Introduction

Archaeoastronomy is the science of interpreting the relationship between celestial objects and the daily lives of ancient
man. The observation of the sky is the one constant that unifies the human race throughout space and time. The
fascination of ancient people with the sky led to the development of many structures, simple as well as sophisticated, to
observe celestial objects . In doing so, they found a connection with the sky which influenced aspects of their daily
lives such as religion, seasons , directions and time keeping .They observed many events in the sky that followed
specific cycles which were recorded. Although Ancient, these civilizations were very advanced in building structures
with precision and accuracy to carry out their many observations as well as religious practices . Therefore, astronomy
played a critical role in the development and success of ancient civilizations. This project presents the many
astronomical observatories used by primitive people and the various ways interpreted the sky .

Ancient Mesoamerica

Where is Mesoamerica ?
Mesoamerica consists of the area that is now Southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, most of El
Salvador, and parts of Honduras inhabited by people who shared many cultural traits in pre
Columbian times.

The Ancient Maya

 The Mayans were a people so fixated on the heavens that

it dominated their lives down here on earth.

Astronomy was closely linked to their religion. The sun,
moon and planets were their gods which influenced the
design ,shape and orientation of the observatories they
built.
The Mayan pyramids were step like and used as temples
for human sacrifices and religious practices that would
satisfy the Gods in the sky.
Apart from religion ,one of the important benefits of
astronomy to the Mayans was time keeping .This
allowed the Mayans to keep track of the seasons which
influenced agriculture. The appearance of certain
planets and constellations in the sky indicated when
would be the starting of the planting season .
The overall success of the Mayan civilization had much
to do with their use of astronomy.

El Castillo
Also known as the Temple of Kukalkan, the feathered serpent God of the Maya ,this structure was the largest Temple

pyramid in the northern Yucatan Town of Chichen Itza.

This pyramid was the Mayans actual calendar which helped them keep track of time. It consists of 91 steps on each of

its four sides and combined with the top platform equals 365 ,the number of days in a Mayan year.
This ancient observatory was also designed to keep track of the sun .At the sunset of the Spring and fall equinoxes,

light and shadow falling across the building create the appearance of an undulating snake slithering down the stairway of
the pyramid connecting to the head of the snake.

El Caracol
This Mayan observatory was dedicated to the observation and worship of the planet Venus .
The sides of El Caracols base dont face the four cardinal directions. Instead , the sides are rotated 27.5

degrees which allows the structure to face the exact point on the horizon where Venus sets once in every 8
years. The windows were also used to keep track of the appearance and disappearance of Venus which is
associated with the death and resurrection of Kukalkan.
It is the largest round building in Chitzen Itza which allows for a 360 degree view of the sky.
The corners of El Caracols upper base point where the sun rises on the summer solstice and where the sun

sets on the winter solstice.

The Pyramid of the Magician

This structure has a oval shaped base and is s the tallest in the city of Uxmal , Mexico.
It has 90 steps leading to the top and is 120 feet tall.
The doorway at the top of the temple aligns with the setting sun on April 12 th and August 21st which are

important dates in the Mayan calendar for keeping track of the sun.

The House of the Governor

This astronomical structure was the residence of the ruler of Uxmal.
The main doorway of the house is aligned precisely with the largest structure of the neighboring site of

Nohpat ,which is six kilometers away. The alignment is set up to track Venus's southern most arc as it rises
over the horizon and just above the Nohpat structure.

Ancient Observatories of Egypt

 With many ancient cultures, the Egyptian astronomy began with

recording the time of year for agricultural periods. It also served

navigational purposes .However, observations became
significant to their religion and incorporated into their
architecture.
Like the Native Americans, the Egyptians placed great

importance on the sun. Their main god, Amon-Ra, was said to

hold the power of the sun. However, the calendar that the
Egyptians used originally was not a solar calendar. It was lunar,
based on the phases of the moon. This calendar didn't always fit
with the seasons, however, so every now and then, an extra
month was added based on heliacal rising of Sirius.

Calendar

The Egyptians had calculated that the solar year was actually closer to 365 1/4 days, but instead of having a single leap day every four years to

account for the fractional day (the way we presently do ) they let the one-quarter day accumulate. After 1,460 solar years, or four periods of 365
years, 1,461 Egyptian years had passed. This means that as the years passed, the Egyptian months fell out of sync with the seasons, so that the
summer months eventually fell during winter. Only once every 1,460 years did their calendar year coincide precisely with the solar year.

In addition to the civic calendar, the Egyptians also had a religious calendar that was based on the 29 1/2-day lunar cycle and was more closely

linked with agricultural cycles and the movements of the stars About 4000 B.C. they added five extra days at the end of every year to bring
it more into line with the solar year. These five days became a festival because it was thought to be unlucky to work during that time.

Pyramids
The orientation of Egyptian pyramids suggests that their knowledge of geography and astronomy was pretty impressive.

The four corners of most pyramids line up almost exactly with the four cardinal directions, only deviating by about six
hundredths of a percent. It also seems that many pyramids are oriented to the three stars that make up Orion's belt. A
theory known as the Star Correlation Theory points out that the "air shafts" are perfectly aligned to point to those stars,
and to the star Sirius at that period in time.
Egyptian temples of upper Egypt when compared with those of Lower Egypt the early dynastic northern 'Memphite'

pyramids, Giza pyramids, and Sphinx were orientated cardinally to face equinox phases of the solar cycle, the great
temples in the south of Egypt, such as Karnack, the Colossi of Memnon and Abydoss, were all orientated to capture the
suns rays on Solstice days of the year

The Sphinx
The body of the Sphinx consists of a human Egyptian head and the body of a lion
The Sphinx gazed directly at the constellation of Leo on the vernal equinox in 10,500 BC.

Connections with other Ancient Societies

Egyptians built the Pyramids. For example, Orion's "belt" of three stars in the
middle matches the arrangement of the three Pyramids on the Giza Strip
(including the Great Pyramid), a feature also seen in both Chinese and South
American pyramids.

Ancient India

 Ancient India has contributed much to the field of astronomy.

Indian Astronomy dates back to 2000 BC and recorded in sacred

Sanskrit books known as the Vedas.

In these religious text the Gods are describes as Devdas which means

bright referring to the nature of the sun .

Apart from the religious influence of astronomy , the Indians became

very scientific. They were successful in :

The calculation of occurrences of eclipses.
Determination of Earth's circumference.
Theorizing about the theory of gravitation.
Determining that sun was a star and determination of number of planets

under our solar system..

Jantar Mantar Observatory

The Jantar Mantar Observatory , located in Jaipur ,was built by the Maharajah Jai Singh II between 1727 and 1734.
The movements of the sun and the moon ,which help determine dates for auspicious events, were observed. However,

much emphasis was placed on constellations due to astrology.

This observatory consists of fourteen astronomical instruments that are different in design .These instruments are used

to measure time, predict eclipses, track the stars' location as the earth orbits around the sun and determining the celestial
altitudes.

The Mishra Yantra

This instrument is able to indicate when it was noon in various cities all
over the world and was the only structure in the observatory not
invented by Jai Singh II

The Jay Prakash Yantra

This is one of the most complex but accurate instruments of the Jantar Mantar Observatory.
The instrument consists of a pair of hemispherical bowls faced with marble with one complementing the other , open spaces in
one are replaced by surfaces in the other.

Inside the spaces are steps for the observers to stand and each bowl was mounted on lead sheeting to ensure it would remain
perfectly stable over the years.

The purpose of the Jai Prakash Yantra was to act as a reflection of the sky above.

Cross wires stretched over the center of the bowl hold a metal ring, and every point in the sky can be reflected onto a
corresponding point on the bowl through the ring.

It is said that the Jay Prakash Yantra were so accurate, they were used to calibrate the other instruments in the Jantar Mantar.

The Samrat Yantra

Ram Yantra

The Samrat Yantra is the largest instrument of Jantar

The primary function of this instrument is to

Mantar .It is a sun dial 27 meter high with its shadow

measure the altitude and azimuth of celestial

carefully plotted to tell the time of day. The Samrat Yantra

objects, including the sun.

can be used to tell the time to an accuracy of about two

seconds. Its shadow moves visibly at 1 mm per second, or
roughly a hand's breadth (6 cm) every minute, which can be
a profound experience.

Ancient China

 In China, as in many other cultures, there is evidence of interest and observation of the sky and discovery of

astronomical phenomena many years earlier than written documentation suggests. They developed a system
of the zodiac called the "yellow path which was used to guide the life of people on earth as it was a
reference to the Sun travelling along the ecliptic.
The first Chinese records of astronomy are from about 3000 BC, and they used the circumpolar stars as their

reference point for the heavens. In 2136 BC, the first record of an eclipse was made and over hundreds of
years, the Chinese became very adept at predicting lunar eclipses.
The sky was then used as a guide for marking events, announcing the first day of every month and predicting

lunar eclipses.
Unfortunately, if these Chinese astronomers were wrong in their predictions, they were beheaded.
China based its calendar upon the phases of the moon. They followed a calendar of twelve lunar months, and

calculated the year to be 365.25 days long. This system is believed to have been implemented by Emperor
Huang Ti. It is also said that he built an observatory and a planetarium to help with the accuracy of
observations.
The Chinese also marked the passage of time and the seasons using the orientation of the "Big Dipper"

relative to the pole star in the early evening.

 The Chinese were very scrupulous in recording other astronomical phenomena such as sunspots, comets and

solar flares, long before any other culture made such observations.
Unlike other cultures, ancient Chinese astronomers undertook the daunting task of cataloging every observable
star. A constellation was called a "palace," with the major star being the emperor star and lesser stars being
princes. One astronomer, Shi-Shen (4th century BC), is believed to have catalogued 809 stars in 122
constellations. He also made the earliest known observation on sunspots.
One of the most famous observations of the Chinese astronomers was that of a supernova in 1054. The Chinese
discovered a new star in Taurus. This phenomenon was referred to as the "guest star". Apparently, it was visible
for about two years in the daytime and then suddenly disappeared. This supernova led to the creation of what is
seen today and known as the Crab Nebula.
The Chinese were also believed to be the inventors of the first clock. It was a water clock which divided the day
into 100 equal parts.

Beijing Ancient Observatory

The Beijing Ancient Observatory was built in the 7th year of the Zhengtong reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368-

1644).
The platform is 14m high with eight large astronomical instruments. The Beijing Ancient Observatory is located

near the heart of downtown Beijing.

Astronomical Instruments at Beijing Observatory

The Gnomon of the Ming Dynasty

The Equatorial Armilla

The Altazimuth

Made between the 2nd year and the

Made in 1673 AD (Qing Dynasty) and

The Altazimuth was made in

7th year of the Zhengtong reign

designed primarily for measuring true

1673 AD and designed

(1437-1442) of the Ming Dynasty

solar time as well as right ascension

primarily for measuring

and designed for determining the

difference and declination of celestial

azimuths of celestial bodies.

length of a tropical year and the 24

bodies.

Solar Terms .