Time and Babylon (2 of 2)

 In Babylon, the year was divided into two halves – summer and winter, in explicit circle time. In the myth of Ishtar’s Descent Into the Underworld, winter comes about when Ishtar sends her husband Tammuz to take her place in the Land of the Dead. In desperation, Tammuz then seeks help from his sister, Gestinana. After much negotiation with the Gods of the Underworld, both siblings decide to take each other’s place for six months at a time.

Ishtar’s husband, Tammuz was the God of Crops and Flocks. The Babylonians saw Him as the life blood of the land and the sheep. When He went into the Underworld, winter came. At that time his sister, Gestinana reemerged, and presided over the autumn harvest and wine making. She became the Goddess of Wine and Grapes.

 At the Spring Equinox, the Babylonians started their New Year. To commemorate this, the King would enact a sacred marriage with the temple priestess of Ishtar. Their mating was to reaffirm the marriage of Ishtar, the Goddess of Fertility, with her husband, Tammuz. These marriage rites was to ensure that the King was accepted as one of the Gods, and blessed by Ishtar, who also blessed the crops. This was circle time, repeated every year at the same day.

 In contrast, the Fall Harvest was the beginning of the Royal Year. At this time, the King offered First Fruits for the blessings of the Gods for him and his city. Afterwards, he would begin a project such as building a temple. Counting regnal years in Babylon started with the harvest, and was often named for the King’s latest project. The passage of time was demarked by the reigns of kings and their deeds. Again the Babylonian sense of time was divided into two parts, one for the Gods and the other for the kings. Regnal time was inserted as an arrow to the future into the circle time of the harvests.

In their daily lives, the Babylonians were very conscious of the passage of time. They measured days, months, and years (with a nineteen month calendar to tract solar and lunar eclipses). They used artificial time to track governmental and commercial activity for regnal years and fiscal years. Against this backdrop of dividing time into smaller units came the sense of timelessness that rose from living in Mesopotamia. Being conscious of being a part of a succession of kingdoms in the region, the Babylonians both merged their myths with the Sumerians, and divided them into two parts, before Babylon, and after.  Time for the Babylonians was to split into two parts, one an arrow pointing towards the future, whilst the other a circle that returned back to Babylon.

Works Used.
“Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses.” U.K. Higher Education Project. 2011. Web. http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/index.html.
 Aveni, Anthony, “People and the Sky.” Thames and Hudson: New York. 2009. Print.
 Cicero, Sandra, “A Guide to the Babylonian Tarot.” Llewellyn: Woodbury, MN, 2006. Print.
 King, L.W., “Babylonian Religion and Mythology.” Wisdom Library. 1903. Web. http://www.wisdomlib.org/mesopotamian/book/babylonian-religion-and-mythology/d/doc7086.html
 Siren, Christopher, “The Assyro-Babylonian Mythology FAQ.” 2003. Web. http://home.comcast.net/~chris.s/assyrbabyl-faq.html.
“Sumerian Mythology FAQ.” 2000. Web. http://home.comcast.net/~chris.s/sumer-faq.html
 Smitha, Frank, “Civilization in Mesopotamia.” Macrohistory and World Time Line. 2014. Web. http://www.fsmitha.com/h1/ch01.htm .

Archeoastronomy: Babylonians

Noted for their complex astrology, the Babylonians (the peoples of ancient Mesopotamia: Sumer, Babylon, and Assyria) were also accomplished astronomers. From their seven story Ziggurats, these astronomers watched the rising and setting of the stars, as well as, the five bright planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn). By keeping meticulous records of lunar and solar events, the Babylonians were able predict the next eclipse. Some of their contributions to astronomy are the discovery of many of today’s constellations.

Using their based-sixty numerical system, the Babylonians set circles at 360 degrees. Stemming from this, came the measurement of angles. With their degree system (similar to longitude and latitude), the astronomers could pinpoint the position of various stars. Using their records, they developed formulas to predict the next celestial event. Their observations were so accurate that some modern people wonder if the Babylonians had invented a primitive telescope.

 Starting their month with the New Crescent of the Moon, the Babylonian astronomers divided the period into six phases, each with its own particular meaning. They measured synodic months to be the period between full moons. To insure that their year started on the first day of spring equinox, the Babylonians devised a nineteen year cycle (235 synodic months), that contained leap years. Six of the nineteen years had a month added called Addaru, and another year at the seventeen year mark had the month Ululu added. This cycle of 235 synodic months, known as the Saros cycle, allowed for the repetition of celestial eclipses at defined periodic intervals.

Since the Gods resided in the heavens, the Babylonian rulers had to understand the stars. Their power came from correctly interpreting the desires of the Gods. In fact, the dynasties of each city state and later empire were tied to particular Gods. Therefore before any decisions of State could be made, the Gods had to be consulted.

According to the Babylonians, the Gods communicated with humans through various celestial events. They built their Ziggurats to reflect this belief. Each of the tower’s seven stories represented the bright planets, the sun, and the moon. Using’ their careful records of correspondences of local and celestial events, the Babylonians astrologers could interpret the will of the Gods. The Babylonians used their astronomy/astrology to aid their rulers in the affairs of State.

 Full-time astrologers became the intermediaries between the ruler and the Gods, by translating the will of the Gods. Some of their predictions were “when the Moon occults Jupiter that year a King will die.” On that particular day, the king would have a substitute king be killed. “When Jupiter goes out from behind the moon, there will be hostility in the land.” When the ruler was informed of that, he prepared his armies.

 The Babylonians watched the skies to understand what their Gods were telling them. Since their ruler acted by the consent of the Gods, he had to know what They were telling him. His astrologers not only informed him of the will of the Gods but also what the future would be. In this way, Babylonian astrologers ensured a well-ordered society.

 Works Used:
Aveni, Anthony, “People and the Sky.” Thames and Hudson: New York. 2009. Print.
 Halsall, Paul, “The Reports of the Magicians and Astrologers of Nineveh and Babylon, c. 2500 – 670 BCE.” Ancient History Sourcebook. March 1999. Web.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/bablylonian-astrology.asp .
 Kolev, Rumen, “Some Reflections About Babylonian Astrology.” Centre Universitaire de Recherche en Astrologie. 2001. Web. http://cura.free.fr/decem/09kolev.html .
 Lendering, Jona, “Kidinnu, the Chaldaeans, and Babylonian Astronomy.” Livius.org: Articles on Ancient History. 2014. Web. http://www.livius.org/k/kidinnu/kidinnu.htm.
Magli, Guilio, “Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy.” Copernicus Books: New York. 2009. Print.
 White, Gavin, “The Exaltation System in Babylonian Astrology.” SKYSCRIPT.co.uk. May 2009. Web. http://www.skyscript.co.uk/exaltations.html .

Archeoastronomy: Sundials

As societies became more complex, people had to organize their timekeeping into smaller increments, especially during the daylight hours. Whether they had to establish a meeting time for a council session or a starting time for a religious ritual, people needed to devise a way to coordinate their time. Beyond “morning”, “noon,” and “evening,” they needed a finer division of time such as “hours.”

 Sundials were invented to solve this problem. Because they measure small intervals of time using cosmic activity, sundials were considered to be one of the earliest scientific instruments. The Egyptians were the first people recorded in the West to use the sundial. Their sundial consisted of the gnomon (a crossbar) and a flat base divided into six “hours.” In the morning, the gnomon faced east, and the afternoon west. The shadow cast by the gnomon on the base determined the hour.

 Using their knowledge of geometry, the Greeks refined the sun dial of the Egyptians. They invented the hemicyclium (hemispherium), which is a block of stone with a hemisphere cut into it. The gnomon was placed on top. The half-sphere created a circular arc that determined time more accurately. The hemicyclium resembled a hollowed out bowl with a stick on top.

 Sundials used in Europe were adapted from the Greeks and the Egyptians. These instruments featured twelve “hour” days and nights. However, the Norse and Saxons based theirs on the ebb and flow of tides. They marked two high and two low tides, which were further divided into halves and quarters for a total of sixteen “hours.”

One major problem with ancient sundials is that they measured “unequal” (“temporary”) “hours.” Summer, which has longer days, produces longer “hours,” than winter. Moreover, the further north (or south) from the Equator, the location of the sundial is, the more pronounced the difference between summer and winter “hours” are.

 In the 1300s, Abu’l-Hasan (Ibn al-Shatir), an Arab Muslim astronomer and religious timekeeper, invented “equal” (“equinoctial”) “hours” based on trigonometry. He reasoned that a gnomon parallel to the Earth’s axis (i.e. polar axis) would produce “equal hours.” “Equal hours” are measured from the passing of the low meridian (12 Midnight) until the next low meridian, and then divided into twenty-four hours. Once sundials were adjusted to the latitude of where they were, they kept accurate time. People, then, used sundials to set mechanical clocks.

 Sundials are divided into two groups – Altitude and Azimuth. The Altitude sundials determine time by the sun’s altitude. These Altitude sundials were either aligned with either the sun or the cardinal directions. Azimuth sundials determine the time from the “hour angle of the sun.” (Azimuth refers to direction of the sun’s angle.) These sundials are oriented by a compass.

 Example of an Altitude sundial is the pole (pillar) dial, which is a pole with a gnomon at the top. Meanwhile Azimuth sundials are often found in gardens. These are the tilted horizontal ones with the gnomon inclined at the latitude of the garden.

 As society became more complex, instruments to tract time in finer increments were invented. Though seemingly simple, sundials are actually intricate devices for keeping time. Because of their importance, people, over the centuries, worked to improve sundials. In fact, sundials were still being used in the 19th Century to set mechanical clocks.

 Works Used:
 Ling Liew Huay and Yee, Lim Siew, “The Mathematics of Sundials,” National University of Singapore, 2001, http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/projects/sundials/
 .
 Marie, Niclas, “When Time Began: The History and Science of Sundials,” TimeCenter, 2014, https://www.timecenter.com/articles/when-time-began-the-history-and-science-of-sundials/ .

 Nordoff, Helena, “Fun in the Sun: A Sundial Tutorial,” 21 August, 2003, http://www.qwerty.co.za/sundials/index.html.

 “Unit 6: Sundials,” Polaris Project, Iowa State University, 2001, http://www.polaris.iastate.edu/NorthStar/Unit6/unit6_intro.htm.
 Ward, John and Margaret Folkard, “Sundials Part 2: Definitions and Basic Types,” Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture, 1997, http://www.rnzih.org.nz/pages/sundial2.htm.

Building Stonehenge: The Beginning (2 of 2)

 In the 1960’s, when builders were excavating a parking lot near the Stonehenge site, they found four post holes that was believed to hold large pine logs. (These holes are said to be about 10,000 years old.) Ancient peoples traveling the Salisbury Plain would see these posts from miles around. Set east to west, these post holes were considered to be the first evidence of the area’s great importance. 

 Starting about 3100 BCE, the Windmill Hill People took the existing post holes and expanded the site. Using various tools such as deer antlers and digging stones, they dug a ditch and formed a bank, with an opening in the northeast. Call the Great Cursus, this ditch was white from the chalk underneath the grass. Outside this ditch, these people dug fifty-six pits named Aubrey Holes (after their discoverer James Aubrey). In these holes, archeologists have found cremated remains of people. One theory is that the Windmill Hill People was commemorating their Dead and their Ancestors.

 Many people have assumed that the Aubrey Holes had an astronomical use. Following the phases of the moon has been important to peoples in ancient times. One theory is that these holes marked lunar eclipses. Another theory is that the Windmill Hill People were marking particular phases of the moon. Other archeologists have noticed that the Aubrey Holes were aligned north-east and south-west. These holes then lined up with the sun at the solstices and equinoxes. This has lead to another working theory that the Aubrey holes are a calendar of equinoxes, solstices, lunar eclipses, and solar events. The underlying assumption to this theory is that many early peoples followed lunar-solar cycles for practical and religious reasons.

From the beginning of Stonehenge, numerous ancient peoples have added their particular visions to the site. Each succeeding generation built on the previous one’s efforts. We modern people will never know what the original purpose to Stonehenge was, but we can stand in awe of these early peoples who built it. Whatever Stonehenge was originally intended to be, it became a monument to the vision and tenacity of the Ancestors of Europe.

----

Works Used:

Aveni, Anthony, “People and the Sky,” Thames & Hudson: N.Y, 2008.

 Bradshaw Foundation, “Stonehenge: The Age of the Megaliths,” 2011, http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/stonehenge/index.php, .

 M, Richard, “Stonehenge,” MEgALiThiA, 06 Jan. 2006, http://www.megalithia.com/stonehenge/index.html, .

 Magli, Giulio, “Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy,” Copernicus Books: N.Y., 2009.

 Richards, Colin, “Rethinking the Great Stone Circles of Northwest Britain,” Orkney Archaelogical Trust, 2004, http://www.orkneyjar.com/archaeology/dhl/papers/cr/index.html, .

 Smagala, Suzzanne, “Stonehenge,” August 2007, http://helios.acomp.usf.edu/~ssmagala/stonehenge/index.html, .

Building Stonehenge, the Beginning (1 of 2)

During the Neolithic Period (5000 – 1000 BCE), along the Atlantic coast of Europe and in the British Isles, local peoples built and maintained great stone circles and megaliths. This activity started about 5000 BCE and continued on to about 2500 BCE. One of the last monuments to be built, Stonehenge was constructed in three distinct phases over a 1,500 year period, starting in 3000 BCE. The process of building this monument included digging large ditches as well as erecting the more famous stones. In the case of Stonehenge, three different cultures added their particular refinements to this monument.

When discussing Stonehenge, people often forget to place this monument in a greater cultural context. Nearby Stonehenge is a similar stone monument at Avebury, which was built around 2500 BCE. Meanwhile, there are signs of a similar circle at Durrington Walls, which was believed to be built before Avebury.  These megaliths, built by Neolithic peoples, had multiple uses. The purposes that archeologists believed that Stonehenge was used for included: worshipping the Ancestors, watching the heavens, and marking the cycles of the sun and other astronomical occurrences.

The building of Stonehenge can be regarded in the same light as the building of a Gothic cathedral. From the beginning of the project, the entire community is dedicated to seeing the building finished. Everyone involved understood that this construction project would take several generations to complete. Therefore, the entire community dedicated themselves to the process, and organized themselves accordingly. Some people regarded it as a fulfilling of their religious duties, while for others it was their community obligations. Though the specific vision may have been altered through the years, the newer residents of the community resolved to finish the original project.

The first group to shape Stonehenge into what we know today was the Windmill Hill People. Thought to be semi-nomadic hunters and gatherers, these people also grew some crops. What archeologists noted about these people was their propensity to orient their burials and monuments in the east-west axis. These directions were important to them, perhaps because of the rising and setting of the sun.

Archeoastronomy: Egypt: Stretching The Cord

Stellar Method of Determining Cardinal Points

Stretching The Cord

Navigating by the stars has been done by people for thousands of years. To find North today, people simply look for Polaris in Ursa Minor (The Little Dipper). (In the Southern Hemisphere, North would be determined by using the Southern Cross.) Since precession, which is the change in orientation of the Earth’s Axis, occurs every 26,000 years, the “North Star” changes through time. For example, during Roman times, there was no such star. However at the time of the building of the pyramids, it was Alpha-Draconis known to the Egyptians as “Thuban.”

The U.S. Army suggests that in order to go North, a person should walk towards the point on the horizon directly below Polaris. Another method is to select a circumpolar star such as Vega of Lyra, the second brightest star in the night sky. Measure the angle from the viewer to Vega’s rising and to its setting. The bisection of this angle will give the exact location for true North.

In ancient Egypt, the orientation of their buildings mattered, for the Pharaoh received his power from the Northern Stars. After his death, the soul of the Pharaoh went to the “Mooring Post” in the North by way of the Milky Way. In the ceremony, “The Stretching of the Cord” (Pedj shes), the Pharaoh determined the direction of North with the help of the Goddess Seshat.

 Several archeologists have suggested one method that the ancient Egyptians may have used for finding directions. To orient their buildings, they would have to bisect the angle of a circumpolar star. First they would erect a round wall. Then one person stood on a selected spot and looked through a “bay,” a straight pole with a forked top. As he sighted a circumpolar star such as Vega rising, a second person would use a “merklet,” a plumb line, to mark the spot. Around the circular wall at various timed intervals, they would mark the position of the star. The final marking on the wall would be the star’s setting. After measuring the angle formed by the star’s rising and setting to the first observer, the Egyptians could bisect it, and determine true North.

Kate Spence, of the University of Cambridge (U.K.), wrote that the Egyptians probably used Mizar (Eta Ursae Majoris) of the Big Dipper and Kochab (Beta Ursae Minoris) of the Little Dipper. (Both are circumpolar stars.) The Egyptians constructed a scaffold and hung a string with a heavy weight from it. This weight would point to the center of the Earth. When these two stars became aligned with the string, the line from the person, who was doing the sighting, to the string would point due north to the horizon.

From the First Dynasty to the end of the Ptolemaic Dynastry, the Pharaoh conducted the sacred ceremony, “Stretching of the Cord,” to orient the temples and tombs before building them. Facing the Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge, Seshat, the Pharaoh stood with a hammer in one hand and a pole in the other. Holding the same items, the Goddess and the Pharaoh then pulled a cord that was wrapped between their respective poles. The Pyramid Texts described the ceremony as: “I have grasped the stake…I take the measuring cord in the company of Seshet. I consider the progressive movements of the stars. My eye is fixed upon the Bull’s Thigh [Ursa Major]. I count off time…and establish the corners of the Temple.” This is how the Pharaoh determined North from whence came his power, and to where his soul traveled.

Works Used.

Aveni, Anthony, “People and the Sky,” Thames & Hudson: N.Y, 2008.

 Belmonte, Juan Antonio; Molinero, Miguel Angel and Miranda, Noemi, “Unveiling Seshat: New Insights into the Stretching of the Cord Ceremony,” In Search of Cosmic Order: Selected Essays on Egyptian Archaeoastronomy, Juan Antonio Belmonte and Mosalam Shaltout, eds., Cairo: Supreme Council of Antiquities Press, 2009, 197-212.

 Houlding Deborah, “Time, The Egyptians and the Calendar,” Heritage of the Stars, 2003, http://www.skyscript.co.uk/heritage/egyptians.html, .

 Magli, Giulio, “Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy,” Copernicus Books: N.Y., 2009.

 Stecchini, Livio, “Methods of Finding Cardinal Points,” World Mysteries, 2004, http://www.world-mysteries.com/alignments/mpl_al3.htm#Cardinal, .

“Orientating Egyptian Pyramids,” World Mysteries, 2004, http://www.world-mysteries.com/alignments/mpl_al4.htm, , .

 U.S. Army, “Field Expedient Methods of Determining Directions,” Army Study Guide, 2014, http://www.armystudyguide.com/content/army_board_study_guide_topics/land_navigation_map_reading/field-expedient-methods-of-determining-direction.shtml, .

Archeoastrotronomy: Finding Directions by the Sun

Solar method of Determining Cardinal Points

Finding cardinal points (the directions of north, south, east, and west) can be done by using the sun.  One simple method is to watch the sun rise or set, which would tell you which direction was east or west. Therefore, north and south would be perpendicular to the east-west axis. This is one way to find geographical north.

 The U.S. Army suggests using a more precise method in determining the cardinal directions. Place a tall stick upright on level ground. (On a sundial, this upright stick would be the gnomon.) Mark the shadow that forms from the sun striking the gnomon. Place a line perpendicular at the tip of this shadow. This marks the western direction, but is not precisely west.

 Then wait at least ten or more minutes, and mark the tip of the new shadow formed by the gnomon. For greater accuracy, wait again for another ten minutes, and then mark that shadow tip as well. Draw a straight line between these three points. This becomes the east-west line. To find the north-south line, stand with the direction of west on your left. Now you are facing north. This north-south line bisects the east-west axis at right angles. (For telling time, the crossing of the two axis is the noon line.) 

 Because finding directions was a sacred obligation for the ancient Egyptians, they did more precise measurements. To them, the Land of the Dead, where the Soul goes, laid in the west. Therefore their tombs including The Pyramids would have an entrance facing west. The ancient Egyptians probably used one of their obelisks as a gnomon. By tracking the shadows formed at the solstices and equinoxes, the ancient Egyptians could construct a more accurate basis for the north-south and east-west lines. Moreover, the obelisk, acting as the gnomon, would cast a moving shadow throughout the day. When this shadow was marked each hour, the radii of a circle were formed. In this manner, directions such as northwest could also be determined.

Finding the cardinal directions requires you to observe the movement of the sun. For accuracy, a stick and patience are needed. By using the stick as a gnomon, you can mark the various shadows formed as the sun moves across the sky. In this manner, you can determine the actual directions. With repeated observations throughout the year, a precise line for each direction could be constructed for religious purposes.

---

The sun moves north and south of east and west as the seasons progress and thus only marks true or exact east and west for a small portion of the year. 

 Works Used.

Aveni, Anthony, “People and the Sky,” Thames & Hudson: N.Y, 2008.

 Duke, Dennis, “Four Lost Episodes in Ancient Solar Theory,” Florida State University, 2008, http://people.sc.fsu.edu/~dduke/episodes3.pdf, .

 Magli, Giulio, “Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy,” Copernicus Books: N.Y., 2009.

 ----, “Methods of Finding Cardinal Points,” World Mysteries, 2004, http://www.world-mysteries.com/alignments/mpl_al3.htm#Cardinal, .

 U.S. Army, “Field Expedient Methods of Determining Directions,” Army Study Guide, 2014, http://www.armystudyguide.com/content/army_board_study_guide_topics/land_navigation_map_reading/field-expedient-methods-of-determining-direction.shtml, .

Archeoastronomy: Inca Calendar

Though not a prehistoric society, the Inca Empire employed similar timekeeping methods and reasons for keeping a calendar. They established their calendar to maintain the welfare of their people. Furthermore, the Incas used their calendar to bind everyone together in their empire, by coordinating religious and agricultural activities from Cuzco, their capital. To keep social order, the Incas divided their cities into four quarters, with each quarter split into radical sections from a common center. The lines, called ceques, had sacred sites (huacas) along them to determine where the sun would be on a given day. Families were assigned to maintain the local huaca, to keep a sacred landscape for timekeeping.

One example of how the Incas kept time was detailed by the Spanish. They reported that overlooking Cuzco, in the northwest was a high mound called Cerro Picchu. On this hill were four marked pillars. When the sun went past the first pillar, it was time for farmers in the higher altitudes to prepare their fields. When the sun entered the two middle pillars, planting began in Cuzco. When the sun hit the middle of these two pillars, planting began in the valleys.

 The Incas also used the dark nebula constellations of the Milky Way to tell time. When the constellation Tinamou appeared, they knew to watch their crops since the tinamous (birds resembling a partridges) would come. When Toad appeared, the Incas held their religious rituals for rain, because toads brought the rainy season.

 In addition, the Incas constructed a lunar calendar to track their rituals. To keep this calendar in sync with the solar calendar, they tracked the sightings of the Pleiades. The first month began at the summer solstice, and featured the Great Feast of the Sun (Capac Inti-Rami). The following month was one of penance and fasting. In the third month, farmers harvested root crops and conducted ceremonies for growing corn. In the fourth month, farmers focused on their ripening crops. The fifth month honored the Inca Emperor at the Feast of the Incas. In the sixth month, the Incas harvested corn and gave thanks to their Gods. The seventh month was for the Inti-Raimi festival, when everyone had to go to Cuzco. The eighth month featured rituals for irrigation and water. In the ninth month, the Incas tilled their fields and sacrificed to all of their Gods for a successful growing season. The tenth month featured the Feast of the Moon. During this time, Cuzco was purified. The eleventh month was the dry season, when the Incas had ceremonies for rain. The last month was the Festival of the Dead.

 My theory of why the Incas developed their solar-lunar calendar was to ensure social order and the welfare of their people. Living in the mountains, the Incas had to pay close attention to their environment to stay alive. To feed and clothe their people, the Inca Empire structured their ritual activities around the growing and harvest seasons. Moreover, these religious rituals not only honored their Gods, but also focused on keeping the empire intact. Since the official timekeeping was done at Cuzco, everyone was conscious of the Empire in their lives.
---
Works Used:

Aveni, Anthony, “People and the Sky,” Thames & Hudson: N.Y, 2008.
Gazzo, Bridget and Sarah Cahalan, “The Ancient Future: Mesoamerican and Andean Timekeeping,” Dumbarton Oaks, 2014, http://www.doaks.org/library-archives/library/library-exhibitions/the-ancient-future-mesoamerican-and-andean-timekeeping, .
Jrcalhou, “The Inca Calendar,” WolfWikis NCSU, 2008, http://wikis.lib.ncsu.edu/index.php/The_Inca_Calendar, .
---, “Inca Calendar,” Peru Travel Diary, 2009, http://www.machupicchu-inca.com/inca-calendar.html, .
Magli, Giulio, “Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy,” Copernicus Books: N.Y., 2009.

Archeoastronomy: Ancient Timekeeping

Timekeeping in prehistoric times focused on survival. To stay alive, well-fed and safe, people had to make sense of the various periodic clues in their environment. They developed calendars to time their activities to what was happening in their environment. From watching the seasons of the sun and the phases of the moon, people constructed a map of the cycles of nature. Other people used the changing stars of the night sky as well. For example, peoples of Australia watched for Arcturus, the star, to rise in the northeast sky, so that they could gather the wood-ant larva for food. Meanwhile, the !Kung of the arid Kalahari watched for the star Capella to rise in the evening sky for the advent of the rainy season.

 Calendars enabled people to focus on what they need to do to survive. In northern Maine, my family timed various chores by the calendar. March was sugaring season, when the stronger sun caused the sap to rise in trees. In April, people prepared for the ice to break on the Kennebec River to ship their lumber downstream. (This practice ended in the mid-1970s.) Then in June, berry picking season began for making jams and jellies for the coming winter. June was strawberries, July raspberries, August blueberries, and finally September blackberries. Then in September, we laid in logs for the woodstoves for heat during the winter.

Another part of human survival was conducting religious rites to ensure good relations with the Other Worldly Powers since the Gods were essential to their well-being. Calendars were used to keep these rites in sync with nature. For example, the Romans held Liberalia near the spring equinox to celebrate Liber, who governed plant fertility. When the pastures became green in April, the Romans asked the Pales to protect their livestock. The festival of Parilia (in honor of the Pales) was held to cleanse sheep before sending them out to graze.  During the dry hot days of August, the Volcanalia was held to pray to Vulcan, the God of Fire, to be merciful and quiet.
--

Works Used:
Adkins, Lesley and Roy Adkins, “Dictionary of Roman Religion,” Oxford University Press: N.Y., 1996.
Aveni, Anthony, “People and the Sky,” Thames & Hudson: N.Y, 2008.
Magli, Giulio, “Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy,” Copernicus Books: N.Y., 2009.