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Man and sky: problems and methods of Archaeoastronomy
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Verona, Essedue.
Walker C. (ed.) 1997, L’astronomia prima del telescopio, Bari, Dedalo.
Williams J.G. 1994, Contributions to the Earth’s obliquity rate, precession and nutation,
«Astrophysical Journal», 108, 711-724.
ABSTRACT
Archaeoastronomy is a discipline devoted to the study of the astronomical observations
preceding the invention of the telescope. It is an interdisciplinary science, requiring the
knowledge of astronomers, archaeologists, linguists, anthropologists and architects. It has
highlighted the great importance that ancient civilizations attributed to celestial phenomena
and demonstrated how the analysis of the testimonies of this interest can greatly help us in the
understanding the past history of mankind. However, we must avoid the mistake of believing
that it is possible to study the impact of celestial phenomena on ancient cultures without taking
into account their context: unfortunately, this error is still common to date. This paper illustrates
the evolution of Archaeoastronomy since the beginning of the 20 th century, its basic principles
and the modern methodologies for Archaeoastronomy measurements and data analysis.
Moreover, the proofs needed to claim the actual intentionality of an astronomical alignment
are discussed, showing the potential of Archaeoastronomy, as long as it is strongly linked to,
and continuously compared with, excavation data, and combined with Archaeology in various
cultural contexts, thus providing valuable assistance in the interpretation of material data.
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