THE EVIDENCE FROM KNOSSOS ON THE MINOAN CALENDAR (original) (raw)
Related papers
Evidence for Minoan Astronomical Observations from the
We report the results of investigations made by the archaeoastronomical group at Uppsala University of the peak sanctuaries on Petsophas and Traostalos, in eastern Crete. The results indicate that the Minoans were conducting systematic observations of the sun, the moon and the stars-particularly Arcturus-at the two sites early in the Middle Minoan Period. We propose that there were practical as well as religious reasons for the Minoan interest in the motions of the heavenly bodies: for example the knowledge acquired from the observations contributed to navigation and made possible the regulation of a ritual lunisolar calendar. We supplement our earlier proposal of a Minoan goddess associated with the moon, with the suggestion of a god associated with the star later known as Arcturus. Foundation, the Axel & Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation, the Magn. Bergvall Foundation and the Helge Ax:son Johnson Foundation. We are also grateful to the Greek Archaeological Service and the British School at Athens for permission to study the site of Petsophas. We would like to thank as well C. Davaras, former ephor, and N. Papadakis, present ephor of antiquities at Ayios Nikolaos, J.A. MacGillivray, director of the current excavations at Palaikastro, Robin Hägg, Berit Wells, Bodil Nordström of the Swedish Institute and Maria Hielte of the Norwegian Institute at Athens, all of whom have been helpful in furthering our work. We are especially indebted to Maria Papathanassiou, Department of Mathematics at the University of Athens, and the members of the graduate seminar in Classical Archaeology and Ancient History at Uppsala University for their helpful comments and suggestions. We thank also Lennart Bondes-son, associate professor in mathematical statistics, Uppsala University, who conducted the statistical evaluation of our measurements. We are also grateful to Lars Bägerfeldt and Petter Lindahl for their generous help with the reproduction of our figures. Abbreviations Blomberg & M. Blomberg & G. Henriksson, 'Minos en-Henriksson 1996 neoros. Archaeoastronomical light on the priestly role of the king in Crete', in Religion and power in the ancient Greek world.
EIRENE, 2015
In introducing this subject it is necessary to give the definitions of the key words kernos and calendar which are at the core of this paper. The current definition of kernos (plural kernoi) is that it is a pottery ring or stone tray in which several cups for holding offerings are carved. A calendar is a managing time system by which the beginning, the length, and the division of a time period (e.g. 365 days) are fixed and by which days and longer divisions of time (weeks, months and years) are arranged in a definite order. The calendars that have been used by humanity so far are the lunar, the lunisolar and the solar. In this paper it will be proved for the first time worldwide that around 1800 BCE the Minoans used stone kernoi as calendars which counted the 365 days of a solar year as follows: 3 days for celebrations (at the beginning of the year) + 5 months (of 36 days per month) + 2 days for celebrations (at the middle of the year) + 5 months (of 36 days per month).
The Prehistoric Solar Calendar: an out-of-fashion idea re-visited with new evidence
The work of Alexander Thom on the geometrical and astronomical achievements of prehistoric Britain— depending as it does almost entirely on data gained from surveying and statistical analysis—is rarely referred to now by British archaeologists.Yet his idea of the prehistoric sixteen-“month” solar calendar—in which the year is divided successively into halves, quarters, eighths and sixteenths—can now be tested with evidence from other fields, including some spectacular archaeological artifacts and from excavations specifically designed to examine the hypothesis. This article reviews the origins of the idea and presents some new evidence which has emerged since Thom’s time which bears on it. This material includes five sites which excavation and surveying have shown to be probable accurate solar- calendar markers and three spectacular artifacts which, in their different ways, shed further light on the idea. These are the gold lozenge from Bush Barrow,Wiltshire, the “sky disc” from near Nebra in eastern Germany, and the fan-shaped design on stone K15 at the Knowth passage grave in Ireland. This diversity of evidence provides powerful support for Thom’s hypothesis and, it is suggested, makes more likely the existence of intellectually skilled professional priesthoods in north-western Europe in the Neolithic period and the early Bronze Age.
Archaeoastronomy: New trends in the field,with methods and results from studies in Minoan Crete
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 2001
We describe briefly new trends in archaeoastronomy and present results from our studies on Crete to show what this field can contribute to archaeological investigations in the Bronze Age Aegean. Our basic method is the study of orientations, but contemporary Linear A texts, finds from the sites, and later Mycenaean and Greek texts have proved to be important supplementary sources. In broadest terms the results show systematic observation of the heavenly bodies from the end of the early Minoan period (ca. 2000 BCE) and the use of the knowledge obtained to regulate a lunisolar calendar and to navigate.
CENTER FOR HELLENIC STUDIES HARVARD UNIVERSITY , 2019
The use of kernoi has been the tantalizing subject among archaeologists since 1901. Archaeologists' conclusions do not converge, as they have suggested that Minoan flat kernoi are either: 1) libation tables, i.e. tables with some produce on their small cups offered to deities or 2) boards for the Minoans to play unspecified games or 3) unspecified board games connected with some ritual procedures; 4) one archaeologist put forward a fourth proposal, that the Mallia kernos is nearly a lunisolar calendar. In this paper the four previous considerations will be commented on. This study deals with the decoding of 73 Minoan flat kernoi and it is based on: a) the detailed observation on the measured characteristics of kernoi, i.e. the number, the size and the distribution of cups on them; b) the use of elementary statistics for the grouping of the above characteristics of kernoi; c) the knowledge of prehistoric Egyptian and Babylonian calendars. The analysis is based on the decoding of 73 kernoi, ten of which are decoded in detail. In the light of the proposed theory, one kernos found in pieces is shown to have been reconstructed incorrectly and a possible new reconstruction proposed.
AYP Vol. II: Archontic (Civil) Year Calendar Intercalations
The Athenian Year Primer Vol II, 2023
The Placement of Embolismic Months: Chapter from the forthcoming Athenian Year Primer Vol. II. The excerpt presupposes familiarity with the methodologies and arguments presented in AYP. Chapter tackles one of the most fundamental and crucial yet least understood calendrical practices, which all lunisolar calendars must follow: insertion of an extra (thirteenth) lunar month to keep a lunar year’s Synodic Cycles aligned to a Sidereal Solar Year (i.e., solstice ↔ solstice or equinox ↔ equinox). 1) Show that ancient Greeks across the ancient Aegean proved far more astronomically savvy than currently appreciated. 2) Argue that ancient Athenians could not have used any fixed or absolute thus, in effect, arbitrarily inserted embolismic month to keep Archontic Years aligned. Significant, existential (practical) considerations existed. 3) Consequently, also argue that intercalations must have possessed “rules” or at least firmly established “guidelines.” The most obvious in fact being any number of seasonal festivals (e.g., Anthesteria, Eleusinian Mysteries). Seasonal festivals, moreover, promptly follow all Panhellenic gatherings (addressed in subsequent Chapters). 4) Attempt to unlock the methodologies used so one can not only understand the underlying math but also establish the base astronomical “template.” 5) Finally, knowing what Calendar Equations ought have occurred aids greatly when working with recovered epigraphical evidence that display such equations. When any deviations surface, we can develop a thorough understanding of why they took place.
The Moon: in Prehistoric Lunisolar Rock Calendar
This present paper is an integral part of another paper which completes the work (Int. J. Mod. Anthrop., 2018, 2:147-161). This part is about Moonrise observations and calculations which have been found from Cheeseboard/"Quesera" monument at Lanzarote Island in Zonzamas archaeological area in Canary Islands (Spain). This present paper shows that both a Sun calendar and a Moon calendar adjusted to fit into 29 or 30 solar days months are represented within this Lanzarote prehistoric monument.