Archaeoastronomy - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Archaeoastronomy write by Giulio Magli. This book was released on 2015-10-30. Archaeoastronomy available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. This book provides the first complete, easy to read, up-to-date account of the fascinating discipline of archaeoastronomy, in which the relationship between ancient constructions and the sky is studied in order to gain a better understanding of the ideas of the architects of the past and of their religious and symbolic worlds. The book is divided into three sections, the first of which explores the past relations between astronomy and people, power, the afterworld, architecture, and landscape. The fundamentals of archaeoastronomy are then addressed in detail, with coverage of the celestial coordinates; the apparent motion of the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets; observation of celestial bodies at the horizon; the use of astronomical software in archaeoastronomy; and current methods for making and analyzing measurements. The final section reviews what archaeoastronomy can now tell us about the nature and purpose of such sites and structures as Stonehenge, the Pyramids of Giza, Chichen Itza, the Campus Martius, and the Valley of the Temples of Agrigento. In addition, a set of exercises is provided that can be performed using non-commercial free software, e.g., Google Earth or Stellarium, and will equip readers to conduct their own research. Readers will find the book an ideal introduction to what has become a wide-ranging multidisciplinary science.
East-Asian Archaeoastronomy
East-Asian Archaeoastronomy - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook East-Asian Archaeoastronomy write by Zhenoao Xu. This book was released on 2000-11-17. East-Asian Archaeoastronomy available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Historical astronomical records can play an important role in modern research, especially in the case of ancient Chinese observational data: sunspot and aurora records are important for the study of solar variability; solar and lunar eclipse records for the study of the Earth's rotation; records of Comet Hally for the study of orbital evolution; "guest star" records for the study of supernova remnants; planetary conjunction records for research in astronomical chronology. In the past, Western scientists have not been able to exploit these valuable data fully because the original records were difficult to gather and interpret, and complete English translations have not been available. East-Asian Archaeoastronomy is the first comprehensive translation into English of such historical records for modern research. The book also features an introduction to East Asian astronomy and offers guidance on how to use the records effectively. It will not only be a valuable research tool for astronomers but should also be of great interest to historians of China and Chinese science.
African Cultural Astronomy
African Cultural Astronomy - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook African Cultural Astronomy write by Jarita Holbrook. This book was released on 2008-01-01. African Cultural Astronomy available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. This is the first scholarly collection of articles focused on the cultural astronomy of the African continent. It weaves together astronomy, anthropology, and Africa and it includes African myths and legends about the sky, alignments to celestial bodies found at archaeological sites and at places of worship, rock art with celestial imagery, and scientific thinking revealed in local astronomy traditions including ethnomathematics and the creation of calendars.
Descriptive Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Indian Chronology
Descriptive Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Indian Chronology - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Descriptive Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Indian Chronology write by Amitabha Ghosh. This book was released on 2020-07-04. Descriptive Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Indian Chronology available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. This book presents the basic fundamentals of descriptive archaeoastronomy and its application to the astronomical descriptions found in ancient Indian scriptures. Archaeoastronomy is a branch of positional astronomy that helps to determine the epochs of ancient astronomical alignments and special astronomical events. In this book, only the descriptions of special stellar alignments and events found in ancient texts can identify the antiquity of the descriptions. India possesses a large volume of ancient scriptures like Vedas and Puranas which contain many astronomical descriptions as in ancient India positional astronomy was well developed. The antiquities of these texts are determined through archaeoastronomical techniques. Major events like Mahabharata War are dated and using these dates a chronology of ancient India is determined. The astronomically determined chronology is compared with the results from various archaeological, palaeoclimatological, geological and genealogical investigations of ancient India. This introductory book interests readers interested in unveiling the mystery involved with the protohistory of this ancient civilization.
Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy
Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy write by Giulio Magli. This book was released on 2009-04-09. Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. The book is divided into two parts. In the first, the reader is taken on an ideal ‘world tour’ of many wonderful and enigmatic places in almost every continent, in search of traces of astronomical knowledge and lore of the sky. In the second part, Giulio Magli uses the elements presented in the tour to show that the fundamental idea which led to the construction of the astronomically-related giant monuments was the foundation of power, a foundation which was exploited by ‘replicating’ the sky. A possible interpretive model then emerges that is founded on the relationship the ancients had with “nature”, in the sense of everything that surrounded them, the cosmos. The numerous monumental astronomically aligned structures of the past then become interpretable as acts of will, expressions of power on the part of those who held it; the will to replicate the heavenly plane here on earth and to build sacred landscapes. Finally, having formulated his hypothesis, Professor Magli returns to visit one specific place in detail, searching for proof. This in-depth examination studies the most compelling, the most intensively studied, the most famous and, until recently, the most misunderstood sacred landscape on the planet - Giza, in Egypt. The archaeoastronomical analysis of the orientation of the Giza pyramids leads to the hypothesis that the pyramids of Cheops and Chephren belong to the same construction project.
