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Ancient Astronomy in the Americas. Practical Origins. Ancient Americans were farmers and needed to know the best time for planting and harvesting. With farming came a practical need for a calendar. As civilization developed, deeper meanings were attached to astronomical phenomenon.
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Practical Origins • Ancient Americans were farmers and needed to know the best time for planting and harvesting. • With farming came a practical need for a calendar. • As civilization developed, deeper meanings were attached to astronomical phenomenon. • An overall trend: the more settled a culture became, the more religious meanings became attached to the sky.
Some Quick History • People crossed from Asia into Alaska via the now sunken Bering Land Bridge in about (YEAR). • Following open areas free of ice people migrated South into the continent. • First permanent settlements in about (YEAR). • Except for the Maya civilization, no Ancient Americans ever developed writing. • Most information is based on educated guesses and second-hand European sources.
Moundbuilders (1000BC-500AD) • A collective name given to many Indian groups between 1000BC and 1500AD. • By the time of European colonists, the Moundbuilders were history. • Many mounds were for burial. • Some may have been related to astronomy.
The Great Serpent Mound • Located in Adams County, Ohio. • Built by the Adena (YEARS) • At over 3 feet tall, 20 feet wide, and 1,370 feet long, it is the world's largest effigy mound. • No burials, its purpose remains a mystery. • Time of construction is unknown.
An Astronomical Explanation? • Do the head and coils point toward the sunrises/sets on solstices and equinoxes? • Does the serpent represent Draco? • Can lunar movements be found within the coils?
The Octagon • Located in Newark, OH, now incorporated into a golf course. • Built by the Hopewell Culture (200BC-500AD) • In the 1980s during a search for solar alignments, several Lunar alignments were discovered (no solar ones though).
Evidence of Advanced Observing • The main axis, connecting the octagon and circle, points to the Northernmost moon rise in the 18.6 year lunar cycle. • Four other sides point to the maximum southern rise, minimum northern rise, maximum northern set, and minimum southern set. • A similar Hopewell structure, the High Bank Earthworks in Chillicothe, also exhibit these same alignments.
Is There More? • Newark and Chilicothe are very similar sites about 55 miles apart. • The common design in obvious. • In Newark, traces of parallel Earth banks about 200 feet apart, leading 6 miles in the direction of Chillicothe were first surveyed in 1862. • With aerial photography, traces of this supposed road are visible at four additional sites, which are in direct line between Newark and Chillicothe.
Fort Ancient People (1000-1550) • Descendants of the Moundbuilders • Named for a hilltop site occupied by the tribe. In reality, this site, no longer considered a fort, was probably built by the Moundbuilders. • Far more agriculturally orentated than their Moundbuilder ancestors. • With agriculture comes a need for accurate timekeeping.
Sunwatch Village • Located in Dayton. • Originally intended to be a salvage excavation. Now, the site is permanantely preserved. • Now restored. • The village centers around tall posts in the ground. • Using line of sight, these posts mark the solstices and equinoxes. • Special houses are also in these sight lines.
Cahokia • Located in the St. Louis area. • Flourished from about 650-1400 AD. • Monk's Mound (left) is a pyramid-like structure and is the largest man made mound in N. America with a 1,037' x 790' base (Egypt's Great Pyramid is a 754' square).
“Woodhenge” • Located to the West of Monk's Mound. • Consisted of a circle of posts used to make line of sight astronomical alignments. • There were as many as five henges, with posts ranging from as few as 12 to as many as 60. • Original posts long gone, holes averaging 4 feet deep and 2 feet wide were the evidence the henge existed. • The 48 post version, 410 feet in diameter, has been reconstructed. • Solstices and Equinoxes were marked. • Other alignments are unknown.
The Pueblo (1200AD-????) • A collective name applied to many individual tribes. • Lived in the Four Corners area of the Southwest. • Known for their pottery and cliff side housing. • Modern Indians in this area claim these people as their ancestors. • Although not certain, there are believed to be links with Mesoamerican cultures.
Chaco Canyon • Occupied by the Anasazi People from about 900-1250AD. • Pearls and parrot feathers found here, which are thought to be represent a link to Central American groups. • The strength of these ties is uncertain, ranging from trading partners to outposts of Mesoamerican civilization. • Reasons for their collapse are thought to be weather related.
The Supernova Petroglyph • M1, the Crab Nebula, is the remnant of a Supernova first seen on July 4, 1054. • The Supernova was visible in daylight for almost three weeks, absolutely impossible to ignore. • The people at Chaco Canyon may have recorded this observation in stone. • Tracing back the sky, the glyph depicts the moon's location on July 5, 1054.
The Sun Dagger • Rediscovered in the 1970s. • Used to mark the solstices and equinoxes. • Created by the interplay of light and shadow. • Consists of petroglyphs on rock behind a stone slab in front with slits for sunlight. • The petroglyphs are a large spiral and a small snake. • The effect would last about 15 minutes. • Due to shifting rocks, the effect is now altered and the site is closed to the public.
In Detail • Summer Solstice: The sun shines through a slit and appears as a small point of light on the spiral. Slowly the point of light grows into a cone, which is then cut off at the top to make a dagger, which slowly moves down. • Winter Solstice: The same except that two daggers bracket the spiral. • Equinoxes: Long light shaft bisects the snake, another illuminated the spiral.
Medicine Wheels • Many are located in the Western U.S. • Strongly resemble henges. • Spokes and rocks are thought by some to mark astronomical alignments. • A complete lack of written history leaves meanings uncertain.
Quick History • Many cultures in a small area. • Overall trend: cultural succession. A certain culture becomes dominant, declines, and is replaced by another. • As new cultures rise, they build on the legacy of the previous civilizations. • In Mesoamerica, the astronomy/religion link is common. By the Spanish conquest, religion and astronomy are essentially one discipline.
The Olmecs (1200-300BC) • The foundation culture of Central America. • Known as “The Rubber People” for their ballgame-more later. • The tradition of pyramid temples started with the Olmecs. • Known for carving giant stone heads, on which there has been much speculation. • Astronomically, the development of the first calendars is their most important achievement.
The Ritual Ballgame • Played with a heavy (WEIGHT) rubber ball, which represented the sun. • The object was to keep the ball moving and get it through a stone loop high on a wall. • The game could last for days because the players could not use hands or feet. • Played by teams of two. • The losers were often sacrificed. • A potentially deeper meaning to the stone loop will be addressed later.
The Olmec Calendars • The Olmecs used 2 parallel calendars. • A 365 day solar calendar. As far as we know, no Mesoamrican culture used leap years. This was the everyday calendar for practical activities. • A 260 day ritual calendar. The origins of this calendar remain unknown. • Calendars would start at the same time, but would not re align again for 52 years. • The later Maya expand greatly upon these ideas.
The Maya (600 BC-1200AD) • New evidence continually pushes the Origin of Maya culture further back in time. • Some Maya pyramids rival Egypt's in size. • The only Mesoamerican culture to develop writing. • Once thought to be a peaceful civilization ruled by astronomer-priests. Actually very militaristic. • Did very detailed astronomical observations. • For reasons unknown, civilization mostly collapsed by 900AD. Much speculation here.
More About the Maya • The Maya believed that time was cyclical, not linear. • With this idea came the belief that thew world was created, will be destroyed, and then recreated. • These cycles were known as Suns. • To the Maya, these suns were not random, but were clearly organized. More to follow.
The Importance of Time • Kept the Olmec 365 and 260 day calendars. • Thanks to texts, we know more about the division of the calendars. • Ritual calendar consisted of 20 months of 13 days each. • Solar calendar was 18 months of 20 days each. • The leftover 5 days were considered dangerous because the gates of the underworld were thought to open. People mostly stayed home.
Religion and the Sky • The Milky Way represents the road to the underworld. • The Milky Way is often represented as a monster devouring the dead. • This is the sarcophagus lid of Maya king Pacal.
The Myth of the Hero Twins • A king and his twin brother like to play the ritual ballgame. • Problem: they play on a court over a gateway to the underworld, which annoys the gods of death. • The gods summon the king and his brother to the underworld for a game. • The gods win and the brothers are killed. • The king had two twin sons of his own.
Take Two • The younger twins also like to play the ballgame and also annoy the gods of death. • Once again, the gods summon the twins to the underworld. The twins take the challenge. • This time, the gods lose. • Before exiting the underworld, the twins resurrect their father and uncle. • Their father becomes the sun, their uncle becomes the planet Venus.
