between stars that help orienting in the sky, con­necting stars of different constellations and forming “super-constellations” like the popular Summer Triangle or Winter Hexagon, can be specified and displayed separately. These figures are sometimes also counted as asterisms. 11.3 Non-Western constellation concepts Over the last years the Stellarium project has received skyculture contributions from many regions in the world. Those with concepts similar to the European view can easily be integrated. However, for some contributions changes in the code were necessary for proper handling, while for several more preliminary workaround solutions were found, which should be functionally improved at a later date. Some historians prefer the term “asterism” for constellations with no clear distinction between “first-class” (constellation) and “second-class” (asterism) figures. These figures should preferably still be represented as constellations.

Figure 11.2. To illustrate the Chinese reports of Supernova 1054, a stellar explosion in Taurus, the remnants of which we can observe as Messier 1, Stellarium can provide a depiction with the correct Chinese constellation context.

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Georg Zotti and Alexander Wolf using a dedicated web service. This (and also tools for offline translation into languages for which the web service is not configured) allows in principle translation also into minority languages, which can make Stellarium a valuable tool in astronomical outreach and education also for such minorities. However, only a handful of languages can be said to have reasonably complete translations.

Constellations and asterisms are formed by connecting visible stars with straight lines, forming “stick figures” of objects or creatures. A few cultures have however developed “dark constellations” from the dark, absorbing gas and dust clouds obscuring more distant stars in the Milky Way (Rappenglück 1999 pp137−138 and fn 516−21; Gullberg et al., 2020. These figures currently can only be shown as “constellation art”. A way of depicting such constellation (dark cloud) outlines just from coordinate lists seems possible as future development.

Translation of a skyculture unfortunately poses new challenges hardly found while translating the usual astronomical terminology found in other parts of the software. The original authors are required to provide English versions of the basic description in addition to the optional file version in their own language, and where applicable English translations in addition to the proper names of their respective names for stars or planets. In the past not all authors have provided such information, however, and in some cases it seems the original translations to English also leave some questions open. Especially the lack of contextual information about the mythological or practical value of some animal or figure depicted in the sky prevents a correct translation. If a star name which might have a meaning in its own right (e.g. “red star”) comes without this translation, the meaning is lost to all readers of other languages if this information is not given to the community translators by the original author.

One of these “dark constellations” is the ‘Spirit of the Emu’ seen by the Australian Aboriginal Kamilaroi/Euahlayi peoples in the skyculture contributed by Robert Fuller (Fuller et al. 2014). Depending on the season, this figure is recognized with (“running”) or without legs (“breeding”), therefore it was necessary to introduce optional seasonal rules in version 0.13.1 which can activate or disable constellations. In several skycultures there are “single-star constel­lations” (or asterisms). That single star should obviously be marked somehow in future versions. Many cultures in Asia give special attention to the path of the Moon, observing 27 or 28 Lunar Stations, Lunar Mansions, e.g. the Arabic manazil, or Indian Nakshatras. These form additional patterns in a similar way that nonofficial asterisms enrich the “Western” sky. Some current implementations of Stellarium skycultures show these as the only “constellations” of that culture, while more recent additions show them as “asterisms”. In future versions, these should be classified as a separate distinct group.

Currently, there is only a distinction between “original name” and “translation” which requires some compro­ mises like mixing transliteration and translation into one translatable string. Future developments may allow showing a configurable combination of the original name, probably in the glyphs of a non-European language, a transliteration (pronunciation aid) into a user-languagedependent form, and a translation, optionally together with the modern name of the sky object.

Likewise, the constellations of the Zodiac could be marked as special class. Currently these are not specially enhanced, also to avoid the superficial classification of the whole program as “astrological application”. However, in a broader view these constellations, in a modern discuss­ ion context even Ophiuchus as 13th constellation along the ecliptic, could be added into such a distinct group.

11.5 Classification A cursory review over the currently available skycultures will show that some entries look very rich with carefully adjusted artwork and lots of texts and references while others just give a few figures without much further information. There are descriptions of the skies of past cultures next to those of small ethnic groups with celestial traditions on the verge of extinction, probably recording the last memories of their current elders. Information about a living skyculture is usually given either by members of the respective culture (an “emic” view, in the sense of being a “description from inside a culture” Pike 1967) or by ethnological fieldworkers (“etic” view, “description from outside in terms of some predefined classification”). In version 0.19.0 we have therefore introduced a tentative classification:

Another idea is the introduction of a “timeline” to a skyculture. The best example is the default “Western” skyculture, rooted in Greco-Babylonian antiquity, with 48 constellations (plus 2 further asterisms) described by Ptolemy, with more constellations added in the Age of Discoveries, and ultimately its canonisation by the IAU in 1922, but at least also the Chinese skyculture tradition can be shown in such an approach. Each constellation could be given introduction and − where applicable − abolition dates. 11.4 Lost in Translation? Stellarium has been a multilingual application since early in its history, but like its software development, trans­lation from English into dozens of user languages is a voluntary community effort. All strings used in the graphical user interface (e.g. button labels or menu entries) or shown in the information text for a selected object are available for translation by a group of registered volunteer translators

incomplete: assigned to those existing skycultures which show obvious deficiencies personal: a skyculture described by a single person which is not based on (peer reviewed) ethnographical fieldwork or historical material, and which is not used by some noteworthy community. 84

Some Thoughts on the Skycultures in Stellarium traditional: emic description of a living skyculture. Most such skycultures have elements of several traditions. ethnographic: etic description gained from ethno­graphic fieldwork. historical: etic description created by historians based on old written documents or other material evidence. single: representations from singular atlases or the coherent works of a single author. This usually repre­ sents a snapshot of a traditional skyculture depicted in a single atlas. These skycultures may not be enhanced by names or objects not present in the original source. An example of such work is the “H.A. Rey” variant of the Western skyculture which is popular in the USA and depicts the classical constellations with newly-designed line sets that aim to provide discernible renditions of the figures. (While sometimes indeed the figures may look more convincing than stick figures shown elsewhere, Rey has ignored the Ptolemaic tradition in some places, see Fig.11.1) Only star names and names for constellations and parts thereof have been given, but no artwork which is not to be found in Rey’s books. In the future, it would be desirable to be able to develop skycultures from the classical atlases of Bayer (1603), Hevelius (1690), or the Coelum Stellatum Christianum of Julius Schiller (1627).

ac.at) is based on an international cooperation of the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft (A), Amt der Niederösterreichischen Landesregierung (A), University of Vienna (A), TU Wien (A), ZAMG−Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (A), 7reasons (A), RGZM Mainz−Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz (D), LWL−Federal state archaeology of Westphalia-Lippe (D), NIKU−Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage (N) and Vestfold fylkeskommune−Kulturarv (N). References Delporte, Eugène. 1930. Délimitation scientifique des constellations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Paolantonio, Santiago; García, Beatriz. 2019. “Uranometría Argentina and the constellation boundaries”. In: Sterken, C.; Hearnshaw, J.; Valls-Gabaud, D. (Eds.): Under One Sky: The IAU Centenary Symposium, Proceedings IAU Symposium 349: 505−509. Fuller, Robert Stevens, Anderson, M., Norris, R. and Trudgett, M. 2014. “The Emu Sky Knowledge of the Kamilaroi and Euahlayi Peoples”. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage 17(2): 171−79. Gullberg, S. R., D. W. Hamacher, A. Martin-Lopez, J. Mejuto, A. M. Munro and W. Orchiston, 2020. “A Cultural Comparison of the ‘Dark Constellations’ in the Milky Way”. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage 23 (2): 390–404.

Currently the development team adds the classification and decides about inclusion of contributions into the regular distribution available for download. A more formalized review by experts could require further refinement of the classification scheme which may help in selecting relevant, or even highlight the highest-quality, “scientifically approved” skycultures in future versions of Stellarium.

Pike, Kenneth Lee: 1967. Language in Relation to a Unified Theory of Structure of Human Behavior (= Janua Linguarum, Series Maior. Volume 24). 2nd edition. The Hague:Mouton.

11.6 Future work

Rappenglück, Michael A. 1999. Eine Himmels­karte aus der Eiszeit? Ein Beitrag zur urgeschichtlichen Himmelskunde und zur paläoastronomischen Methodik. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

Despite its large number of users and the fact that Stellarium is a community project, development is driven mostly by the personal ambition and spare time of devel­opers and a few external contributors. The pace and temporary focus of development within the wide field of applications (from observing assistance to teaching and outreach installations) therefore cannot be easily anticipated. Researchers of many disciplines, in this context obviously also ethnologists, historians, linguists and artists, are more than welcome to engage and contribute to the software and raise the quality of the program and displayed data for the benefit of all users.

Stellarium Website. https://stellarium.org. 2019. Accessed: 2019, 12−30. Zotti, Georg; Wolf, Alexander (Eds.): Stellarium 0.19.3 User Guide. URL https://stellarium.org, December 2019.

Acknowledgements We are grateful to the reviewers for pointing out a few shortcomings, ambiguities and points for clarification. The first author’s work on Stellarium is partially supported by the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology. The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology (archpro.lbg. 85

12 Virtual Archaeoastronomy with Stellarium: An Overview Georg Zotti Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology, Vienna Abstract: Computer simulation can help to make seemingly complicated processes more accessible to non-experts. The free Stellarium desktop planetarium can be used to simulate the past sky over past landscapes, in a quality suitable for both research and outreach. Keywords: archaeoastronomy, 3D modelling, virtual archaeology, astronomical simulation. 12.1 Introduction

cities from antiquity can be reconstructed on the screen. The terrain can be surveyed with airborne laser scanning (LiDAR), from which digital surface models (DSM) and digital terrain models (DTM) can be computed. For the latter, vegetation and built structures has been filtered away. The use of “game engines”, software frameworks for 3D computer game technology, allows the creation of lively scenes enriched with sounds, animated objects, or virtual characters in virtual environments that can be explored interactively. To keep the displayed reconstruction in line with scientific knowledge and clearly separate scientific knowledge from hypothetical reconstruction (which may also include reconstruction variants for discussion), standards like the London Charter (Denard 2009) and Seville Principles for Virtual Archaeology (Carrillo et al 2013) have been specified.

Archaeoastronomy combines skills of both archaeologists and astronomers, researchers looking mostly on and into the ground for material evidence of past human cultures vs. those observing and studying celestial phenomena and, more recently, the underlying physics. One important field in archaeoastronomy deals with the orientation of architecture, like temple axes or building entrances, towards particular phenomena observed in the past skies, like solstitial sunrises or sunsets, extreme points in the path of the Moon, or rising and setting points of particular bright stars. This paper gives an overview about how computer software which has been introduced into both the archaeology and astronomy domains can be used for the purpose of archaeoastronomical research.

Most architectural reconstructions of the past are shown under a daylight sky. Rendering can be controlled with a sun-like light that can be set to an arbitrary location in the sky. When the model’s geographic location is known to the rendering system, a sky module may be able to compute the sun’s position from a calendar interface. This is good for contemporary architectural simulation, to analyse the impact of a building shadow onto its vicinity, but is frequently limited to dates close to the present time. For some archaeoastronomical details like a shadow simulation for solstitial sunrise in antiquity, those systems are not usable because of the slight variation of the obliquity of Earth’s axis. In antiquity, the obliquity was a bit larger than today, which resulted in a slightly larger range of solar morning or evening latitudes, the deviations of the rising or setting points from due east or west, respectively. A simulation of the night sky of today over an antique or prehistoric monument would show even worse problems because of the precessional motion of Earth’s axis, which results in an apparent shift of all stars parallel to the annual path of the sun. Over centuries, this shift leads to a change of seasonal observability of stars and also to a drift of their rising and setting points. A complete cycle of motion takes almost 26.000 years, so that a simulation of the sky only

12.2 A Software Gap In the past decades both disciplines have created or adopted particular software tools and workflows with strengths and weaknesses when it comes to their applic­ ation into the field of archaeoastronomy, which are laid out in this section. 12.2.1 Archaeology Many Archaeologists are using CAD (Computer-Aided Design) or GIS (Geographical Information System) software to document their finds. Surveyed points measured in the field can be plotted in a two- or three-dimensional plan, and outlines of features identified during excavation or even in images created from geophysical prospection can be drawn into maps. A geodatabase can help in recording and analysis of the identified features. Simple 3D models of past architecture can be created as visualization aid just from vertically extruded feature polygons. With more advanced virtual reconstructions, nowadays created usually in a team including 3D artists and architects, whole 87

Georg Zotti a few centuries before the present times requires taking it into consideration. Unfortunately, most architectural simulation systems or game engines have no built-in support for the night sky of past times, or simply show a static “skybox” with the starry night sky.

programs, the landscape horizon of the observing place can be added in form of a panorama photo for increased realism, which can be exploited for archaeo­astronomical studies by taking a carefully calibrated horizon photo­graph from a particular observing spot which may include a view along one particular building axis or other important view direction.

12.2.2 Astronomy Most professional astronomers of today are working in astrophysics, often concentrating on the observation of single objects, and the recording and analysis of light curves and spectra of those objects. Such observation is done with large computer-controlled telescopes inside the dome of a professional observatory, where the telescope looks through a (typically) narrow gap in the moving dome. An operator, standing next to the telescope in previous decades, and nowadays sitting in a separate control room, does often not see much of the night sky, so this kind of work can almost be described as indoor activity (apart from dependence on cloud cover). More than a century ago, visual observation has been superseded by chemical photo­ graphy, which later was enriched by electronic photo­ multipliers and, also decades ago, replaced by electronic imaging with CCD and CMOS detectors. Data analysis can be performed mostly during office hours, indoors on computer screens, and persons at the telescope are nowadays even regarded as disturbing factors due to exhaled air and other causes of atmospheric turbulences. A “pure”, professional astrophysicist there­ fore often doesn’t even know the night sky, and apart from observation planning doesn’t need software that shows a simulated total view of the sky.

In principle, when the computational models are of sufficient quality, such a program allows the simulation of the sky for any place and date in human history. Many programs are using the VSOP87 solution for positioning the planets (Bretagnon and Francou, 1988), an analytical model that approximates results of a numerical integration which accurately yields the planets’ positions for historic­al work in the years 4000BC…8000AD, and with decreas­ ing accuracy for some time beyond those limits. Other programs may display results from numerical simulations which are strictly limited to some time interval, or simplified algorithms which can be used over much shorter intervals only. The range of settable dates is sometimes limited to dates after 4713BC. This indicates that internally only positive Julian Day numbers (JD) are used for time­keeping, a simple day count (with fractions that give time within the day) starting in 4713BC that avoids the complicated handling of years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds, intercalations etc, but with conversions to conventional calendar dates better known to the user. By convention, dates from October 15, 1582 onwards are given in the Gregorian calendar, while earlier dates are given in a proleptic Julian calendar with the simple 4-year leap year rule that was applied correctly only after the calendar reform of Augustus. The simul­ation of actually given historical dates before 8AD therefore should be treated with much care. What may count worse though is the use of the Julian calendar for much earlier times, like the Bronze Age or Neolithic. Here the unexperienced user may want to simulate a “summer solstice sunrise” scene and simply set a date of “June 21st” known for our times. The program will correctly simulate sunrise for this date as given in the Julian calendar, but this will deviate by many days from the actually intended date of summer solstice. Just as Pope Gregory XIII had to decree the omission of 10 days to compensate for too many leap days that had been observed between the 4th and 16th centuries to bring the calendar back in sync with the canonical spring equinox of March 21st, a similar calendar error builds up when we turn back the time control. For example, in 2000BC summer solstice date would have to be given as “July 11th”. For such early dates we could work with seasonal terminology that refers to the actual position of the sun in the sky, or with a proleptic Gregorian calendar that better keeps the well-known key dates to the equinoxes and solstices, but the use of the Julian calendar is generally accepted for historical chronology. One other important detail for dates is the inclusion or exclusion of a year “zero”. Historical chronology prefers to call the year before 1AD “1BC”, while astronomers count a year 0 (=1BC) and therefore 2BC (hist.) = ‑1 (astr.), 3BC (hist.) = ‑2 (astr.), etc. The display of negative years in simulation programs is not

Classical astronomy, the study of the appearance of the sky, is nowadays usually the domain of astronomical outreach institutions like planetaria, public observatories, or amateur astronomers who like to observe and experi­ ence the night sky with their own eyes, optionally aided by telescopes. This kind of observation is usually (apart from working semi-professionally in private obser­vatory buildings) an outdoor activity where the observer experi­ ences the nightly all-sky view in the open field while operating (at best) small, portable telescopes. In recent years, also these instruments have been augmented with computer control for location and tracking of objects, and some of today’s amateurs can now create photographs that regularly surpass the best professional results achieved with much larger instruments only a few decades ago. For observation planning and during observation, computer desktop planetarium programs have largely superseded the classical cardboard planisphere (a rotating combination of disks with a star map and a horizon mask that reveals which part of the sky is above the horizon at a particular date/time combination), and often also the classical printed sky atlas. Such programs allow setting observing location, time and date and return a graphical represent­ ation of the night sky in varying degrees of sophistication. The computer interface allows identifying the simulated objects displayed on-screen which match those visible in the sky and shows important additional data. In some 88

Virtual Archaeoastronomy with Stellarium standardized and may either mean astronomical (negative) years, or actually display years BC as negative numbers.

services which can deliver such data based on SRTM3” (~90m) or even SRTM1” (~30m) digital surface models. One example is HeyWhatsThat (Kosowsky 2014) which provides also a possibility to identify the names of the mountain peaks surrounding a site. Another web service attempts to simplify its results (Doyle 2019) and can directly output a polygonal landscape for Stellarium. Such a polygon provides information which parts of the sky are covered by some terrestrial feature, but it does not reveal the distance to, or details in the appearance of the horizon.

12.3 Bridging the Gap In the last few years the author has been member of the development team of the Stellarium open-source desktop planetarium (Stellarium 2019) and extended it with unique features geared towards archaeoastronomical applications. Stellarium can be enhanced with optional extension modules called plugins. One of these plugins, ArchaeoLines, shows the diurnal tracks, or more accurately, the declinations of the Sun on the dates most pointed out as important for archaeoastronomy: the Sun’s paths at the solstices, equinoxes, and the “cross-quarter” dates right between those. These dates exist as alternative season markers still in our calendar: If we re-define the seasons to not begin with equinoxes and solstices, but be centred on those key dates, spring begins on Candlemas (February 2nd), summer begins on Mayday, or winter with All-Saints day. A line in the sky indicating the path of the sun on those dates can simplify the process of finding a correlation of architecture axes and sunrise or sunset points in the horizon. In a similar way, the Moon provides extreme points of its orbit, the declinations of Major and Minor standstill. These are the outermost and innermost turning points of the monthly declination swing of the moon. The moon reaches these outermost declinations, and rising or setting points that represent the intersection of declination arc with the visible horizon, only every 18.6 years, while it passes the declination of the innermost turning points basically every month. The plugin can show current declinations also for a planet, any selected object, or arbitrary declinations. To mark the direction towards a geographical target like a sacred place, the azimuth, or vertical arc into the direction of that place, can also be displayed.

Another option to create an artificial landscape horizon has been presented by Andrew Smith (Smith 2020). His program ‘Horizon’ can compute a landscape panorama from SRTM and other DSM raster formats, and optionally augment it with the diurnal tracks also found in the ArchaeoLines plugin mentioned above. Its internal viewer reveals the distance to a location under the mouse pointer. It can also export a landscape package for Stellarium. The artificial rendering can also be configured to give clues on elevation and distance. Yet another option is provided by a workflow that creates artificial panoramas from ground views in Google Earth (Zotti 2013). While these methods in general provide good background inform­ation for a distant horizon, in the near surroundings of our site of interest these SRTM-based DSMs are not accurate enough to repre­sent possibly crucial detail. A panorama photograph taken on the spot of interest and carefully aligned with a surveyed horizon polygon, or at least adjusted to match the distant parts of an artificial panorama, usually provides higher detail and should reveal which parts of the scene appear to be important, at least when the archaeological monument in question is still at least in parts visible. The inclusion of horizon panoramas in celestial simulation software is a valid approach to analyse the sky as seen from a few predefined viewpoints like temple corners, courtyard centres, main axes, corridors, entrances or similar well-defined spots. We may identify or confirm, or disprove, presupposed assumptions. But it is not easy to investigate further and ask questions like “What happens to visibility a few steps away from that spot?” For this, we need at least three-dimensional virtual mobility.

12.3.1 The Landscape Horizon Computing rising and setting points of celestial objects along the mathematical horizon is not difficult, but rather pointless when we are investigating a site which is not overviewing a flat seashore horizon. On the northern hemisphere, every hill or mountain visible along the horizon will shift the rising or setting azimuth of any celestial object towards the south. An archaeoastronomical site survey must therefore crucially take care to record the horizon altitudes into the relevant view directions. Stellarium can show horizon polygonal lines derived from such measurements, or display horizon images which optimally have been recorded on the spot of interest and carefully assembled into panorama photographs.

12.3.2 Four-dimensional Virtual Archaeoastronomy The most ambitious improvement towards developing modern tools useful for virtual archaeoastronomy was the addition of a 3D rendering plugin, Scenery3D (Zotti 2015), which allows interactive walkthroughs of virtual landscapes. Meanwhile the model rendering module was even made time-aware (Zotti et al., 2018), so that georeferenced and time-annotated (phased) site reconstructions can be combined with the simulated skies of past millennia. The simulation always shows the

A fairly new kind of investigation, especially for preliminary work, may be performed before actual site visits, based on digital data only. A horizon polygon that defines the visual border between sky and ground can be created with GIS software. There are even dedicated web 89

Georg Zotti 12.4 Limitations

astronomically correct sky over the reconstruction of a site at the selected date, and can also simulate shadows cast by the Sun, the Moon or even the planet Venus. Rendering of model parts that do not fit the current date is suppressed. The user can walk around in the virtual scene in first-person perspective with a settable eye height above ground. In the first-person perspective, building axes, the effects of light and shadow governed by windows, or natural caves can be simulated in com­bin­ation of what the sky would have looked like to the builders and users of the original sites in question, views that cannot be experienced today even under the most pristine skies because the stars have shifted by the precession of Earth’s axis mentioned above.

Every simulation result is limited in its accuracy by the restrictions of the computing model. In Stellarium, the orientation of Earth’s axis follows the model currently recommended for archaeoastronomy (Vondrák et al., 2011/12). The range of available dates for planetary positions has been widened to the year range ‑13,000…+17,000 by accessing the JPL DE431 ephem­ eris (Folkner et al., 2014). However, the slow and irregular deceleration of rotation speed of Earth’s axis is known only from solar eclipse records that date back to the first millennium BC, so that a simulation of solar eclipses, and any results that are based on a “virtual observation” of a solar eclipse from a particular spot at some much earlier date should be regarded with much caution. This is not a problem for Stellarium in particular, but for all known simulations. Stellarium as of version 0.19.3 (December 2019) still has minor positional accuracy issues presumably by not correcting for the aberration of light which causes a few minutes of error when finding the times of season beginnings, and with the orientation of rotation axes of the planetary objects, mostly noticeable with the Moon which wrongly shows parts of its back in ancient times. A better way to correct for stellar proper motions should also be worked out when the star catalogue will undergo revision with data from the pending final version of the GAIA satellite observatory astrometry mission.

While simple models, just made for the purpose of scientific inquiry, may be enough for scientific analysis, the rendering quality is also sufficient for higher quality architectural models geared towards public outreach. Small details in larger sculpted surfaces like walls decorated with inscriptions can be shown with normal maps, which can save computing operations. An average contemporaneous notebook PC (Intel Core i7−6700HQ, NVidia GeForce 960M) can work with landscape models or models gained from laser scanning or image-based modelling with several millions of triangles (Figure 12.1).

The considerable size allowed for the OBJ 3D models in Stellarium invites the creation of larger terrain models based on aerial laser scanning (LiDAR). A researcher may be tempted to create a triangle mesh from the complete viewshed (the extent of landscape visible) of an archaeo­ logical site, which may encompass landscapes spanning tens of kilometres or more. However, the 3D model currently uses a flat (tangent plane) approximation of Earth’s surface with survey raster (e.g. UTM) coordinates in a Cartesian grid, which means that the effects of Earth curvature currently cannot be simulated. Therefore, the recommended approach is to use a site of limited extent locally modelled in 3D and enclosed by a classical horizon panorama that should provide a representation of mountains far enough away so that their location does not shift perceivably when the observer just moves inside the limited area of the site in question. Another limitation of the 3D rendering module when compared to the typical user experience in today’s firstperson perspective 3D computer games is the static scene and lack of interaction possibilities with scene objects. The 3D plugin was developed strictly for the purpose of representing architectural and geological features. In a computer game, plants may move in the wind, animals or virtual characters controlled by algorithms or other simulation participants may move around, and the user may interact with mobile scene parts. This can be useful for example to demonstrate the operation of historical astronomical observation instruments. Such scenes call for the use of a game engine, a software toolkit which provides the building blocks required in modern computer games. A simple sky simulation that includes a moving Sun and

Figure 12.1. Stellarium simulation of summer solstice sunrise in a 3D reconstruction of late Neolithic Stonehenge in an uncommon perspective. Stellarium is able to produce wideangle views like this top-down stereographic fisheye view known to photographers as “little planet” perspective. North is at top. The ArchaeoLines plugin provides diurnal track lines for the sun at equinoxes (celestial equator, blue) and solstices (red). The intersection of the summer solstice curve with the landscape horizon (upper right) marks the point of summer solstice sunrise in the monument’s main axis. The model is based on an image-based model created by Geert Verhoeven (LBI ArchPro) and completed by LBI ArchPro’s media partner 7reasons. Screenshot created with Stellarium 0.19.3.

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Virtual Archaeoastronomy with Stellarium References Bretagnon, P. and G. Francou. 1988. “Planetary theories in rectangular and spherical variables − VSOP 87 solutions”. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 202: 309−315. Carrillo Gea, J. M., Toval, A., Fernández Alemán, J. L., Nicolás, J., & Flores, M. 2013. “The London Charter and the Seville Principles as sources of requirements for e-archaeology systems development purposes”. Virtual Archaeology Review, 4(9): 205−211. https:// doi.org/10.4995/var.2013.4275. Denard, Hugh. 2009. “The London Charter for the Computer-Based Visualisation of Cultural Heritage”. http://www.londoncharter.org/fileadmin/templates/ main/docs/london_charter_2_1_en.pdf Accessed December 2019.

Figure 12.2. A virtual environment which allows understanding and operating historical astronomical observing instruments. The sky background and solar position for the Unity-based application is provided by Stellarium.

Doyle, Brian. 2020. horiZONE online service. Accessed January 2020. https://briandoylegit.github.io/horiZONE/.

stellar sphere can be created with moderate effort (Zotti 2014). More recently, also a combination of a simulation environment using the Unity game engine for the user interaction with Stellarium as sky rendering engine which also provides the astronomically correct positions for shadow-casting light sources has been presented (Zotti 2021). Depending on the final purpose of the game-like application, such a combination can spare the high effort required for the development of an astronomically accurate sky simulator module for the game-like environment (Figure 12.2).

Folkner, W. M., Williams, J. G., Boggs, D. H., Park, R. S., & Kuchynka, P. 2014. “The Planetary and Lunar Ephemerides DE430 and DE431”. Retrieved from https:// ipnpr.jpl.nasa.gov/progress_report/42−196/196C.pdf. Kosowsky, Michael. 2014. HeyWhatsThat online service. https://www.heywhatsthat.com Accessed January 2020. Smith, Andrew. Horizon 0.13b GIS tool (2020). http:// agksmith.net/horizon/default.html Accessed January 2020.

12.5 Discussion and Future Work

Stellarium Website. https://stellarium.org. 2019. Accessed December 2019.

Like with every tool, users should be aware that results derived with Stellarium are based on physically based models that have their limitations. A good understanding of the calendar, or rather of the independence of seasons’ beginnings from named dates in the Julian calendar, is important to operate this and similar programs in prehistory. Stellarium as simulation engine offers a great wealth of applications for research in cultural astronomy. Its opensource nature invites researchers to improve existing code and add new functionalities as required. Development is usually driven by the personal needs and ambitions of the developers. Suggestions are usually welcome, but not every suggestion will be quickly implemented. Funded project collaboration, contributions in code or just point­ers to better simulation models would be appreciated.

Vondrák, J., Capitaine, N., & Wallace, P. 2011. “New precession expressions, valid for long time intervals”. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 534(22), 1−19. https:// doi.org/10.1051/0004−6361/201117274. Vondrák, J., Capitaine, N., & Wallace, P. 2012. “New precession expressions, valid for long time intervals (Corrigendum)”. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 541(1). https://doi.org/10.1051/0004−6361/201117274e. Zotti, Georg. 2020. “Make Stellarium panoramas from Google Earth” (2013). https://homepage.univie.ac.at/ Georg.Zotti/php/panoCam.php Accessed January 2020. Zotti, Georg. 2014. “Towards Serious Gaming for Archaeoastronomical Simulation”. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 14(3):271−281.

Acknowledgements

Zotti, Georg. 2016. “Open-Source Virtual Archaeoastronomy”. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 16 (4), (2016), 17−23.

The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology (archpro.lbg. ac.at) is based on an international cooperation of the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft (A), Amt der Niederösterreichischen Landesregierung (A), University of Vienna (A), TU Wien (A), ZAMG−Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (A), 7reasons (A), LWL−Federal state archaeology of Westphalia-Lippe (D), NIKU−Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage (N) and Vestfold fylkeskommune−Kulturarv (N).

Zotti, Georg. 2021. “A Virtual Park of Astronomical Instruments”. In Sonja Draxler, Max E. Lippitsch, and Gudrun Wolfschmidt, editors, Harmony and Symmetry (Proc. SEAC2018), volume 1 of SEAC Publications, chapter 10.1, pages 420–429. Hamburg: redition. Zotti, Georg; Wolf, Alexander (Eds.): Stellarium 0.19.3 User Guide. URL https://stellarium.org, December 2019. 91

Part 3 The Archaeology of Astronomy: Concepts of Space and Time Materialised in Cultures Part editors: Ivan Šprajc, and Juan A. Belmonte While markedly interdisciplinary, archaeoastronomy can thus be considered a constituent part of the archaeological pursuit. Relying on both written and unwritten evidence, including spatial distribution of archaeological vestiges, it explores all cultural manifestations related to the observation of the sky, as well as their role in subsistence strategies, architectural and urban planning, religion and ritual, and political ideology. Although frequently focused on astronomical referents of architectural orientations and other alignments embedded in ancient cultural landscapes, archaeoastronomy also seeks to understand the underlying motives within the broader context of landscape archaeology. By presenting a number of case studies, which should exemplify the problems addressed and the procedures employed to solve them, this part is intended to illustrate the potential of archaeoastronomy, its relevance to archaeology and the place it deserves within a broader framework of anthropological disciplines.

The sky provides basic references for orientation in space and time. The observation of celestial regularities resulted in useful, practical knowledge that became particularly important with the origin of agriculture and the increasing need for scheduling seasonal activities. On the other hand, the order observed in the sky, apparently perfect and divine, gave rise to a variety of ideas that explain the role of heavenly bodies in the cosmic order and their influence on earthly affairs. In any social group, the exact concepts and those defined in terms of our current knowledge as “non-scientific” are intertwined and integrated in a relatively coherent worldview, which can be properly understood only if examined as a whole and in the light of the specific natural, social and historical context. Characterized by this holistic approach, archaeoastronomy attempts to reconstruct and understand astronomically-derived concepts and related practices in societies typically studied by archaeology.

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13 Pisces, a Zodiac Sign Engraved on a Nabataean Tomb Façade in Hegra Munirah Almushawh Royal Commission for AlUla Abstract: Hegra is a principal city of the Nabataean Kingdom, which controlled much of the incense trade between southern Arabia and the Mediterranean world between the 1st century BCE and 106 CE. The site is located in the northwestern part of Saudi Arabia and was the country’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. Despite its remarkable historical importance, relatively few archaeological investigations were made in the area until the 21st century. Now, as Saudi Arabia increasingly opens its doors to the world, archaeologists are carrying out intensive in-depth surveys and excavations in the area. The purpose of this study is to identify new ways to interpret findings in Hegra in the light of cultural astronomy. This is achived by direct visual observation of the site and multi-source data analysis. This paper sheds light on a very interesting petroglyph of two fish engraved near tomb IGN 17, a Nabataean monumental tomb cut into an outcrop, with a funerary inscription, dating it to the month of Nisan. Although, it is unusual to find animals with sea nature in the desert, the two fish were commonly used by the Nabataeans to symbolize the constellation of Pisces in the Nabataean Zodiac. Findings indicate that astral symbolism is present in Hegra. Analysis of epigraphic records in foundation inscriptions demonstrate a relation between the large size distinctive tombs and probable referral to Nisan, illustrating the importance of this month in the Nabataean calendar and demonstrating the significant role the sky played in their culture. Keywords: AlUla, Hegra, Nabataean Kingdom, Zodiac, Pisces. 13. 1 Introduction

94 of which are decorated. There are 35 tomb facades inscribed, in total, 31 of which are dated, and their time of construction ranges between 1 BCE and 75 CE. Excavations have showed that some tombs still contain remains of Nabataean burials. Excavation of tomb IGN 117 alone exhumed eighty individuals (Bouchaud et al. 2015:31). The tombs also consisted of other archaeological remains, such as leather, textiles, pottery wood, glass etc.

The ancient city of Hegra, a settlement of the Nabataeans, thrived in antiquity by controlling the profitable trade routes and prospering greatly from it. The site is located in AlUla Valley, an ancient crossroads that attracted traders, nomads and other travellers for thousands of years. The area is rich in remarkable archaeological treasures from the prehistoric period to the Dadanite/Lihyanite, Nabataean, Roman and Islamic civilizations.

Inscriptions on the facades reveal social, economic and religious characteristics of Nabataean society. They reflect strong bonds between family members and the power and richness of Nabataean women, who bought or commissioned their own tombs and shared them with their daughters, sisters and other chosen family members. Inscriptions in the site are rich in terminology reflecting the Nabataean timing system, which reveals the importance of time and calendar in their culture; this will be discussed more thoroughly within the later sections.

The Nabataean Kingdom stretched south along the Red Sea coast into the Hiejaz and included parts of what is now called Saudi Arabia, Jordan, southern Palestine, southern Syria and northern Sinai of Egypt. Their major cities, Petra and Hegra, were located in strategic locations on the ancient trade routes, at the junction of convoy roads. Their locations helped them to continually develop and interact with the surrounding civilizations. After moving away from their nomadic lifestyle and settling in cities, Nabataeans established their own socio-economic dynamics, farming economy, unique architectural style and vast international connections.

They had a religion influenced by the power of nature. The religion of the bedouins in the desert commensurate with the nature of their lives, therefore they worshiped the sun, moon and planets. They believed that deities with cosmic characteristics could protect their land and commercial

Like its northern elder sister, Petra, Hegra has spectacular rock-cut tombs: more than 111 monumental tombs, 95

Munirah Almushawh remains in the light of cultural astronomy. Unfortunately, they are scarce in Hegra, although the archaeological material suitable for this type of study is available and of great value. But this will soon change, giving the fact that in the twenty-first century, Archaeoastronomy, which can be viewed as a set of methods and ideas relevant in studying concepts of space, time, calendars and cosmologies, is starting to be considered one of the “key concepts” in the growth and progress of archaeological thinking and method (Renfrew & Bahn 2013:9.).

trade in long journeys. According to Muhammad Alkhatatbah, the Nabataeans mainly worshiped the sun, they held special rituals and ceremonies for it on the roof of their houses and they poured incense for the sake of pleasing this heavenly deity (Al-khatatba 2006:57) The sky has always been associated with the relationship between man and his Creator, man by nature considers the heavens as source of life, comfort, security, and at the end a home for eternal life. For the Nabataeans, the sky was also an essential tool serving both land and sea navigation which was essential for their trade. They recorded and interpreted important features of the sky. They also thought that actions of the divinities could be read in the stars, moon and planets, they dedicated much effort to keep track of time so they could organize their life, practice their religious matters and determine the accurate time for planting crops to manage their agriculture. One of the most interesting pieces of evidence for the advanced astronomical Nabataean knowledge is the so-called Zodiac of Khirbet et-Tannur (Jordan), found in a temple that was built at the mountain summit near Djebel Tannur.

13.2 Concepts of Space and Time Materialized in the Nabataean Civilization It has been argued in previous archaeological studies that various monuments, ritualistic constructions and ceremonial places of early civilizations were astronomically aligned (Ruggles & Urton 2010). Numerous studies have emerged linking some archaeological sites and monuments to precise objects in the sky. many of which were logical, based on statistics and long-term observation (Ruggles 2005). In addition to the Nabataeans’ exceptional architectural skills, astronomical sophistication was evident in many aspects of their life. Regular celestial cycles were used to regulate ritualistic and daily life in their civilization. Deep knowledge of the cosmos was materialized in many artifacts and landscape in different Nabataean sites.

Scholars have investigated this interesting artefact and made many arguments about it, however one of the most interesting one is the idea of a Nabataean calendar centered in the cult of their deities and their ancestors in certain time-marks of special astronomical significance along the year (Belmonte et al. 2019a:125). This idea was based on a combined analysis of classical historiography, ethnographic sources, epigraphy and the archaeological record, interpreted at the light of cultural astronomy. In previous works of the team of Juan Belmonte and A. César GonzálezGarcía in Petra, the authors discussed the possibility that the Nabataeans had used the Equinox, or an astronomical event equivalent to this, as an important milestone to control the calendar, mark festivals and perform pilgrimages to important sacred sites. In 2019 they published an article along with other colleagues that presents evidence that this was indeed the case (Belmonte et al. 2019b: 1). According to their proposal, some of the principal astronomical milestones of this Nabataean calendar would have been: The New Year’s Eve on 1 Nisan, which could happen either before or after the Spring Equinox. The Full Moon after Spring Equinox (14 Nisan). The First Crescent after Spring Equinox (1 Nisan − New Year´s Eve − or 1 Iyyar. Otherwise; Belmonte et al. 2019a:125).These dates would have been moments for major celebrations and festivals in which some ritual practises in the Nabataean culture would have been performed.

In 2011 a statistical analysis of the orientation of Nabatean architecture was made in Petra for the purpose of accomplishing an archaeoastronomical analysis of Nabataean monuments (Belmonte et al. 2013:495). The aim was to form a statistical analysis of a group of important temples and also some sacred buildings, which could permit archaeological confirmation of assumed astronomical accomplishments done by the Nabataeans. Petra’s monuments have proven to be inspiring examples of the collaboration between landscape features and astronomical phenomena. The legendary Ad Deir site in Petra has revealed an attractive example of light and shadow effects. The inspiring Urn tomb also suggests some solstitial and equinoctial alignments. In the center of the site of Hegra, where the residential area lies mostly buried beneath the sands, is another example of a possible astronomical phenomena association. In the north-east part of the residential area stands a sanctuary known as IGN 132. Excavations in this part of the site took place from 2011 till 2013. Research and study of this area led by Laila Nehme (Nehmé 2015:77) indicate that the top of IGN 132 is characterised by the presence of a Nabataean sacred high place built at the end of the first century BCE. The central element of it is a tetrapylon, the imprints of it is visible in the paved floor. Nearby the top of the outcrop, close to its edge runs a single face wall. The entire setting of the installation is almost exactly orientated NorthSouth and a rectangular in situ ashlar was found fixed with mortar to the slabs in the middle of the southern side of the paved floor (Figure 13.1).

Belmonte, González−García and Polcaro (Belmonte 2013: 488) have also argued that many of the Nabataean most important buildings were constructed with some astronomical thought in mind. A statistical analysis of the orientation of their holy shrines in Petra revealed that astronomical orientations were apparently part of the cosmological nature of the Nabataean religion (Belmonte et al. 2013:490). Many studies have emerged that attempt to interpret the Nabataean

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Pisces, a Zodiac Sign Engraved on a Nabataean Tomb Façade in Hegra

Figure 13.1. Aerial photo of the Nabataean Sanctuary IGN 132, with an illustration of the main structure oriented North-South.

Nehme states “Because of this orientation, I suggested that the high place may have been devoted to the cult of the sun god, possibly Dûsharâ, thus illustrating Strabo’s statement (XVI.4.26) according to which the Nabataeans ‘worship the sun, building an altar on top of the house, and pouring libations on it daily and burning frankincense’ ” (77). This hypothesis was supported by the discovery of a stone incense burner along with a bronze six-compartment casket in which incense may have been kept. Also, a small bronze eagle figurine and ashy layers and a lot of crushed Nabataean fine ware indicate that religious rituals, including burning incense and offering objects, were possibly performed on the summit of this outcrop. This argument was concluded by declaring that IGN 132 was a sanctuary probably devoted to a Nabataean god and the almost exact orientation to the south suggests that it may have had a solar character.

Figure 13.2. Nabataean Zodiac. Adapted from: McKenzie JS, Costa KD, et al “Khirbet et-Tannur, zodiac Tyche (top: CAM 233; bottom: Department of Antiquities, Jordan).”, in The Nabataean Temple at Khirbet et-Tannur, Boston: American School of Oriental Research; Oxford: Manar al-Athar, 2013), Fig.357.

13.2.1 Nabataean artifacts featuring astronomical elements and time tracking tools • The statue of the 12 horoscopes resembling the Nabataean Zodiac found in a temple built at the mountain summit in Khirbet et-Tannur (Jebel Tannur, Jordan). The Zodiac ring frames the Tyche bust, the goddess of good fortune with a crescent moon behind her on the right. It was broken into three pieces, two of which had survived. The lower one, with the Nike, did not come to light until after the excavation, in 1950 (McKenzie et al. 2013). The Zodiac illustrates Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, Sagittarius, Scorpio, Libra, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, and Virgo (Figure 13.2). • The unique Nabataean lamp with a ring of Zodiac signs recovered at the Temple of the Winged Lions (Petra, Jordan − the Nabataean capital). It displays the signs of the Zodiac running clockwise (Figure 13.3).

Figure 13.3. Zodiac lamp. Adapted from: McKenzie JS, Costa KD, et al “Petra, zodiac lamp, from complex adjoining the Temple of the Winged Lions” in The Nabataean Temple at Khirbet et-Tannur, Boston: American School of Oriental Research; Oxford: Manar al-Athar, 2013), Fig. 371.

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Munirah Almushawh

Figure 13.5. Illustration of Pisces engraved on the side of tomb IGN 17 in Hegra. After background Image © Maxar Technologies © Google. Figure 13.4. Goddess with fish headdress. Adapted from: McKenzie JS, Costa KD, et al “Fish Goddess, Altar Platform 3.” in The Nabataean Temple at Khirbet et-Tannur, Boston: American School of Oriental Research; Oxford: Manar al-Athar, 2013), Fig. 71.

the constellation of Pisces in the Nabataean Zodiac was an applicable selection. Engraved near tomb IGN 17, a Nabataean monumental tomb cut into an outcrop, with a funerary inscription, above the entrance, dating it to the month of Nisan in the era of the Nabataean king AlHarithah “Aretas IV” who ruled in the period between 9 BCE − 40 CE. (Figure 13.5)

• Water clocks and sundials e.g. the impressive sundial found at Hegra. Made of sandstone and carved carefully, demonstrating the accuracy of the manufacturer. In the lower part of the sundial there is a base with a Nabataean inscription. Epigraphers indicate that the text is apparently a name, perhaps referring to the name of the sculptor who carved it or the astronomer who engraved the details and measurements on it to track the shadow of the sun (Jaussen 1907). It is composed of a bowl-shaped surface with eleven straight lines dividing it into twelve equal parts. Near the upper edge of it, there is a hole where a stick was placed in order to create shadow effects that drop on the surface of the sundial to track time. • Goddess with fish headdress found at Khirbet et-Tannur, Jordan. After Nelson Glueck unearthed the statue, he identified her as Atargatis wearing a headdress of dolphins. Later Judith McKenzie revised Glueck’s hypothesis and said it was accepted until the discovery of busts of personifications of the zodiac at Khirbet edh Dharih which revealed that the Fish Goddess represented personification of the Zodiac sign Pisces (McKenzie JS et al. 2013:200; Figure 13.4).

This engraving was found along with two other symbols, a snake and an eagle (fig. 13.6). Both could also be examples of astral symbolism. The serpent, or snake, is one of the oldest and most widespread mythological symbols in ancient art. It was used frequently to decorate many Nabataean monuments. It might have resulted from Egyptian influences. Apophis (Egyptian Apep) is portrayed as a serpent and was the great adversary of the sun god “Re”. For Egyptians there was no god higher than the sun god (Kahl 2007:1). Another important symbol associated with the worship of the sun in Hegra is the eagle. Despite the striking similarity between the architecture and decorations of the tombs in Petra and Hegra, the eagle symbol doesn’t appear in Petra as frequently as it does on the tombs at Hegra. It perhaps

Recognizing the important role the sky played in forming the characteristics of Nabataean civilization, more investigation from this perspective was essential to understand more about the relationship between the Nabataeans and the cosmos. This, along with another goal to identify new ways to interpret findings in Hegra was the objective of this research. 13.3 Results and Analysis By direct visual observation of Hegra, with the intention of highlighting astronomical implications in the site, a very interesting petroglyph of two fish that generally symbolize

Figure 13.6. Engravings of the fish, eagle and snake on the side of tomb IGN 17 (Photo credit, Ahmad AlAbodi).

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Pisces, a Zodiac Sign Engraved on a Nabataean Tomb Façade in Hegra

Figure 13.8. Months mentioned in foundation inscriptions in Hegra.

Figure 13.7. Overall view of tomb IGN17.

represents the sun and at the same time was considered to be the beloved bird of Jupiter and Zeus in other cultures. As for the Nabataeans the eagle presumably become a part of Dushara’s symbols and according to that it was addressed as embodying solar aspects (Jaussen 1907).

Figure 13.9. Tombs dated to Nisan falling under top 20 largest tombs in Hegra.

of this month in foundation inscriptions indicates that this month hence had a special character within the Nabatean calendar; they possibly preferred to celebrate the establishment of their tombs in this particular month. The following (figure 13.8) illustrates the months mentioned in foundation inscriptions in Hegra. Note the frequent use of Nisan compared to other months.

The foundation inscription of the tomb dates it to the month of Nisan. The Nabataean Zodiac has been interpreted as the civil year beginning with the month Nisan represented by Pisces” (Glueck 1965). This strongly suggests that this engraving is symbol of the Zodiacal sign. Analysis of the epigraphic data indicates the importance of Nisan in Nabataean culture. Tombs dated to Nisan are among the top 20 largest, most decorated tombs in Hegra. In fact, the largest “dated” tomb in Hegra is IGN 17 on which the petroglyph is located. This is the case even without calculating the lower cliff face extending from the ground to the entrance platform (Figure 13.7), which will increase the overall height of the tomb if it is calculated.

The importance of this month was also demonstrated, as previously mentioned, by the association of foundation inscriptions dated to Nisan to some of the largest decorated tombs in Hegra, in fact tombs dated to Nisan fall under top 20 largest tombs in Hegra. The following (figure 13.9) is a demonstration of the analysis:

There are eight tombs dated to Nisan at the site of Hegra, all eight are built in the era of Aretas IV. According to Juan Belmonte, A. César González-García, and Andrea Rodriguez-Antón some of the astronomical milestones of the Nabataean calendar would have been: The New Year’s Eve on 1 Nisan, which could happen either before or after the Spring Equinox; the full moon after Spring Equinox (14 Nisan); the first Crescent after Spring Equinox (1 Nisan − New Year´s Eve − or 1 Iyyar otherwise; Belmonte et al. 2019a:125). The frequent mentioning

Emphasis of astral and cosmic connotations in the monumental tombs in Hegra is remarkable. This study highlighted a few of the artistic symbols originating from heavenly objects in the sky. It shed some light on decoration of cosmic divine nature, whether resulting from their own civilization, or inspired from neighbouring civilizations. Traces of astral symbolism originating from their Zodiac like the probable engraving of Pisces on IGN 17, indicates that the symbolism present in Hegra is not only based on artistic elements, but also on astronomical knowledge and

13.4 Discussion

99

Munirah Almushawh ability to record time and track the cycles of the sky. The fact that the Nabataean Zodiac was interpreted as the civil year beginning with the month Nisan” represented by Pisces” is evidence that this engraving is referring to the symbol of the Zodiac sign.

century B.C -2nd century AD]. Riyadh: king Fahad National Library. Belmonte, Juan, González-García, A. César and Andrea Rodriguez-Antón. 2019. “Arabia Adquisita: The Romanization of the Nabataean Cultic Calendar and the Tannur ‘Zodiac’ Paradigm. In Archaeoastronomy in the Roman World, edited by Magli, Giulio, Belmonte, Juan, César González-García. Springer, Heidelberg: 123−144.

The relationship between Pisces and the month of Nisan is more evident now that it can be associated with a tomb that has a foundation inscription referring to the exact month. The importance of this month for the Nabataeans is illustrated by: first, the significant number of times it was referred to in the foundation inscriptions; second, the clear relation between the large size distinctive tombs and probable referral to Nisan in foundation inscriptions; IGN 17 is an example.

Belmonte, Juan, A. César González-García, Andrea Rodríguez-Antón, and María Antonia Perera Betancor. 2020. “Equinox in Petra: Land-and Skyscape in the Nabataean Capital.” Nexus Network Journal 22: 369−391. Belmonte, Juan, A. César, González-García, Andrea, Polcaro. 2013. “Light and Shadows over Petra: astronomy and landscape in Nabataean lands,” Nexus Network Journal 15 (3): 487−501.

One of the main reasons for Nabataea’s wealth, prosperity and independence, which lasted for hundreds of years, much longer than other Near Eastern kingdoms in Arabia, was their capability to mix and mingle with foreign neighbours, while still keeping their own cultural uniqueness reflected in their architecture. Their successful experiences in maintaining their independence and preserving their identity is defiantly impressive. The majority of scholars have been documenting and studying the distinguished monumental architecture of the Nabataeans, underrating the small details absent in the presence of the enormous architecture. Now that archaeological studies are targeting hidden details from a multidisciplinary perspective, it became more evident that the Nabataean structural designs and architecture is concealing further evidence of their intelligent sophistication. Therefore, we are not only dealing with a group of architectural artists using a high sense of beauty and strength, but also people of high astronomical knowledge with the ability to master and innovate in most interests of life.

Bouchaud, Charlène, Isabelle, Sachet, Patricia, Dal Prà, Nathalie, Delhopital, Rozenn, Douaud, and Martine Leguilloux. 2015. “New discoveries in a Nabataean tomb. Burial practices and ‘plant jewellery’in ancient Hegra (Madâ’in Sâlih, Saudi Arabia).”Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 26, no. 1: 28–42. Erman, Adolf. 2011. A handbook of Egyptian religion. BoD−Books on Demand. Glueck, Nelson. 1965. The story of the Nabataeans: deities and dolphins. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Jaussen, Antonin, Savignac, Raphaël. 2003. Mission Archeologique En Arabie (Mars-Mai 1907), Translated by Saba Farès. Riyadh: Darat al-Malik `Abd al-`Aziz. Kahl, Jochem. 2007. “Ra is my Lord”: searching for the rise of the Sun God at the dawn of Egyptian history. Vol. 1. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag.

Acknowledgements

McKenzie, Judith, Joseph Greene, and Andres T. Reyes et al. 2013. The Nabataean temple at Khirbet et-Tannur, Jordan final report on Nelson Glueck’s 1937 excavation. Boston: American School of Oriental Research.

I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the Royal Commission for AlUla for the support and assistance in attending the EAA Annual meeting in Bern, Switzerland 2019, in which this paper was presented. I also would like to express my very great appreciation to His Highness Prince Bader bin Farhan Al Saud the Governor of the Royal Commission for AlUla, and to Amr AlMadani the CEO for their leadership and vision. In addition, I wish to thank Dr Ali Almushawh, Norah Alswiliem, Dr Alaa Alshareeda, Dr Rebecca Foote, Saeed AlAhmari, Fouad AlAmer, Dr Ahmad AlAbodi, Dr Abdulrahman Alsuhibani and Dr Chris Tuttle for their support and help. Finally, I am grateful for the insightful comments offered by the peer reviewers at BAR publishing. The generosity and expertise of one and all have improved this manuscript in innumerable ways and saved me from many errors.

Nehmé, Laila, Abu Wazizeh, Wael, Benech, Christophe, Charloux, Guillaume, Delhopital, Nathalie et al. 2011. Report on the Fourth Excavation Season (2011) of the Madâ’in Sâlih Archaeological Project. Paris: HAL. Nehmé, Laïla. 2015. Les tombeaux nabatéens de Hégra. 2 volumes. Inscriptions et Belles Lettres. Renfrew, Colin and Bahn, Paul. 2013. Archaeology: the key concepts.London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. Ruggles, Clive, and Gary Urton. 2010. Skywatching in the ancient world: new perspectives in cultural astronomy. University Press of Colorado.

References

Ruggles, Clive L.N. 2005. Ancient astronomy: an encyclopedia of cosmologies and myth. Abc-Clio.

Al-khatatba, Muhammad. 2006. A`imarat alanbat alsakaniah [The Nabatean domestic architecture 2nd 100

14 Orientation Analysis of the Monumental Architectural Remains at Phrygian Site Kerkenes, Turkey A. Iraz Alpay, PhD Candidate Middle East Technical University Abstract: This study aims to investigate whether the founders of the city at Kerkenes Dağ had deliberately incorporated astronomical knowledge to their city-planning by analysing the orientation preferences of selected buildings, idols, and city gates. Excavation results suggest the idea that the whole city was planned in accordance with an ideal urban concept, containing all its essential elements placed on strategic locations. Previous studies on Phrygians revealed that there are general orientation preferences. At this research, city gates, the monumental buildings found at the Palatial Complex, and idols found both at the main gate of the city − Cappadocia Gate, and at the Monumental Entrance of the Palatial Complex, were examined to find out whether their axes were oriented to rising or setting point of a particular star, constellation, or the Sun on the horizon. Examination reveals three results: (1) the Ashlar Building and the Audience Hall were oriented to the star Altair; (2) the Structure A to Hadar; and (3) The North-East Gate to the summer solstice. Further analysis including other Phrygian sites is necessary to support interpretation and to draw a solid conclusion, nevertheless, the direction of Structure A towards the rising point of Hadar on the horizon might have been a reflection of the Thracian influence on the Phrygian culture. Keywords: Archaeoastronomy, Kerkenes, Phrygians, Anatolia, Iron Age. 14.1 Introduction

− relating to some degree the Sun Goddess of Hittite to the Phrygian Matar (According to Geoffrey D. Summers, there is a great difference between the Hittite cult practice and the Phrygian practice, personal communication 2016 and 2020).

Although archaeological studies indicate a possible association of Matar (the Great Mother Goddess) with the Sun in the Phrygian belief which manifests itself through orientation of the monuments, the idea of orientation preference regarding the sun path on the sky remains questionable due to a lack of archaeoastronomical investigation (Berndt-Ersöz 2006: 16−17, 145; BörkerKlahn 2000: 38−41; Haspel 1971: 73). Up to the present, there is only one archaeoastronomical research done on Phrygian culture in Anatolian plateau.

Encompassing an urban area of 271 hectares, Kerkenes is the largest pre-Hellenistic site in Anatolian plateau. Archaeological investigations reveal an imperial foundation, possibly a new capital, with a pre-conceptualised vision of an ideal city in design. Unlike Gordion (100 ha), iconographic and architectural remains of Kerkenes resemble the rock-cut examples in the Highlands of Phrygia. Summers argues about the possibility of a large-scale migration from the West to establish a new capital with the aim to dominate its surrounding region (Summers 2018b: 99−118). In the light of the previous archaeoastronomical researches on Phrygians, Kerkenes stands out as an interesting and important case.

Gonzalez-Garcia and Belmonte analysed Phrygian monuments in central Anatolia to better understand the transition of orientation customs from the Late Bronze Age of Hittites to the Early Iron Age of Phrygians (González-García and Belmonte 2011: 485−89). Their results point out a lunisolar range of orientation preference, and indicate that Gordion might have been planned in accordance with the summer solstice sunrise. By taking into account the results of the Berndt-Ersöz’s research, which reveal orientation preferences especially toward either to the east or the south-east direction for the majority of the step monuments and façades, (BerndtErsöz 2006) Gonzalez-Garcia and Belmonte concluded that the southeast direction was intentional with an astronomical concern, and argued there was a continuation of Hittites religious practice during the Early Iron Age

In order to investigate whether the founders of the city at Kerkenes Dağ had any sort of astronomical intention in the design of the city, its city sculptures, monumental structures and seven city gates are examined by analyzing the orientations of their axis. The method applied to this study is designed to detect if the main axis of selected structures and the face of idols were ever oriented to the rising or setting point of a celestial object on the horizon. 101

A. Iraz Alpay, PhD Candidate 14.2 Kerkenes

lands with the West gave geopolitical importance to the site while providing control over the northern Cappadocia plateau (Summers 2000).

The site is located on a low granite mountain, called Kerkenes Dağ, on the border of Şahmuratlı, and İdris villages in Sorgun at an altitude of 1,500 m (The geographic coordinates of the site are 39°45′00″N 35°03′56″E). The single-period settlement encompasses an area of about 2.5 km2 surrounded by seven km fortification walls with seven gates. (Figure 14.1) This strategic location, connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean and the Persian

Although identification of the city remains controversial, Summers supports the identification of the site as the city of Pteria mentioned in the Herodotus’ narrative (Book I, Chapter 76; Summers 1997, 20006a and 2009b; Summers and Summers 2000. For counter-argument see also Dönmez 2004: 67−91 and Sevin 1998: 60−61 in Bilgi

Figure 14.1. Urban block plan of the city at Kerkenes Dağ with AutoCad drawings of the Palatial Complex and Cappadocia Gate, adapted from Branting 2006: 89.

102

Orientation Analysis of the Monumental Architectural Remains at Phrygian Site Kerkenes, Turkey 2006). The use of Old Phrygian language in the graffiti on vessels as well as sandstone blocks at important public spots, like the one found close to the Cappadocia Gate, support the idea that daily and administrative language of the city was Phrygian (Summers 2006).

et al. 2000: 284). According to Herodotus, the emergence of the city was associated with the end of the Six-year War, remembered as the Battle of the Eclipse ended in the afternoon of May 28th 585 B.C. (Two annual eclipses between 588 B.C. and 581 B.C. were calculated for the most potent in Asia Minor. The coverage area of each eclipses was no more than 0,96 of the Sun. In consequence, Herodotus’s account of the description of onset darkness which terminated the war is doubtful. Nevertheless, Pliny also mentioned a foretold solar eclipse which occurred in the region of Alyattes by the 170 year after the foundation of Rome, in the 1st century AD. See also Stephenson 1997: 342−43), between the Medes and the Lydians. Its citizens were distinguished as Pterians from the native Cappadocians.

Kerkenes has unique architectural features, compared to any other Iron age cities in Anatolia (Sagona and Zimansky 2009: 353−62; Summers 1997; 2018a; and 2018b). Architectural forms display similarities with the eastern architectural tradition as well as with Gordion, while their building technique, especially stonework, are similar to ones found in the Eskişehir-Afyon region of Phrygian Highlands. Unlike the tumuli found around Gordion, placed on the plains, the Iron Age tumuli related with Kerkenes are located on high hills and elevated ridges (Summers 2018b: 112). Based on the sculptural, iconographic and architectural features, Summers argues that the city resembles the traditions seen in the Highlands of Phrygia, comprising the hilly region between Eskişehir at the north and Afyon Karahisar to the south, more than the Gordion-Ankara region. But in Kerkenes, there are no inner walls separating rulling elites from an urban population, no façades and no tombs found (Summers 2018a and 2018b). He suggests the possibility of largescale migration from the west to establish a new capital, aiming to dominate its surrounding region Summers 2018b: 99−118.

The earliest survey was done by John G.C. Anderson in 1903, when he was on his journey to explore the Roman roads on northern Anatolia (Anderson 1093: 26−27). He identified the city as the Galatian site of Mithridation, however, no evidence had been found to support his identification. Archaeological work began in 1926 by H.H. von der Osten and Erich Schmidt as a part of the Alişhar expedition (Schmidt 1929; von der Osten 1928). In the following year, they carried out a detailed survey of the site. With Frank H. Blackburn they mapped the city and excavated a series of test trenches to understand the relation of the site with the Hittite capital of Hattuša. In 1993, Geoffrey D. Summers and François Summers began to conduct a long-term archaeological project. The Kerkenes Project has relied on remote sensing methods aiming to generate a relatively accurate site layout. Excavations began in 1996 and continued until 2011 focusing on the Palatial Complex and seven city gates. Since 2014, the project continues under the direction of Scott Branting with a conceptual shift both in research focus and techniques. Recent surveys and excavations aim to better understand the social and economic organization of the city through ceramic, metallurgical, archaeobotanical, and zooarchaeological analysis (Branting et al 2019a: 99−111 and 2019b: 539−559).

14.3 Archaeoastronomical Analysis and Results Due to the fact that archaeological remains have been found between 50 cm to 2 m deep, remote sensing methods combining geophysical and geospatial surveys have been primarily used for reconstructing the plan of the city. Excavations have been done only at small areas whenever it was considered necessary. Therefore, the measurements used here are taken from the AutoCAD drawings of the architectural constructions generated from remote sensing surveys and archaeological excavations. Main criteria for data selection are the significance of the structures in terms of their distinctive architectural features and location, as well as the extra effort given to construct without regarding their availability for direct observation. By this choice, the aim is to avoid missing out any data that may indicate a cultural tradition either derived from previous generations or other cultures.

The site has been investigated through remote sensing methods combining geophysical and geospatial surveys as well as archaeological excavations. Based on Kerkenes Project survey and excavation results, the establishment of the site dated back to the second half of the seventh century B.C., during the Middle Phrygian Period, possibly as an imperial city which was culturally Phrygian (Summers 2009a: 662; Summers and Summers 2012). It was occupied roughly for 70 to 100 years as a regional administrative and trade centre with military and religious functions. Unfinished defense structures and buildings indicate that the city was destroyed before completely constructed (Summers 2006). The centralized urban planning with a well-organized inner street network and water management system points out to a concept of “ an ideal city”, possibly planned in advance (Summers 2006). The differentiation between the residential urban blocks suggests some degree of social stratification (Summers

In this respect, Structure A, Ashlar Building, Audience Hall, and the Monumental Entrance which were built within the Palatial Complex are chosen for examination. Excavation results suggest that these monumental buildings were primarily constructed during the emergence of the city, and roughly dated to the second half of the seventh century B.C (Summers 2006: 164−202; Summers and Summers 1997: 34−36). According to Summers, Structure A was used as a monumental defensive building and was later modified as a part of the entrance of the Palatial Complex (Summers and Summers chapter 2 in press b). The entrance 103

A. Iraz Alpay, PhD Candidate of the building was positioned on the southern side with a ramped stone pavement in front, and provides a clear view beyond the city defense wall. The Ashlar Building consists of two rooms each with a wide central doorway on the eastern side and possibly an upper floor or balcony (Summers and Summers 2003: 56; Stronach and Summers 2003: 114.). The outer room has a sandstone paving surrounding it. The Audience Hall functioned as public structure, and consists of a columned hall and an anteroom with a pair of columns (Summers 2004: 16−20. Summers and Summers 2005: 17; Summers et al 2002: 27). With two massive towers and a passageway leading towards the Audience Hall, the Monumental Entrance gives the impression of a public monument. (Figure 14.2) Its construction plan and technique resemble the Cappadocia Gate, but with less concern of defense (Summers and Summers 2005: 18−36; Summers and Summers chapter 6 in press a). The entrance possibly served as a gate for the Palace Complex, as well as a terrace for other public occasions.

Figure 14.3. Cappadocia Gate court from the south-west to north-east, adapted from the Kerkenes Project archive.

Besides the monumental buildings, seven city gates are also examined. Cappadocia Gate is the main entrance to the city and it has three components and angled entrance passage with 3 towers at the front, an open court, and a rear section with 2 towers. (Figure 14.3 and 14.4) Three cultic installations were found within the Gate: an aniconic granite stele in the court against the northwestern corner of the middle tower; a stepped monument supporting a semi-iconic stele at the corner of the north tower; and finally, two crouching sphinxes were carved in relief on the sandstone at the north corner of the rear section in situ (Summers et al. 2010: 80; Summer et al 2011: 48).

Figure 14.4. Cappadocia Gate glacis from the south-east to the north-west, adapted from the Kerkenes Project archive.

Sinop (East Valley) Gate is at the east-north-east section of the city and has a simple plan with two towers and a 5 m wide passageway. The shape and location of the towers were designed based on the topography and the size and strength of them indicate the important role this played in

leading the passage from Kuşaklı direction to the centre of the city through the main street (Summers and Summers 1994: 13−14). The West Gate consists of two towers on both sides of the entrance. Except for the passageway, the towers are surrounded by a stone glacis. A different architectural solution was applied here in order to carry the structure, a sloping façade was used as a vertical element and the passage narrowed (Summers and Summers 1997: 33). The Water Gate is located on the north-east-east section of the city and permits only foot traffic. This gate is the weakest point of the defensive circuit (Summers and Summers 1997: 32). Gözbaba, Karabaş (the North Gate) and the North-East gates, on the other hand, have simple architectural plans. Idols and stepped monuments are well-known examples of the Phrygian form of the cult in the Highlands (Summers et al 2003: 13; Summers and Summers 2003: 15, 64). Scholars identify idol as an anthropomorphic representation of Matar, and double idols as Matar and possibly Ata (or Tata, Phrygian Male superiors God/Weather god; BerndtErsöz 2006: 56−59, 159−66; Birecikli 2010: 215−32;

Figure 14.2. View of the Monumental Entrance from the west to the east, adapted from Summers and Summers in press a: Chapter 6.

104

Orientation Analysis of the Monumental Architectural Remains at Phrygian Site Kerkenes, Turkey

Figure 14.5. Semi-iconic idol and the topmost step of the stepped monument on which it stood. They were found in situ in the Cappadocia Gate court.

Bøgh 2007: 328); and stepped monuments as thrones of the deities (Akurgal 1955: 97−98; Körte 1898: 118−119 in Bøgh 2007: 328). They were mostly associated with city gates to protect the city; and almost all idols were oriented towards the east-south directions whenever possible (Haspels 1971: 73; Berndt-Ersöz 2006: 16−19, 151−52, 157−58).

slanted to receive the light of the rising sun (Summers et al 2006: 11). Owing to their cultic association and locations on both of the important monumental entrances, idols are also included in the examination. The measurements (Table 14.1) are taken by taking into account of the visible landscape. In order to detect an astronomical purpose in the direction of structures and sculptures, azimuths are measured along the main axis of each construction in the direction from the rear wall of the building to the doorway. The orientation of idols is determined based on the direction they are facing, which is a parallel direction to the structure where they were placed. Local horizon profiles are generated for each building to determine the horizon height based on the azimuth (The horizon profile of each structure is generated based on the geographical coordinates with its elevation value via “heywhatsthat” website, http://www.heywhatsthat.

One of the semi-iconic idols of Kerkenes is found on the step monument at the northeast side of the wider rear passage, on the corner of the north tower of the Cappadocia Gate court (Summers and Summers 2009a: 7; Summers and Summers 2009b: 29, 31; Figure 14.5). Although the location of the stepped monument prevents the idol to be seen from outside of the city gate, it may have been used to greet visitors. The other two idols were found at both sides of the paved court in the Palatial Complex Entrance. According to the excavators, their front faces were slightly

Table 14.1. Shows for each architectural structure and sculpture, the latitude and longitude (L and l), the azimuth (a) from inside looking out through the main axis of the structure, the angular height of the horizon (h) in that direction, and the corresponding declination (δ). Structure Name

L

l

a (°)

h

δ

Structure A

39° 44′ 34,04″

35° 3′ 59,15″

176

Monumental Entrance

39° 44′ 32,97″

35° 3′ 58,11″

96

Ashlar Building

39° 44′ 33,75″

35° 3′ 55,78″

84

Audience Hall

39° 44′ 32,89″

35° 3′ 56,32″

81

Cappadocia Gate

39° 44′ 40,48″

35° 4′ 11,68″

143

Göz Baba Gate

39° 44′ 24,83″

35° 3’ 36,07″

224

West Gate

39° 45′ 13,98″

35° 3’ 32,28″

273

Karabaş/North Gate

39° 45′ 28,15″

35° 4′ 9,21″

49

-49° 06′ -5° 01′ 3° 58′ 6° 17′ 3° 13′ -38° 23′ -31° 33′ 4° 16′

North-East Gate

39° 45′ 15,94″

35° 4′ 22,88″

57

East-North-East

39° 45′ 3,95″

35° 4′ 25,63″

97

East Gate

39° 44′ 52,78″

35° 4′ 29,46″

75

Semi-Iconic Idols I

39° 44′ 40,48″

35° 4′ 11,68″

143

Semi-Iconic Idols II

39° 44′ 32,97″

35° 3′ 58,11″

96

1° 21′ 0 -0° 3′ 0″ -0° 20′ 24″ -0° 18′ 36″ -0° 2′ 24″ 2° 51′ 36″ 3° 18′ 0″ 1° 51′ 36″ 0° 6′ 0″ -0° 1′ 48″ -0° 15′ 36″ -0° 2′ 24″ -0° 3′ 0″

105

31° 25’ 24° 25’

-5° 46′ 10° 53′ -38° 23′

A. Iraz Alpay, PhD Candidate Despite skepticism towards the belief Phrygians having European origins, the idea of immigration of Phrygians from Balkans, deserves some scientific credits (Blakely 2013: 163−64; Bøgh 2007: 309−10; Fol 1990: 80,125 in Vassileva 1996; Haspel 1971: 164−66; Theodossiev 2002: 328; Vassileva 1995 and 2012). Summers proposes a largescale eastward migration across the Kızılırmak River to establish a new capital, possibly Pteria, and he emphases the lack of a large city to support the population for such migration (Summers 2018b). At this point, the founders of Kerkenes might have had Thracian origin. By taking account of this possibility, archaeoastronomical researches on Thracian culture are also examined to detect any possible similarity. The hypothesis of the solar and chthonic components of the Thracian belief system brings to mind possible orientation preferences towards the sunrising and/or the sunsetting positions on the horizon (See Fol 2004; Fol 2008; Hoskin 2001; Marazov 1994). However, unlike Phrygians, orientation choice of Thracians favors the direction to the south and southwest, and the orientation diagrams of the discussed monuments often display a wide angular interval (Belmonte 2005 and Dermendzhiev 2005 in Kolev et al 2008; GonzálezGarcía et al. 2008: 172; González-García et al. 2009: 23; González-García et al. 2015: 1398; Kolev et al 2008: 170; Tsonev and Kolev 2013: 71, 73). Thus, research results are not coherent with each other, instead each brings different inference about the motivation or target of orientation preference.

Figure 14.6. Orientation diagrams of 13 alignments, from data in Table 1. Solid lines refer to buildings and gates and dashed lines to idols.

com). Declination of each building is confronted with a declination of potential sky objects at the time of their rising or setting on the horizon (Stellarium is used to simulate sky view for each structure. The program is run both for 700 B.C. and 580 B.C. The result derived from 580 B.C. was used for the rest of the analysis).

Results can be grouped into four: (1) completely refuting the existence of an astronomical orientation instead suggesting an orientation preference that concerns topocentric traditions toward a hill or a peak (Kolev et al 2008; Tsonev and Kolev 2013); (2) only refuting the solar-chthonic hypothesis and suggesting an orientation direction towards the settings of Alpha and Beta Centauri (González-García et al 2009; González-García et al 2015); (3) supporting the solar-chthonic hypothesis and arguing on regular observations of the solstice, particularly the summer solstice sunrise which is the day that the Great Mother Goddess festival took place, and equinoxes as well (Maglova and Stoev 2015); (4) contradicting the argument of the sunrise/sunset orientation but suggesting an orientation to either the sun descending or possible lunar orientation (González-García et al. 2008).

Figure 14.6 shows the orientation diagram of structures and sculptures. The diagram illustrates that 6 of the 13 samples point within solar range, however, it is difficult to suggest a special direction of the compass that had been preferred for the orientation of both structures and idols. Thus, no orientation points towards to a mountaintop. Investigation reveals three outcomes: orientation of Ashlar Building and Audience Hall to the rising point of Altair on the horizon; Structure A to the rising point of Hadar; and Nord-East Gate to the rising point of the summer solstice. 14.4 Discussion Analysis results do not provide a clear insight supporting a celestial concern of the inhabitants of ancient Kerkenes for the orientation preference of buildings and idols. In order to compare results with the preliminary analysis on Phrygian monuments found in central Anatolia, a declination histogram is generated and displayed with the modified version of Gonzalez-Garcia and Belmonte’s research result. (Figure 14.7) Histogram (a) displays a set of peaks within the luni-solar range of declination, which was inferred as an orientation preference with astronomical significance. Histogram (b), on the other hand, does not display a readable outcome due to the relatively small number of samples. Nevertheless, it complements histogram (a) at two peaks: the minimum declination of the moon set and the summer solstice sunrise.

In this respect, no topocentric orientation preference to a hill or peak is observed at Kerkenes. Instead, the topographical views in front of the gates are often flat, possibly aiming to have a wider view of the plain for reasons of defense. Taking into account of both the argument of the Thracian dolmens’ orientation toward to the summer solstice sunrise and a lunisolar range of orientation preference for the Phrygian monuments in central Anatolia, especially in Gordion a city planning concerning an orientation to the summer solstice sunrise, it is difficult to suggest an intention in the orientation of the North-East Gate due to its simple structural design. 106

Orientation Analysis of the Monumental Architectural Remains at Phrygian Site Kerkenes, Turkey

Figure 14.7. Declination histogram of (a) Phrygian monuments in central Anatolia, adapted from Gonzalez-Garcia and Belmonte 2011:20. Histogram (a) was derived from 40 samples including step monuments and façades. Significant peaks of the histogram (a) are within muni-solar range. Histogram (b) is derived from 13 samples from Kerkenes, and it complements histogram (a) at two peaks.

Orientation direction of Structure A to Beta Centauri (Hadar), on the other hand, might be enlightening us in understanding the path followed by these newcomers to arrive at Kerkenes. The constellation Centaurus is depicted as half man half horse in Greek mythology. In the Thracian mythology, a horse rider represents the king or a messenger of the gods (González-García et al 2009: 29). With two impressive towers, the Structure A might not only have played a role of a monumental defensive building, but also might be reflecting cultural interactions with the Thracians by being intentionally oriented toward a region in the sky that represents the king or a messenger of the gods: Beta Centauri. Here, the ruling elites who migrated from west,

possibly somewhere within the cultural interaction zone of Thracians and Phrygians, were legitimizing their authority over the Cappadocian plateau. Although the influence of previous cultures of prehistoric Anatolia on Phrygian is a well-known phenomenon (Albright 1928: 229−31; Roller 1999: 1−7, 63−115), there is no archaeological material or written historical sources indicating Phrygians’ interest in the star Altair or in the constellation Aquila. At this point, it is difficult to suggest that the orientation of Ashlar Building and Audience Hall towards to the rising point of Altair was ever a deliberate choice. 107

A. Iraz Alpay, PhD Candidate 14.5 Conclusion

Blakely, Sandra. 2013. “Daimones in the Thracian sea: mysteries, iron, and metaphors”. Archiv für Religionsgeschichte 14 (1): 155−182.

Previous research done on Phrygians reveal some degree of interest in celestial phenomena. Archaeological research at Kerkenes indicate an imperial foundation, culturally Phrygian. Herewith, it was worth to examine Kerkenes from an archaeoastronomical point of view to understand whether the founders of the city were interested in celestial phenomena. In this respect, the city gates, the monumental buildings found at the Palatial Complex, and idols found both at the main gate of the city, Cappadocia Gate, and at the Monumental Entrance of the Palatial Complex were examined. Analysis reveals three results: The Ashlar Building and the Audience Hall appeared connected with the star Altair; Structure A with Hadar; and North-East Gate with the summer solstice. Further analysis including other Phrygian sites is necessary in order to draw a solid conclusion, nevertheless, the direction of Structure A towards the rising point of Hadar on the horizon might be a reflection of interactions with the Thracian culture.

Börker-Klahn, Jutta. 2000. “Nachlese an phrygischen Fundplätzen”. Rivista di archeologia 24: 35−69. Bøgh, Birgitte. 2007. “The phrygian background of Kybele”. Numen 54(3): 304−339. Branting, Scott. 2006.“Using an urban street network and a PGIS-T approach to analyze ancient movement.” In Digital discovery: exploring new frontiers in human heritage, edited by Jeffrey T. Clark and Emily M. Hagemeister, 87−96. Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology Conference, Fargo, 18−22 April 2006. Archaeolingua. Branting, Scott, Joseph W. Lehner, Sevil Baltalı-Tırpan, Dominique Langis-Barsetti, Tuna Kalaycı, Sarah R. Graff, Lucas Proctor, Nilüfer Baturayoğlu Yöney, Burak Asıliskender, Canan Çakırlar-Oddens, and John M. Marston. 2019. “Chapter Eight The Kerkenes Project, 2017−2018.” In The Archaeology of Anatolia, Vol. III: Recent Discoveries 2017−2018, edited by Sharon R. Steadman and Gregory McMahon, 99−111. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Acknowledgements This paper is part of unpublished M.Sc. Thesis, “Orientation of Monumental Architectural Remains at Kerkenes Dağ,” completed in 2016, after participating in the Kerkenes Project excavation during 2011 season, and revisiting the site during the 2012 season. I offer my deepest gratitude to Geoffrey Summers for sharing his excavation data and pointing me into the right direction, and to Evangelia Pişkin for supporting me with her patience and knowledge. Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my parents and my brother. Your love and support mean the world to me.

Branting, Scott, Yasemin Özarslan, Joseph Lehner, John M. Marston, and Sarah R. Graff. 2019. “Kerkenes and Phrygia: Old and New Directions of Research.” In Phrygia in Antiquity: From the Bronze Age to the Byzantine Period, edited by Gocha R. Tsetskhladze, 539−559. The Phrygian Lands over Time: From Prehistory to the Middle off the 1st Millennium AD Conference, Eskişehir, November 2015. Peeters. Dermendzhiev, N. 2005. Orientation of Bulgarian Dolmens PhD diss. Institute of Archaeology and Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

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15 Cultural Astronomy: Material Culture, Astronomy, Astrology and Power Nicholas Campion University of Wales Trinity Saint David Abstract: This paper will consider astronomy, astrology and materiality, introducing their connections with the body, space and place, and religious iconography, including ritual, pilgrimage and the built environment, and its role in the foundation of cities. It argues that definitions of astrology and astronomy which identify them as intellectual pursuits are too limiting, and that they can be considered as systems of practice and action. The paper will consider the ways in which astrology and astronomy are currently defined and give examples of the use of both in embodied practices, including ritual and architecture. Keywords: astronomy, astrology, power, ritual, architecture. The relationship between astronomy and astrology in the modern world is usually a fractious one. Even though the two words were interchangeable until the seventeenth century, modern debates are reflected in the general rule that the history of the two are separate (for example, Campion 2008, 9; Hoskin 1999). However, there is an overlap in the definitions of the two which can be traced back to the classical world (Campion 2015). For example, the New Encyclopaedia Britannica (1992, 654) defined astrology as a ‘type of divination that consists in interpreting the influence of planets and stars on earthly affairs in order to predict or affect the destinies of individuals, groups or nations’. David Pingree (1973, 118) defined it as ‘the study of the impact of the celestial bodies − Moon, Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the fixed stars and sometimes the lunar nodes − upon the sublunar world’. The standard modern definition of astronomy varies little from text book to text book or website to website. For example: ‘Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside the Earth’s atmosphere (such as the cosmic background radiation)’ (‘Astronomy’). Despite the differences between the two, the one defined as a ‘type of divination’, the other as a ‘scientific study’, the common factor is that both are defined as studies, as activities which are purely intellectual. And yet astronomers are equally engaged in activity. Amateur astronomers acquire and use telescopes and, in this sense, astronomy is a practical, physical activity. Similarly, astrology was defined by Patrick Curry (1999, 55) in terms of action: ‘Astrology is the practice of relating the heavenly bodies to lives and events on earth, and the tradition that has thus been generated’ (Curry 1999, 55). Within this general understanding, astrology exists in diverse forms, with rationales that vary from the natural, as set out by Claudius Ptolemy (1940, I.1) to the supernatural. In addition, in

most pre-modern cultures there is a lack of distinction between what would now be regarded as astronomy, on the one hand, and astrology on the other, and we can take the Americas as an example: Stephen McCluskey (1993, 427) wrote that: ‘To the extent that in the high cultures of Mesoamerica cosmologies are tied to a predictive astronomy, these astronomies are arithmetical rather than geometrical and they are concerned with the prediction of the dates of astronomically and astrologically significant events’, while Anthony Aveni (1992, 4) concluded that ‘the Mayan astronomical texts were ‘purely astrological’ in their function and intent’. In each case, of course, astrology was concerned with action, for example with the timing of religious, political and military affairs. Clive Ruggles (2005, 27) developed the notion of astrology as embodied: The most fundamental connection between objects and events in the sky and those on earth that we might term astrological relates to the here and now. Belief in the direct interconnectedness of things is evident among modern indigenous communities and surely extended far back into prehistory. Modern examples include the Barasana of the Colombian Amazon, who understand that the celestial caterpillar causes the proliferation of earthly caterpillars; the Mursi of Ethiopia, for whom the flooding of the river they call waar can be determined, without going down to the banks, by the behaviour of the star of the same name; and those modern Hawaiians who still carry on the ancient practice of planting taro and other crops according to the day of the month in the traditional calendar (i.e., the phase of the moon). Neither do most non-western societies employ different words to distinguish traditional astronomy from astrology (Campion 2008, 9). Other cultures classify knowledge 111

Nicholas Campion about the sky in a different way. In India, both traditional astronomy and astrology are jyotish, the ‘science of light’. In Japan they are nmyōdō, the ‘yin-yang way’. In China, the observation and measurement of celestial phenomena were inseparable from their application to human knowledge, which, in turn, was divided into two li, or li fa, calendar systems, and tian wen, or sky patterns. And all are concerned with action, with embodiment, as opposed to mere study. It is necessary to continue to use the word astrology for reasons of convenience, even though its application to non-western cultures can be anachronistic. My interest in astrology in this paper is as a practice, as defined by Curry, as distinct from matters of intellectual inquiry or belief, as far as such a distinction is possible. A theoretical perspective is provided by current thinking in material religion (Whitehead 2013). As David Morgan (2008, 228) wrote,

commonly the Sun and Moon, may create the framework for an auspicious moment in which to ritually connect with divinity. In India the calendar then becomes the basis for a series of festivals, of which the most famous is now Divali, or Diwali, the festival of lights (including the ‘inner’ light, we should remember), a five day post-harvest, prewinter-solstice celebration which coincides with the new moon in the sidereal zodiac sign of Libra. Other festivals are based on a planetary calendar. The greatest of these is the Khumba Mela, which is timed according to the cycles of Jupiter and Sun and is held every twelve years, with smaller, intermediate festivals and occasional, much larger ones (Rai 1973). The 2001 Maha (great) Kumbha Mela, which is held every 144 years, or twelve Jupiter cycles, was reputedly attended by 60 million people, all of whom purified themselves by ritually bathing in the Yamuna river. Such events, in essence pilgrimages, are the most dramatic, primary, collective expression of astrology as a need to actively celebrate and harmonise with the cosmos and moments determined by astronomical patterns. Whether individual or collective, ritual performs some of the same functions, taking people on a rite of passage that takes then to a liminal (boundary) state which is transformational or initiatory (Bell 1997; Turner 1969, 1974). The entire process depends on physical action, without which it would have no power.

If culture is the full range of thoughts, feelings, objects, words, and practices that human beings use to construct and maintain the life-worlds in which they exist, material culture is any aspect of that world-making activity that happens in material form. That means things, but also includes the feelings, values, fears, and obsessions that inform one’s understanding and use of things.

15.2 The Built Environment

Examples of objects relating to astronomy include icons, images and statues of planetary deities, and astronomically aligned sacred spaces, temples and stone circles. Practices include pilgrimages, magical acts and rituals performed at astrologically auspicious moments, and accompanying art, liturgical objects, music, relics and ceremonial dress. Having established a context for their use, I will use both historical and contemporary astrology and astronomy in senses which may overlap. Both may be encompassed under the general heading, ‘cultural astronomy’, defined as ‘The use of astronomical knowledge, beliefs or theories to inspire, inform or influence social forms and ideologies, or any aspect of human behaviour’ (Campion 1997).

Such rituals often take place in temples, which requires an investigation of the built environment. A notable study of the astronomical alignment of Indian temples and associated rituals was undertaken by Malville and Swaminathan (1998). Temples themselves are often contained within cosmological cities (Campion 2016). The earliest surviving accounts of the foundation of entire cities at auspicious moments date to the Near East of the first millennium BCE. The Assyrian emperor Sargon II (722−705 BCE) founded his new capital at DurSharrukin on the auspicious day of the auspicious month. His successor Esarhaddon (681−669 BCE) reputedly re-founded Babylon at an auspicious moment. In the following century, Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Persian Achaemenid Empire of c. 550−330 BCE, was conceived as a ‘calendar city’ (Wheatley 1971, 439). To make better use of the heavens, key temples and palaces appear to have been aligned roughly to the northeast, facing the rays of the rising summer solstice sun. Such traditions were extended into the Hellenistic and Classical world. According to Appian, the foundation date of Seleucia, the capital of the Seleucid empire, was chosen by the emperor’s magi (Cramer 1996, 11). Roman scholars were also deeply concerned with establishing the astronomical alignments at the foundation of Rome (Heilen 2007). Recently studied examples of architecture in the Roman world which incorporate solar symbolism in design and structure include Nero’s ‘Golden House’ (Hannah, Magli and Palmieri 2013) and the Pantheon (Hannah and Magli 2010). There is then a widespread tradition, surviving from the sixth-seventh century CE, that the emperor

15.1 Pilgrimage and Ritual The Indian and South Asian practice of jyotish, broadly translated as ‘science of light’ and more narrowly as astrology, provides one example of embodied, astrological ritual operating at a personal level. We have one recent account of a ritual in Sri Lanka, intended to provide protection against malign planetary patterns (Kemper 1980, 750). The ritual begins with a prepubescent girl preparing a string of nine strands, one for each planet. The priest uses the string to conduct the ceremony while priests chant protective verses, which reinforce the auspicious power of both the girl and the planets as embodied in the string. Drawing on the argument made by Johanna Broda that calendars may have astrological functions, examples being China, Babylon, India and Mesoamerica (Broda 2011, 412), ritual in Indian astrology extends from the individual to the collective. To follow this logic, in this example the cycles of the heavenly bodies, most 112

Cultural Astronomy Constantine founded Constantinople, his new capital, on the astrologically significant date of 11 May 330 CE (Pingree 1977).

According to legend, a crow landed on the cord and set the bells jangling, which the workmen took a signal to start work. The astrologers reckoned that the planet Mars (al-Qahir, the “Ruler,” when Qahira) was in the ascendant, which was considered an unfavourable sign. But according to another tradition, Mu’izz had given Jawhar instructions to build a city called Qahira that would rule the world.

Equally, if not more important, was the foundation of Baghdad, four centuries later, in 762 (Campion 2014). It is generally accepted that town-planning in the Islamic world was, in important instances, cosmological and has antecedents which may be traced back to Sumerian culture in the third millennium BCE (Allawi 1988). There were two principal models of the Islamic cosmopolis: one was the city of Kufa, which had replaced Medina as the Islamic capital under Caliph Ali in 656 CE, and the second was Baghdad, founded as a replacement for Damascus in 762 CE under Caliph al-Mansur. When Al Mansur decided to create his new capital, he intended it to be, as Allawi (1988, 58) put it, ‘the centre of a world empire of power and commerce, and the navel of the whole cosmos’. Allawi identified various cosmological-numerological templates for urban planning, such as a quadruple system analogous to the cardinal points, and a hexagonal system identified with the many septenary systems in the ancient word, including the seven planets. He argued that the design of Kufa was essentially open and aligned with the spring equinox. Baghdad, meanwhile, was essentially closed and, unusually, round, and envisaged as ‘a grand cosmic astrolabe’ (1988, 62). Again, according to Allawi (1988, 69),

What all these cities had in common was an attempt to align royal power with cosmic power through appropriate astronomical alignment and astrological ritual. 15.3 Discussion The relationship between astronomy and power is often treated as one in which those people in positions of authority apply their astronomical knowledge in order to control and manipulate those over whom they rule. As Steve McCluskey (1993, 429) pointed out in relation to Mesoamerica, ‘Astronomical observation and knowledge were... signs of sacred power and status’. Clive Ruggles (1993, 23) argued that ‘From ancient Babylon to China, Mexico and Peru, from empire and city state to tribe, astronomical information was gathered and recorded and used by those whose interests lay as much in the spheres of status enforcement and political ideology as in predicting rainy seasons or planning agricultural schedules’. Expanding on this argument, and using the Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican application of the movements of Venus to regulate warfare, Ruggles and Saunders (1993, 4) described the manner in which astronomical knowledge can function as ‘a resource that can be brought to bear in support of the dominant ideology to reaffirm and reinforce the structures of a particular society’. This perspective resonates with Antonio Gramsci’s (1971) theory of hegemony in which ideology rather than physical force serves as a tool of repression. In terms of the theory of space, Deyan Sudjic (2005) encompasses this model of the world in his analysis of the phenomenon whereby powerful people construct monumental structures, including, of relevance to this paper, Saddam Hussein’s reconstruction of Babylonian sites. In this sense, monumental architecture is used as an instrument of state power, to reinforce a cosmology in which the leader is interposed between the mass of the population and their ability to control their destinies. The embodied uses of astronomy and astrology, as aspects of cultural astronomy, thus vary from the imperial use of architecture to control collective destiny, to the personal use of ritual in order to express individual destiny.

More relevant to our theme is the team of astronomers, astrologers and muhandisun to whom was entrusted the design of the city and the execution of the work. Translations of Ptolemy’s Almagest, Indian astronomical treatises and Persian manuals were ordered by al Mansur. Allawi concluded that the design of Baghdad cannot be separated from astronomy, and that the round city was divided into twelve sections and related to the great circles of the universe, such as the tropics and the equator, as well as to the sun’s apogee and perigee. The key to understanding Baghdad, then, is its solar nature. However, the panel of experts who chose the exact moment to found the city arranged to have the Sun located in its own zodiac sign, Leo, where it was at its strongest, and in a benevolent relationship with Jupiter, the most auspicious of the all the planets, which also occupied a powerful location (Campion 2014). Time and space were therefore exactly harmonized. A further notable example occurred when the Fatimid general Jawhar founded Cairo in 969, choosing a site on a well-protected sandy plain, safe from the Nile floods and at a safe distance from Fustat with its mixed Christian and Sunni population. Raymond (2000, 37) described the process:

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Hannah, R, Magli, G and Palmieri, A. 2013. “Nero’s ‘solar’ kingship and the architecture of Domus Aurea”. https://arxiv.org/abs/1312.7583.

Wheatley, P. 1971. The Pivot of the Four Quarters: A Preliminary Enquiry into the Origin and Character of the Ancient Chinese City. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Hannah, R and Magli G. 2010. “The role of the sun in the Pantheon’s design and meaning”. https://arxiv.org/ abs/0910.0128. Heilen S. 2007. “Ancient scholars on the horoscope of Rome”. In D G Greenbaum and C Burnett, The winding courses of the stars: essays in ancient astrology. Culture

Whitehead, Amy. 2013. Religious Statues and Personhood Testing the Role of Materiality. London: Bloomsbury. 114

16 In the Light of the Milky Way: An Interpretative Key for Crux-Centaurus Alignments Across Prehistoric Europe Ilaria Cristofaro Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” Abstract: The rising and setting of the Crux-Centaurus brightest stars were possibly the targets of several prehistoric structures across the European continent and the Mediterranean Sea, from Minorca to Malta, from Neolithic Britain to the Funnel Beaker Hondsrug, from Sardinia to Daunia (García Rosselló et al. 2000; Hoskin 2001; Belmonte and Hoskin 2002; Zedda and Belmonte 2004; Mann 2010; González-García and Costa-Ferrer 2003; Antonello et al. 2016). This evidence suggests a plural appropriation related to this asterism, although only few interpretations of this stellar alignment for prehistoric societies were suggested since 1990s. This is due to the neglect, within the discipline of archeoastronomy, to appreciate the movements of the Milky Way in respect to the local horizon. At first, this study has tested the visibility of the brightest stars of the Crux-Centaurus as viewed from the archaeological sites considered, between the latitudes of circa 36°N and 53°N, within the chronological period of construction and usage of the sites, between the fourth and the first millennia BC. Due to the precession of the equinoxes, the stars of the Southern Cross and Centaurus were progressively disappearing from visibility. Second, it is considered that the rising and setting of the CruxCentaurus stars were a meaningful target to many prehistoric societies for the reason that they marked the pivot point of a dramatic turning motion of the galactic plane: in a midwinter night, looking south, as the Crux-Centaurus rose in the sky, the Milky Way was seen performing a spinning around the horizon. Third, halfway of this rotation, the galactic plane of the Milky Way laid horizontally wrapping the whole landscape, bringing together earth and sky. This celestial apparent dynamic can provide a possible reason for explaining why the same asterism can be attested as a so frequent archaeoastronomical target. The heliacal rising of the Southern Cross and the Centaurus constellations at the beginning of winter marked the starting of visibility of the whirling of the Milky Way ring of light around the landscape, till the end of spring. The study seeks to provide a methodological step forward in the possible range of interpretations for archaeoastronomical orientations and the relative determination of intentionality by including considerations on the Milky Way’s apparent motion, rising and setting. Keywords: Southern Cross, Prehistory, Milky Way, Precession of Equinoxes, Mediterranean Sea, Bell Beaker. 16.1 Introduction

beyond their local specificities. A significant and plural appropriation of meanings might have been related to this area of the sky; at the same time, very few interpretations of this stellar alignment followed its identification. This might be due to a failure within the discipline of archaeoastronomy to appreciate the motion of the Milky Way ring of light. This study seeks to compensate this old problem of archaeo-astronomical research since the early 1990s, that is the recurrent hypothetical orientation of many prehistoric structures to the asterism CruxCentaurus, by testing the sighting of the Milky Way at the prehistoric sites considered, in the apparent rotation of its galactic plane beyond the horizon. It is important to warn the reader that such research is not intended to compare world views from distant and chronological apart contexts, but its only aim is to provide a new hypothesis

Many ancient architectural structures faced the rising and setting of the major stars of the Southern Cross and the Centaurus. This occurred among several different cultural contexts across prehistory in the European continent and in the Mediterranean Sea, from Talayotic Minorca to the Malta temples, from Neolithic Britain to the Funnel Beaker Hondsrug, from Sardinia nuraghes to Bronze Age Daunia (Hoskin 1985; García Rosselló et al. 2000; Hoskin 2001; Belmonte and Hoskin 2002; Zedda and Belmonte 2004; Mann 2010; González-García and Costa-Ferrer 2003; Antonello et al. 2016). Thus, this specific archaeoastronomical orientation may be regarded, without equal, as a consistent pattern overlapping different European prehistoric world-views and cosmologies 115

Ilaria Cristofaro are of particular archaeoastronomical interest due to the presence of circular holes carved in the calcareous rock constituting precise and systematic lines. During the last decades, researches by Elio Antonello and Vito Francesco Polcaro have convincingly demonstrated that these aligned lines of holes pointed towards relevant celestial events, finding that ‘the setting of the stars of Centaurus allows a plausible interpretation of the orientations of the rows of Ordona and Mandriglia’ (Antonello et al. 2015, 6). This part of the sky was visible in Southern Europe during the second millennium BC and offered a spectacular area of intense light consisting of a region of the Milky Way (Antonello 2011, 287). From the beginning of autumn until the summer solstice, the constellations of Crux and Centaurus were visible on the southern horizon, creating a sort of twilight effect (Antonello 2011, 287). Moreover, a progressive change in the orientation of the lines was noted, with azimuths at Ordona ranging from 194.5° to 203.6°, within an error of 0.3° (Antonello et al. 2013). Similarly, at Mandriglia the range of azimuth of excavated holes is between 184° to 191°, pointing towards the setting of α Centauri and β Centauri. This progressive difference has lead the archaeoastronomers to suggest an intention to follow the processional motion of the stars until their final disappearance, around 700 BC for α Centauri and around 600 BC for β Centauri. If this was the case, they stated that ‘this would be one of the few places in the world where the precession effect was, so to speak, printed on the ground three thousand years ago’ (Antonello et al. 2013, 239). This impressive and intriguing data left a vacuum regarding the interpretation on the belief system related to this region of the sky. Their interpretation regarding the setting of the stars of Centaurus in their stellar precession was chronologically supported by the archaeological remains dating (Antonello et al. 2015, 237–9).

Figure 16.1. Wide-field image of the constellations of the Southern Cross and the Centaurus in a long exposure photograph, however to the naked eye it would be less bright. Photo by ESA/Hubble. Creative Commons by 4.0.

for a single choice of astral target locally appropriated among distant and different prehistoric, often megalithic, structures. The sky is an almost universal backdrop, although its interpretations are variegated. Patterns that link together world’s cosmological narratives are complex issues, and might tend to be superficial. Therefore, the humble scope here is to highlight the connection between the apparent motions of two celestial entities, the CruxCentaurus asterism and the Milky Way, in a way that concerns the orientations of the structures’ main axes of symmetry. For the sake of simplicity, the Southern Cross and the Centaurus constellations will be also called CruxCentaurus asterism, and a wide field image of that part of the sky is shown in Figure 16.1. This paper starts with a review of published academic studies of the prehistoric structures pointing at the Crux-Centaurus asterism as a possible target. This is followed by an investigation and analysis section on the brightest stars of the Southern Cross and Centaurus in relation to the apparent motion of the Milky Way. Finally, a discussion is presented in order to test the integrity of the hypothesis.

Since 1985, Michael Hoskin’s researches on Minorca and the Talayotic Culture pointed out to an archaeoastronomical orientation for the taulas: most of them face roughly south (Hoskin 1985, S143). Since the fourteenth century BC the Talayotic Culture was present on the island (Hoskin 1985, S136). Talayots, or ‘dry rubblework stone towers’ were the major remains of the material culture of this population (Hoskin 1985, S136). Taulas are semi-circular features characterized by a T-shape stone in the middle, facing the entrance (Hoskin 2011, 123). The orientation of structure is well-defined by the opening and the front of central T-stone (Hoskin 2011, 123). According to Hoskin, ‘all these taulas have a perfect view of the Southern horizon: either they look directly out to sea, or they are on elevated ground and look down over a plain’ (Hoskin 2011, 123). In particular, for Hoskin the only object in the sky enough bright in that region was the group of stars of the Crux-Centaurus, and he thought that the taulas were pointing at such asterism (Hoskin 2011, 123). Such hypothesis acquired further validation in 1998, when Hoskin continued his research on Mallorca.

16.2 Literature review: Orientations to the Crux-Centaurus The Bronze Age archaeological sites of Mandriglia and Ponterotto in Daunia, Apulia, Italy are located in a plateau near the Adriatic Sea and the gulf of Manfredonia. They are characterised by hypogea structures containing ritual and funerary remains (Tunzi Sisto et al. 2010). These sites

As Minorca, Mallorca presents as well remains of the Talayotic Culture, but no taulas such as the ones of 116

 In the Light of the Milky Way Minorca have been found (Hoskin 2011, 123). Within his researches in the Balearic Islands, Hoskin found that the carved boulder in front of the ‘Son Mas’ Iron Age sanctuary was pointing toward a valley where the Southern Cross would have appeared in the second millennium BC until disappearing from view around 1700 BC due to precession and the presence of a mountainous horizon (Hoskin 2011, 124–25). Surprisingly enough, archaeologists Mark Van Strydonck and William Waldren ascertained that no remains could be found at the site after 1700 BC. Thus, they hypothesised that the population underwent a crisis and abandoned the site, but without finding any reasonable explanation for it. Since the archaeoastronomical and archaeological data pointed at the same chronology for the abandonment of the site, it was thought that the disappearance of the Southern Cross accounted for the departure of the community from the megalithic site (Van Strydonck et al. 2001; Hoskin 2011, 124–25).

of Ggantija I (Foderá Serio et al. 1992, 118). Different interpretations, not necessarily mutually exclusive, were suggested by exploring the temples’ locations (Vassallo 2007, 44–46), and luminous effects on the stones during solstices and equinoxes (Lomsdalen 2014). Similar archaeoastronomical studies were conducted in Sardinia, where Mauro Zedda and Juan Antonio Belmonte found out that the highest peak of the distribution of the 452 surveyed nuraghes was centred at a declination of -43 3/4°, beyond the declination of the sun at winter solstice and of the moon at its most southern rising position (Zedda and Belmonte 2004, 100). This declination corresponds to the stars of the Southern Cross and the Centaurus at the time of construction of the nuraghes in the second millennium BC. They also split the statistic into structures from the north and those from the south of Sardinia, finding a shift in the declination from -43° to -45°, while the solar and lunar distribution peaks remained unaltered (Zedda and Belmonte 2004, 102). The proposed interpretation was coherent with the conseguences of precession on the apparent movements of the Crux-Centaurus group in line with the chronological sequence of development of the Nuragic civilization (Zedda and Belmonte 2004, 100–02). Recent research on the Sardinian megalithic complex of menhirs at ‘Biru ‘e Concas’ pointed again at the same astral target (Sparavigna 2018).

In the southern part of the Mediterranean Sea, since 1980s, George Agius and Frank Ventura have investigated the megalithic temples of Malta from an archaeoastronomical perspective by considering the main axes of the structures (Agius and Ventura 1980; Foderá Serio et al. 1992, 107– 09). The construction of temples in Malta started around 3600 BC (Foderá Serio et al. 1992, 107). Among the chronological division, it is here useful to consider the Ggantija Phase from 3600–3000 BC and Tarxien Phase from 3000–2500 BC after which the Temple Period came to an end suddenly (Foderá Serio et al. 1992, 107). In a first stage, Agius and Ventura measured temple orientations, considering possible solar, lunar and astral targets, including α Cru, α Cen, and β Cen (Agius and Ventura 1980, 22–25). Subsequently, Giorgia Foderà Serio and Michael Hoskin joined Frank Ventura for surveying the sites using a minimal approach, by explaining that ‘we admitted an axis into consideration only if we were convinced that it was unequivocal axis of symmetry’ and had a clear view of the horizon (Foderá Serio et al. 1992, 109). Their results excluded the rising or setting sun and moon and revaluated the possibility of stellar alignment (Foderá Serio et al. 1992, 117–18). Their fourteen measurements of temple axes of symmetry arranged towards either sides of due South, corresponding to the rising path followed by the CruxCentaurus asterism (Foderá Serio et al. 1992, 115–18). Thus, by sighting at the same point of horizon, it followed the whole constellation of the Southern Cross and a Cen and b Cen. The authors stated that ‘Ta’Hagrat would have faced the rising of g Cru in 3500 BC, that g Cru rose slightly south of Hagar Qim I when it was built early in the third millennium, and that at all the other temples the Cross and the two bright stars of Centaurus would be well above the horizon when they transited the axis of the temple’ (Foderá Serio et al. 1992, 118). In conclusion, Foderá Serio et al. argued that the Neolithic temples of Malta temple were oriented to face this group of stars, and even speculated that the secondary addition of the temple Ggantija II was meant to rectified the alignment to these stars which, due to precession, were moving further south from the axis

Finally, A. César González-García and Lourdes CostaFerrer surveyed the megalithic sites of the Funnel Beaker population in the Netherlands from an archaeoastronomical statistical point of view. The construction time of the Funnel Beaker passage graves is around 3400 to 2850 BC (González-García and Costa-Ferrer 2003, 117). They stated that ‘if we compare the declinations of the passages and those of the stars, we see a strong pattern of correlation between the entrance orientations and the six highly conspicuous stars in the southern sky, the Southern Cross, and the Pointers (Alpha and Beta Centauri)’ (GonzálezGarcía and Costa-Ferrer 2003, 117). The interpretation of the results lacked any further speculation, since, they stated, ‘to know if they were really intended as targets, for whatever reason, we would need further ethnoastronomical information, which we lack today’ (González-García and Costa-Ferrer 2003, 118). The Funnel Beaker was a cultural facies of the Bell Beaker phenomenon. Indeed, in the third millennium BC, material evidence suggests a homogeneity of pottery production in many parts of Europe in the form of an inverse bell shape pot with geometric decorations called Bell Beaker. There is no clear explanation for such homogeneity, since the geographic distribution, human mobility, genetic evidence, funerary practices, settlement patterns of the Bell Beaker groups should be considered in mutual complexity. According to Van Strydonck ‘indications are found for an astral religion in which the Southern Cross played an important role’ for the Bell Beaker producers, but drawing upon an evidence based only on his recognition in Mallorca (Van Strydonck 2014, 50). It is suggestive to think that the importance of the Crux-Centaurus stars among many European prehistoric 117

Ilaria Cristofaro communities might be reconsidered with respect to this distinct but complex cultural phenomenon. However, the only scope of this paper is to enlighten how the Southern Cross and the Centaurus entire constellations might have acquired significance after their strict relationship with another, much majestic, phenomenon in the sky: the whirling of the Milky Way.

Table 16.2. Latitude and co-latitude (in degrees ± 0,05°) of the sites considered. The declination of the zenith of each site corresponds to the latitude (GoogleEarthPro 2020) Latitude/Zenith Declination

Co-latitude

Malta

36,1

53,9

Minorca

40,1

49,9

16.3 Investigation and Analysis

Sardinia

41,3

48,7

Daunia

41,35

48,65

16.3.1 Testing visibility

Hondsrug (Funnel Beaker)

53,2

36,8

Avebury

51,6

38,4

Site

At first, in order to have a wide overview of the presence of the Crux-Centaurus asterism in the sky at European latitudes, its visibility was tested across millennia, by considering the declinations of its brightest stars, as extrapolated from the astronomical software Stellarium (2019) and reported in Table 16.1–16.2 and successive Figure 16.2. The stars declination values, which are celestial coordinates of the equatorial system, change over millennia due to the precession of equinoxes. The motion of precession is caused by the fact that ‘the Earth is not a perfect sphere, and as a result the gravitational pull of the Sun and Moon on the Earth causes the Earth’s axis to wobble’ as a spinning top, thus shifting the whole equatorial celestial coordinate system (Hoskin 2011, 123). At any points on Earth, the visibility of stars depends on their proper declination at the time and on the observer’s latitude. In particular, in the northern hemisphere, to be visible a star must have a declination between 90°, which corresponds to the North Celestial Pole, and the inverse of the co-latitude of the observer (Brady 2015, 79). The co-latitude is defined as the complementary angle of the latitude of a geographical point, as indicated in Table 16.2. In other words, for a star with a negative declination, which means it is on the southern side in respect to the celestial equator, to be visible at any northern hemisphere latitude, it should have an absolute declination value smaller than

the co-latitude of the observer. In Figure 2, the changing declinations of the five brightest stars of the Southern Cross and Centaurus constellations, already reported in Table 16.1, were plotted against the co-latitude of the archaeological sites and their chronological attestation. The graph in Figure 2 displays how, at the spatial-temporal conditions under consideration, such stars were slowly moving below the local astronomical horizon due to the precession of the equinoxes. When dealing with star visibility near the horizon, an issue to deal with is the atmospheric extinction which could modify the exact position of rising or setting of a star. For the chronological and geographical contexts of the present enquiry, the altitude of the Crux-Centaurus asterism was quite low on the southern horizon, reaching an altitude of maximum 20° at its culmination. Close to the line of the horizon, the atmospheric extinction would cause these bright stars to be invisible (Schaefer 1986), ‘although they would be conspicuous as they passed from east to west across the meridian’ (González-García and Costa-Ferrer 2003, 117). The value of the extinction angle is variable depending on place, and each night it can be different (Schaefer 1986, S32). For example, in Daunia, Antonello et al. noticed a difference of 2° of azimuth against their predictions, stating that ‘we could suspect that there were different observing conditions that lasted several years’ (Antonello et al. 2013, 236–39). They suggested an increased coefficient of extinction due to dust in the atmosphere caused by the volcanic eruption in the sixteenth century BC in the Mediterranean island of Thera, Greece (Antonello et al. 2013, 236–39). It is not possible to estimate the observing conditions of the air at each considered site; however, in prehistoric Europe, the CruxCentaurus asterism was visible during the winter months, so it is possible to generally speculate clearer conditions of visibility than in summer. The current paper deals with the problem of interpretation drawing upon already published data, so assuming, when not explicit in their methodology, that previous research tackled the issue of extinction while identifying stellar alignments.

Table 16.1. Declination (in degrees ± 0,01°) of the brighest stars of the Southern Cross and Centaurus across millennia (Stellarium 2019) Date/Year

α Cru

β Cru

γ Cru

α Cen

β Cen

–10000

–30,47

–28,3

–25,73

–22,25

 –20,1

–9000

–28,87

–24,6

–23,7

 –22,9

 –19,2

–8000

–28,17

–23,83

–22,6

–24

–19,27

–7000

–28,36

–24

–22,49

 –25,8

–20,37

–6000

–29,5

–25,2

–23,36

 –28,3

–22,45

–5000

–31,5

–27,3

–25,21

–31,37

–25,45

–4000

–34,34

–30,25

–27,95

–35

–29,25

–3000

–37,9

–34

–31,51

–39

 –33,7

–2000

–42,1

–38,35

–35,76

 –43,4

–38,73

–1000

–46,3

–43,3

–40,61

–48

 –44,1

–52

–48,6

–45,9

 –52,6

 –49,7

 1000

–57,53

–54,13

–51,46

–57

 –55,23

 2000

–63,1

–59,68

–57,1

–60,83

–60,36

0

16.3.2 The turning of the Milky Way As second issue, it is useful to test interpretations which may explain why these stars appear to be so frequent 118

 In the Light of the Milky Way

Figure 16.2. Visibility of the brightest stars of the Southern Cross and the Centaurus constellations across millennia. The inverse of the co-latitude of the sites marks the lowest minim declination visible (for example, for at Malta stars are visible if they have a declination between –53,9° and 90°). Data from Table 1 and 2. Graph by the author from Excel 16.16.19.

targets. Although remarkable research was carried out pointing at the importance of the Southern Cross and Centaurus for many European prehistoric societies, at the present moment, no strong interpretations were suggested to explain such pattern. Hoskin speculated that taulas were possible healing sites, after the relationship with the Greek god of medicine Asclepius and the Centaur Chiron (Hoskin 2011, 123). Indeed, a bronze statuette representing a seated man with an Egyptian hieroglyphic inscription stating ‘Imhotep’, the god of medicine, was discovered at the Minorcan site of Torre d’en Gaumes (Hoskin 2011, 123). Antonello et al., following the work by Schiaparelli, emphasised the luminosity and splendour of this area of the sky, already pointing at the Milky Way as the possible real target (Schiaparelli 1997, 214–15; Antonello 2011; Antonello et al. 2016). The hypothesis that the Crux constellation would have been considered important as the south marker due to its vicinity to the south pole was also mentioned (Urton 1978, 164). In the present paper, a different hypothesis will be here proposed. By looking at the apparent movement of the Milky Way with respect to the astronomical horizon, with its rising and setting, it is possible to identify moments in time where the whole ring of light performs an oscillation, a turning up-side-down, in exact synchronicity with the rising and setting of the Crux-Centaurus. This galactic turning has been described before, but with no much academic resonance. Nicholas Mann, writing on the prehistoric site of Avebury, the biggest stone circle in Britain, stated that ‘Crux provided a marker of the rising and falling Milky Way’ (Mann 2010, 101). Therefore, by expanding Mann’s research on Avebury to the other prehistoric sites where Crux-Centaurus alignments are present, new insights may be achieved. The sky drama was described as following:

‘But shortly after midnight, a “miracle” occurred... the constellation of Crux rose out of Waden Hill (at 160° in the south) to stand upright upon its summit, heralding the appearance of the Milky Way along the eastern horizon. The galaxy had not fallen after all! It was still there – albeit lower in the sky. As the Milky Way set toward the west, in fact, it has risen in the east, to form a majestic, if low circle around the entire horizon…In the final act of this sky-drama… while the stars of Crux departed from their culmination in the south, the Milky Way began to lift upwards in the east to reveal alpha Centauri... Thus, over the millennia, although the stars of the south had slowly fallen back below the southern horizon, they had brought with them one final gift: the astonishing sight of the Milky Way wrapped around the entire horizon’. (Mann 2010, 110–11) The Milky Way plane, or Galactic Equator, is inclined 60° in respect to the ecliptic. Its luminosity differs from the brighter Crux and Sagittarius areas to the fainter northern parts. Concerns on the changing angle of the plane of the Milky Way with respect to the local horizon are here presented. As astronomical simulations show, across the different geographical latitudes and during the construction times of the sites considered, in a midwinter night, the Milky Way was seen performing a dramatic oscillation in the sky: the galactic equator, with its concentration of luminosity, was spinning around the South, rotating tangentially to the Crux-Centaurus orbit (Stellarium 2019). Figure 16.3, as seen from Malta in 3600 BC, illustrates this apparent motion using a virtual simulation. Thus, the rising and setting of the Milky Way and apparent motion path of the Crux-Centaurus were interlaced. As the Southern Cross was rising, the galaxy was setting in the west; after a few hours, when the asterism was approaching 119

Ilaria Cristofaro

Figure 16.3. A composition of six screenshots (two hours apart) showing the virtual reconstruction of the whirling of the Milky Way in relation with to the Crux-Centaurus (in the red ellipse) motion, as seen from Malta, 3600 BC, during a winter night. The galactic equator and the Crux-Centaurus orbit are highlighted. To the naked eye the Milky Way would be less bright. Photo adapted from Stellarium 2019.

culmination, the Milky Way was laying horizontally above the horizon; finally, when the constellation was setting, the galaxy rose in the east (Stellarium 2019). Just beyond the Southern Cross, the Centaurus’ stars followed.

the conditions under which the Milky Way is encircling the landscape is illustrated in Figure 16.4 after data in Table 16.2–16.3. The passage at the zenith of the galactic pole, in relation to observer’s time and latitude, can verify the coincidence of the horizon with the galactic plane. The North Galactic Pole of the galactic coordinate system, is fixed within the constellation of Coma Berenices, but its declination value is subject to the precession of the Celestial Pole. Thus, the variation of the North Galactic Pole declination is considered in relation to the declination of the zenith at the prehistoric sites considered. When the North Galactic Pole transited, or was transiting near the zenith, the galactic equator was coincident with the local astronomical horizon. The declination of the zenith is constant over time, being only dependent on the latitude of the observer, as highlighted in Table 16.2. From the graph of Figure 16.4 a closeness can be noticed between the declinations of zenith and the North Galactic Pole for the northern latitudes of Hondsrug in the Netherlands and Avebury in Britain. Nevertheless, even in Malta, where the biggest deviation

16.3.3 The laying of the Milky Way on the landscape The third consideration is that, in between its rising and setting, just when the Crux-Centaurus was crossing the meridian, the galactic circle of light laid horizontally on the horizon embracing with its faint light the whole landscape, as shown in a virtual simulation in Figure 16.5 (Stellarium 2019). Recently, John Grigsby discussed the importance of the Southern Cross as the womb of a Milky Way Proto-Indo-European goddess, resulting in ‘the “dance” of the Milky Way, its laying upon on the earth/horizon as Crux rises’ (Grigsby 2019, 122–23). Grigsby argued, as Mann did and this paper follows, for the same apparent oscillation of the Milky Way, after verifying the skyscape at British Neolithic henges and barrows (Grigsby 2019, 140–49). Therefore, a test on 120

 In the Light of the Milky Way

Figure 16.4. Testing the passage of the North Galactic Pole at the zenith of the prehistoric archaeological sites within their geographical and chronological conditions. Data from Table 2 and 3. Graph adapted by the author from Excel 16.16.19.

16.4 Discussion

Table 16.3. Declination (in degrees ± 0,01°) of the North Galactic Pole across millennia (Stellarium 2019) Date/Year

Declination / degrees

–10000

32,36

–9000

38

–8000

43,36

–7000

48,05

–6000

51,59

–5000

53,52

–4000

53,53

–3000

51,51

–2000

48,11

–1000

43,49

0

To better clarify this coincidence, it happens that the Crux-Centaurus stars have the double characteristic of being within the Milky Way, and at the same time they are quite near to the South Pole in its precessional orbit, along with Sirius. Gary Urton referred that the area can be considered the ‘observational centre’ of the Milky Way, or ‘the point of the Milky Way which falls nearest to the unmarked south celestial pole’ (Urton 1978, 160). The Milky Way can be seen as a rotating band of light dividing the the celestial vault into two regions as an arch splitting the sky, with no inherent centrality. Its laying down on the horizon would have caused its disappearance. Moreover, the heliacal rising of the Southern Cross marked the beginning of winter, as well as the time when the whole drama of turning and laying down of the Milky Way was visible during the longer and colder nights of the year. Correspondingly, its acronychal setting, with the correspondent period of invisibility of the stars, was a time marker for the starting of summer and the correspondent invisibility of the phenomenon (see Brady 2015, 82).

 38,2

 1000

32,65

2000

27,11

is present, the distance between the declination of the North Galactic Pole and the local zenith is less than 15°, thus within the width of the Milky Way band of light (Stellarium 2019). Therefore, the Milky Way wrapping the skyline with its faint light when it was levelled with the horizon could have been watched in the European continent during the first ten millennia BC. Although in southern latitudes the coincidence between the horizon and the galactic equator was not as precise as happened in Avebury and Hondsrug, so that the lying flat of the galaxy on the horizon happened only partially with a missing part hiding on the northern horizon, there was still a good visibility of the turning up-side-down of the Milky Way whirling, which was led by the CruxCentaurus passage in the sky.

Limitations of the present research include the lack of analysis in respect to the local orographic horizon of the sites considered, which could influence the visibility of the whole ring of the Milky Way encircling the observers. All the visibility tests were made considering the astronomical horizon, that is, a flat idealised plane. Site specific analysis tends to be in contrast with methods that contemplate many sites together, thus, a combination of both approaches should be aimed for. The luminosity of the Milky Way near the horizon is also affected by atmospheric extinction, thus limiting the possibility of its vision, even though people should have known it 121

Ilaria Cristofaro

Figure 16.5. The exact coincidence of the astronomical horizon and the galactic plane, as marked by the transit of the North Galactic Pole at the local zenith, as seen from Hondsrug, Netherlands, in a winter night during the fourth millennium BC. At the bottom, the Crux-Centaurus asterism rising. Photo adapted from Stellarium 2019.

was there around the horizon. Moreover, local skyscape narratives should be reformulated case by case when the richness of the material culture available allows to do so, since the archaeological data here explored mainly concern architectures orientations. The specific idea here is to realise how data expressed as ‘fixed points on the horizon’ can be related to ‘the dynamism, movement and sheer spectacle to be seen in the sky’ (Henty 2019). This means to apply the recent reformulated approach by Fabio Silva (2020) to rethink archeoastronomy in the form of skyscape archaeology, which includes the idea of interpreting quantitative data as stories and narratives. Therefore, this pioneer study on the apparent motion of the Milky Way, which will need a further investigation to identify more patterns of motion, aims to questions the role of the wider cosmos which can be tacitly subtended in any archaeoastronomical alignment.

of galactic plane in relation to the position of the sun during solstices may reveal interesting celestial patterns (see Urton 1978, 166). 16.5 Conclusion This study proposed to consider a new interpretation related to the archaeoastronomical targets of the stars α, β and γ of the Southern Cross and α and β of the Centaurus constellation in relation to the apparent spinning of the Milky Way. Indeed, previous researches statistically indicated that the Crux-Centaurus asterism acquired major importance during the different phases of European prehistory being the target orientation of many architectural structures spread around the Mediterranean Sea and the continent (García Rosselló et al. 2000; Hoskin 2001; Belmonte and Hoskin 2002; Zedda and Belmonte 2004; Mann 2010; González-García and Costa-Ferrer 2003; Antonello et al. 2016). Some of these structures are the taulas of Minorca, Sardinian nuraghes, Daunian carved holes, Maltese megalithic temples, Neolithic stone circles in Britain and the Funnel Beaker passage graves at Hondsrug, the Netherlands, as explored in the literature review. Thus, published archaeoastronomical data suggest this astral preference among stars in the night sky; however, proposed interpretations for this choice remain undeveloped (Hoskin 2011, 123). In order to question the intentionality behind this astral target, at first, this study tested the visibility of the brightest stars of the Crux-Centaurus as viewed from the archaeological sites considered, between the latitudes of circa 36°N and 53°N, within the attested chronological period of construction

Further research might question if the interest in this region of the sky was related to a single cultural phenomenon, such as the Bell Beaker, or developed independently. It would be worth to investigate in future researches if other narratives and archaeological sites related to the CruxCentaurus asterism can be interpreted in the light of the Milky Way apparent dynamics. Indeed, other case study world-wide emphasised the importance of the Southern Cross and the Centaurus constellations (Faulhaber 2015, 956; Ruggles 2015, 526–27; Zuidema 1982). This means testing the apparent movement of the Milky Way from latitudes in the southern hemisphere (Urton 1978; 1981). Moreover, to further understand the importance of the turning of the Milky Way, a study focusing on the position 122

 In the Light of the Milky Way and exploitation of the sites. Due to the precession of the equinoxes, the stars of the Southern Cross and Centaurus were progressively disappearing from visibility during the first millennium BC, as visually plotted in the graph in Figure 2. Second, it was noticed that the rising and setting of the Crux-Centaurus stars coincided with the pivotal orbit on which the galactic plane whirled around, as Figure 3 showed. In a midwinter night, looking south, the Milky Way was seen performing a spinning in the sky tangent, synchronic, and apparently steered by the Crux-Centaurus rising and setting. Third, within this whirling, there was a moment in time when the galactic ring of light laid flat embracing the horizon, and by surrounding the whole landscape with its faint light, wrapping together earth and sky. If this dynamic phenomenon was observed from many parts of the European continent and Mediterranean islands, it might have been attributed of great importance due to the correspondence between the galactic circle of light and the horizon. Although atmospheric extinction and the local profile of the landscape might have partially hidden the spectacle, people would have known it was there. Thus, this phenomenon can provide another reason for explaining why the same asterism can be attested as a frequent archaeoastronomical pattern in the light of a wider skyscape drama. The heliacal rising of the CruxCentaurus marked the beginning of winter, as well as the time when the whirling and laying down of the Milky Way was visible: the gear of the cosmos was so close and tangible as ever.

il fuori del cosmo, punti di vista per interpretare il mondo, Bologna 2011, edited by Manuela Incerti, 11– 17. Bologna: Bononia University Press. Antonello, Elio, Vito Francesco Polcaro, Anna Maria Tunzi Sisto, and Mariangela Lo Zupone. 2015. “Astronomical Orientations in Sanctuaries of Daunia”. In Stars and Stones, Voyages in Archaeoastronomy and Cultural Astronomy, Proceedings SEAC conference 2011, Evora, Portugal, edited by Fernando Pimenta, Nuno Ribeiro, Fabio Silva, Nicholas Campion, Anabela Joaquinito, and Luís Tirapicos, BAR International Series 2720, 236–239. Oxford: BAR Publishing. Antonello, Elio, Vito Francesco Polcaro, Anna Maria Tunzi Sisto, and Mariangela Lo Zupone. 2016. “Prehistoric sanctuaries in Daunia”. In Astronomy and Power: How worlds are structured. Proceedings of the SEAC Conference 2010, Gilching, Germany, edited by Michael A. Rappenglück, Barbara Rappenglück, Nicholas Campion, and Fabio Silva. BAR International Series 2794, 37–41. Oxford: BAR Publishing. https:// arxiv.org/abs/1306.5893. Belmonte, Juan Antonio, and Michael Hoskin. 2002. Reflejo del cosmos: Atlas de arqueoastronomia en el mediterraneo occidental. Madrid: Equipo Sirius. Brady, Bernadette. 2015. “Star phases: the naked-eye astronomy of the Old Kingdom pyramid text”. In Skyscapes: The Role and Importance of the Sky in Archaeology, edited by Fabio Silva and Nicholas Campion, 76–86. Oxford: Oxbow.

Acknowledgements

Faulhaber, Priscila. 2015. “Ticuna Astronomy, Mythology and Cosmovision”. In Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, edited by Clive L.N. Ruggles, 953–957. New York: Springer.

The author wishes to express her gratitude to the tutors and professors of the Master of Arts in Cultural Astronomy & Astrology at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David for their invaluable training, in particular in the persons of Fabio Silvia and John McKim Malville, who critically reviewed the very first stage of this research. Also, she would like to thank José Nicolás Balbi for his encouragement during this study, the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) for its financial support with the Oscar Montelius Foundation 2019 grant, the European Society for Astronomy in Culture (SEAC) scientific committee for selecting this contribution for its XXVII meeting together with the editors of this proceedings volume.

Foderá Serio, Giorgia, Michael Hoskin, and Frank Ventura. 1992. “The Orientations of the Temples of Malta”. Journal for the History of Astronomy, 23(2): 107–119. García Rossellò, Jaume, Joan Fornés Bisquerra, and Michael Hoskin. 2000. “Orientation of the Talayotic sanctuaries of Mallorca”. ArchaeoastronomySupplement to the Journal for the History of Astronomy, xxxi (25): S58-S64. González-García, César and Lourdes Costa-Ferrer. 2003. “Possible astronomical orientation Dutch hunebedden”. In Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture Proceedings of the 9th annual meeting of the European Society for Astronomy in Culture SEAC, Stockholm, 27–30 August 2001, edited by Mary Blomberg, Peter E. Blomberg, and Göran Henriksson, 111–118. Uppsala: Uppsala Astronomical Observatory.

References Agius, George J., and Frank Ventura. 1980. Investigation into the Possible Astronomical Alignments of the Copper Age Temples in Malta. Malta: Malta University Press. Antonello, Elio. 2011. “Schiaparelli and the dawn of Astronomy”. Memorie della Società Astronomica Italiana, Vol. 82: 280–289.

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Henty, Liz. 2020. “Skyscape archaeology: the place of the sky in the academy”. In Visualising Skyscapes: 123

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Van Strydonck, Mark, William Henre Waldren, and Michael Hoskin. 2001. “Indications of a possible astronomical feature in Pretalayotic Mallorca (Spain)”. Archaeoastronomy: The Journal of Astronomy in Culture, 16: 38–45.

Hoskin, Michael, and Mauro Zedda. 1997. “Orientations of Sardinian Dolmens”. Archaeoastronomy-Supplement to the Journal for the History of Astronomy, xxviii (22): S1-S16.

Van Strydonck, Mark. 2014. From Myotragus to Metellus. A journey through the pre- and early-history of Majorca and Minorca. Hochwald: LIBRUM.

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Vassallo, Mario. 2007. “The Location of the Maltese Neolithic Temple Sites”. Sunday Times, 26 August 2007: 44–46.

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Zedda, Mauro, Michael Hoskin, Renate Gralewski, and Giacobbe Manca. 1996. “Orientation of 230 Sardinian Tombe di Giganti”. Archaeoastronomy-Supplement to the Journal for the History of Astronomy, xxvii (21): S33-S45.

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Ruggles, Clive. 2015. “Stellar Alignments - Identification and Analysis”. In Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, edited by Clive L.N. Ruggles, 517– 530. New York: Springer. Schaefer, Bradley Elliott. 1993. “Astronomy and the limits of vision”. Vistas in Astronomy, 36: 311–361. Schiaparelli, Giovanni Virginio. 1997 [1925]. Scritti sulla storia della astronomia antica, I. Milano: Mimesis. Silva, Fabio. 2020. Towards Skyscape Archaeology. Oxbow Insights in Archaeology, Vol. 7. Oxford: Oxbow. Sparavigna, Amelia Carolina, 2018. “I Menhir di Sorgono (Biru e Concas) e le stelle”. Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/ zenodo.1246190. Stellarium. 2019. Version 0.19.1. Boston: Free Software Foundation. http://stellarium.org. Tunzi Sisto, Anna Maria, Mariangela Lo Zupone, Elio Antonello, Vito Francesco Polcaro, and Franco Ruggieri. 2010. “Il santuario dell’età del Bronzo di Trinitapoli. Il Calendario di Pietra”. In MENSURA CAELI. Territorio, città, architetture, strumenti, Atti VIII Convegno Nazionale Società̀ Italiana di Archeoastronomia, Ferrara 2008, edited by Manuela Incerti, 249–259. Ferrara: UnifePress. Urton, Gary. 1978. “Orientation in Quechua and Incaic Astronomy”. Ethnology, 17 (2): 157–167.

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17 Etruscan Temples and the Sun: An Analysis on the Orientation of Etruscan Sacred Buildings Antonio Paolo Pernigotti Università degli Studi di Milano Abstract: Since the Spring of 2012 a series of field campaigns were started aimed at measuring azimuths and, where possible, the horizon heights of the main Etruscan sacred structures. The results achieved in this work have led to the hypothesis that the orientation of Etruscan temples was determined by the movement of the sun, with a clear preference for the sky arc where the sun never rises or sets but where it goes through every day of the year, lighting up the front of the sacred structures for multiple hours a day. Starting from these results, this contribution will be focused on a more specific analysis of the collected data, concerning the distribution of the orientations, and on a comparison with the temples of the ancient Greek world. Finally, through an interdisciplinary approach that combines data from the archaeological, epigraphic and literary record to those of the orientation, it will try to reflect both on the reasons that may have determined the general distribution of the orientation of Etruscan temples, both on the motivations and factors that may have influenced the orientations of the individual structures. Keywords: Etruscan temples, Etruscan religion and architecture, Orientation and illumination. 17.1 Introduction

Fifteen are Etruscan (Veio, Cerveteri, Pyrgi, S. Marinella, Tarquinia, Vetralla, Vulci, Talamone, Orvieto, S. Lorenzo Nuovo, Roselle, Volterra, Pieve a Socana, Vicchio and Marzabotto), and one is Faliscan (Falerii Veteres), but geographically and culturally very akin to Etruria. These measurements were carried out using a precision compass and correcting the Earth’s magnetic field each time. With regard to the inaccessible structures, we used edited planimetries after comparing them to those provided by Google Earth.

This work is part of the CRC “Progetto Tarquinia”, directed by G. Bagnasco Gianni, and belongs to a research project initiated in collaboration with G. Magli of the Politecnico di Milano. It aims to explore possible correlations between astronomical aspects and the configuration of urban spaces and monuments in Tarquinia and in the Etruscan world in general (studies on various aspects of the topic constitute, at present, the results of the project: Bagnasco Gianni, Bortolotto, and Magli 2013; Bagnasco Gianni 2019; Pernigotti 2019a; Pernigotti 2019b; Pernigotti forthcoming).

The data obtained have been inserted in a chart (Table 17.1), that collects information, where possible, relating to the orientation of the structures, worshipped deities and foundation chronology. Then the azimuths have also been transferred to a circle to ascertain possible links to the sky (Fig. 17.1).

Since the Spring 2012, as part of this project, we have begun a series of field campaigns aimed at measuring azimuths and, where possible, the horizon heights of the main sacred structures in Etruria, in order to verify and, if necessary, update previous samples found in the works of different scholars (Enking 1957; Prayon 1991; Aveni and Romano 1994; Prayon 1997; Stevens 2009; Guarino 2011. A comparison between the measurements from the contributions of Prayon and Aveni - Romano and those taken in the present work can be found in Pernigotti 2019a, 8, Table 1.1).

The study of this sample, linked to what we know about Etruscan religion and sanctuaries, led us to a series of results that can be briefly summarized as follows. It was 1967; Stopponi 1985); Vetralla, Macchia delle Valli (Scapaticci 2010); Talamone, temple of Talamonaccio (von Vacano and von Freytag 1982); Orvieto, temple B at Campo della Fiera (Stopponi and Giacobbi 2017); S. Lorenzo Nuovo, Monte Landro (Maggiani 2017); Volterra, temple b and tempietto di Demetra (Bonamici, Rosselli and Taccola 2017); Pieve a Socana (Bocci Pacini and Zamarchi Grassi 1985); Vicchio, temple of Poggio Colla (Warden 2016); Marzabotto, temple of Uni (Govi 2017) and temple E (Lippolis 2001). Furthermore, the azimuths of some buildings have been slightly corrected thanks to the possibility of making new measurements with higher accuracy: Vulci, Sacellum of Hercules; Orvieto, temples A and C at Campo della Fiera; Marzabotto, temple of Tinia and temples A and C on the acropolis.

To the present day, we have analysed 40 structures that we could be certain were temples, in 16 different locations12. 12  Compared to the previous sample in Pernigotti 2019a, 9–11, Table 1.2, twelve structures were added: Cerveteri, Manganello (Bellelli, Mallardi and Tantillo 2018); S. Marinella, Punta della Vipera (Torelli

125

Antonio Paolo Pernigotti Table 17.1. Summary table about the orientation of Etruscan temples  

Worshiped deity

Foundation chronology

 

Azimuth1

Horizon height

Declination

96°

2°

–3.177°

244.5°

4.5°

–15.374°

217°

1.5°

–35.141°

Veio

1

Tuscanic temple (Portonaccio)

Hercle, Rath

500 BC

2

Sacellum of Menerva (Portonaccio)

Menerva

540–530 BC

3

Oikos (Piazza d’Armi)

Uni (?)

late VII cent. BC Cerveteri

  4

Vigna Parrochiale (Tuscanic temple)

Vei, Tinia

490–480 BC

317.5°

2.5°

36.114°

5

S.Antonio (temple A)

Hercle

490–480 BC

206.5°

\

\

6

S.Antonio (temple B)

Rath, Turms

490–480 BC

211.5°

\

\

7

Manganello

Uni (?)

early V cent. BC

157.5°

4.5°

–39.354°

8

Temple B

Uni/Astarte

510 BC

232°

0°

–27.221°

Pyrgi

  9

Temple A

Thesan

470 BC

234°

0°

–25.223°

10

Sacellum Alpha

Cavatha

350 BC

228°

0°

–29.811°

11

Sacellum Beta

Cavatha/Demetra, Suri

530 BC

228°

0°

–29.811°

12

Sacellum Gamma

Cavatha, Suri

450 BC

314°

1.5°

32.345°

209°

0°

–41.017

S. Marinella 13

Punta della Vipera

Menerva

540–520 BC Tarquinia

  14

Ara della Regina

Hercle (?)

570 BC

95°

0.5°

–3.219°

15

Edificio beta

Uni Χia

VII cent. BC

97°

1°

–4.344°

16

Macchia delle Valli

Demetra/Vei/Cerere

late III – early II cent. BC

193°

\

\

17

Tempio grande

Menerva

V cent. BC

190°

0°

–47.205°

18

Sacellum of Hercules

Hercle

II cent. BC

117.5°

0.5°

–19.751°

19

Fontanile di Legnisina

Uni

V cent. BC

214°

1°

–36.923°

20

Carraccio dell’Osteria

Demetra/Vei

V cent. BC

150°

6°

–34.602°

166°

0°

–46.186°

Vetralla Vulci

 

Talamone 21

second half of IV cent. BC

Temple of Talamonaccio

/

22

Belvedere temple

Tinia Calusna

early V cent. BC

137°

1°

–31.565°

23

Cannicella

Vei, Hercle/Fauno

late VI cent. BC

150°

1°

–38.773°

24

CdF temple A

Tlusχva, Vei, Fufluns

early IV cent. BC

105°

2.5°

–9.409°

25

CdF temple B

Tinia Voltumna

late VI cent. BC

95.5°

6.5°

0.306°

26

CdF temple C

Maternal Goddess (Ati)

late VI cent. BC

225°

8°

–24.924°

185.5°

0°

–47.609°

VI - V cent. BC

200°

5.5°

–38.217°

mid-VII cent. BC

92°

1°

–0.821°

Orvieto

 

S. Lorenzo Nuovo 27

Monte Landro

Hercle (?)

late V - early IV cent. BC Roselle

  28

Temple C

Aiser

29

Casa con recinto

Female Goddess

 

Volterra

30

Temple A

Papa/Apa, Χia

mid-II cent. BC

60°

\

\

31

Temple B

Papa/Apa, Xia

late III cent. BC

240°

0°

–21.725°

32

Temple of Demeter

Demetra (Ati)

mid-II cent. BC

150°

0°

–39.504°

126

Etruscan Temples and the Sun  

Worshiped deity

Foundation chronology

Azimuth1

Horizon height

Declination

107.5°

6.5°

–8.207°

152.5°

\

\

Pieve a Socana 33

Etruscan temple

\

first half of V cent. BC Vicchio

34

Temple of Poggio Colla

\

 

500–480 BC Marzabotto

35

Temple of Tinia

Tinia

early V cent. BC

177°

12°

–33.768°

36

Temple of Uni

Uni

late VI cent. BC

177°

12°

–33.568°

37

Temple A (acropolis)

\

late VI cent. BC

176°

\

\

38

Temple C (acropolis)

\

late VI cent. BC

176°

9°

–36.403°

39

Temple E (acropolis)

\

late VI cent. BC

70°

\

\

154°

\

\

  40

Falerii Veteres Celle

Juno Curitis

V cent. BC

  The azimuths measured using edited plans after comparing them to those provided by Google Earth are: 7, 13, 21, 24–26, 27, 30–32, 33, 34, 35–39, 40.

1

Figure 17.1. Azimuths of Etruscan temples (illustration of the Author).

127

Antonio Paolo Pernigotti the South Area of Pyrgi, see Colonna 2000; Belelli Marchesini 2013), so as to align these two structures with the portion of the sky where the sun never passes, in a way diametrically opposed to the standard orientation of other temples (on the Etruscan temples facing north, see Pernigotti forthcoming). These temples would therefore constitute an exception which would, however, confirm the rule: in contrast to the facades of the majority of temples, facing the motion of the sun during daylight hours, these two buildings would, in fact, be aligned towards the part of the sky where, from a geocentric point of view, the sun is engaged in its nocturnal journey through the regions of the underworld, in agreement with the cults of catachthonic nature present within the two sacred areas. The group of temples aligned following a similar framework would thus increase to 30, constituting 75 per cent of the sample.

observed that most of the temples studied (26 out of 40) were oriented along the southern sky arc that extends between the points where the sun rises and sets at the winter solstice (the values of the solstices at the latitudes of Etruria are: 57° for sunrise at the summer solstice; 123° for sunrise at the winter solstice; 237° for sunset at the winter solstice; 303° for sunset at the summer solstice). This means that Etruscan temples were not oriented towards sunrise during a particular day of the calendar, as is true for the majority of contemporary sacred structures in the Greek world (Boutsikas 2009), but so that their frontal faces were touched by the sun every day for multiple hours a day. On the contrary, the interiors of these structures were never lit by sunlight. Three groups were an exception to this rule: • a group of ten temples oriented towards the east (1, 14, 15, 18, 24, 25, 29, 30, 33 and 39), or more precisely along the eastern sky arc that extends between the sunrise points at the solstices. This means that their front faces were aligned with the sunrise for two days each year; • a group of two temples oriented towards the northwest (4 and 12), along the northern sky arc that extends between the points of sunset and sunrise at the summer solstice. This means that their front faces were never touched by sunlight; • finally, a group of two temples whose orientation towards sunset at the winter solstice was off the main range by a few degrees (2 and 31).

Only the ten sacred structures with eastern orientation ranging between the sunrise points at the solstices do not seem to follow this pattern (25 per cent of the sample), suggesting a rule of orientation different from the other temples, with the facades of these buildings aligned towards the sunrise on two days of the year (on the Etruscan temples facing east, see Pernigotti forthcoming). These observations on Etruscan temples become even more significant when compared to the orientation of sacred buildings in the ancient Greek world (Boutsikas 2009, with previous bibliography), in particular with the temples of the Greek cities of Sicily and Magna Graecia (on the orientation of Greek temples of Sicily and Magna Graecia, see Aveni and Romano 2000; Salt 2009). During the last twenty years, many new works have been carried out on the topic of the orientation of Greek temples. In particular, these studies have shown that different factors, not only astronomical (for example, a role of local topography has been suggested for the sacred buildings of the Valley of the Temples at Akragas and for those of Selinunte, see Hannah, Magli and Orlando 2016; Hannah, Magli and Orlando 2017), have influenced the arrangement and orientation of Greek temples, both in the motherland and in the colonies of Sicily and Magna Graecia.

17.2 A critical analysis of the sample and a comparison with ancient Greek temples Though the sample size is too small to conduct statistical analysis, it is nonetheless possible to draw some conclusions from the data. As previously noted, the majority of the temples (26 out of 40) face the southern sky arc between the rising and setting points of the sun at the winter solstice. This constitutes 65 per cent of the structures analysed: a significant percentage, which seems to bring out a clear preference of the Etruscans to orient their sacred buildings towards this part of the sky. This percentage may further increase if one also adds the small set of two buildings aligned just north of the point of the sunset at the winter solstice. Actually, although the azimuth of these two buildings is outside the main orientation range, with their front aligned with the sunset for two days each year, their facades will have been directly illuminated by sunlight almost every day of the year in a very similar way to that of most Etruscan temples. In this way, the number of structures would increase to 28.

Worthy of note, however, particularly for a comparison with the Etruscan world, is that they are mostly oriented towards the east, along the arc of the sky where the sun rises. Therefore, only the ten Etruscan temples aligned towards sunrise have an orientation very similar to that of most Greek temples. On the contrary, the comparison between the orientation of ancient Greek temples and all the other Etruscan sacred buildings seems to reveal the peculiar character of the Etruscan tradition for orienting temples.

As for the two buildings aligned towards the opposite arc of the sky between the points of sunset and sunrise at the summer solstice, the northern orientation of these temples could be explained by the catachthonic nature of the cults present both at Vigna Parrocchiale and in the South Area of Pyrgi (on the sacred area of Vigna Parrochiale at Cerveteri, see Bellelli 2008. On the sanctuary of

17.3 Concluding remarks In light of these observations, I believe that it is possible to assert that the orientation of Etruscan temples can be framed within the division of the sky according to the solstitial axes and consequently connected to the course 128

Etruscan Temples and the Sun

Figure 17.2. Model of reconstruction of a Tuscanic temple according to Vitruvius (de arch. IV 7, 1–5). After Colonna 1985, 63, 3.1.

of the sun. Within this division, it is possible to point out that the majority of Etruscan sacred buildings present a prevalent, but not exclusive, alignment of their frontage with the southern half of the sky and, in particular, with the sky arc that extends between the points where the sun rises and sets at the winter solstice.

Starting from this strong frontality and in accordance with Vitruvius, who stated that the orientation of a structure must allow the best lighting for its function and use (de arch. I 1, 4; I 2, 7), the choice of orienting the temples towards the arc of the sky that sees the sun pass every day for several hours a day could therefore depend on the practical will to illuminate the front part of the temple. An area that, together with that of the altar (not by chance often placed in front of the temple), could constitute the likely seat of some of the rituals and cults that took place in honour of the divinity (on the possibility to see this area as a stage for priestly performance, see Warden 2012).

Therefore, the questions to ask now are what could have been the factors that influenced the disposition of the Etruscan temples towards this determined part of the sky and, within this distribution, what could have been the guidelines for the individual orientations? As regards the first question, we can certainly note that all Etruscan temples have a strong frontality (Figs. 17.2– 17.3), underlined both by the access stairway to the podium, present only on the front side, and by a pars antica (the front of the building) clearly differentiated from the pars postica (the rear of the building). Between these two, only the pars antica appears to be open to the outside, usually through a pronaos formed by one or more rows of columns, whereas the pars postica is completely enclosed by the walls of the cella (or cells) and is designed to contain the statue of the deity, which therefore remained in a condition of semi-darkness, accessible only through the entrance door placed, once again, on the front side and in alignment with the axis of the temple (on the general characteristics of Etruscan temples, see Colonna 1985, 53, 60–61; Izzet 2000; Comella 2005; Colonna 2006; Bonghi Jovino 2012; Potts 2015).

In this regard, it can also be pointed out the importance of the south and of the diurnal motion of the sun within the etrusca disciplina, in particular for the orientation of priests during divination practices (Maggiani 1984,

Figure 17.3. Reconstructive model of temple A at Pyrgi. After Rasenna 1986, fig. 342.

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Antonio Paolo Pernigotti 86; Idem 2005; Idem 2009, 229–230; Pernigotti 2019b, 189–195). It is therefore not without foundation to suggest that the choice of aligning the pars antica of the temples towards the southern arc of the sky, which sees the passage of the sun every day for most daylight hours, could also be related to the possibility of performing this type of divinatory rituals.

Pernigotti 2019a. On the text of Marziano Capella’s De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii and on the cosmic system of the Etruscans, see Weinstock 1946; on the attempt to join the data coming from the Piacenza Liver with those obtained from literary sources, see Grenier 1946; Pallottino 1956; van der Meer 1979; Maggiani 1984; van der Meer 1987. In a recently published paper (Pernigotti 2019b) I discussed and analysed these theories, coming to propose two different division systems of the celestial space for the Etruscan world: the first, based on the cardinal axes, is linked to the observation and interpretation of lightning; the second, based on the solstitial axes, is linked to the celestial dwellings of the deities).

As far as the individual orientations, it has already been noted that a link between the azimuth of the temples and the associated deities could exist (Pernigotti 2019a, 12–13). In fact, it can be observed that: • three of the temples dedicated to Uni (3, 8 and 19) have a very similar orientation, between 214° and 232°; • the temples of Carraccio dell’Osteria at Vulci (20), Cannicella at Orvieto (23) and Demeter on the acropolis of Volterra (32), all dedicated to Vei, have the same orientation of 150° (even the temple of the sacred area of Manganello at Cerveteri could perhaps be added to these three sacred buildings. In fact it has a slightly different azimuth (157.5°) but the same declination of the temples of Orvieto – Cannicella and Volterra Demetra. In addition, the cult in the sacred area of Manganello has been recently connected to a couple of female deities, one of which has been identified with Uni (Bellelli, Mallardi and Tantillo 2018), a goddess associated with Vei in several Etruscan sanctuaries and strongly connected with her in Etruscan religion due to the chthonic aspect of their cults, see Bagnasco Gianni 2019, 23–24); • the Tuscanic temple of Portonaccio at Veio (1) and the two sacred buildings at Tarquinia (14-Ara della Regina and 15-edificio beta), with identical orientations of 95°-97°, show a strong link to Hercle. However, also the Sacellum of Hercules at Vulci (18), with a similar orientation of 117.5°, show this link. Finally, the same connection with Hercle is attested both in temple A of Sant’Antonio at Cerveteri (5), with an orientation (206.5°) perpendicular to the one of the sacellum at Vulci, and in the temple of Monte Landro at S. Lorenzo Nuovo (27), that has an azimuth (185.5°) perpendicular to those of Tarquinia and Portonaccio (in light of this, for the study of the individual orientations of the temples it might be productive to analyse the distribution of the declinations corresponding to all the four directions in each building); • the case of the temples dedicated to Menerva and Tinia is more complicated because they have different orientations, but the former are always turned towards south-west, while the latter are usually turned towards south-east.

Consequently, the next step is to try to understand the reasons for this possible link between temple orientation and deities and, more generally, to try to find explanations for the individual orientations. I believe that, in order to do this, a contextual analysis of the individual sites is necessary, in line with what has recently been proposed also for the Greek world (Boutsikas 2009; for the Etruscan world and the case of the Ara della Regina at Tarquinia, see Bagnasco Gianni, Bortolotto and Magli 2013; Bagnasco Gianni forthcoming). A study that synthesizes the data of the orientation oF the temples with the fundamental ones of the archaeological, epigraphic and literary record, related not only to the sacred building but also to the space that surrounded it, with its rites, cults and myths, as well as with its topographical, urbanistic and geographical aspects. References Aveni A. and G. Romano. 1994. “Orientation and Etruscan ritual”, Antiquity 68: 545–563. Aveni A. and G. Romano. 2000. “Temple Orientations in Magna Graecia and Sicily”, Journal for the History of Astronomy 31: 51–57. Bagnasco Gianni G. 2019. “Notes on Etruscan Cosmology: The Case of the Tumulus of the Crosses at Cerveteri”, in G. Magli, A. C. Gonzalez-García, E. Antonello, J. A. Belmonte (eds.), Archaeoastronomy in the Roman World, Cham: 17–32. Bagnasco Gianni G. forthcoming, “Geographic and Geometric Connections: The ‘monumental complex’ and the Ara della Regina sanctuary at Tarquinia”, in C. R. Potts (ed.), Building Connections Etrusco-Italic Architecture in its Mediterranean Setting, BerlinBoston: forthcoming. Bagnasco Gianni G., S. Bortolotto and G. Magli. 2013. “Astronomy and Etruscan Ritual: The Case of the Ara della Regina in Tarquinia”. Nexus Network Journal 15 (3): 1–23.

Instead, it seems more complicated to find a connection between the alignments and the celestial dwellings of the deities as we know them through the data offered by the Piacenza Liver and by the words of Marziano Capella (I 41–61; a link between temple orientation and the celestial dwellings of the deities is suggested in Enking 1957 and Prayon 1991; I discussed the theories of these scholars in

Belelli Marchesini B. 2013. “Le linee di sviluppo topografico del santuario meridionale”, in M. P. Baglione and M. D. Gentili (eds.), Riflessioni su Pyrgi. Scavi e Ricerche nelle Aree del Santuario, Roma: 11–40. 130

Etruscan Temples and the Sun Bellelli V. 2008. “Per una storia del santuario della Vigna Parrocchiale a Cerveteri”, in X. Dupré Raventós, S. Ribichini, and S. Verger (eds.), Saturnia Tellus: Definizioni dello Spazio Consacrato in Ambiente Erusco, Italico, Fenicio-Punico, Iberico e Celtico, Roma: 319–333.

Izzet V. 2000. “Tuscan order: the development of Etruscan sanctuary architecture”, in E. Bispham and C. Smith (eds.), Religion in Archaic and Republican Rome and Italy. Evidence and Experience, Edimburgh: 34–53. Lippolis E. 2001. “Nuovi dati sull’acropoli e sulla forma urbana”, in D. Vitali, A. M. Brizzolara and E. Lippolis, L’acropoli della città etrusca di Marzabotto, BolognaImola: 197–270.

Bellelli V., D. Mallardi and I. Tantillo. 2018. “Cerveteri, area sacra del Manganello: l’organizzazione degli spazi, l’architettura, gli arredi di culto”, AnnFaina 25: 199–243.

Maggiani A. 1984. “Qualche osservazione sul fegato di Piacenza”. StEtr 50: 53–88.

Bocci Pacini P. and P. Zamarchi Grassi. 1985. “9.3 Pieve a Socana”, in G. Colonna (ed.), Santuari d’Etruria, Milano: 164–167.

Maggiani A. 2005. “Divination. La divinazione in Etruria”. ThesCRA 3: 52–78. Maggiani A. 2009. “Deorum sedes: divinazione etrusca o dottrina augurale romana?” AnnFaina 16: 221–237.

Bonamici M., L. Rosselli and E. Taccola. 2017. “Il santuario dell’acropoli di Volterra, in La città etrusca e il sacro”. Santuari e istituzioni politiche, Bologna: 51–74.

Maggiani A. 2017. “Il sacro in Etruria: dentro e fuori la città”, in La città etrusca e il sacro. Santuari e istituzioni politiche, Bologna: 75–96.

Bonghi Jovino M. 2012. “Appunti sui templi arcaici”, in M. Bonghi Jovino and G. Bagnasco Gianni (eds.), Tarquinia. Il santuario dell’ara della regina. I templi arcaici (Tarchna, IV), Roma: 55–67.

Pallottino M. 1956. “Deorum sedes”, in Studi in Onore di Aristide Calderini e Roberto Paribeni 3, Milano: 223–234.

Boutsikas E. 2009. “Placing Greek temples: an archaeoastronomical study of the orientation of ancient Greek religious structures”. Archaeoastronomy: the Journal of Astronomy in Culture 21: 4–19.

Pernigotti A. P. 2019a. “A Contribution to the Study of the Orientation of Etruscan Temples”, in G. Magli, A. C. Gonzalez-García, E. Antonello and J. A. Belmonte (eds.), Archaeoastronomy in the Roman World, Cham: 3–15.

Colonna G. (ed.) 1985. Santuari d’Etruria, Milano.

Pernigotti A. P. 2019b. “Moto diurno e moto annuo: riflessioni sul sistema cosmico degli Etruschi”. StEtr 81: 183–199.

Colonna G. 2000. “Il santuario di Pyrgi dalle origini mitistoriche agli altorilievi frontonali dei Sette e di Leucotea”, ScAnt 10: 251‒336.

Pernigotti A. P. forthcoming. “Luci e ombre: orientamento e illuminazione naturale nei templi etruschi”. In P. Bruschetti, L. Donati and V. Mascelli (eds.), Luci dalle tenebre: i lumi nel mondo etrusco, forthcoming.

Colonna G. 2006. “Sacred architecture and the religion of the Etruscans”, in N. T. de Grummond and E. Simon (eds.), The religion of the Etruscans, Austin: 132–168. Comella A. 2005. “Aedes (Etruria)”. ThesCRA 4: 139– 142.

Potts C. R. 2015. Religious architecture in Latium and Etruria, c. 900 - 500 B.C., Oxford.

Enking R. 1957. “Zur Orientierung der etruskischen Tempel”. StEtr 25: 541‒544.

Prayon F. 1991. “Deorum Sedes. Sull’orientamento dei templi etrusco-italici”. ArchCl 43: 1285–1295.

Govi E. 2017. “La dimensione del sacro nella città di Kainua-Marzabotto”, in La città etrusca e il sacro. Santuari e istituzioni politiche, Bologna: 145–179.

Prayon F. 1997. “Sur l’orientation des édifices cultuels”, in F. Gaultier and D. Briquel (eds.), Les plus religieux des hommes. Etat de la recherche sur la reigion étrusque, Paris: 357–371.

Grenier A. 1946. “L’orientation du foie de Plaisance”. Latomus 5: 293‒298.

Rasenna 1986. G. Pugliese Carratelli (ed.), Rasenna. Storia e civiltà degli Etruschi, Milano.

Guarino A. 2011. “Croce, crux interpretum. Alcune note sulla croce celeste etrusca, sull’orientamento di templi etrusco-italici e sul “fegato di Piacenza”. In Munuscula. Omaggio degli allievi napoletani a Mauro Cristofani, Pozzuoli: 183–235.

Salt A. M. 2009. “The Astronomical Orientation of Ancient Greek Temples”. PLoS ONE 4 (11): 1–5. Scapaticci M. G. 2010. “Vetralla. Un santuario a “Macchia delle Valli””, in P. A. Gianfrotta and A. M. Moretti (eds.), Archeologia nella Tuscia. Atti dell’Incontro di studio (Viterbo, 2 marzo 2007), Viterbo: 101–136.

Hannah R., G. Magli and A. Orlando 2016. “The role of urban topography in the orientation of Greek temples: the cases of Akragas and Selinunte”. Mediterranean archaeology and archaeometry 16 (4): 213–217.

Stevens N. L. C. 2009. “A New Reconstruction of the Etruscan Heaven”. AJA 113 (2): 153–164.

Hannah R., G. Magli and A. Orlando 2017. “Astronomy, topography and landscape at Akragas’ Valley of the Temples”. Journal of Cultural Heritage 25: 1–9.

Stopponi S. 1985. “Il santuario di Punta della Vipera”, in G. Colonna (ed.), Santuari d’Etruria, Milano: 149–150. 131

Antonio Paolo Pernigotti Stopponi S. and A. Giacobbi 2017. “Orvieto, Campo della Fiera: forme del sacro nel “luogo celeste””, in La città etrusca e il sacro. Santuari e istituzioni politiche, Bologna: 121–144. Torelli M. 1967. “Terza campagna di scavi a Punta della Vipera (S. Marinella)”. StEtr 35: 331–353. van der Meer L. B. 1979. “Iecur Placentinum and the Orientation of the Etruscan Haruspex”. BABesch 54: 49–58. van der Meer L. B. 1987. The Bronze Liver of Piacenza. Amsterdam. von Vacano O. W. and B. von Freytag (eds.) 1982. Talamone. Il mito dei Sette a Tebe. Roma. Warden P. G. 2012. “Monumental Embodiment: Somatic Symbolism and the Tuscan Temple”, in M. L. Thomas and G. Meyers (eds.) Monumentality in Etruscan and Early Roman Architecture: Ideology and Innovation, Austin: 82–110. Warden P. G. 2016. “The Vicchio Stele and Its Context”. Etruscan Studies 19 (2): 208–219. Weinstock S. 1946. “Martianus Capella and the Cosmic System of the Etruscans”. JRS 36: 101–129.

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18 Harmony of Light and Geometry in Medieval Cistercian Churches in Italy and Switzerland from the 12th-13th Centuries Eva Spinazzè University Ca’ Foscari Venice, IUAV Venice, University of Zurich Abstract: The objective of this transdisciplinary research is to investigate the orientation of ten Cistercian complexes, mostly from the first half of the 12th century, situated on flat land (five in Italy) and in mountainous terrain (five in Switzerland). The primary aim is to reconstruct the architectural grammar of medieval Cistercian churches and to identify any orientation patterns consistent with a tradition of observing the Sun (as Christ) or Moon (as Virgin Mary) in the Medieval Ages. An additional goal is to determine if these patterns are repeated in Cistercian churches beyond the Alps in mountainous settings. The results obtained were compared to the data of the over 220 medieval churches studied by the author. For each sacred building an accurate georeferenced survey was carried out during fieldwork, the information crosschecked with primary and secondary written sources, archaeological evidence, astronomical calculations, as well as local topography. Comparative analyses were performed to get a complete understanding of the disposition of the sacred building. In all ten cases, redundant lunisolar alignments patterns were found in the church axes. Where the original building exists, still light strikes a distinct architectural element (e.g. apse, altar or choir) on a particular feast day of the Christian liturgical calendar (according to the Julian Calendar), e.g.: the four principal Marian feasts celebrated during the Middle Ages: Annunciation of the Incarnation (March 25th); Assumption (August 15th); Nativity (September 8th); and Purification (February 2nd). The results are consistent with the data published by the author for sacred buildings dating from the Early Christian through the Middle Ages; thus, demonstrating the existence of an astro-architectural tradition within the Cistercian Order. Keywords: Medieval Cistercian churches, orientation, Pythagorean Triple, light incidence, Italy, Switzerland. 18.1 Methodology

primary and secondary written sources and archaeological evidence. The author’s transdisciplinary methodology also included the local topography and road/riverine network, which could have influenced the choice of the location and orientation of the sacred building. Next, for each examined building the local horizon altitude was measured seen from the apse, the façade and some original windows. By astronomical calculation we obtained the declination for the mathematical horizon (without obstacles, e.g., buildings or trees) and the declination for the local horizon. This comparison strengthens the results that the local horizon was observed by medieval Cistercian builders. To get an immediate and precise view of the layout of the building we graphically rendered the geographical and metric land surveys both as a floor plan and as a longitudinal section of each sacred building (Figs. 18.1–18.3). Where possible, the solar alignments have been documented by photographing the actual path of the light in the interior of the church on the predicted days.

Ten medieval Cistercian complexes were analysed regarding their orientation, proportions and light incidence (Table 18.1). Five of them are situated in a mountainous setting in Switzerland, i.e.: the Abbeys of Bonmont, Hauterive, Frienisberg, Kappel am Albis and Wettingen. The remaining five are located in a flat environment in Northern Italy, i.e.: the Abbeys of Cerreto, Morimondo, Alseno, Chiaravalle Milanese and Follina13. For each monastic Cistercian church an accurate georeferenced ground survey with theodolite and GPS was carried out, azimuths and astro-target declinations calculated14. The survey results were correlated with 13  Today, the Cistercian church of Bonmont is no longer used for worship, and Frienisberg was rebuilt and converted into a nursing home in the last century. Kappel is now a cantonal reformed church with a seminar center. Wettingen, Cerreto, Morimondo and Follina no longer host the Cistercian monastic community, but now serve as Roman Catholic parish churches. However, the abbeys of Hauterive, Alseno and Chiaravalle Milanese continue as Cistercian monasteries. 14  Theodolite Geodimeter ‘System 500’; GPS Garmin ‘GPSMAP 62’.

In a successive step, the results of the ten Cistercian churches were compared with both among themselves and with respect to the data of the over 220 medieval churches 133

Eva Spinazzè studied in the last 12 years by the author by applying the same method. The Cistercian churches turned out to show the same astro-calendric orientation principle met in her previous studies (Spinazzè 2009, 2010, 2015, 2018a, b).

Spinazzè 2009, 2010, 2015, 2018a,b. González-Carcía, Belmonte 2015. Brady, Gunzburg, and Silva 2016). The treatise De Astronomia libri decem of the astronomer Guido Bonatti of Forlì (Guido Bonatus de Forlivio) dating back to 1276 adds more information on this subject. His work highlights the custom of deliberate astro-orientation of sacred buildings. Bonatti delineates that secular buildings, castles and sacral constructions should be built by considering the observation of the position of the planets and the constellations in the sky to confer to those buildings: solidity, fortune and dignity. Bonatti was a scholar of astronomy and of other sciences such as medicine. In his fundamental treatise, he commemorates how the science of the stars is as ancient as humanity, already practiced by the Chaldeans and the Babylonians, and transmitted to Italy by the Greeks. The stars were interrogated at crucial moments in the life of the community: before starting a battle, before the departure of a prince for a long journey or on the occasion of the reception of foreign ambassadors and even before laying the foundation stone for important buildings. Every prince, every leader, every republic and even the pontiff had one or more astrologers at their service. One of the most interesting parts in his treatise is the book about Elections, in which he provides the reader with precise instructions to choose properly the place where a city, a castle, a fortress or a church must be built (Bonatus 1506, 200–201. Dykes 2010. Spinazzè 2014)15. He tells to observe the position of the planets and to distinguish favorable planets from less favorable. He differentiates and indicates various possibilities of orienting a profane construction of a city and a sacred building. A profane building should be orientated toward the Ascendant16, i.e. towards the rising constellation at the time chosen for the construction, or towards its Lord17, which indicates the Governor of that nascent sign, but also towards the Moon or to the Moon’s Lord. If these suggestions could not be followed, then the buildings should be oriented towards the Exaltation18 of the Ascendant which increases the qualities and characteristics of that sign (Bonatus 1506, 200–201).

Once more it is stressed that measurements based on topographic maps and aerial photos are of lower precision than ground survey. These should only be used as a preparatory step and never be considered as definitive. Also, horizon altitudes derived from publicly available Digital Elevation Models (e.g. Google Earth) are less precise than those measured from ground survey. Moreover, architectural ground plans are rarely georeferenced, typically indicating True North only approximately. Sometimes, the walls are drawn parallel and perpendicular to each other, which is often not the case in medieval times. Furthermore, the author in her research does not focus on a single church, nor does she select a certain part of the sacred buildings or limit herself to a small geographical area. Otherwise, the results could be interpreted as a coincidence. Instead, in this way, the likelihood that a certain sacred building is orientated randomly in space can be lowered significantly. 18.2 Religion, liturgy and ritual In the Constitutiones Apostolorum (II.57.3), dating to the 4th/5th century, does one read: “Segregetur presbyteris locus in parte domus ad orientem versa”. Furthermore, in their numerous essays, the Early Christian Doctors of the Church (Tertullianus, Ad versus Valentinianos, I.2.3.1; Clemens Alexandrinus, Stromati, VII.7.43.6–7; Paulinus Nolanus, Epistolae, 32.13; Sidonius Apollinaris, Epistolae, II.10.4) and medieval theologians (Ioannes Belethus, Rationale divinorum officiorum, caput II; Guillaume Durand de Mende, Rationale divinorum officiorum, I, caput I,8) recommended that for the erection of a sacred building the so-called sacred line had to be respected. The sacred line is ideally the equinoctial line or more generally a line to the East, to emphasize the advent of Jesus Christ, born and risen in the East. Belethus (12th century) and Durand de Mende (13th century) in their above-mentioned treatises further recommended not to align churches to the solstices, as do certain: “quoque necessarium est ut aedificetur versus orientem, hoc est versus solis ortum aequinoctialem; nec vero contra aestivale solstitium, ut nonnulli et volunt et faciunt” (Belethus 1559, cap. II, De loco 5); “Debet quoque sic fundari (ecclesia) ut caput recte inspiciat versus orientem... videlicet versus ortum solis aequinoctialem... et non versus solstitialem, ut faciunt quidam” (Durandi 1672, I., cap. I.8. Spinazzè 2009, 2015). This affirmation also proves that other points on the horizon were observed. These are the only indications found so far for an orientation of holy buildings until the end of the 12th century. Written sources about the orientation on significant dates connected with Mary, Jesus Christ (Christmas and Easter) or a patron saint’s day are missing. However, we can find such orientations in numerous alignments of Early Christian and medieval churches (Romano 1995. Liritzis and Vassiliou 2006.

For sacred buildings the astronomer makes a distinction between the simple ones and the solemn ones. A simple sacred building that is not very sumptuous, should be aligned with the Ascendant and its Lord, or with the Moon and the Moon’s Lord, but also with the ‘ninth house’ (DeusSol) and its Lord. If instead it is a solemn sacred building, then it should be oriented with the Ascendant and to its 15  Recently the treatise by Bonatti, divided into ten books, was translated in English, based on the editions of 1491 and 1550, without a transcription, by Benjamin Dykes (DYKES 2010). Furthermore, the two chapters 4 (On the building of houses) and 5 (On the building of churches) in the book Elections (Bonatus 1506) have been transcribed, translated in Italian with a comprehensive interpretation of the text (Spinazzè 2014, 2015). 16  The Ascendant is the constellation or planets that arise on the ecliptic line at the time someone is born or when a certain event occurs. 17  The Lord, also called Governor, is one of the seven planets of antiquity and each one dominates one or two zodiac signs, one or two constellations. 18  Exaltation is the highest degree of strength and influence that is linked to each planet. Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, I.20.72–77.

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Harmony of Light and Geometry in medieval Cistercian churches in Italy and Switzerland Lord, or to the Lord of the Exaltation of the Ascendant, above all by observing the Moon and the Moon’s Lord and thus considering the ‘tenth house’ (Medium Caelum) instead of the ‘ninth house’19. Therefore, the main difference between the two types of sacred buildings lies in the choice of the house that can be ‘the ninth’, which emphasizes religion or ‘the tenth’ which highlights the honors and the arts.

archbishopric of Pisa, San Vitale in Ravenna and many other churches of the friars minor of Bologna, the bell tower of Forlì, the baptistery of Florence and the like, that move away from the moderation of the religion, you will not consider them as spiritual buildings, but as for temporal ones. Therefore, you will adapt (for these sacred buildings) the Ascendant and its Lord, and the Lord of the Exaltation of the Ascendant, especially the Moon and the Moon’s Lord and similarly to the tenth (house) instead of the ninth (and its Lord). (See for further information: Dykes 2010, 723. Spinazzè 2014).

Among other sacred buildings, Bonatti mentions in his treatise the big Cistercian monastery of Chiaravalle. There are two known Cistercian buildings with the name of Chiaravalle, both dating back also to the same historical period (1st half of the 12th century): Santa Maria di Chiaravalle Milanese on the peripheries of Milan and Santa Maria a Chiaravalle della Colomba in Alseno in the province of Piacenza. Therefore, the orientation of these two churches cannot be accidental but a deliberate choice. (Spinazzè 2015, 252–276, drawings n. 19–21, 38).

18.3 Orientation and light incidence The present study on medieval Cistercian churches in Switzerland and Italy20 confirms the existence of a tradition to orient a sacred building with the rising or setting of a celestial body (the Sun or Moon) on a day of religious significance. This tradition was observed beyond the Alps in mountainous settings as well as in flatland.

Capitulum 5 in edificando ecclesiae.

The author analysed, this time, monuments of the same building type, namely the Cistercian complexes ad quadratum (Villard de Honnecourt 1858, PL XXVII. Lund 1921. Hiscock 2007). This allowed to detect and compare a uniformity of ideas of the builders and to see if the supposed tradition was common also beyond the Alps. The study was extended with an analysis of the light inside some of the churches, when it went to strike liturgically significant architectural elements: the altar, apse, choir or major axis of the church.

Si autem fuerit edificium religionis considerabis super eo dupliciter. Nam si fuerit edificium humile nec multus preciosum ut sunt ecclesie comunes: heremitoriae parvae ut ordinis sancti augustini fratris canniboni et abbaciae similes heremitis et plebes et capellae et monasteria et similia quae non sint magnae famae aptabis in talibus ascendens et eius dominum, similiter et lunam et eius dominum 9 et eius dominum. Si autem fuerit aedificium nominatum vel pomposum ut sunt magna monasteria sicut sunt clarevalentia sicut est ecclesia sancti marci venetijs archiepiscopatus pisarum, sanctus vitalis ravennae et plures aliae ecclesiae fratrum minorum bononie campanile forliuij baptisterium florentie et similia excedentia modum religionis non eligas eis tanque aedificijs spiritualibus sed tanque temporalibus. Unde aptabis in eis ascendens et eius dominum et dominum exaltationis ascendentis precipue lunam et eius dominum similiter et 10 loco noni (Bonatus 1506, 201).

A group containing the same orientation principle for the church major axis was identified: medieval Cistercian churches with alignments on the rising or setting Sun on one of the four Marian feast days celebrated during the Middle Ages: the Annunciation (March 25th), Purification (February 2nd), Assumption (August 15th) and Nativity (September 8th). In one case (Bonmont) the church was aligned on the rising Moon in the presumed year of its foundation when the corner stone was first laid (see below). Furthermore, the study of the light incidence inside the churches showed the same orientation principle, confirming the strong symbolic role of the Sun and Moon in medieval Christian architecture.

Chapter 5: on the building of churches. If it were then a building of religious purpose, you will make your assessments about it in two different ways. If it is to be a simple building that is not as expensive as the common churches, disused hermit churches (as those of brother Zaniboni of the order of Saint Augustine) and abbeys like those of hermits and parish churches and chapels, and monasteries and similar buildings that are not of great importance, in such cases you will adapt the Ascendant and its Lord, likewise the Moon and the Moon’s Lord and the ninth house and its Lord. If it were a renowned building or as solemn as the great monasteries such as Chiaravalle or as is the church of San Marco in Venice, the

In nine of ten churches investigated, the Cistercians chose virgin land for their buildings. In only one case (Follina) the Cistercians took over a Benedictine church and rebuilt it. In any case, the Cistercians (white monks and nuns) are a branch of the Benedictines (black monks and nuns). The Cistercians Order, founded by Robert of Molesme in 1098, more closely follows the Rule of Saint Benedict (6th century) with the aim to return to his strict observance (Lekai 1957. Duby 1976). In eight of ten cases (except Lodi, Bonmont) the cloister still exists (mostly rebuilt on the site of the previous one) and these, as we can note

19  The ninth house is linked to long journeys, to religion, to higher things; the tenth house is linked to honors, to the arts, to characters and to the conduct of life.

20  On archaeoastronomical studies related to Cistercian churches in Italy, see Incerti 1999, 2001; Spinazzè 2015.

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Eva Spinazzè in most of the Benedictine and Cistercian churches, are collocated on the south of the church to be protected from bad weather coming from the north21.

transept. The Swiss Cistercian churches taken in consideration are smaller with a length of about 49 meters containing only five to six bays and a width of circa 17 meters with two chapels on each side of the transept. In addition, the form of the windows is different: in Switzerland the windows show the typical Gothic pointed arch, however in Italy we can still see in most cases the original openings with rose on the façade and three long windows on the apse highlighting the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.

The ground plans from Cistercian churches are typical Cistercian layouts ad quadratum underlining the Bernardinischer Stil (Eydoux 1953. Bucher 1972). Symbolism is deeply anchored in Cistercian sacred architecture in the form of a square that represents the holy city, the new Jerusalem with equal length, width and height (Apocalypse of John 21.16), and with which shape the Cistercians make up the house of God in width, length, height and depth (Epistle to the Ephesians 3.18). Saint Bernard explains and gives a mystical interpretation in his work De Consideratione (V.13), that God is precisely length, width, height, depth, because length symbolizes His eternity (aeternitas), width His charity (charitas), height His majesty (sublime potentiae) and depth His wisdom (sapientiae). He made all things by measure; therefore, He is immeasurable: “Et illa una res est longitudo propter aeternitatem, latitudo propter charitatem, sublimitas propter majestatem, profunditas propter sapientiam” (St. Bernard 1908, 163–166).

All lunisolar alignments of the ten Cistercian churches presented below in Table 18.1 are consistent with the orientation pattern found in the author’s previous research: the Abbey of Bonmont was aligned on the local horizon with the rising full Moon on the Midsummer Major lunistice of AD 1131, i.e., the year history records for the church’s construction (Bucher 1957, 20–23). Kappel am Albis, like its mother house Hauterive, was oriented with the sunrise on two feast days of Mary: Annunciation (March 25th) and when the Sun returned to the same point on the local horizon on its annual course on the Nativity (September 8th). The same dates and solar targets are repeated at the Cistercian churches of Wettingen, Cerreto and Morimondo. On the other hand, the Cistercian churches of Alseno22 and Frienisberg were approximately oriented to the sunrise and Chiaravalle Milanese toward the sunset on another of the four Marian feast days, the Assumption (August 15th). Intentionality of calendric orientation to the sunrise on a Marian feast day of the Frienisberg church is supported by its medieval Latin name of Aurora (Dawn); as is the Wettingen church to the sunset by its original name of Marisstella, which term refers to an ancient vespers hymn to Mary Ave Maris Stella (9th century), sung on the Feast of the Annunciation to Mary (March 25th) (Lipphardt 1978, 565) to which the church is exactly aligned. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (first half of the 12th century) dedicated also a hymn called Maris stella to the Virgin where in one line is expressed explicitly that one should pray to the star to invoke Mary: “respice stellam, voca Mariam” (Bernardo di Chiaravalle 1991, 88). Thus, Mary was perceived as the guiding star showing the way to Christ. Furthermore, Follina, which was originally a Benedictine church, was oriented to the sunrise on the summer solstice (Romano 1992, 52. Spinazzè 2009, 250–259, 398–401, drawings 3a,b,c) symbolizing the magnificence of Christ and with the sunset on the Purification day of Mary (February 2nd). The same sunset alignment is also found at the Alseno church on that day of the Purification Virgin Mary (Table 18.1; Spinazzè 2009, 2015)23.

Closer examination and comparative analysis between Swiss and Italian Cistercian churches, reveal similarities and differences in their plan, height, site selection, orientation, light incidence and proportions. Similarities include: design of the layout ad quadratum and its derivatives; rectangular apse; Latin cross plan with three naves and transept; large and bright inner space; length-towidth ratios; orientation and interior light incidence. All Benedictine and Cistercian complexes are situated next to a river or to a water stream to remain independent from the outer world (St. Benedict of Nursa, The Rule, LXVI). Cistercian churches are all dedicated in the honour of the Virgin Mary (in memoria eiusdem caeli et terrae reginae Sanctae mariae fundentur ac dedicentur) as prescribed in the Cistercian rule: Instituta generalis capituli apud Cistercium, XVIII, Capitula, De construendis abbatiis, IX.1–2 (Stercal, Fioroni 2004, 48, 182). Differences occur in location – hills in Switzerland, lowland in Italy – and in the construction materials used: stones (Switzerland) versus bricks (Italy). The five Cistercian churches in Italy are preserved mainly in their original form, the Swiss ones were reconstructed several times over the centuries and feature steeply inclined rooflines emphasizing their Gothic style while minimizing the weight of winter snow. The arches of the Swiss Cistercian churches are pointed, while the arches and cross vaults in Italy are round (or slightly pointed) which is typical for the Romanesque architecture language. The Cistercian churches in Italy (except Follina) show remarkable sizes with a length of about 65 meters including eight bays and a width of circa 21 meters with three chapels on each side of the

Analysis of the light incidence inside those Cistercian churches, where the medieval (or restored) windows are 22  For the church Chiaravalle della Colomba at Alseno, see also Incerti 1999, 2001. 23  It has to be noted that Alseno is approximately oriented towards the sunrise on August 15th. The declination of 14°16’ and an azimuth of 69°00’ corresponds to August 8th for the 12th century. On August 15th the sun rose with an azimuth of 72°45’ and declination of 12°. There is a big difference between azimuths on August 8th and 15th with more than 2° in declination and 3°30’ in azimuth. It is more likely that the church was oriented towards the sunset on February 2nd, the Purification of Mary.

21  For a study about the orientation of the original medieval cloister of Follina, see Spinazzè 2018b.

136

Table 18.1. Alignments of the ten Cistercian churches built in Switzerland and Italy. For each sacred building georeferenced surveys during fieldwork with astronomical and trigonometrical calculations were carried out. All the dates are according to the Julian Calendar Geographic coordinates Lat. N. Long. E.

Azimuth true rising setting

Decl. on a.h. rising setting

Days corresp. to foundation age rising setting

1131

46°24’11’’

137°34’13’’

–30°10’

—

Switzerland (Vaud)

 

6°08’56’’

317°34’13’’

30°54’

—

Hauterive Abbaye

1138

46°45’52’’

94°31’17’’

–3°31’

 

7°07’03’’

274°31’17’’

1131

47°01’38’

 

7°19’54’’

Bonmont Abbaye

Switzerland (Fribourg) Frienisberg Abbaye Aurora Switzerland (Bern)

Horizon Altitude rising setting

Decl. on l.h. rising setting –28°29’

Link with the history of the sacred building interpretation

Days corresp. to foundation age rising setting M. Major Lunistice —

Length Width exterior m

Midsummer Major

48.50

Lunistice, 13 June 1131

17.10

40°49’

5 March, 26 Sep.

9°24’

3°20’

23 March, 8 Sep.

Annunciation, Nativity

48.90

2°40’

21 March, 10 Sep.

4°06’

5°39’

28 March, 4 Sep.

Annunciation, Nativity

16.90

71°52’16’’

11°48’

15 April, 16 Aug.

3°44’

14°36’

24 April, 9 Aug.

Assumption

43.15

251°52’16’’

–12°40’ 9 Feb., 20 Oct.

0°40’

–12°34’

9 Feb., 20 Oct.

 

17.70 46.20 18.60

1185

47°13’39’’

83°31’18’’

3°58’

24 March, 7 Sep.

2°19’

5°40’

28 March, 3 Sep.

Annunciation, Nativity

 

8°31’28’’

263°31’18’’

–4°49’

2 March, 29 Sep.

0°54’

–4°09’

4 March, 26 Sep.

 

1227

47°27’25’’

90°11’00’’

–0°25’

Equinox

2°26’

1°14’

18 March, 13 Sep.

 

8°18’54’’

270°11’00’’

–0°18’

Equinox

6°31’

4°29’

25 March, 6 Sep.

Morimondo

1182

45°21’09’’

93°57’56’’

–3°11’

6 March, 25 Sep.

—

–3°11’

6 March, 25 Sep.

Italy (Milan)

 

8°57’16’’

273°57’56’’

2°22’

20 March, 10 Sep.

1°50’

3°40’

24 March, 8 Sep.

Annunciation, Nativity

22.10

1140

45°18’43’’

83°31’52’’

4°07’

25 March, 7 Sep.

—

4°07’

25 March, 7 Sep.

Annunciation, Nativity

61.20

 

9°35’46’’

263°31’52’’

–4°57’

2 March, 29 Sep.

—

–4°57’

2 March, 29 Sep.

 

19.90

1135

44°55’34’’

69°00’30’’

14°16’

23 April, 8 Aug.

—

14°16’

23 April, 8 Aug.

approx. Assumption

64.80

 

9°58’22’’

249°00’30’’

–15°06’ 2 Feb., 28 Oct.

1°21’

–14°07’

4 Feb., 25 Oct.

Purification

21.50

9 Feb., 20 Oct.

approx. Purification

65.30

Kappel am Albis

137

12°08’

Switzerland (Zurich) Wettingen Abbatia Maris Stella Switzerland (Aargau)

Abbadia Cerreto Italy (Lodi) Chiaravalle della Colomba Italy (Alseno, Piacenza) Chiaravalle Milanese

1135

45°24’58’’

107°33’48’’

–12°39’ 9 Feb., 20 Oct.

 

9°14’10’’

287°33’48’’

11°48’

1 half

45°57’16’’

60°06’50’’

19°49’

12 cent.

12°07’05’’

240°06’50’’

Italy (Milan) Follina (ex-Benedictine) Italy (Treviso)

st

th

Error of azimuth < 0,4°. az = azimuth. a.h. = mathematical horizon. l.h. local horizon.

Ratio L/W

2.83

2.89 2.44

2.48

51.20 Annunciation, Nativity

21.00

2.44

66.70

—

–12°39’

15 April, 16 Aug.

0°55’

12°39’

18 April, 15 Aug.

Assumption

22.40

15 May, 21 July

4°48’

23°29’

Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice

45.50

–20°42’ 13 Jan., 19 Nov.

5°51’

–15°37’

1 Feb., 1 Nov.

Purification

21.80

3.01

3.07

3.01

2.92 2.08

Harmony of Light and Geometry in medieval Cistercian churches in Italy and Switzerland

Date of construction ~

Cistercian churches dedicated to Virgin Mary Place: Switzerland, Italy

Eva Spinazzè still in their original position, produced positive results. At the Bonmont Abbey, with its lunisticial alignment, the winter solstice morning Sun marked the length of the church interior every year, whereas the summer solstice morning Sun bathed the apse in light as a kind of sundial (Fig. 18.2). Inside the Chiaravalle Milanese church, sunlight still enters the windows on the façade around the summer solstice24 illuminating the whole apse and choir before sunset when the monks sang the Divine Office. During the morning of the same days the Sun illuminated the apse (Fig. 18.1). A similar phenomenon can be seen in Alseno where the rising Sun on the summer solstice illuminated the whole choir. The choir was also illuminated in the Cistercian churches of Morimondo and Cerreto on the important Marian feast day of Assumption (August 15th), in the early morning and before sunset, as the monks sang during Lauds and Vespers the Divine Office (for details see Spinazzè 2015, 767, 779). Around this day (Assumption), the apsidal basin of the church at Hauterive was bathed in sunlight filtered through the rose window of the façade spanning the length of the church (Fig. 18.3). The alignment is replicated at its daughter house at Kappel, where the morning summer Sun around August 15th illuminated the length of the church interior through the big Gothic opening on the apse. Moreover, at Hauterive, around this day in the early morning during Lauds, the sunlight passed through the original rose window on the apse illuminating the choir, as we saw in Morimondo and Cerreto (Spinazzè 2015).

treatise about mathematics and with theological character, the religious service had to be followed by precise rules. The altar had to be right-angled including a perfect cosmic orientation to ensure that the deity could accept the offered sacrifice. Otherwise the fulfilment of the wish would not be completed and would disappear (Cantor 1894, I, 595–597). Similarly, the rope stretcher in ancient Egypt had the task to orientate the temples and pyramids toward astronomical North. His gaze followed the course of the stars and placed on the corner the points of the House of God (Cantor 1894, I, 62–63). This ritual can be seen also in a medieval Cistercian church which has a precise orientation toward the rising or setting of the Sun or Moon at an important day, primarily one of the four Marian feast days, and whose layout ad quadratum encloses a Pythagorean Triple, thus creating a deep liaison with the celestial vault. By using plane geometry and cosmologic alignments, harmonic architectural layouts can be composed by the transmission of sacral aspects of numbers. The alignments of the Cistercian churches situated in Italy and in Switzerland clearly show an orientation toward sunrise or sunset on one of the four Marian feast days celebrated during the Middle Ages. In the Western Church these feast days are still the most important days next to Christmas and Easter today. One of the ten Cistercian churches, the Bonmont Abbey, is orientated – as we said before – with the rising full Moon on the Midsummer Major lunistice, and this occurred in the presumed year when the first stone was laid during the trace’s rites of the church. These alignments with the Sun or Moon are appropriate to highlight the grace of the Virgin Mary in eternity – exactly as it is written in the Apocalypse of John 12:1 “A great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”. Mary is illuminated by the Sun, adorned with twelve stars and rests on the Moon, thus she has been perceived as a celestial figure. This biblical passage reminds us of the celestial symbols described in the book of Genesis 1:14–18, when God made the two great lights, the greater light (Sun) to govern the day and the lesser light (Moon) to govern the night; and He made the stars as well (Genesis 37:9–10. Psalm 136:8–9. Spinazzè 2009). The importance given to these two celestial bodies is also expressed in the book of Job (31:26–27): “if I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, my heart hath been secretly enticed…”.

18.4 Geometry and proportion Analysis of the length to width ratios of Cistercian churches exteriors reveals a systematic pattern of previously overlooked Pythagorean Triples, which points to the intentionality of the orientation by the constructor. The Cistercian complexes built on virgin land in Alseno, Cerreto, Chiaravalle Milanese and Morimondo as well as the two beyond the Alps over the Swiss border in Bonmont and Hauterive have an exterior length to width ratio averaging 2.92, corresponding to a 12:35:37 Pythagorean Triple. We can trace a continuity of the tradition beyond the Alps. The other three Swiss Cistercian churches in Frienisberg, Kappel and Wettingen, which are situated further north, share an exterior ratio of 2.40, corresponding to a 5:12:13 Pythagorean Triple. Pythagorean Triples were used as a tool by masterbuilders to ensure right-angled structures. Smaller Pythagorean Triples were preferred. In this manner the calculations were simple, the numbers were easier to remember and to transmit orally without errors (Ranieri 1997, 220). The historian of mathematics Moritz Cantor describes in his work Vorlesungen über Geschichte der Mathematik how the Indians built the altar with a perfect right angle on an East-West line (Prâcî) by using knotted ropes. In the ancient Indian source Culvasûtras, a

The Wettinger Gradual (Aarau, Aargauer Kantonsbibliothek, MsWettFm3: Graduale oesa, Cologne, 1330– 1335)25, a chant book for the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, highlights precisely the

24  Some days after the summer solstice, St. John’s Feast day was fixed on June 24th; and just as some days after the winter solstice, Christ’s Birth, December 25th. Some days after the solstices, the naked eye observer can detect the reverse movement of the solar disk on the local horizon (for details see Spinazzè 2009, 2015).

25  This third volume of the three-part so called “Wettinger Gradual”, made in Cologne for a cloister of Augustinian hermits, was transferred from Zurich to the Cistercian cloister of Wettingen after the Reformation (Hoegger 1998).

138

Harmony of Light and Geometry in medieval Cistercian churches in Italy and Switzerland

Figure 18.1. Cistercian church, Chiaravalle Milanese, Milan, Italy. The study of the light beams inside the church. Church alignment: sunset on the Assumption of Mary (August 15th). Georeferenced survey and drawings by Eva Spinazzè (Spinazzè 2015).

139

Eva Spinazzè

Figure 18.2. Cistercian church, Abbey Notre-Dame, Bonmont, Switzerland. The study of the light beams inside the church. Church alignment: rising of the full Moon on the midsummer major Lunistice on the presumed year of foundation, 1131. Georeferenced survey and drawings by Eva Spinazzè.

140

Harmony of Light and Geometry in medieval Cistercian churches in Italy and Switzerland

Figure 18.3. Cistercian church, Hauterive Abbey, Fribourg, Switzerland. The study of the light beams inside the church. Church alignment: sunrise and sunset on the Annunciation to Mary (March 25th) and Nativity of Mary (September 8th). Georeferenced survey and drawings by Eva Spinazzè.

141

Eva Spinazzè four Marian feast days to which the analysed Cistercian churches are aligned: Purificatio (Presentation at the Temple), Annuntiatio, Assumptio and Nativitas.

Bonatti, Guido / Bonatus de Forlivio, Guido. 1506. Decem continens tractatus astronomie. Venetiis: Penzio Giacomo. Brady, Bernadette, Gunzburg, Darrelyn, and Silva, Fabio. 2016. “The orientation of Cistercian churches in Wales: a cultural astronomy case study.” Citeau – Commentarii cistercienses, t. 67, fasc. 3–4: 275–302.

Only these four Marian feasts are commemorated and historicized with full-paged initials in the Wettinger Gradual (third volume), followed with the image of All Saint’s Day where Mary and Christ are enthroned over the saints. The four mentioned Marian feasts in this liturgical book transmit the deep significance of devotion to Mary, as seen in the following example:

Bucher, François. 1957. Notre-Dame de Bonmont und die ersten Zisterzienserabteien der Schweiz. Bern: BenteliVerlag. Bucher, François. 1972. “Medieval Architectural Design Methods, 800–1560.” Gesta 11, no. 2: 37–51.

“Gaudeamus omnes in domino, diem festum celebrantes sub honore marie virginis de cuius assumptione gaudent angeli et collaudant filium Dei. Ps. Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum: dico ego opera mea regi. Gloria patri. Alleluia Assumpta est maria in celum gaudet exercitus angelorum”.

Cantor, Moritz. 1894. Vorlesungen über Geschichte der Mathematik. Leipzig: Teubner. Clemens Alexandrinus / Clément d’Alexandrie. 1997. Stromate VII. Translated by Alain Le Boulluec. Paris: Les éditions du Cerf.

“Let us all rejoice in the Lord, let’s celebrate the festive day in honor of the Virgin Mary. At their reception the angels are happy [with us] and praise God’s son. My heart made a good word, I tell my works to the king. Alleluia. Mary is assumed in heaven: the army of the Angels rejoices” (Assumption Feast, 55r).

Durand de Mende, Guillaume / Durandi, Gulielmi. 1672. Rationale divinorum officiorum. Lugduni: Antonii Cellier. Duby, Georges. 1976. Saint Bernard. L’art cistercien. Paris: Arts et Métiers Graphiques.

18.5 Conclusion

Dykes, Benjamin N. 2010. Guido Bonatti’s Book of Astronomy. Minnesota: Minneapolis.

The devotion toward the Virgin Mary is clearly present in all ten Cistercian churches, as well as in many Early Christian and medieval churches. Mary is honoured not only in the dedication of the sacred building, but also in frescoes, paintings, miniatures, statues, stained glass windows, religious literature (graduals, hymns and chants) and ritual processions. We may now add another form, with the alignment of the church toward sunrise/sunset on one of the four Marian feast days (Annunciation, Assumption, Nativity, Purification), or toward the rising/ setting of the full Moon. The light inside the building went forth along the nave with the rising or setting Sun on one of her feast days striking the altar and the apse or the main entrance. These phenomena can be observed today in the extant original Cistercian churches, but with some days of displacement due to the error of the Julian Calendar.

Eydoux, Henri-Paul. 1953. “Les fouilles de l’abbatiale d’Him-merod et la notion d’un planbernardin.” BMon 111: 29–36. Gonzalez-Garcia, Antonio César, Belmonte, Juan Antonio. 2015. “The Orientation of Pre-Romanesque Churches in the Iberian Peninsula”. Nexus Network Journal 17: 353–377. Hiscock, Nigel. 2007. The Symbol at Your Door. Hampshire-Burlington: Ashgate. Hoegger, Peter. 1998. Der Bezirk Baden III, das ehemalige Zisterzienserkloster Marisstella in Wettingen. Basel: Die Kunstdenkmäler der Schweiz. Incerti, Manuela. 1999. Il disegno della luce nell’architettura cistercense. Firenze: Edizioni Certosa Cultura.

This tradition can be interpreted as a deep devotion toward the Virgin Mary with the stony foundation of the church transmitting strength and stability and laying there for eternity. A picture can get lost or be destroyed, but the foundation stones lay there for centuries, receiving the light from the rising or setting Sun or Moon and thus remembering Mary in eternity.

Incerti, Manuela. 2001. “Solar Geometry in Italian Cistercian Architecture.” Archaeoastronomy, The journal of astronomy in culture XVI: 3–23. Lekai, Louis J. 1957. Les moines blancs: histoire de l’ordre cistercien. Paris: Editions du Seuil. Lipphardt, Walther. 1978. “Ave Verfasserlexikon, Die deutsche Mittelalters, I: 565–568.

References Belethus, Ioannes. 1559. Rationale divinorum officiorum. Antwerpen: Cornelius Laurimanus.

maris stella.” Literatur des

Liritzis, Ioannis, and Helen Vassiliou. 2006. “Further solar alignments of Greek Byantine churches.” Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, Special Issue 6, no. 3: 7–26.

Bernard of Clairvaux / Bernardo di Chiaravalle. 1991. Lodi della Vergine Madre. Translated in Italian by Domenico Turco. Roma: Vivere. 142

Harmony of Light and Geometry in medieval Cistercian churches in Italy and Switzerland Lund, Fredrik Macody. 1921. Ad Quadratum. A study of the geometrical bases of classic and medieval religious architecture. London: Order of the Norwegian Parliament, Batsford, Holborn.

St. Bernard. 1908. On Consideration. Translated by George Lewis. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Stercal Claudio, Fioroni Milvia. 2004. Le origini cisterciensi, documenti. Milano: Jaca Book.

Paulinus Nolanus / St. Paulinus of Nola. 1967. Letters. Translated and annotated by P.G. Walsh. London: Longmans, Green and Co.

Tertullianus / Tertullien. 1980–1981. Contre les Valentiniens. Translated by Jean-Claude Fredouille. Paris: Les éditions du Cerf.

Ptolemy. 1940. Tetrabiblos. Translated by F.E. Robbins. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Villard de Honnecourt. 1858. Album. Manuscrit publié en fac-simile annoté par J.B.A. Lassus. Paris: Imprimerie Impériale.

Ranieri, Marcello. 1997. “Triads of integers: how space was squared in ancient times.” JAT VII: 209–244.

Wettinger Gradual. Aarau, Aargauer Kantonsbibliothek, MsWettFm3: Graduale oesa. Cologne, 1330–1335.

Romano, Giuliano. 1992. Archeoastronomia Italiana. Padova: Cleup Università. Romano, Giuliano. 1995. Orientamenti ad sidera. Ravenna: Essegi. Sidonius Apollinaris / Sidonius. 1915. The Letters. Translated by O.M. Dalton. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Spinazzè, Eva. 2009. “Luce ed Orientazione nelle Abbazie Benedettine Altomedioevali e Medioevali nel Veneto.” Magister Thesis in Medieval Archaeology, 2007/2008, Ca’ Foscari University Venice. Edited on-paper 2015. Luce e canto incisi nelle pietre. Allineamenti astronomici delle chiese monastiche benedettine medioevali nel Veneto. Padova: Cleup Università. Spinazzè, Eva. 2010. “Luce ed Orientazione delle chiese monastiche medioevali nel Veneto.” Benedictina (January-June): 91–102. Spinazzè, Eva. 2014. “La consuetudine medioevale nell’orientazione degli edifici sacri secondo il trattato di Guido Bonatti.” Atti dell’Accademia ‘San Marco’ di Pordenone 16: 521–570. Spinazzè, Eva. 2015. “La luce nell’architettura sacra del X-XII secolo dalla Romandie alla Toscana. Testimonianze sull’influsso dell’osservazione del cielo nell’orientazione degli edifici.” PhD diss., 2013/2014, Ca’ Foscari University Venice, IUAV Venice, University of Zurich. OpenAccess 3rd February 2015. Edited onpaper March 2016. La luce nell’architettura sacra: spazio e orientazione nelle chiese del X-XII secolo tra Romandie e Toscana. Beiheft zur Mediaevistik 20. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Verlag. Spinazzè, Eva. 2018a. “De quattuor partibus mundi, medieval sacred buildings on the via Francigena in northern and middle Italy: Solstice alignments and orientations”. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 18(4): 241–249. Spinazzè, Eva. 2018b. “Il chiostro medioevale di Santa Maria a Follina. Significato e funzione in una lettura simbolica e architettonica.” Atti dell’Accademia “San Marco” di Pordenone 20: 245–300. St. Benedict (of Nursa). 1907. The Rule. Translated by D. Oswald Hunter Blair. London and Edinburgh: Sands & Co. 143

19 The Relevance of Archaeoastronomy to Understanding Urban Planning and Landscape Formation in Mesoamerica Ivan Šprajc Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU) Abstract: In a number of studies on Mesoamerican architecture and urbanism, it has been argued that the spatial distribution of buildings and architectural complexes of different types and functions reflects cosmological concepts. The archaeoastronomical investigations carried out in recent decades have provided additional information in this regard, revealing that the civic and ceremonial buildings were largely oriented on the basis of astronomical and calendrical considerations and that these criteria, notwithstanding regional and temporal variations in orientation patterns, were fundamentally the same over extensive areas and during long periods. One fact that has received less attention is that the astronomical alignments materialized in the most important buildings frequently conditioned their spatial relationships and were also reproduced, although approximately and without being observationally functional, in extensive sectors of the built environment. I discuss several specific cases that exemplify this practice, showing that it is precisely the importance of the astronomically significant directions that allows us to understand some clearly recognizable aspects of pre-Hispanic urban layouts, and even of broader cultural landscapes, which have partly been preserved to the present day. Keywords: Mesoamerica, Archaeoastronomy, Architecture, Alignments, Urbanism, Cultural Landscape. 19.1 Introduction

19.2 Orientations in Mesoamerican Architecture

Although practical considerations, such as agricultural potential or the availability of certain resources, undoubtedly had a primary role in the formation of ancient cultural landscapes, it is also clear that “the way cultures conceive of the cosmos strongly influences subsistence and settlement” (Flannery and Marcus 1996: 352). In the context of Mesoamerica, various cosmological principles have been invoked to explain certain aspects of settlement patterns. It has been argued, for example, that the Maya cities were commonly designed as microcosms of the fourpart world, i.e. as a harmonic replication of the universe (e.g.: Ashmore 1991; Rivera Dorado 2001: 205–217). It has also been stated that “perhaps more often than we have yet recognized, the sky provides the cues to spatial order on the terrestrial plane” (Knapp and Ashmore 1999: 3); however, few specific interpretations have been proposed to this effect. The purpose of this contribution is to discuss several concrete cases that exemplify the extent to which the ground plans of Mesoamerican urban centres, and even the appearance of wider cultural landscapes, were influenced by evidently intentional alignments that were embodied in the most important civic and ceremonial buildings and whose origins were mostly astronomical, but also related to prominent landscape features.

Various systematic studies have shown that the orientation and location of civic and ceremonial buildings in Mesoamerica was predominantly conditioned by astronomical and calendrical criteria and, frequently also, by deliberate relationships with prominent features of the surrounding landscape (e.g.: Aveni 2001; Aveni and Hartung 1986; Broda 1993; 2000; Carlson 1981; Dowd and Milbrath 2015; Galindo 1994; Iwaniszewski and Vigliani 2011; Malmström 1997; Šprajc 2005; Tichy 1991). Recent research has allowed us to reach more specific conclusions about the astronomical referents of orientations and their meanings. Despite some regional and temporal variations, the orientation principles were widespread throughout Mesoamerica during prolonged periods. One of the most common characteristics of Mesoamerican architectural orientations is their predominant clockwise skew from cardinal directions. According to the arguments presented elsewhere (Šprajc 2001: 88–91; 2004), this trend is attributable to the symbolic connotations of the east and west. As a consequence of the south-of-east deviations, the dates recorded by solar orientations on the eastern and western horizons fall mostly in the dry and rainy

145

Ivan Šprajc season, respectively, which is consistent with the evidence suggesting that the dry season was conceptually related to the eastern part and the rainy season to the western part of the universe. Particularly revealing are the symbolism and directional associations of the Sun, the Moon, and Venus; the Sun, presiding over the east, was related to heat, fire, and drought, while the Moon and Venus, particularly its evening manifestation, were linked with the west and with water, maize, and fertility.

Table 19.1. Two possible observational calendars reconstructed for the orientations at Teotihuacan and other sites. The dates and intervals in each scheme are to be read in counter-clockwise direction (note that these are ideal schemes: since the tropical year is almost six hours longer than 365 days, one of the intervals in each scheme would occasionally increase by one day) Scheme 1 date

interval (days)

Scheme 2 date

date

interval (days)

105

While two orientation groups can be related to the extremes of Venus and the Moon, most buildings were oriented to sunrises and sunsets on certain dates, which concentrate in four agriculturally significant seasons and, furthermore, tend to be separated by multiples of 13 and 20 days, i.e. of elementary periods of the Mesoamerican calendrical system. The distribution of dates in the year and contextual evidence, including ethnographic data, suggest that the solar alignments allowed the use of observational calendars that were easily manageable by means of the formal calendar, thus facilitating prediction of important dates in the seasonal cycle and an efficient scheduling of agricultural and the accompanying ritual activities. On the other hand, it has been shown that many Mesoamerican structures were oriented to prominent features of the surrounding landscape, particularly to conspicuous summits on the local horizon. Obviously, if a building was oriented both astronomically and to a particular landscape feature, the place for its construction had to be carefully selected (Sánchez Nava and Šprajc 2015; Sánchez Nava et al. 2016; Šprajc 2001; 2018; Šprajc and Sánchez Nava 2015; Šprajc et al. 2016).

date

100

Feb 12

Oct 30 80

Feb 9

80

May 3

80 Aug 11

100

Nov 1 80

Apr 30 105

Aug 13

(Šprajc 2001: 201–230), the two orientations were dictated by those of the Sun Pyramid and the Ciudadela, which were evidently based on astronomical criteria, as they belong to two widespread orientation groups (Šprajc 2018). The first one recorded sunrises on February 12 and October 30 and sunsets on April 30 and August 13; each of the two pairs of dates delimits an interval of 260 days. The second orientation marked sunrises on February 9 and November 1 and sunsets on May 3 and August 11; each of these two pairs of dates delimits an interval of 100 days. Significantly, the alignments of both groups also appear together at Late Classic period sites of Xochicalco, Las Pilas, and Toluquilla, as well as in Early Postclassic Tenayuca (Šprajc 2001; Šprajc et al. 2016), and could have enabled the use of one or both of the observational schemes reconstructed in Table 19.1 and composed predominantly of multiples of 20 days.

19.3 Astronomical Alignments and Urban Planning Astronomically functional alignments were incorporated in temples, elite residences, and administrative palaces, but these directions were often replicated, approximately, by the adjacent buildings and, sometimes, by entire urban layouts and even by substantial parts of the surrounding cultural landscapes. Consequently, the appearance of ancient cultural landscapes, which in some regions have remained “fossilized” to the present day, can be understood, to a considerable extent, in the light of astronomical significance of the directions materialized in the most important buildings. The following discussion includes some particularly illustrative cases.

Therefore, the appearance of the Teotihuacan urban layout can be explained, on the one hand, with the astronomical significance of directions incorporated in the two most prominent buildings of the city. On the other hand, the uniformity observed throughout the city in the orientation of the north-south walls most likely reflects the purpose of reproducing the north-south orientation of the Pyramid of the Sun, aligned to the summit of Cerro Gordo, a massive mountain to the north. In view of the large number of Mesoamerican buildings oriented toward prominent peaks on the local horizon (Broda 1993; Ponce de León 1982; Tichy 1991; Šprajc 2001; Sánchez and Šprajc 2015; Šprajc and Sánchez 2015; Šprajc et al. 2016), the spatial relation between the Sun Pyramid and the hill to the north must have been intentional, which means that the location of the pyramid had to be carefully planned, so that the building with a rectangular ground plan incorporated both the desired astronomically functional east-west direction and the alignment to the prominent summit on the northern horizon. Significantly, the buildings composing the Acropolis of Xochicalco represent an analogous case: its north-south walls are all oriented to a prominent peak on

19.3.1 Teotihuacan Most buildings of Teotihuacan, the largest Classic period city in central Mexico, are oriented along the same northsouth axis, skewed 15.5° east of north and particularly evident in the course of the Avenue of the Dead (Millon 1973: 13, 37). However, the east-west walls show two slightly different orientations: in the central part dominated by the Pyramid of the Sun, they are perpendicular to the Avenue of the Dead, while in the Ciudadela and the surrounding buildings they are deviated approximately 16.5° south of east (Millon 1973: 52). As argued elsewhere 146

The Relevance of Archaeoastronomy to Understanding Urban Planning and Landscape Formation in Mesoamerica the northern horizon (Pico Tres Cumbres), while the eastwest walls show slightly different orientations, marking the same dates as the Sun Pyramid and the Ciudadela of Teotihuacan: the axis of the central section marks both sunrises on February 12 and October 30 and sunsets on April 30 and August 13, while the axes of the east and west sections correspond, respectively, to sunrises on February 9 and November 1 and to sunsets on May 3 and August 11.

above considerations, it is understandable that a cave was also excavated on the same spot. 19.3.2 Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan The remains of the main temple of Tenochtitlan, the capital city of the Late Postclassic Mexica empire, are located in the centre of Mexico City and present several construction phases. The second one, which is the earliest of those exposed by excavations, manifests a different orientation from that shared by later stages. The dates marked by the latter on the western horizon are April 4 and September 7, separated by an interval of 156 (= 12 × 13) days. The date April 4 corresponded, in 1519, to the last day of the month Tlacaxipehualiztli and, in addition, to March 25 of the Julian calendar, which in medieval Europe was commonly considered as the canonical day of the vernal equinox. As I argued elsewhere (Šprajc 2000; 2001: 402–405), these facts explain Motolonia’s (1971: 51) statement that the feast of Tlacaxipehualiztli “fell when the sun was in the middle of Uchilobos [i.e. Templo Mayor], which was the equinox.”

Moreover, observing from the Sun Pyramid of Teotihuacan, Mt. Tepayo on the eastern horizon marks sunrises on March 23 and September 21 (± 1 day), i.e. on the dates that, together with the solstices, divide the year into four equal periods of approximately 91 days. The location of this mountain must thus have been an additional factor that conditioned the selection of the place for the construction of the pyramid, not only because these dates—the so-called quarter-days of the year— are recorded by numerous orientations in Mesoamerica (Šprajc 2018), but also because an analogous situation is found at the Preclassic site of Cuicuilco, in the southern part of the Basin of Mexico: considering the probable relationship between the abandonment of Cuicuilco and the foundation of Teotihuacan, as well as the similarities in the urban configuration of both centres (Parsons 1987: 68; Sanders et al. 1979: 76, 99–107), it is significant that, for the observer located on the circular pyramid of Cuicuilco, the Papayo hill on the eastern horizon records sunrises on the same dates (Šprajc 2001: 170–172, 231–238).

Although the orientation of the third and the subsequent construction stages was reproduced by several contemporaneous buildings in the surroundings, the orientation of the urban layout of Tenochtitlan, which survives in the colonial grid of the centre of Mexico City, coincides with that of stage II of the Templo Mayor. It is thus very likely that this orientation was predominant in early Tenochtitlan times and persisted in most of the preHispanic urban layout until the Conquest, when it was adopted by the colonial city.

Consequently, the concepts underlying the directions materialized in two most emblematic constructions of Teotihuacan make it possible to understand important aspects of the city’s layout, including the location of the most prominent temple of the ancient metropolis. Although the general location of Teotihuacan can be accounted for by its placement along the most convenient route connecting the Basin of Mexico with the Gulf Coast, as well as by the proximity of obsidian deposits and the lake system with abundant food resources, the location of the Pyramid of the Sun, specifically, was conditioned by a combination of astronomical and topographic criteria.

Field measurements at the site, and calculations of the displacement of horizontal lines resulting from the differential subsidence of the Templo Mayor in the boggy terrain, led to the conclusion that the orientation of stage II was functional towards the west, marking sunsets on April 10 and September 2, separated by an interval of 220 (= 11 × 20) days. It is also noteworthy that Mt. Tlamacas, visible on the eastern horizon of the Templo Mayor, matched sunrises on April 30 and August 13. Considering the importance of these dates, separated by an interval of 260 days and recorded by various orientations in central Mexico, and the fact that they fall 20 days after/before the dates recorded by stage II of the temple on the western horizon, it is very likely that Mt. Tlamacas was decisive in the selection of the place for the construction of the temple. In support of this conclusion, it should be noted that the site was hardly suitable for erecting a major building: in their analysis of subsidence processes suffered by the Templo Mayor, Mazari et al. (1989: 155, 168, 177) and Mazari (1996: 11ff) conclude that there was no natural islet in this place and that the temple was built on a gigantic artificial platform about 11 m high and submerged approximately 6 m under the lake surface. Therefore, this case is analogous to that of the Sun Pyramid of Teotihuacan: since the cave under the building is artificial, it must have been excavated only after the site had been chosen on the basis

It is worth noting that, in contrast to many cases in which the presence of natural caves conditioned the location of important structures, the cave under the Sun Pyramid could not be a determinant of the place for its construction, as previously thought, because it is entirely human-made (Barba Pingarrón 1995: 22f, 73; Manzanilla 1995: 156). Artificial or partially modified caves very often mark the central points or places of special ritual importance (Brady 1997: 612ff; Brady and Veni 1992; Heyden 1981: 14, 38). Based on colonial documents, García-Zambrano (1994: 218) concludes that the practice of excavating a cave was relatively common in the foundations of pre-Hispanic settlements. Therefore, if the location of what must have been the most sacred site of Teotihuacan was determined by the 147

Ivan Šprajc of astronomical and topographic factors (see above), and similar criteria must have also conditioned the location— unfavourable in terms of the natural setting—of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan (see the whole argument in: Šprajc 2000; 2001: 383–410).

i.e. in the central part of the Yucatán Peninsula; the area of about 200 km2, including Chactún, Tamchén and Lagunita, three major urban centres discovered in 2013 and 2014, is characterised by a remarkable density of archaeological remains, including architectural compounds and various landscape modifications related to water management and agriculture (Šprajc 2015; Šprajc et al. 2015; 2017). While most buildings are nowadays reduced to mounds, it was possible, due to the quality of LiDAR imagery, to determine the east-west azimuths of 1702 structures with a precision of about ±1°, employing ArcGIS software. Although most of these structures were, to judge by their sizes and types, relatively modest dwellings, the frequency distribution of their azimuths (Figure 19.1) is not dissimilar to the distribution of azimuths of civic and ceremonial buildings measured in field at a number of archaeological sites in the Maya Lowlands (Figure 19.2; Sánchez and Šprajc 2015): in both cases not only the characteristic clockwise skew from cardinal directions, prevalent in Mesoamerica, can be observed, but also the concentrations of azimuths around 100° and 105°, for which an astronomical rationale is hardly disputable (Šprajc 2018: 210; Sánchez and Šprajc 2015: 73ff). The relative dispersion of orientations measured on LiDAR imagery makes it clear that most of them were not observationally functional, but their overall distribution, similar to that of orientations measured at major civic and ceremonial buildings in the Maya area, demonstrates that a general conformity to the astronomically significant directions was an important factor in laying out even the buildings that had no major role in public life.

In sum, the layout of the central part of Mexico City, persisting since early colonial times and reproducing the earlier urban grid of Tenochtitlan, represents a material testimony of the importance of the astronomically functional orientation of stage II of the Templo Mayor. 19.3.3 La Campana An important Classic period site in western Mesoamerica is La Campana, in the Mexican federal state of Colima. All buildings in the urban core share similar orientations, apparently dictated by Structures 2 and 5, two major pyramidal temples. The orientation of Structure 5 corresponds to December solstice sunrises; the east-west azimuth of Structure 2 is somewhat larger, but cannot be determined with precision, due to the present state of the building; it may have marked major lunar standstills or major northerly extremes of Venus as evening star (Šprajc et al. 2016: 33). 19.3.4 Cantona The buildings in the urban core of Cantona, an extensive archaeological site in the Mexican state of Puebla, which reached its apogee during the Late Preclassic and Early Classic periods, have different orientations. However, the residential compounds in the surrounding area manifest a remarkable uniformity: as seen in the map of García Cook and Merino Carrión (1998: 195, Fig. 2), as well as on Google Earth imagery, the deviation prevailing in the North, Central and South Units is about 25° clockwise from cardinal directions. These orientations very likely reproduced, in an approximate and symbolic way, the orientation of the Central Pyramid, which corresponds to sunrises on the December solstice. It is significant that this pyramid is one of the earliest buildings of Cantona (Šprajc and Sánchez 2015: 53–56).

19.3.6 Survivals It is known that, after the Spanish Conquest, many ecclesiastical constructions were erected on traditional sacred places and commonly incorporated remains of ruined pre-Hispanic temples (Kubler 1972: 163f). Numerous previous settlements were maintained and, despite the destruction of former buildings, conserved considerable parts of the old urban layouts, which in the centres of many cities and smaller towns survive until today (Galindo Trejo 2013; González Aparicio 1973: 81f; Kubler 1972: 94, 100ff, 163f, 177f; McAndrew 1965: 110, 181, 185f, 241f). As a result, typical Mesoamerican orientations still characterise much of the present-day cultural landscapes. Research in some regions has shown that the alignments incorporated in urban plans, colonial

19.3.5 Eastern Campeche, Mexico In 2017 and 2018, archaeological surveys based on LiDAR imagery were carried out in eastern Campeche, Mexico,

Figure 19.1. Frequency distribution of east-west azimuths of structures in eastern Campeche, Mexico.

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The Relevance of Archaeoastronomy to Understanding Urban Planning and Landscape Formation in Mesoamerica

Figure 19.2. Frequency distribution of east-west azimuths of civic and ceremonial buildings in the Maya Lowlands.

2015; Storck 1980), where their pre-Hispanic importance is attested at archaeological sites of Caballito Blanco, Yagul, Lambityeco, and Dainzú-Macuilxóchitl (Šprajc and Sánchez 2015). On the other hand, the deviations about 5° and 7° clockwise from cardinal directions, characterising a number of colonial churches and land lots in the Etla Valley (Storck 1980), are present both at Monte Albán and San José Mogote (Šprajc and Sánchez 2015). Pre-Hispanic origins are also attributable to the deviations about 12° that dominate the centre of the city of Oaxaca and some parts of the surrounding area (Storck 1979; 1980): the orientations skewed between 11° and 12° south of east, aside from characterising some buildings at Monte Albán (Šprajc and Sánchez 2015: 35–41), belong to one of the most widespread alignment groups in Mesoamerica, targeting sunrises on February 22 and October 20, separated by an interval of 240 (= 12 × 20) days (Šprajc 2018).

churches, and even in cultivated field boundaries can be explained with the astronomical significance that these directions had in pre-Hispanic times. A large part of the urban layout of the city of Cholula, skewed about 25° clockwise from cardinal directions, was undoubtedly adopted from the pre-Hispanic town, and this orientation must have been dictated by that of its main temple. The original orientation of the great pyramid still dominating the city cannot be determined with precision, but it evidently recorded either sunrises on the December solstice or sunsets on the June solstice (Šprajc 2001: 238–242). Similar alignments prevail in the cultivation plots and in a number of churches in the surrounding area, representing a material testimony of the importance that this direction had in the region before the Conquest, probably since the Preclassic period, when solstitial orientations were particularly common (Šprajc 2001: 74f). Other orientations seem to have become more important in later periods, and their distribution is comparable to that corresponding to colonial churches in the PueblaTlaxcala basin (Tichy 1991: Fig. 6–13). Approximate solstitial directions are also materialized in urban grids and fields in the Tlacolula valley, in Oaxaca (Faulseit

19.4 Conclusion Recent archaeoastronomical studies have led to substantial progress in understanding the complexity of rules that dictated the architectural design and urban planning in Mesoamerica. The orientations of temples and other

Figure 19.3. Google Earth image of the central part of the city of Cholula, Puebla, Mexico, with the approximately solstitial grid following the orientation of the pre-Hispanic pyramid in the centre.

149

Ivan Šprajc important buildings were regularly based on astronomical criteria and cosmological concepts, which often included beliefs about certain landscape features. The architectural alignments based on these principles were not only embedded in important civic and ceremonial buildings of each settlement, but were also reproduced, albeit approximately and without being observationally functional, by many other constructions, frequently dominating considerable parts of the built environment. These facts indicate that the underlying concepts had an important role in religion, world view, and political ideology. As the cases discussed above demonstrate, it is precisely the importance of the astronomically and cosmologically significant directions that allows us to understand some prominent aspects of urban layouts, and even of wider cultural landscapes in Mesoamerica, parts of which have survived to this day.

Faulseit, Ronald K. 2015. “Mountain of Sustenance: Site Organization at Dainzu-Macuilxochitl and Mesoamerican Concepts of Space and Time.” In Cosmology, Calendars, and Horizon-Based Astronomy in Ancient Mesoamerica, edited by Anne S. Dowd and Susan Milbrath, 77–97. Boulder: University Press of Colorado.

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Storck H., Karl-Ludwig. 1979. “Orientación de las redes de poblaciones y terrenos en el Valle de ZaachilaZimatlán (parte sur de los valles centrales de Oaxaca).” Comunicaciones Proyecto Puebla-Tlaxcala no. 17: 87–92. Storck, Karl-Ludwig. 1980. “Die Orientierung von Ortsund Flurgrundrissen im Becken von Oaxaca/Mexico.” Lateinamerika-Studien 6: 139–63. Šprajc, Ivan. 2000. “Astronomical Alignments at the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan, Mexico.” Archaeoastronomy no. 25 (Journal for the History of Astronomy, supplement to vol. 31): S11–S40. 151

20 Bronze Age Rock Art and 20th-Century Oil-On-Canvas Impressions of Constellation Crux, the Southern Cross Christiaan Sterken Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium Abstract: This presentation focuses on quantitative aspects related to cross-like forms and shapes on rocks that are thought to be astronomical markers allegedly identified with the constellation Crux. Such markers were found among petroglyphs in the Valle Hermoso and Agua Botada regions in Argentina, at the Hornsby Plateau in Australia, in the Mercantour National Park in southern France, and as pictured on the Pachacuti Yamqi Coricancha chart (Peru). In 1971–1972, the Chilean artist Nemesio Antúnez (1918–1993) created two paintings that were inspired by the nightscape at the ESO La Silla Observatory in Chile. The 1972 painting belonged to Adriaan Blaauw (1914–2010), who was a personal friend of Antúnez. The scenes cover night- and daytime landscapes dominated by the typical hills and valleys of the La Silla region. We analyse the astronomical content of these two modern paintings. Stellar magnitudes derived from these images, as well as from rock art images of Crux indicate that the good-looking quantitative correlations are illusory, and that the resulting stellar magnitudes are just meaningless. Our analysis supports and strengthens Clive Ruggles’ assertion of 2011 ‘that examples abound of attempts to draw a connection between spatial configurations on the ground, but that “literal” (in the Western sense) representations of constellations in the layout of cupules is problematic because of the apparent lack of cultural precedents’. An overall numerical correspondence, or similarity of appearance of an asterism and a rock-art creation can never be sufficient evidence for unambiguous designation nor identification. Two perfectly preserved oil-on-canvas impressions of the same constellation by the same artist that were created less than one year apart, underscore the key principles in the interpretation of skyscape art: that we always deal with artwork and with artists, and that we can never probe the intention of the artist, not even half a century after the time of creation of the artwork. Keywords: constellations, Crux, Pleiades, rock art, Nemesio Antúnez. 20.1 Configurations identified as Crux

area is a region with tightly restricted access that harbours thousands of engraved rocks.

Constellation Crux is a very prominent constellation in the southern hemisphere. As such, resemblant cross shapes appear in various forms of imaging art: celestial maps, petroglyphs, rock art incisions and paintings. Cross-like configurations allegedly identified with Crux have been discussed in the literature, for example rock art of the Mercantour National Park in southern France, the Valle Hermoso and Agua Botada regions (Mendoza, Argentina), the Hornsby Plateau (north of Sydney, Australia) and as pictured on the Pachacuti Yamqi Coricancha chart (Peru).

Two engraved rocks are situated 140 m from each other at an altitude of about 2250 m, and show a group of small pitted areas. These engravings are identified as the Pleiades, a stellar cluster that is associated with the appearance of spring or winter, and that is often depicted on ancient artefacts like potteries and stone tablets, see, for example, de Lumley et al. (2007, 823) and Echassoux et al. (2009, 463). These authors list a dozen examples of Mesopotamian, Assyrian, Sumerian and also Middle Bronze-Age representations of the Pleiades. De Lumley et al. (2007, 823) also refer to a Peruvian cosmological chart in pentagon form, by Joan de Santa Cruz Pachacuti Yamqui. The chart is an Inca cosmological map (Pachacuti Yamqui 1613) from the principal Temple of the Sun – the

20.1.1 Crux in Mont Bego rock art Mont Bego – situated in the Mercantour mountain area in southern France – peaks at 2872 m. The Mont Bego 153

Christiaan Sterken the conception of early constellations in ancient cultures. Figure 20.1 also renders a cross-like configuration allegedly identified with the Southern Cross that appears in the center of the Pachacuti Yamqui pentagon.

Coricancha in Cuzco – and depicts a series of oppositions (Sun versus Moon, morning star versus evening star, etc.) and also a set of seven dots that are recognized as the Pleiades, and an image identified with the Southern Cross (Figure 20.1, see also Sterken 2019a, 84).

There is a clear difference in form between the three iconic images in Figure 20.1 − that are graphic renderings, not photographic images − but the question is whether this difference is significant? And what about the match between the number of stars in the sky and in the artist’s rendition?

The Mont Bego region also features three ‘croix bouletées’ or beaded crosses that de Lumley et al. (2007, 821) take for the constellation Crux (Figure 20. 1). For northern skygazers at intermediate latitudes, constellation Crux – the smallest of the 88 modern constellations – is not visible, but this was not the case 5000 years ago, when the precession of the equinoxes brought Crux well into reach of observers in the Mediterranean during the assumed period of creation of these petroglyphs.

20.1.3 Crux petroglyphs in the Valle Hermoso In the Valle Hermoso, Tucker et al. (2011, 123) identified a pattern of four incisions whose size and position show a high degree of correlation with the appearance of Crux. The incisions are connected by lines in a nearly square shape, but a cross is not seen. The engraving is located on the north face of an east-west wall. Their Figure 5 shows a high degree of similarity between the pattern represented on the rock panel and the constellation, but where one expects to see five stars, a four-star only crosslike configuration is readily suggested.

20.1.2 The form of the Crux asterism Figure 20.1 also shows the outline of the constellation according to the official set of constellation limits that define a constellation by its boundary sky coordinates rather than by their star patterns. α Crucis is the brightest star, and ε Crucis is the faintest of the five stars that are easily visible by the unaided human eye. Note that depicting a constellation with lines that interconnect the brightest stars is a method of fairly recent times: it was Alexandre Ruelle (Ruelle 1786) who, for the first time, substituted mythological and natural figures by drawing line segments between the stars. His star map for the southern hemisphere shows the stars of Crux interconnected by line segments that form a cross. The interconnecting line segments are nothing more than a modern schematic representation that has no link whatsoever with the root metaphor underlying

20.1.4 Crux petroglyphs in the Agua Botada region In the Agua Botada region, Tucker et al. (2011) found a configuration of four cupules that they identify with Crux. The engraving is located on a meridional wall and faces east. Additional cupmarks are present, and one such feature is very near β Crucis. As there is no bright star at that location in today’s sky, these authors assign this cupmark to the planetary nebula NGC3918, and apply the system’s expansion age to date the image at about 1000 BC. But the photograph of the set of pits shows at least two supplementary cups that are not accounted for. These rock-art images of Crux look quite plausible, though they have one anomaly in common: ε Crucis is always missing, a fact that hinders identification because that fifth star is the key for discerning the orientation of the pattern. The diamond-shaped asterism shown in Figure 5 of Tucker et al. points to the south celestial pole, but the accompanying positional graph renders Crux with β and γ Crucis swapped, as if the constellation was projected on a globe rather than seen from inside. The positional graph in their Figure 7, however, reveals a regular ‘ground-based’ view of the Cross. 20.1.5 Crux engravings on the Hornsby Plateau Seven tesselated pavement sites on the Hornsby Plateau, north of Sydney, contain a variety of patterns of small pits. Branagan and Cairns (1993) considered various types of decay − by both water, wind and sand abrasion, and the flow paths of storm water − to find out whether the cups might just be holes caused by weathering and erosion. These authors come to the conclusion that the cups appear to be of human origin. They recognized some 102 varieties of cup patterns, 62 of which are shown in

Figure 20.1. Top: two of the three cross-like asterisms of the Mont Bego region. Below left: rendering of the central cross depicted on the Pachacuti Yamqui Inca star map (Courtesy Billie Jean Isbell Andean Collection at Cornell University). Below right: excerpt from Norton’s Star Atlas that shows constellation Crux with the five brightest stars.

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Bronze Age Rock Art and 20th-Century Oil-On-Canvas Impressions of Constellation Crux, the Southern Cross The scene is marked by a dominant bluish tint (Figure 20.3, top). Note the red-illuminated slits of the domes that were in operation when the artist conceived the panorama. 20.2.2 The 1972 painting A landscape painting of La Silla created in 1972 (72 × 52 cm, oil on canvas) decorates the former office of the late Adriaan Blaauw (1914−2010), who was a personal friend of the artist. The scene shows a brownish daytime landscape dominated by the typical hills and valleys of the La Silla region. The sky is much less prominent, and covers just 10% of the entire canvas. In the rightmost upper corner, very close to the frame, the constellation Crux is depicted with the long diagonal (the line γ Cru – α Cru) pointing down. Crux is thus displayed with full visibility of the four cardinal stars at low altitude. The web application developed by Sugerman (2000) yields that for an unexperienced 50year old observer at La Silla there is already an extinction of one magnitude at about 10° altitude, thus rendering the limiting visual magnitude of ε Cru equal to 3.7±0.6, hence the fifth star can never be seen that low on the horizon. Planetarium simulation software suggests that ε Crucis would disappear in twilight (in April−May). The position of the rising Southern Cross implies that the artist viewed the scene in mid-May around seven pm local time.

Figure 20.2. Hornsby Plateau cup patterns, based on Figure 11 of Branagan and Cairns (1993). These authors read pattern C4 as the Southern Cross.

Figure 20.2. In particular, there are repetitions of patterns that are attributed to the Southern Cross, Taurus and Corvus (respectively C4, H2 and C2). The Pleiades, Orion, Canis Major, Argo, Sagittarius and others − all essentially summer constellations − are also argued for. Branagan and Cairns (1993) have not attempted to document the sizes of cups, because their observations suggest that there is little significance in the variation of cup diameter and cup depth.

20.3 Stellar magnitudes 20.3.1 Stellar magnitudes for Agua Botada/Valle Hermoso Tucker et al. (2011, Table 1) derived diameters of incisions and pits from photographs by means of the Photoshop Measuring Tool. They noted that larger incisions correspond to brighter stars. Figure 20.4 shows the correlation of their measured diameters for the Valle Hermoso and Agua Botada regions. It is obvious that the ranges in diameter do not correspond well: the correlation is strong, but bears no significance.

20.2 Twentieth-century artist views of Crux In 1971−1972, the Chilean painter Nemesio Antúnez Zañartu (1918−1993) created two paintings inspired by the nightscape at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) La Silla site in Chile. 20.2.1 The 1971 artwork

We calculated magnitudes m from the listed diameters d using the formula m = - 2.5 log d2 + C, where C is a constant chosen so that the magnitude for γ Cru yields V = 1.63, the value given by Johnson et al. (1966) in the Johnson UBV system, as listed in the Hoffleit and Jaschek (1982) edition of The Bright Star Catalogue.

This painting was commissioned by the Swedish Natural Research Council, and it decorates the Council’s Headquarters.26 The painting was reproduced on the cover of the ESO 1971 Annual Report, and also in Adriaan Blaauw’s ESO’s Early History book (Blaauw 1991, 125). The canvas has a square format, and the back side of the canvas mentions Vista del Observatorio ‘La Silla’, Vallenar, Chile, Nemesio Antúnez 1971.27

Figure 20.5 shows the correlation between catalogued V and magnitudes derived from measured diameters of incisions and cups for both sites. The range of diameter values for Agua Botada is 3.3 times larger than for the Valle Hermoso diameters. The good visual correlation in the Tucker et al. diagrams is entirely due to their use of equidistant magnitude intervals in the α-β-γ-δ Crucis series.

The most prominent visual features in this image are the steep mountaintop on which half a dozen observatory domes are implanted, a night sky with a number of bright stars, and a nebulous patch representing the Milky Way.

20.3.2 Stellar magnitudes for La Silla Vetenskapsrådet, Västra Järnvägsgatan 3, Stockholm, Sweden. View of Observatory ‘La Silla’, Vallenar, Chile, Nemesio Antúnez 1971 (all capitals, no punctuation). 26 

Figure 20.6 is a close-up extracted from both paintings. The geometry of both ‘crosses’ suggests that the identification

27 

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Christiaan Sterken

Figure 20.3. Top: Nemesio Antúnez, Vista del Observatorio ‘La Silla’, Vallenar, Chile. 1971, Swedish Natural Research Council Headquarters, Stockholm, Sweden. Bottom: Nemesio Antúnez, ‘La Silla’, Ovalle – Chile, ‘Observatorio Astronomico Europeo’. 1972, Blaauw kamer, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, the University of Groningen (The Netherlands), courtesy the Blaauw Family. The constellation Crux is in the top left part of the upper image, and in the upper right corner of the lower image.

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Bronze Age Rock Art and 20th-Century Oil-On-Canvas Impressions of Constellation Crux, the Southern Cross

Figure 20.6. The Crux region in both paintings by Antúnez. Figure 20.4. Correlation between measured diameters of incisions and cups, Agua Botada and Valle Hermoso. The diagonal line is the bisector.

Figure 20.7 displays the correlation between visual magnitude V as a function of above-mentioned extracted magnitudes mAntunez. The diagonal line is the bisector. Our analysis leads to the following conclusions: –– The measured magnitude difference between γ and β Crucis in the 1971 painting is insignificant, and that is even more the case for the difference between α and δ Crucis. –– The range in measured magnitude for β, γ and δ Crucis is not significant, for both paintings. All these measured differences are thus meaningless, as is also the case for the range in measured magnitudes in Figure 20.5.

Figure 20.5. Visual magnitude V as a function of apparent magnitude of incisions and cups for Crux petroglyphs in the rock art sites of Agua Botada and Valle Hermoso. The dashed line is the bisector.

20.4 Inconsistencies in the artworks Both Antúnez’s paintings show a number of anomalies. 20.4.1 The 1971 artwork

of the stars matches the celestial map in Figure 20.1. Two aspects touch on the quantitative analysis of these frames: whether positional information extracted from the depicted asterism’s geometric form corresponds to the one we see on the sky, and whether stellar magnitudes can be extracted in an objective way.

–– The most notorious anomaly is that the artist was looking north – i.e., as if he was looking from the ‘New Technology Telescope site’ – when painting the landscape, but was facing south when painting the nightscape, –– the image of the Moon is grossly out of proportion, with the Moon located way too south, –– only one of the ‘pointer stars’ (i.e., α or β Centauri) is shown, and –– the position, as well as the shape, of the Milky Way is not realistic.

We derived stellar magnitudes from Nemesio Antúnez’s artwork using a plain ‘aperture photometry’ approach applied to the images in Figure 20.6. A circular aperture was used, and sky-background subtraction was done using the median reading in an annular ring around the stellar image. As such, our magnitude estimates are to be considered as entirely objective and non-personal estimates. Note that this approach can only work if the stellar images are more or less round or oval (or at least convex) − i.e., many-pointed stars (like the three images in Figure 20.1), star polygons, or the fuzzy kind of stellar images that characterise Vincent van Gogh’s La Nuit étoilée (Starry Night over the Rhône 1888, Musée d’Orsay), will not work with this method. The derived stellar magnitudes were zero-point shifted in such a way that the magnitude of γ Cru equals V = 1.63.

20.4.2 The 1972 painting –– The was looking towards the Andes, hence viewing east, thus with Crux rising, and –– buildings that did not exist at the time are shown, such as the 3.6-m telescope building of which the construction did not start before mid-1973 (Leroy 1975). The artist must have used the construction plans for drawing the dome and the 3.6-m service building.

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Christiaan Sterken scale, the image orientation, the commensurateness of the depicted asterism’s geometric form with the one we see today, and its completeness – i.e., the match of the number of stars – should be taken into account. An overall numerical alikeness, or similarity of appearance of an asterism and a rock-art creation can never be sufficient evidence for unambiguous attribution nor identification. Our analysis leads to the conclusion that we should not anticipate brighter stars to be depicted as larger cupules, nor that the geometry of the pattern can accurately reflect the actual angular distances in the sky at all. This analysis supports and strengthens what Clive Ruggles (2011, 5) explained ‘that examples abound of attempts to draw a connection between spatial configurations on the ground, but that “literal” (in the Western sense) representations of constellations in the layout of cupules is problematic because of the apparent lack of cultural precedents.’

Figure 20.7. Visual magnitude V as a function of magnitude mAntunez extracted from the images in Figure 20.6.

The winding access road looks very realistic, though some buildings do not have the correct implantation. The asterism in the second composition, obviously, has not been rendered with the same degree of exactness as it was in the first painting.

20.6 Summary

These discrepancies − in the light of the above analysis − naturally raise the question whether Nemesio Antúnez consulted a star map or a catalogue to finalize the image of the Southern Cross in his 1971 painting? Though planetarium software did not exist in those days, Norton’s Star Atlas (1969) was definitely available in the very young astronomical library at La Silla (see sky map in Figure 20.1). Moreover, the artist must have had plenty of opportunities to gather celestial-cartographic advice from staff astronomers at the observatory. The question is thus whether the artist painted what he saw, or what his preconceived mindset expected him to see.

The paintings by Nemesio Antúnez illustrate the divergent perception that artists and astronomers have of stellar magnitude. Crux, however, is a notoriously difficult constellation for an analysis like this one. First of all, because the constellation is rarely represented by more than four stars. Secondly, the magnitude range of these four stars is very limited: just about 1.5 magnitudes, and the untrained artist or layperson’s eye is unable to reliably estimate magnitude, not to speak of accurately transferring such an impression to the canvas with a dot or a blot of oil paint. The ancient star catalogue of Ptolemy in the Almagest gives magnitudes for 1028 stars in one-third magnitude bins (Schaefer 2013). The measurements plotted in Figures 5 and 7 show that the ranges in measured magnitude barely exceed one such third-magnitude bin.

20.5 Discussion How important is the exact match of the number of stars in a celestial alignment or configuration? It is obvious that the level of significance of an identification increases with the number of stars that are ‘seen’ in an image. As a consequence, a configuration of seven stars is readily assigned to the Pleiades (the ‘Seven Sisters’), even though the pattern of these stars may not have any resemblance whatsoever with the geometric configuration made up by the brightest stars in the cluster. But in the two attributed representations in de Lumley and Echassoux (2012, 25−26), the Pleiades cluster has six stars in one case, and eight in the other, and none of these configurations corresponds to the type of seven-point patterns as seen on the Pachacuti Yamqui map, nor on Mesopotamian and Assyrian cylinder seals.

The cross shape of Crux is a cultural attractor that directs the viewer − especially the spectator belonging to a Western Christian culture. Nemesio Antúnez was clearly fascinated by the constellation, and pictured it twice in totally different situations that were most probably watched during one single short visit to the La Silla mountaintop. 20.7 A propos of the artist’s gaze The artist’s gaze features the artist’s intent, and is the totality of talent, culture, color perception, color encoding, technical abilities, style, and composition. The gaze thus renders a most individual expression of a most individual emotion28 − in other words: form and content are inseparable. That gaze and intent cannot

Archaeologists work with physical remains with limited information content. Linking images from a distant past to our modern world is a complex undertaking that frequently leads to disagreement. But assigning celestial icons requires conformity of the various picture elements, such as alignments or depictions of self-evident celestial bodies like the Sun or the Moon. In addition, the time or era of creation of the rock-art work, the image

28  Kunst is de allerindividueelste expressie van de allerindividueelste emotie, Willem Kloos (1859−1938), one of the leaders of the Tachtigers (the Eightiers).

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Bronze Age Rock Art and 20th-Century Oil-On-Canvas Impressions of Constellation Crux, the Southern Cross painting was commissioned by a National Research Council of one of the founding member states of the European Southern Observatory. The painting made in 1972 was a private work created for Adriaan Blaauw, who personally carried it from Chile to Hamburg, where ESO’s Headquarter was in those times. These artwork’s trajectories in time barely cover half a century, and the cultural distance between the artist’s and the present-day scholar’s gaze is not worth considering. The greater the elongation in time and culture between the spectator and the artist’s gaze, the more ambiguous will be any conclusion on the intent of the creator of an artwork (Sterken 2019b). The works of Antúnez are well-documented, but the lack of such information for ancient representations attributed to astronomical phenomena means that conclusions about the nature of their representational accuracy or even the subject matter itself need to be very circumspect.

Figure 20.8. Nemesio Antúnez, La Mesa, 1989. Source: Galería de Arte VALA, www.vala.cl.

possibly be cyphered in calibrated scientific processes, was expressed by Pablo Neruda (1904−1973) in his own way: ‘I knew Nemesio Antúnez green; then I saw him checkered and I became good friends with him in blue. When he was in yellow, I went abroad, and on my return when we embraced near the Santiago Mapocho railway station, he was in purple …’ Neruda (1959).29 This statement may even suit the spectator as an explanation for the difference in hue between both works: was the painter first in his ‘blue period’, and a year later in a more yellowish mood? Definitely not: Antúnez rather prepared the second painting in the evening, and the earlier painting during the subsequent night during one and the same visit.

Acknowledgement I am endebted to Mrs. Bine Blaauw and to the Blaauw Family for permission to reproduce an artwork from their private collection. I thank Mrs. Emma Aby of the Swedish Natural Research Council for her help in relocating the painting reproduced in Figure 20.3, and Mrs. Mira Basara of the Copyright Information Center at Cornell, for providing an image of the Pachacuti Yamqui Inca star map. Niels Bos and the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute at the University of Groningen helped me in acquiring a digital image of the second painting by Nemesio Antúnez.

Neruda’s assertion about checkered patterns refers to some other paintings of Antúnez in which subjects are rendered in a kind of ‘large-pixel pointillism’, see for example his 1951 Lámpara y mesa (Colección Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago de Chile). The most notorious such painting in our context is his 1989 La Mesa (Figure 20.8) that very possibly was inspired by his visit to La Silla Observatory. The title of the work – The Table – describes the subject, viz., a table and two chairs side by side. The table has the profile of Cerro La Silla (literally, The Chair). The tablecloth consists of alternating squares of color that migrate into multi-colored parallelograms that seem to whirl in spiral-shaped orbits. The meaning of the almost empty glass in the foreground can best be understood by those who have spent part of their life on that reclusive mountaintop. A large red circle may symbolize the setting Sun. Such geometric forms are also seen in his Volantines de todos los colores (Kites of many colors, El Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende, Santiago de Chile, 1989).

References Blaauw, Adriaan. 1991. ESO’s Early History. The European Southern Observatory from concept to reality. Garching bei München: European Southern Observatory. Branagan, David and Cairns, Hugh. 1993. “Marks on sandstone surfaces – Sydney region, Australia: cultural origins and meanings?”. Journal and Proceedings of The Royal Society of New South Wales, 126, 125–133. De Lumley, Henry, Echassoux, Annie, Pecker, JeanClaude, et al. 2007. “Figurations de l’amas stellaire des Pléiades sur deux roches gravées de la région du Mont Bego Z IX. GII. R 4 et Z IX. GIII. R 6”.  L’Anthropologie, 111, 755–824. Echassoux, Annie, de Lumley, Henry, Pecker, Jean-Claude, et al. 2009. “Les gravures rupestres des Pléiades de la montagne sacrée du Bego, Tende, Alpes-Maritimes, France”. Comptes Rendus Paléol., 8, 461–469.

Antúnez’s motives for creating these two specific nightand daytime La Silla landscapes are evident: the 1971

Hoffleit, Dorrit and Jaschek, Carlos, 1982, The Bright Star Catalogue. Fourth revised edition, Yale: Yale University Observatory.

29  ‘A Nemesio Antúnez lo conocí verde, lo conocí cuadriculado, fuimos grandes amigos cuando era azul. Mientras era amarillo, yo sali de viaje, me lo encontré violeta y nos abrazamos cerca de la Estación Mapocho, en la ciudad de Santiago …’.

Johnson, H. L., Mitchell, Richard, Iriarte, Braulis and Wisniewski, Wieslaw Z. 1966. “UBVRIJKL Photometry 159

Christiaan Sterken of the Bright Stars”. Communications of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Volume 4, Part 1, 99. Leroy, Émile. 1975. “Avanti for the Telescope Building”. The Messenger, 3: 3. Neruda, P. 1959, Para nacer he nacido, Cuaderno 3, Barcelona: Seix Barral. Norton, Arthur P. and Inglis, J. Gall. 1910. A Star Atlas and Telescopic Handbook for Students and Amateurs, London: Gall and Inglis Ltd. Pachacuti Yamqui, J. de S. C. 1613. Relación de Antigüedades desde Reyno del Pirú, Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid, manuscript n° 3169, p. 147. Ruelle, Alexandre. 1786. Nouvelle Uranographie ou méthode très facile pour apprendre à connaître les constellations par les configurations des principales étoiles entre-elles. Paris, France: Dezauche and Delamarche. Ruggles, Clive L. N. 2011. “Pushing back the frontiers or still running around the same circles? ‘Interpretative archaeoastronomy’ thirty years on.” In Oxford IX International Symposium on Archaeoastronomy, Proceedings IAU Symposium No. 278. Edited by Clive L. N. Ruggles, 1−18. Schaefer, Bradley E. 2013. “The Thousand Star Magnitudes in the Catalogues of Ptolemy, Al Sufi, and Tycho are All Corrected for Atmospheric Extinction”. Journal for the History of Astronomy, 44, 47−74. Sterken, Christiaan. 2019a. “Some Thoughts on Stellar Constellations in Petroglyphs”. American Indian Rock Art, 45, 83−88. Sterken, Christiaan. 2019b. “Bruegel’s Winter Landscapes: Some Reflections on Climate Change”. Archives et Bibliothèques de Belgique (ABB), 90, 63–89. Sugerman, Ben. 2000. “Limiting Magnitude Calculations”. www.k3pgp.org/star.htm Accessed January 31, 2020. Tucker, Hugo, Risi, Andres and Bandiera, Roberto. 2011. “Identification of astronomical objects in ancient engravings: Malargue, Mendoza, Argentina. Methodological contributions in archaeoastronomy”. In Oxford IX International Symposium on Archaeoastronomy, Proceedings IAU Symposium No. 278. Edited by Clive L. N. Ruggles, 118–127.

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21 The Prehistoric Taula Sanctuaries and the Contemporary Barraques of Minorca: A Comparative Analysis within the Framework of Cultural Astronomy Maitane Urrutia-Aparicio and Juan A. Belmonte Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and Universidad de La Laguna, Spain Abstract: On the island of Minorca, the relationship between land- and skyscape embodies various monuments, such as megalithic and cyclopean tombs, and taula sanctuaries, the latter being the outcome of the Talayotic cultural development in the mid-first millennium BC. The study of the orientation patterns, carried out within the framework of Cultural Astronomy, has allowed to reinforce the exceptional value of the cultural traits of the island. In addition, a comparative analysis of the taula sanctuaries and the barraques, typical buildings of the 19th century, has been accomplished. From this test, besides the need of the taulas to present an open and clear horizon, it is inferred that the talayotic societies may have used the best instrument on hand of their epoch, the sky, to achieve their needs. Keywords: Minorca, Talayotic culture, Taulas, Barraques, Cultural Astronomy. 21.1 Introduction

orthostats in the pre-Talayoric era, which covers the years 2000 to 1200 BC.

Minorca is a good example of how Cultural Astronomy has played a decisive role in the enhancement of the numerous monuments associated with the megalithic phenomena throughout the world.

Their unique southwest orientation suggests that Balearic cultures were influenced by those of the Gulf of Lion (Languedoc, Provence), since the custom of orienting tombs that way presumably arose in this region (Hoskin and Morales Núñez, 1991).

The Talayotic culture was born in the Balearic Islands, composed of the main islands of Majorca and Minorca, and prevailed from the Bronze Age until the end of the Iron Age. This culture is characterized by its singular constructions, as a result of the evolution of the island’s society more or less isolated, over the centuries. Some of the most symbolic structures associated with this culture are dolmens, burial navetas or taula sanctuaries, the latter exclusive from the island of Minorca (Plantalamor Massanet, 1991; Sintes, 2015).

Another common interpretation given to that concrete orientation is that the dolmens look towards the main island, Majorca, despite the concordance of the typology between the dolmens of Minorca and those of southern France, which has a major impact on the previous hypothesis (Hoskin, 2001; Belmonte and Hoskin, 2002).

21.2.2 Burial Navetas

The first structures associated with burials showed from an early stage the will to establish orientation patterns related to their beliefs and knowledge. Therefore, an analysis of the orientation of these constructions, which is among their most important features, could lead us to a better understanding of the meaning that these societies gave to their structures.

These singular monuments from Minorca were used as collective burials at the end of the pre-Talayotic era. Usually in oval or elongated shapes, they have a clear axis of symmetry, and thus, a well-defined orientation. Almost every naveta is oriented towards the southwest quadrant, similar to the dolmens, but more flexible.

21.2 Principal monuments 21.2.1 Dolmens

Hence, the funerary practices could be inspired by the previous traditions, showing a survival of the customs, as if there were no external influences. The common characteristics amid both types of constructions also support this idea.

The oldest megalithic sepulchers in Balearic Islands are the dolmens, collective funerary graves built out of big 161

Maitane Urrutia-Aparicio and Juan A. Belmonte

Figure 21.1. (Left) A typical sketch and (right) the orientation diagram for the dolmens of the Balearic Islands. Its unusual pattern towards the southwest could relate the Balearic cultures to Languedoc and Provence. Adapted from Hoskin (2001).

Figure 21.2. (Left) A plan of a burial naveta of Minorca (Es Tudons), and (right) the orientation diagram. The pattern of orientation resembles the dolmens, suggesting that the same custom was followed. Adapted from Hoskin (2001).

21.2.3 Taula Sancturaries

the taula: a big, rectangular, vertical orthostat, placed under a horizontal one, resembling a table.

Taula sanctuaries are one of the most exceptional elements of Minorca. These monuments had a symbolic and religious character, and prevailed during the Iron Age until the Roman conquest, in 123 BC.

The monuments have a pattern of orientation towards the southern quadrant of the horizon, and in almost all cases, an uninterrupted view of the horizon to the south. This precise orientation could have been deliberately chosen to avoid the tramontana, the well-known north wind of the island. The horseshoe shape of the enclosure agrees with this interpretation, but it does not explain the need of a

Usually, taula sanctuaries have a horseshoe shape enclosure with a single entrance (see Figures 21.3 and 21.4). Inside this enclosure, and in the middle of it, stands 162

The prehistoric Taula Sanctuaries and the contemporary Barraques of Minorca

Figure 21.3. Taula of Torralba d’en Salort, one of the best preserved of the island. It is also the exception to the south rule as shown in Fig. 4. © J. A. Belmonte.

clear horizon. Therefore, an experiment that dismisses the previous idea has been carried out by analyzing another typical structure found in the landscape of Minorca: the barraques.

or horseshoe shape, and they contain a single entrance, similar to those of the taulas. Although there are no more similarities between them, a comparative analysis of their orientation patterns could point out the uniqueness of taula sanctuaries.

21.3 An experiment of verification: Taula sanctuaries vs. Barraques

The orientation of the barraques towards the southern quadrant resembles the taulas and is compatible with the idea of avoiding the north wind, although it is slightly deviated to the southeast (see Figure 21.7). This deviation justifies by taking into account the magnetic declination,

Built out of dry stones in the middle of the 19th century, barraques serve as shelters to protect livestock and shepherds. As shown in Figure 21.6, they have a round

Figure 21.4. (Left) A plan of a typical Minorcan taula sanctuary, in Torre d’en Galmes. In the center stands the taula, placed in front of the entrance of the horseshoe-shape enclosure. (Right) The orientation diagram, centered in the South, suggests the observation of an astronomical object which moved around the southern horizon, in a limited range of azimuths. © M. Hoskin and J. A. Belmonte.

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Figure 21.5. Image of Torre d’en Galmes sanctuary. The taula, without the capstone, faces the access door and has a wide and clear southern horizon view, with the sea in the background. © J. A. Belmonte.

Figure 21.6. Image of a standard barraque, a typical construction from the western sector of Minorca in the 19th century. This structure is built out of dry stones, with ziggurat shape and a single entrance facing the south, probably to avoid the tramontana, the characteristic north-wind from the island. © J. A. Belmonte.

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The prehistoric Taula Sanctuaries and the contemporary Barraques of Minorca

Figure 21.7. Azimuth histograms for (a) taula sanctuaries and (b) barraques of Minorca. Despite both cases indicate a predilection for the southern horizon, the difference between the maximum of each distribution suggests that the patterns have not the same origin. © M. Urrutia-Aparicio.

which indicates the deviation of the magnetic north of a compass from the true north. During the construction of the barraques, this magnitude would have taken values between 10º and 20º towards the northwest. Therefore, barraques would have been oriented using a compass, placing the entrance leeward of the tramontana and thus avoiding this nerve-racking wind.

magnitude is obtained from the orientation measurements: the azimuth (the angle between an object on the horizon and the magnetic north) and the height of the horizon. The advantage of using the declination is that it is independent from the observer’s position, which makes it possible to compare samples from different regions. Figure 21.8 shows the declination histogram for the taula sanctuaries of Minorca. There, a single significant peak emerges, centered at –50º. This is the minimum declination an astronomical object can have to be visible from Minorca. Thus, the builders of taula sanctuaries would have used

In order to find out the origin of the pattern of orientation of the taulas, another astronomical magnitude has been used: the declination, which should not be confused with the magnetic declination, previously mentioned. This

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Figure 21.8. Declination histogram for taula sanctuaries. It shows a maximum at –50º, nearly at the limit of declination of an astronomical object to be visible in Minorcan sky. © M. Urrutia-Aparicio.

A statistical analysis of several sets of structures dated between the Bronze Age and Roman Era, including the previous ones, indicates that Minorcan taula sanctuaries appear isolated, with their closest relatives the megalithic temples of Malta and the square talayots of Majorca. Besides, the dolmens and the navetas, apart from being related to each other, are also related to the dolmens from the Gulf of Lion (González-García and Belmonte, 2014).

the best instrument available at their time, the sky and the discernible objects within it, to orientate the sanctuaries towards the south. This also explains the need for an open southern horizon, so that celestial objects could be seen unobstructed. According to Hoskin (1989, 2001; see also Hoskin, Hochsieder and Knösel, 1990), this orientation was chosen in order to have a clear view of the stellar asterism formed by the Southern Cross and Alpha and Beta Centaury. Curiously, some archaeological remains that justify the religious character of taulas, may also link them to the mythological creature Centaur (Hoskin, 2001). Therefore, although it is not certainly proven, this precise pattern of orientation and the need of a clear horizon could be explained by the stellar hypothesis. Besides, due to Equinox precession, most of these stars ceased to be visible in later centuries, perhaps leading to a gradual abandonment of the taula sanctuaries in Roman times.

Figure 21.9 compares the declination histograms of the taula sanctuaries of Minorca, the talayotic sanctuaries of Majorca and the megalithic temples of Malta. Along with the need of an open southern horizon, taula sanctuaries present a singular declination distribution, with a statistically more significant peak at –50º, that distinguishes them from the other monuments. 21.5 Conclusions

21.4 Comparative analysis

The megalithic and cyclopean tombs of the Talayotic societies of Minorca show a pattern of orientation that is regular and constant over time. Hence, it distinguishes them from other contemporary cultures with similar cyclopean characteristics, such as the nuragic culture of Sardinia (González-García, Zedda and Belmonte, 2014). On the contrary, this singular pattern seems to relate the Talayotic societies to the hypothetical places of origin of the populations that colonized Minorca from the shores of the Gulf of Lion (current Languedoc and Provence).

Over the last decades, the Mediterranean basin has been frequently studied within the framework of Cultural Astronomy. In this regard, the most relevant features that may be used for a comparative analysis with Minorca would be the megalithic temples of Malta, some Talayotic constructions of Majorca, as the square talayots, the dolmens of the Gulf of Lion, and finally, the megalithic and cyclopean monuments of Sardinia. 166

The prehistoric Taula Sanctuaries and the contemporary Barraques of Minorca

Figure 21.9. Declination histogram for (a) taula sanctuaries of Minorca, (b) talayotic sanctuaries of Majorca, and (c) the megalithic temples of Malta and Gozo. © M. Urrutia-Aparicio.

Therefore, this concrete orientation demonstrates the ability of an island culture, more or less isolated, to maintain its traditions for prolonged periods of time. It also reinforces the exceptional nature of this culture in its different phases over many centuries.

to avoid the predominant north winds of the island, the tramontana. Additionally, the orientation pattern of the taulas is centered in the south, with the need to show a clear horizon. The similarities between the orientation patterns of Minorcan taula sanctuaries and barraques show that the only way to obtain the pattern of the taulas had to be by the observation of the sky as the main tool to determine their orientation. The relationship between landscape and sky (aka “skyscape”) is consequently manifested in all its greatness.

Minorcan barraques have a pattern of orientation towards the southern horizon, but slightly deviated to the southeast. This deviation is probably due to the use of a compass during the planning and construction of these singular buildings, 167

Maitane Urrutia-Aparicio and Juan A. Belmonte In conclusion, the study of the dolmens, navetas and taula sanctuaries from Minorca, within the framework of Cultural Astronomy, reinforces their exceptional value and stands out the close relationship between astronomy and landscape. Acknowledgements This work is partially financed under the framework of the projects P310793 “Arqueoastronomía” of the IAC, and AYA2015–66787-P “Orientatio ad Sidera IV” of the Spanish MINECO/MICIU. References Belmonte Avilés, J. A. 2011. “El abogado del diablo: un estudio alternativo sobre la orientación de las taulas de Menorca y de los Talayots cuadrados de Mallorca” In El Gran Libro de las Taulas de Menorca, edited by F. Lagarda, 1: 295–312. Zaragoza. Belmonte, J. A. and Hoskin, M. 2002. Reflejo del Cosmos. Madrid: Equipo Sirus. González-García, A.C. and Belmonte, J.A. 2014. “Sacred architecture orientation across the Mediterranean: a comparative statistical approach” Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 14 (2): 95–113. González-García, A.C.; Zedda M. and Belmonte J.A. 2014. “On the orientation of prehistoric Sardinian monuments. A comparative statistical approach”. Journal for the History of Astronomy 45: 467–481. Hoskin, M. 1989. “The orientation of the taulas of Menorca (1). The southern taulas.” Archaeoastronomy J.H.A. 20(14): 117–136. Hoskin, M. 2001. Tombs, temples and orientations. A new perspective on Mediterranean Prehistory. Bognor Regis: Ocarina Books. Hoskin, M., Hochsieder, P. and Knösel, D. 1990. “The orientation of the taulas of Menorca (2): the remaining taulas.” Archaeoastronomy J.H.A. 21(15): 37–48. Hoskin, M. and Morales Núñez, J.J. 1991. “The orientation of burial monuments of Menorca.” Archaeoastronomy J.H.A. 16: 15–42. Plantalamor Massanet, L. 1991. “L’Arquitectura Prehistòrica i Protohistòrica de Menorca y el seu marc cultural.” Traballs del Museu de Menorca xii. Mahón. Sintes, E. 2015. Guía Menorca talayótica. La prehistoria de la isla. Sant Lluís: Triangle Postals S.L.

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Volume Editors Georg Zotti is computer scientist and astronomer, currently working at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology. His key interest in cultural astronomy is the application of computer graphics and virtual environments for research and demonstration of historical astronomical events, building orientation with enclosing landscape etc.

A. César González García is currently the president of the European Society for Astronomy in Culture (SEAC). Based at the Institute of Heritage Sciences in Santiago de Compostela (Spain), his main research lines are centered in the orientation of past cultures buildings, including possible astronomical and landscape relations. Roslyn M. Frank has been an active member of SEAC since its inception. Her research areas are Basque culture and language, ethnomathemtics and ethnoastronomy, landscape and skyscape studies, as well as European folklore and ethnography.

Juan A. Belmonte is Research Professor of Astronomy at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (Tenerife, Spain). He was the President of SEAC from 2005 to 2011. In 2012 he received the “Carlos Jaschek” award of the European Society for Astronomy in Culture for his contributions to the discipline. He is advisory editor of the Journal for the History of Astronomy.

Lionel D. Sims, B.Sc. (Hons) Salford, M.Sc. LSE, M.Sc. Surrey, M.Sc. UCL, Ph.D. UEL. Head of Anthropology, University of East London (Emeritus). A film of his research, ‘Stonehenge Rediscovered’, was commissioned for National Geographic and distributed world-wide. He uses inter-disciplinary method by integrating archaeology, archaeoastronomy, anthropology and mythology.

Ivan Šprajc Ph.D. in anthropology (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1997), he is head of the Institute of Anthropological and Spatial Studies, of the Scientific Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU), in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Šprajc’s interests have been focused on Mesoamerican archaeology and archaeoastronomy.

Michael A. Rappenglück Dr. rer. nat. (history of sciences, history of astronomy) and M.A. (philosophy); He carried out studies of history of natural sciences, astronomy and systematical theology at the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich. Since 1990 he is general manager and head of the Adult Center Gilching, Munich, Germany.

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‘It is a very important volume for the field of cultural astronomy and also for the field of archeology in general.’ ‘It is a very important volume for the field of cultural astronomy Dr Alejandro Martín Lopez, Universidad de Buenos Aires and also for the field of archeology in general.’ Dr Alejandro Martín Lopez, de current Buenos Aires ‘This book contributes to this area greatly by Universidad capturing the status of the field of cultural astronomy, archaeoastronomy as well as ‘This book contributesIn to its this area greatly by capturing the current skyscape archaeology. diversity it celebrates and illustrates the status of the field of cultural astronomy, archaeoastronomy as well as multifaceted subject areas coming together.’ skyscape archaeology. In its diversity it celebrates and illustrates the Dr Daniel Brown, Nottingham Trent University multifaceted subject areas coming together.’ Dr Daniel Brown, Nottingham Trent University

Cultural Astronomy is the endeavour to understand the role of the sky in past and present societies, and how these societies incorporated the sky into their culture. This Cultural Astronomy is the endeavour to understand the when role ofinvestigating the sky in past and broad ranging discipline is closely related to archaeology material present societies, and how these societies incorporated the sky into their culture. This remains of the past. Cultural Astronomy also explores the role of the heavens from broad ranging discipline is closely related sciences. to archaeology whendecades investigating material the perspectives of the anthropological In recent the discipline remains the past. Cultural Astronomy also theissues. role ofThis the volume heavens offers from has beenofconcerned with methodological and explores theoretical the perspectives of the anthropological sciences. In recent decades the discipline chapters based on presentations at the 27th SEAC meeting held in Bern (2019). These has been provide concerned withimage methodological andresearch theoretical issues. areas, This volume offers chapters a vivid of front-line in diverse from Roman chapters oneffects presentations at the 27thto SEAC held in Bern (2019).temple These light and based shadow to highlight power, Mayameeting city organization, Etruscan chapters provide vivid image front-line research in diverse areas, from Roman orientation or the aontology of theofsky. light and shadow effects to highlight power, to Maya city organization, Etruscan temple orientation or the ontology of the sky. Editors: A. César González-García, Roslyn M. Frank, Lionel D. Sims, Michael A. Rappenglück, Georg Zotti, Juan A. Belmonte, Ivan Šprajc Editors: A. César González-García, Roslyn M. Frank, Lionel D. Sims, Michael A. Rappenglück, Zotti, Juan A. Ivan Šprajc N. Campion, I. Cristofaro, Contributors:Georg M. Almushawh, A.I.Belmonte, Alpay, J.A. Belmonte, M. De Franceschini, K. Ernstson, R. Gautschy, M. Hiltl, J.C. Holbrook, S. Iwaniszewski, Contributors: Almushawh, A.I. Alpay, M.A. J.A. Belmonte, N. Campion, I. Cristofaro, R. Krauss, A.P. M. Pernigotti, B. Rappenglück, Rappenglück, V. Reijs, W.F. Romain, M. De Franceschini, K. Ernstson, R. Gautschy, M. Hiltl, J.C. Holbrook, S. Iwaniszewski, L.D. Sims, E. Spinazzè, I. Šprajc, C. Sterken, M. Urrutia-Aparicio, A. Wolf, G. Zotti R. Krauss, A.P. Pernigotti, B. Rappenglück, M.A. Rappenglück, V. Reijs, W.F. Romain, L.D. Sims, E. Spinazzè, I. Šprajc, C. Sterken, M. Urrutia-Aparicio, A. Wolf, G. Zotti

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