Search results for "archaeoastronomy"
showing 5 items of 5 documents
Critical proofreading of the book "Les derniers jours du siège d'Alésia"
2023
Was there a lunar eclipse that could have influenced the outcome of the Battle of Alesia? This is the argument developed in the book by Alain Deyber and David Romeuf, «Les Derniers Jours du Siège d'Alésia». Having verified the existence of an eclipse on the date given by the authors and based on the latest publications as well as on the scientific consensus, we conduct a critical study on the chronology of the siege and on the ethnological arguments, even ethno-astronomical of the authors.
Cycles of time in the Iberian culture: the astronomical orientation of the temple of El Tossal de Sant Miquel de Llíria
2006
We present an archaeoastronomical study of the temple of the Iberian settlement of El Tossal de Sant Miquel de Llíria (València). We find that the major axis of the building is oriented very close to the east-west cardinal axis. The entrance of the temple is pointing towards an outstanding mountain on the eastern horizon, where the sunrise around the equinoxes takes place. On the other hand, the absence of other constructions just in front of the cultic building seems to support the inference that the astronomical relation was intentional, because it would permit the observation of the sunrise from the temple. The existence of other nearby Iberian sanctuaries showing similar relations with …
Cycles of time in the Iberian culture: the astronomical orientation of the temple of El Tossal de Sant Miquel de Llíria
2006
We present an archaeoastronomical study of the temple of the Iberian settlement of El Tossal de Sant Miquel de Llíria (València). We find that the major axis of the building is oriented very close to the east-west cardinal axis. The entrance of the temple is pointing towards an outstanding mountain on the eastern horizon, where the sunrise around the equinoxes takes place. On the other hand, the absence of other constructions just in front of the cultic building seems to support the inference that the astronomical relation was intentional, because it would permit the observation of the sunrise from the temple. The existence of other nearby Iberian sanctuaries showing similar relations with …
Enduring Sacred Places: The Astronomical Orientation of the Iberian Cave-Sanctuary of Cueva Santa del Cabriel in Spain
2019
This paper presents the results of an archaeoastronomical study of the Iberian Iron Age cave-sanctuary of Cueva Santa del Cabriel, near the town of Mira in the province of Cuenca, Castilla-La Mancha, central Spain, together with a review of the latest archaeological and ethnographical data about the site. We found that the cave's 12 m-long access corridor is oriented precisely along the summer solstice sunset, so that the north wall of the main gallery is partially illuminated by sunlight at this time. Although the cave was in use from the Late Chalcolithic, it became an important religious centre in the Iberian period. After an apparent hiatus during the Roman and Islamic occupations, its …
Mappe stellari e geometria sacra nel disegno delle città medioevali di Sicilia. Un’ipotesi archeoastronomica su Erice
2020
Already in his studies on the Middle Ages cities E. Guidoni suggested the possibility of an urban design governed not only by precise astronomical alignments, but by a figurative conception, of a zoomorphic or anthropomorphic type, whose aim was to reproduce on the ground the zodiacal constellations. The envelopes and sinuosities of the plots that distinguish the medieval cities would be dictated by an iconographic program in which certain emergencies (churches, towers, domes) and the main connection roads would be arranged in a mirror-or perspective-view of the celestial maps with respect to certain observation points at the meridian or on the horizon of the place. Some examples would be e…