This is a list of sites where claims for the use ofarchaeoastronomy have been made, sorted by country.
TheInternational Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and theInternational Astronomical Union (IAU) jointly published a thematic study on heritage sites of astronomy and archaeoastronomy to be used as a guide toUNESCO in its evaluation of the cultural importance of archaeoastronomical sites around the world,[1] which discussed sample sites and provided categories for the classification of archaeoastronomical sites. The editors, Clive Ruggles and Michel Cotte, proposed that archaeoastronomical sites be considered in four categories: 1) Generally accepted; 2) Debated among specialists; 3) Unproven; and 4) Completely refuted.[2][3]
Zorats Karer (aka Carahunge), archeological site claimed to have astronomical significance although this is disputed. it is often referred to in international tourist lore as the "Armenian Stonehenge".
Parque Arqueológico do Solstício (called "Amazon Stonehenge"): An archaeological park located inAmapá state,Brazil, near the city ofCalçoene. Archaeologists believe that this site was built by indigenous peoples for astronomical, ceremonial, or burial purposes, and likely a combination.
Magura Cave,Bronze Age "paintings of staggered black and white squares could have been used to count the days in a calendar month", possibly indicating the number of days in the solar tropical year.[7]
Phnom Bakheng, According toJean Filliozat of the École Française, the center tower represents the axis of the world and the 108 smaller ones represent the 4 lunar phases each with 27 days.[8]
El Infiernito, (Spanish for "Little hell"), is a pre-ColumbianMuisca site located in the outskirts ofVilla de Leyva,Boyacá Department,Colombia. It is composed of several earthworks surrounding a setting ofmenhirs (upright standing stones); several burial mounds are also present. The site was a center of religious ceremonies and spiritual purification rites, and also served as a rudimentary astronomical observatory.
Abu Simbel, The axis of the temple was positioned by theancient Egyptian architects in such a way that twice a year, on October 20 and February 20, the rays of the sun would penetrate the sanctuary and illuminate the sculpture on the back wall, except for the statue ofPtah, the god connected with theUnderworld, who always remained in the dark.[10][11]
Buto temple at the El-Faraeen archaeological site, sixth century BC, discovered October 2024.[12]
Nabta Playa is an archaeological site in southernEgypt, containing what may be among the world's earliest known archeoastronomical devices from the5th millennium BC. These include alignments of stones that may have indicated the rising of certain stars and a "calendar circle" that indicates the approximate direction of summer solstice sunrise.
The so-calledGiants' Churches (Finn.jätinkirkko), which are large, from c. 20 metres (66 ft) to over 70 metres (230 ft) long rectangular or oval stone enclosures built in the Neolithic (c. 3000–1800 BC), have axis and doorway orientations towards the sunrises and sunsets of the solstices and other calendrically significant days. For example, theKastelli of Raahe, which is one of the largest Giants' Churches, had its five "gates", i.e. wall openings, oriented towards the midsummer sunset, thewinter solstice sunrise, winter solstice sunset, the sunrises of the mid-quarter days of early May (Walpurgis, Beltaine) and August (Lammas), as well as the sunrise 11 days before the vernal equinox in 2500 BC.[13][14]
Newgrange, once a year, at the winter solstice, the rising sun shines directly along the long passage into the chamber for about 17 minutes and illuminates the chamber floor.[20] (Generally accepted).[2][3] It was built during theNeolithic period, around 3200 BC, making it older thanStonehenge and theEgyptian pyramids.
Knowth is a Neolithic passage grave and ancient monument estimated to date from c. 3200 BC.
Dowth inBoyne Valley,County Meath is a Neolithic passage tomb date with Astronomical alignments from between approximately 3200 and 2900 BC.
Loughcrew nearOldcastle, County Meath is a group ofmegalithic tombs dating back to the 4th millennium BC, designed to receive the beams of the rising sun on the spring and autumnalequinox - the light shining down the passage and illuminating the art on the backstone.
Drombeg stone circle, at the winter solstice, the sun sets into a v formed by two distant overlapping hills and makes an alignment with the altar stone and the two main uprights. Due to the nature of the site and the western hills, local mid-winter sunset is c. 15:50.[citation needed]
Beaghmore Stone Circles, a complex of earlyBronze Age megalithic features, stone circles and cairns. Some archaeologists believe that the circles have been constructed in relation to the rising of the sun at the solstice, or to record the movements of the sun and moon acting as observatories for particular lunar, solar or stellar events. Three of the stone rows point to the sunrise at the time of the solstice and another is aligned towards moonrise at the same period.
Obelisk of Montecitorio - Its shadow was projected on a meridian (now under the modern floor) which indicated zodiacal constellations during the year.
Pantheon - The entrance of the Pantheon is aligned so that on 21st April every year it is illuminated by the Sun.
Pisa Cathedral - The light of the Sun entered through a window at the Spring Equinox, illuminating a specific point near the altar. Now the window is closed but the light enters through a tiny window near the ceiling. The Tower of Pisa itself is a Gnomon and there is the possibility that Tower-Cathedral-Baptistery are aligned forming the shape of the Aries constellation.
The Caracol is theorized to be a proto-observatory with doors and windows aligned to astronomical events, specifically around the path of Venus as it traverses the heavens.[21] (Debated among specialists).[2][3]
The main pyramidEl Castillo (the Temple of Kukulkan) displays the appearance of a snake "crawling" down the pyramid at the spring equinox (Unproven).[2][3]
Dzibilchaltun, Spring equinox, the sun rises so that it shines directly through one window of the temple and out the other.
Ikil, Hierophany where the sunrise on the day of the solar zenith transit aligns with the summit of Ikil Structure 1 as viewed from an observation point within Ikil Cave 1.[22]
Tell es-Sultan also known as Tel Jericho, is the site of ancient and biblical Jericho and today a UNESCO-nominated archaeological site in the West Bank.
Rujm el-Hiri is an ancient megalithic monument consisting of concentric circles of stone with a tumulus at center, in theGolan Heights,territory occupied by Israel. It is believed that the site was used as an ancient calendar. At the times of the two equinoxes, the sun's rays would pass between two rocks, at the eastern edge of the compound. The entrance to the center opens on sunrise of the summer solstice. Other notches in the walls indicate the spring and fall equinoxes. It is also believed the site was used for astronomical observations of the constellations, probably for religious calculations. Researchers found the site was built with dimensions and scales common for other period structures, and partly based on the stars' positions.
Maeshowe, it is aligned so that the rear wall of its central chamber, a rough cube of five yards square held up by a bracketed wall,[27] is illuminated on thewinter solstice.
^Ruggles, Clive; Cotte, Michel, eds. (2011),Heritage Sites of Astronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the Context of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, Paris: ICOMOS / IAU,ISBN978-2-918086-07-9
^abcdeRuggles, Clive; Cotte, Michel (2011), "Conclusion. Astronomical Heritage in the Context of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention: Developing a Professional and Rational Approach", inRuggles, Clive; Cotte, Michel (eds.),Heritage Sites of Astronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the Context of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, Paris: ICOMOS / IAU, pp. 261–273,ISBN978-2-918086-07-9
^abcdeRuggles, Clive (2015), "Establishing the credibility of archaeoastronomical sites",Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union,11 (A29A):97–99,doi:10.1017/S1743921316002477
^Norris, R.P.; Norris, P.M.; Hamacher, D.W.; Abrahams, R. (2013). "Wurdi Youang: an Australian Aboriginal stone arrangement with possible solar indications".Rock Art Research.30 (1):55–65.
^Stoev, Alexey; Maglova, Penka (2014), "Astronomy in the Bulgarian Neolithic", inRuggles, Clive L. N. (ed.),The Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, New York: Springer, pp. 1377–1384,ISBN978-1-4614-6140-1
^Time Life Lost Civilizations series: Southeast Asia: A Past Regained (1995) p.93-4
^Langbroek M., Huilen naar de maan. Een verkennend onderzoek naar de orientaties van Nederlandse hunebedden. P.I.T. 1:2 (1999), 8–13
^Belmonte, Juan Antonio (2015), "Ancient 'Observatories' – A Relevant Concept?", inRuggles, Clive L. N. (ed.),Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, vol. 1, New York: Springer, pp. 133–145,doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-6141-8,ISBN978-1-4614-6140-1,[T]he proposed use and precision have never been appropriately proven or tested. In addition, the site lacks any historical or ethnographical context.
^Carolyn Kennett, (2018), Celestial Stone Circles of West Cornwall: Reflections of the sky in an ancient landscape
