Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy

This book offers the first authoritative introduction to the fascinating science of Archaeoastronomy. The reader is taken on a tour of many enigmatic places while the author studies the astronomical knowledge of our predecessors by analyzing their monuments.

This complete, authoritative study of the growing discipline of Archaeoastronomy examines the role of astronomy in antiquity. Professor Giulio Magli provides a clear, up-to-date survey of current thinking on the motives of the ancients for building fabulous and mysterious monuments all over our planet. Was it an attempt to reproduce the sky on Earth, to bring down the power of the stars to where they could see it, worship it and use it? The connecting thread is astronomy: Giulio Magli uses astronomy as a key to understanding our ancestors' way of thinking. It is a challenge he likes to call 'predicting the past' - archaeology as a science is able to make predictions, like any other science, and to check them.

All of the astronomical achievements of the past are considered as a whole, in a comprehensive way that shows the depth and breadth of the thought behind them. In the past, the motives of the ancients and particularly their scientific thought have often been misconstrued, maligned or even dismissed. In an ironic, provocative style, Professor Magli shows the limitations of orthodox archaeology in the face of astronomically-based artefacts and tries to understand what led the ancients to construct magnificent buildings such as the city of Teotihuacan in the Mexico Valley, the Ceremonial Centre of Chaco Canyon in the USA, the Avebury stone circle in Great Britain or the Great Pyramids in Egypt.

The book is divided into two parts. In the first, the reader is taken on an ideal 'world tour' of many wonderful and enigmatic places in almost every continent, in search of traces of astronomical knowledge and lore of the sky. In the second part, Giulio Magli uses the elements presented in the tour to show that the fundamental idea which led to the construction of the astronomically-related giant monuments was the foundation of power, a foundation which was exploited by 'replicating' the sky. A possible interpretive model then emerges that is founded on the relationship the ancients had with nature, in the sense of everything that surrounded them, the cosmos. The numerous monumental astronomically aligned structures of the past then become interpretable as acts of will, expressions of power on the part of those who held it; the will to replicate the heavenly plane here on earth and to build sacred landscapes.

Finally, having formulated his hypothesis, Professor Magli returns to visit one specific place in detail, searching for proof. This in-depth examination studies the most compelling, the most intensively studied, the most famous and, until recently, the most misunderstood sacred landscape on the planet - Giza, in Egypt. The archaeoastronomical analysis of the orientation of the Giza pyramids leads to the hypothesis that the pyramids of Cheops and Chephren belong to the same construction project.

The first complete and authoritative introduction to the young and fascinating science of Archaeoastronomy

Explores the ancients' motives in constructing such grandiose buildings as the city of Teotihuacan or the Giza pyramids

Illustrates how Astronomy is a key to understanding our ancestors' way of thinking

Uniquely studies the astronomical knowledge of our predecessors by analyzing their monuments

Discusses both famous and little known archaeological sites from an Archaeostronomical point of view

Contains complete, up-to-date and extensive discussion of the exploration of the 'shafts' in Cheops' pyramid

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Texte du rabat

This complete, authoritative study of the growing discipline of archaeoastronomy examines the role of astronomy in antiquity. Professor Guilio Magli provides a clear, up-to-date survey of current thinking on the motives of the ancients for building fabulous and mysterious monuments all over our planet. Was it an attempt to reproduce the sky on Earth? To bring down the power of the stars to where they could see it, worship it, and use it? The connecting thread is astronomy. Magli uses astronomy as a key to understanding our ancestors' way of thinking. It is a challenge he likes to call "predicting the past."

The motives of the ancients have often been misconstrued, maligned, or even dismissed. Magli shows the limitations of orthodox archaeology in relation to astronomically based artifacts and tries to understand what led the ancients to construct such magnificent structures as the city of Teotihuacan in the Mexico Valley, the Ceremonial Center of Chaco Canyon in the United States, the Avebury stone circle in Great Britain, and the great pyramids in Egypt.

In this book, the reader is taken on a 'world tour' of many wonderful and enigmatic places on almost every continent, in search of traces of astronomical knowledge and lore of the sky. Then, the author discusses the fundamental ideas that he believes led to the construction of the giant monuments. Finally, Magli revisits one place in greater detail Giza in an attempt to provide proof for his ideas on the mindset of ancient cultures.

This fascinating book will take you places in time you have never been, and stimulate your imagination in regards to other people and other cultures. The result will be a better understanding of who we are and where we come from.

Contenu
1.- Thirty thousand years of silence.- Forests of stones, rings of giants.- The island of the goddess.- A Civilization entitled to no place.- When the method is lacking.- Wheels, octagons and golf courses.- Straighr road , circle Buildings, and supernova.- The land where the god where born.- The tree of the world.- The four part of the Earth.- The People of the lines.- The last of the lands.- 2.- Apicnic on the side of the road.- Predidting the past.- Power and Replica.- 3.- The age of the Pyramides.- Gatway to the stars.- On the path of the Ancient Stars.- The scared landscape in the Age of the Pyrimid.