Origins of Standing Stone Astronomy in Britain: New quantitative techniques for the study of archaeoastronomy

Higginbottom, Gail; Clay, R. W.

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.05.025

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(20 reference statements)

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“…This was based on a circular configuration and a dual organization by halves (Criado-Boado & Villoch-Vázquez 1998; Criado Boado et al 2006; Gianotti et al 2011). According to this scheme, megalithic funerary monuments in Galicia (although this might be extended to other areas of Iberia, such as Menga: see González-García 2018; see Higginbottom & Clay 2016 for a similar approach to the British Isles) were placed in the landscape with one half of the area visible from them displaying a wide-open view, normally associated with the areas where the settlements were located. The other half offers closer horizons in general, and is more related to the wild part of the landscape.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Domesticating Light and Shadows in the Neolithic: The Dombate Passage Grave (A Coruña, Spain)

González-García

Vilas-Estévez

Lopez-Romero

et al. 2018

CAJ

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Research on the Neolithic monuments and dwellings of Atlantic Europe has shown that plays of light and colour were tools for the social and symbolic construction of the world. The integration of the architectures into the surrounding landscape and the incorporation of the surrounding landscape into the architectures were an essential part of this logic. In this context, recent research in the megalithic passage grave of Dombate has evidenced an unusual physical manifestation of sunlight, which interacts with the decorated back stone. The light-and-shadow phenomenon occurs at sunrise during the period of winter solstice. In this paper we discuss the particulars of this phenomenon and we argue that sunlight when it penetrates the passage and chamber at sunrise on these dates may have dictated how the art was located and applied to the structural stone. Such differentiation seems to have had important cultural and ritual significance and encoded/embedded meaning for the tomb builders and may have implications for the consideration of the symbolic dimension of similar architectures in Atlantic Europe.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Domesticating Light and Shadows in the Neolithic: The Dombate Passage Grave (A Coruña, Spain)

González-García

Vilas-Estévez

Lopez-Romero

et al. 2018

CAJ

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“…This is done by carefully inspecting the horizon observed from a particular site. There, singular directions, perhaps marked by other sites located at the horizon or by natural singular features such as notches or mountain peaks, could be linked to directions where interesting astronomical phenomena can be observed (see e.g., [11][12][13]).…”

Section: Sustainability Of Archaeoastronomical Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These can incorporate for instance data from LiDar flights. Indeed, the resolution of the digital terrain model (DTM) is the main problem to solve as it will dictate the uncertainty in the potential astronomical links of the sites investigated (see [12] for a recent use of this technique).…”

Section: Sustainability Of Archaeoastronomical Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeoastronomy: A Sustainable Way to Grasp the Skylore of Past Societies

González-García

Belmonte

2019

Sustainability

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If astronomy can be understood as the contemplation of the sky for any given purpose, we must realize that possibly all societies throughout time and in all regions have watched the sky. The why, who, how and when of such investigation is the pursuit of cultural astronomy. When the research is done with the archaeological remains of a given society, the part of cultural astronomy that deals with them is archaeoastronomy. This interdisciplinary field employs non-invasive techniques that mix methodologies of the natural sciences with the epistemology of humanities. Those techniques are reviewed here, providing an excellent example of sustainable research. In particular, we include novel research on the Bohí Valley Romanesque churches. The results provided go beyond the data. This is because they add new value to existing heritage or discovers new heritage due to the possible relationship to the spatial and temporal organization of past societies. For the case of the Bohí churches the results point to a number of peculiarities of these churches in a valley in the Pyrenees. This links these aspects to the ritual, practical and power sphere of past societies. A wonderful example of such links is the high mountain sanctuaries in Gran Canaria, where archaeoastronomy helps promoting a World Heritage candidacy.

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“…Initial research suggests that these characteristics may flow over into other subregions nearby, like Argyll (Higginbottom in prep. ; Higginbottom and Clay 2016a). It is now crucial to realise that something is being shared in the greater region of west Scotland apart from, but intimately tied to, monument building in stone.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The World Ends Here, the World Begins Here: Bronze Age Megalithic Monuments in Western Scotland

Higginbottom

2020

J World Prehist

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This paper presents a study of free-standing Bronze Age megalithic monuments across western Scotland: Argyll, Lochaber, Kintyre, and the isles of Mull, Coll and Tiree. The original project was designed to unearth the locational choices of their builders, the reasons for these choices, and what they reveal about the belief systems of these societies. Using statistical analyses and 2D and 3D GIS, it will be demonstrated that vision is the main force behind locational decisions. The GIS analyses revealed that the builders chose a particular horizon shape, defined by qualities of distance, direction and relative apparent height as viewed from the monument (altitude). Significantly, approximately half the sites have the same locational variables as all the sites considered on the isles of Coll and Tiree (labelled 'classic sites':

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Origins of Standing Stone Astronomy in Britain: New quantitative techniques for the study of archaeoastronomy

Cited by 9 publications

References 21 publications

Domesticating Light and Shadows in the Neolithic: The Dombate Passage Grave (A Coruña, Spain)

Domesticating Light and Shadows in the Neolithic: The Dombate Passage Grave (A Coruña, Spain)

Archaeoastronomy: A Sustainable Way to Grasp the Skylore of Past Societies

The World Ends Here, the World Begins Here: Bronze Age Megalithic Monuments in Western Scotland

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