Solstice and Solar Position observations in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditions (original) (raw)
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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.
On the Astronomical Knowledge and Traditions of Aboriginal Australians
Doctor of Philosophy Thesis, Department of Indigenous Studies, Macquarie University, 2012
Historian of science David Pingree defines science in a broad context as the process of systematically explaining perceived or imaginary phenomena. Although Westerners tend to think of science being restricted to Western culture, I argue in this thesis that astronomical scientific knowledge is found in Aboriginal traditions. Although research into the astronomical traditions of Aboriginal Australians stretches back for more than 150 years, it is relatively scant in the literature. We do know that the sun, moon, and night sky have been an important and inseparable component of the landscape to hundreds of Australian Aboriginal groups for thousands (perhaps tens-of-thousands) of years. The literature reveals that astronomical knowledge was used for time keeping, denoting seasonal change and the availability of food sources, navigation, and tidal prediction. It was also important for rituals and ceremonies, birth totems, marriage systems, cultural mnemonics, and folklore. Despite this, the field remains relatively unresearched considering the diversity of Aboriginal cultures and the length of time people have inhabited Australia (well over 40,000 years). Additionally, very little research investigating the nature and role of transient celestial phenomena has been conducted, leaving our understanding of Indigenous astronomical knowledge grossly incomplete. This thesis is an attempt to overcome this deficiency, with a specific focus on transient celestial phenomena. My research, situated in the field of cultural astronomy, draws from the sub-disciplines of archaeoastronomy, ethnoastronomy, historical astronomy, and geomythology. This approach incorporates the methodologies and theories of disciplines in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. This thesis, by publication, makes use of archaeological, ethnographic, and historical records, astronomical software packages, and geographic programs to better understand the ages of astronomical traditions and the role and nature of eclipses, comets, meteors, impact events, and certain variable stars. I also test the hypothesis that certain types of stone arrangements have preferred orientations that probably relate to astronomical phenomena. This research shows that Aboriginal astronomical traditions explain the motions of celestial bodies and the relationship between events in the sky and events on Earth. I explore how Aboriginal people perceived and made use of particular astronomical phenomena, such as meteors and comets, and show that Aboriginal people made careful observations of the motions of celestial bodies. I provide evidence that Aboriginal people noticed the change in brightness of particular stars, described the kinematics of eclipses, explained how lunar phases are related to ocean tides, and acknowledged the relationship between meteors, meteorites, impact events, and impact craters. I then show that linear stone arrangements in New South Wales have a preferred orientation to the cardinal points and explore astronomical reasons for this. In the Appendix, I include biographical details of William Edward Stanbridge, one of the first people to write in depth about Aboriginal astronomical traditions, which were compiled from historic records.
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For more than 50,000 years, Indigenous Australians have incorporated celestial events into their oral traditions and used the motions of celestial bodies for navigation, time-keeping, food economics, and social structure. In this paper, we explore the ways in which Aboriginal people made careful observations of the sky, measurements of celestial bodies, and incorporated astronomical events into complex oral traditions by searching for written records of time-keeping using celestial bodies, the use of rising and setting stars as indicators of special events, recorded observations of variable stars, the solar cycle, and lunar phases (including ocean tides and eclipses) in oral tradition, as well as astronomical measurements of the equinox, solstice, and cardinal points.
Essays on Astronomical History and Heritage: A Tribute to Wayne Orchiston on his 80th Birthday, 2023
A novel methodology, which we call significant horizons, ranks aboriginal cultural sites according to their potential for astronomical utilisation. This is done by taking into consideration a cultural site's location and position within the environment and examines the surrounding horizon profile from that place. We rank each site on the number of solar, lunar and stellar alignments that occur on "notches" and "points" along accurate and realistic computer-generated horizon profiles using the horizon software package. Here, we examine 24 aboriginal stone arrangement sites within New South Wales, Australia, to statistically determine whether these sites could serve an astronomical function alongside their utilitarian cultural and ceremonial functions. Our results suggest that for many, but not necessarily all, stone arrangement sites studied here appear to have been deliberately placed within the landscape to take advantage of the local horizon for astronomy. We conclude that significant horizons is a useful methodology that has widespread applications for cultural astronomy research, both within Australia and internationally. Warning to Aboriginal Readers: This paper contains brief references to Aboriginal cultural sites, including sites that may have been used for initiations. Apart from inferred possible astronomical connections to these sites, other cultural use and practices are not discussed, as it is restricted
The Astronomy of Aboriginal Australia
"The Role of Astronomy in Society and Culture", edited by D. Valls-Gabaud & A. Boksenberg. Cambridge University Press, pp. 39-47, 2009
The traditional cultures of Aboriginal Australians include a significant astronomical component, which is usually reported in terms of songs or stories associated with stars and constellations. Here we argue that the astronomical components extend further, and include a search for meaning in the sky, beyond simply mirroring the earth-bound understanding. In particular, we have found that traditional Aboriginal cultures include a deep understanding of the motion of objects in the sky, and that this knowledge was used for practical purposes such as constructing calendars. We also present evidence that traditional Aboriginal Australians made careful records and measurements of cyclical phenomena, and paid careful attention to unexpected phenomena such as eclipses and meteorite impacts
The Oxford Handbook of Light in Archaeology, 2017
Newgrange was the first prehistoric site in Ireland to have its astronomical alignment widely accepted, and since its discovery in 1967 has remained the most well-known astronomically-oriented archaeological site on this island. This paper investigates the discovery of the winter solstice orientation at this key light-centred site. It proposes a new explanation for the astronomically oriented ‘roof-box’: that its origins can be found in a previously unidentified extension to the passage during a phase of enlargement at the monument. Additionally, this paper attempts to answer several fundamental questions. Could the solar orientation at Newgrange have been discovered before its modern discovery through excavation, perhaps on more than one occasion? Is it possible that knowledge of the solstice was retained in local memory since the Late Neolithic? Finally, might excavator Michael J. O’Kelly have had greater awareness of the potential winter solstice orientation at Newgrange during his reconstruction of the monument’s ‘roof-box’ and outer passage than is apparent in his publications.
A methodology for testing horizon astronomy in Australian Aboriginal cultural sites: a case study
Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, Vol. 18(4), pp. 453-460, 2018
Aboriginal people connect landscape to the positions of the Sun and Moon throughout the year for time reckoning, seasonal calendars, and mythology as a memory aide. This can include the rising or setting of the Sun, Moon, and stars over significant landscape features. A significant corpus of Wiradjuri (Wiradyuri) astronomical knowledge has been fragmented, lost, or damaged due to colonisation. To aid in reconstructing this knowledge, we develop a novel methodology to examine potential links between the landscape and celestial movements. Our methodology, which we call Significant Horizons, ranks Aboriginal cultural sites according to their potential for astronomical utilisation. To accomplish this, we consider an Aboriginal site's location and position within the environment and examine the horizon profile from that place. We rank each site on the number of solar and lunar alignments that occur on " notches " and " points " in horizon profiles. To accomplish this, we utilize and combine the Horizon software package to generate a landscape profile noting the positions of celestial bodies. We examine Aboriginal sites within Wiradjuri country of central New South Wales as a case study. Our ranking system enables us to predict whether Wiradjuri cultural sites, such as ceremonial grounds, are likely to be astronomically-significant. We predict that ceremonial sites will have a higher ranking than subsistence sites, which hold a more utilitarian function. Our results are consistent with this prediction. We suggest further refinements to the methodology by including stars of cultural significance into the horizon analysis. Notice to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: This paper contains brief references to Aboriginal cultural sites, including sites that may have been used for initiations. Apart from inferred possible astronomical connections to these sites, other cultural use and practices are not discussed, as it is restricted.
Australian Aboriginal Astronomy - An Overview
"Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy", edited by Clive Ruggles, Springer, pp. 2215-2222, 2015
The traditional cultures of Aboriginal Australians include a significant astronomical component, perpetuated through oral tradition, ceremony, and art. This astronomical component includes a deep understanding of the motion of objects in the sky, and this knowledge was used for practical purposes such as constructing calendars. There is also evidence that traditional Aboriginal Australians made careful records and measurements of cyclical phenomena, paid careful attention to unexpected phenomena such as eclipses and meteorite impacts, and could determine the cardinal points to an accuracy of a few degrees.
Searching for the astronomy of aboriginal Australians
2007
Abstract. It is widely accepted that the traditional culture of Aboriginal Australians has a significant astronomical component, but it is unclear whether this component extended beyond ceremonial songs and stories. Here I summarise a growing body of evidence that there was a deep understanding of the motion of objects in the sky, that this knowledge was used for practical purposes such as constructing calendars, and there may even be evidence for careful records and measurements. Key words: Australia Aboriginal