Archaeoastronomy in the Old World

This volume summarises the proceedings of a conference which took place at the University of Oxford in September 1981.

D. C. Heggie (Author)

9780521125307, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 17 December 2009

292 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.4 kg

This volume summarises the proceedings of a conference which took place at the University of Oxford in September 1981. Held under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union and the International Union for the History and Philosophy of Science, the meeting reviewed research in Old World Archaeoastronomy. The publisher received the final typescript for production in March 1982. The papers in this book are concerned with shedding light on a controversial aspect of European prehistory, especially that of north-west Europe: was astronomy practised here in the late Neolithic and bronze ages, and if so, what was its purpose? These questions are of obvious interest to prehistorians, but fresh interest in them has been stimulated largely by those whose professional background is in the pure and applied sciences, while they raise technical issues which have aroused the interest of statisticians and astronomers.

Preface
List of contributors
Part I. Invited Papers: 1. Megalithic astronomy: highlights and problems D. C. Heggie
2. Archaeology and astronomy: an archaeological view J. N. G. Ritchie
3. The statistical approach P. R. Freeman
4. Statistical and philosophical arguments for the astronomical significance of standing stones with a section on the solar calendar A. and A. S. Thom
5. Megalithic astronomical sightlines: current reassessment and future directions C. L. N. Ruggles
6. Aspects of the archaeoastronomy of Stonehenge R. J. C. Atkinson
7. Implications for archaeology E. W. MacKie
8. Pi in the sky H. A. W. Burl
Part II. Contributed Papers: 9. A survey of the Barbrook stone circles and their claimed astronomical alignments R. P. Norris, P. N. Appleton and R. W. Few
10. Observations at Kintraw T. McCreery, A. J. Hastie and T. Moulds
11. Decoding the Callandish complex - a progress report M. R. and G. H. Ponting
12. Astronomy and stone alignments in S. W. Ireland A. Lynch
13. Stone rings of Northern Poland R. M. Sadowski, M. S. Ziókowski and K. Piasecki
14. Astronomical orientation of Neolithic sites in Central Europe W. Schlosser and J. ?ierny
15. Stone circle geometries: an information theory approach J. D. Patrick and C. S. Wallace
Part III. Invited Paper: 16. The present position of archaeoastronomy C. Pedersen
Index.

Subject Areas: History of science [PDX]