History of astronomy
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The history of astronomy focuses on the efforts of civilizations to understand the universe beyond earth's atmosphere. Astronomy is one of the oldest natural sciences, achieving a high level of succes
Sunset at the equinox from the prehistoric site of Pizzo Vento at Fondachelli Fantina, Sicily
The Nebra sky disk, Germany, 1800–1600 BC
Calendrical functions of the Berlin Gold Hat c. 1000 BC
Babylonian tablet in the British Museum recording Halley's Comet in 164 BC
Archaeoastronomy
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Archaeoastronomy is the interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary study of how people in the past "have understood the phenomena in the sky, how they used these phenomena and what role the sky played in
History of astronomy
…to 10,000 years ago could be a graphical representation of the Pleiades, the Summer Triangle, and the Northern Crown. Ancient structures with possibly astronomical alignments (such as Stonehenge) probably fulfilled astronomical, religious, and social functions. Ancient astronomical artifacts have been found throughout Europe…
The rising Sun illuminates the inner chamber of Newgrange, Ireland, only at the winter solstice.
Early archaeoastronomers surveyed Megalithic constructs in the British Isles, at sites like Auglish in County Londonderry, in an attempt to find statistical patterns.
It has been proposed that Maya sites such as Uxmal were built in accordance with astronomical alignments.