Whatever went on there, it would have impressed the ancient Britons. Even if it was only whispering. We are nowhere nearer cracking the mystery of the monument as a result; but who would want to be? Apart from all the mountains of remaindered books of theories, a puzzle solved is never as gripping as a conundrum still under way.
Archive for the ‘Archeoastronomy’ Category
An Australian study has uncovered signs that the country’s ancient Aborigines may have been the world’s first stargazers, pre-dating Stonehenge and Egypt’s pyramids by thousands of years.
A catastrophic volcanic eruption spewing huge clouds of ash about 3,600 years ago was behind the burial of the Nebra sky disk, one of the most spectacular archaeological finds in recent years, according to scientists at Mainz and Halle-Wittenberg universities in Germany.
A team of marine archaeologists using sonar scanners have discovered four ancient shipwrecks off the tiny Italian island of Zannone, with intact cargos of wine and oil.
Here’s a novel suggestion for how the government can help reduce the massive public deficit: sell Stonehenge. A survey of 500 estate agents, among other monuments studied, has placed the price of the ancient stone circle at a cool £51 million.
Macedonia is the youngest ancient country in the world and is full of relics of times past.
It has been part of all the great empires of history, from Roman to Ottoman to Byzantine and they have all left their mark with thousands of ancient sites.
If everything goes according to plan, sometime in November a group of about a dozen Czech and Danish scientists will descend on the Church of Our Lady Before Týn on Old Town Square. Soon thereafter, a man who has been dead for more than 400 years will say hello to the 21st century.
In the Northern Hemisphere spring officially begins at 1:32 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 20, 2010—the vernal equinox, or spring equinox (see vernal equinox pictures).
The vernal equinox of 2010 falls on Saturday, March 20. The spring equinox is the first day of the solar new year and one of two days each year when day and night are equally long—at least in theory (vernal equinox facts).
Evidence for two encircling hedges—possibly thorn bushes—planted some 3,600 years ago was uncovered during a survey of the site by English Heritage, the government agency responsible for maintaining the monument in southern England.
On the trunk of a gnarled, centuries-old oak tree, about 90 miles southwest of Phoenix, Ariz., are odd carvings of six-legged, lizard-like beings.
Hundreds of solar eclipses were recorded by medieval chroniclers, offering historians of astronomy with some vital information about how people in the Middle Ages reacted to this phenomenon.
Survey of landscape suggests prehistoric monument was surrounded by two circular hedges
An Australian Aboriginal ‘Dreaming’ story has helped experts uncover a meteorite impact crater in the outback of the Northern Territory.
Duane Hamacher, a doctoral candidate at Macquarie University, used ancient folklore from an Australian Aboriginal people and modern Google maps to locate a meteorite crater in central Australia.
The winter solstice was an important event in the lives of ancient Americans, and, believe me, they knew exactly when it happened. I imagine they felt comforted because they knew then that spring would come again.
Despite its appearing to be a simple question to answer, there has been no consensus as to whether or not the alignments of ancient Greek temples reflect astronomical intentions. Here I present the results of a survey of archaic and classical Greek temples in Sicily and compare them with temples in Greece.
The Ancient Greeks deliberately built their temples to face the rising Sun, according to research that promises to shed light on their religious practices and to resolve a longstanding archaeological controversy.
The Oldest Lunar Calendars and Earliest Constellations have been identified in cave art found in France and Germany. The astronomer-priests of these late Upper Paleolithic Cultures understood mathematical sets, and the interplay between the moon annual cycle, ecliptic, solstice and seasonal changes on earth.
Galileo’s telescope is today remembered as a revolutionary stargazing tool that changed Earth’s standing in the heavens.
But when Italian mathematician Galileo Galilei presented his version of the telescope to officials in the Italian city-state of Venice, he was simply seeking a career boost, historians say.