Syllabus for Roster(s):

  • 15F ASTR 3410-001 (CGAS)
In the UVaCollab course site:   15F ASTR 3410

Course Description

This course will cover the use and practice of astronomy among ancient cultures and among more recent cultures outside the Western scientific tradition.  All forms of evidence will be used - written, building and stone structures, and anthropological evidence.  Cultures with a written record allow for a deeper study and will thus be emphasized.  We will begin by going over the types of astronomical phenomena that might be observed, in order to evaluate the possible astronomical records.  The records are often fragmentary and inconclusive, so we must take a skeptical view.  One aim of the course is the development of a sense of the plausibility of archaeoastronomical claims.  We will also look at the role of astronomy in the culture, to the extent that information is available on this issue.  This is an astronomy course which can be used for science credit, so the emphasis will be more on the astronomy and math than on the anthropology and archaeology.  In the area of archaeology, the emphasis will be on modern scientific techniques.  Note that the course satisfies the non-Western perspective requirement in the College.

This course lists another astronomy course as a co-requisite, but this is not a firm requirement.  We will cover the basic astronomy in class and interested first year students are welcome.  The part of ASTR 1210  covering basic motions in the solar system is the most relevant to this course.

The Starry Nights program will be used to illustrate various aspects of naked eye astronomy.  The ability to change time and place on Earth is especially useful for archaeoastronomy.  An aim of the course is to gain some facility with naked eye astronomy.

Some mathematics is needed to appreciate the achievements of ancient cultures.  For example, the Maya worked in a base 20 system which takes some getting used to; on the bright side, they never developed fractions or long division.  There will be homework assignments to provide experience in some aspects of astronomy and Mayan mathematics and calendrics.  There may be an additional homework assignment on Babylonian, Egyptian, and Chinese astronomy.  There will also be a 5 page paper due at the end of the semester as well as a report on naked eye observations.

Texts: A. Aveni, Skywatchers, Texas, 2001.  This is a source for basic naked eye astronomy, as well as astronomy in Mesoamerica, especially Maya astronomy.
O. Neugebauer, The Exact Sciences in Antiquity, Dover, 1969.  We will use this for Babylonian and Egyptian astronomy.

Course topics:
Introduction and overview (1-2 classes)
Naked eye astronomy (2 weeks; Chap. 3 in Aveni) - this will be based on the modern scientific view.  Our aim is to develop a mental picture of the motions of the earth, sun, moon, etc. that are important for naked eye astronomy.  The ancient astronomers did not work in terms of bodies moving in space, but this type of model provides a basis for the observed motions.
Maya astronomy from writings (2-3 weeks; Chap. 4 in Aveni  Skywatchers, The End of Time) - Mayan mathematics and calendrics; eclipses; Venus; constellations; large numbers; cosmological ideas; significance of the year 2012
Building (and other) alignments in the Americas (1 week; Chap. 5 in Aveni) -Maya buildings; medicine wheels; Nazca lines
Mesopotamian astronomy (2 weeks; Chaps. 2, 3, and 5 in Neugebauer) - mathematical systems and tables; types of astronomical observations; zodiac; advances in later period
Ancient Chinese astronomy (1-2 weeks) - Chronicles were kept by the various dynasties; cosmological ideas; coordinate systems and armillary spheres; observations of shadows; the Chinese kept detailed records of unusual events and we will especially look at their supernova records
Ancient Egyptian astronomy (1 week; Chap. 4 in Neugebauer) - Egyptian mathematics; calendars; decans; star clocks; cosmological ideas
Graeco-Roman (1 week) - Early Greek astronomy; Mithraism and precession; Antikythera mechanism
Islamic astronomy (1-2 classes)  Star names; relevance of astronomy to Islam
European standing stones (1-2 weeks) - types of megalithic structures; Stonehenge and its relation to other standing stones; astronomical vs archaeological interpretations
Special topics (any remaining time) - Polynesian navigation by stars; Australian aboriginal astronomy