Skyscapes : the role and importance of the sky in archaeology /

Skyscapes : the role and importance of the sky in archaeology / edited by Fabio Silva and Nicholas Campion. - Oxford : Oxbow Books, (c)2015. - 1 online resource

Includes bibliographical references.

Preface: Meaning and intent in ancient skyscapes : an Andean perspective / The role and importance of the sky in archaeology : an introduction / Skyscapes : locating archaeoastronomy within academia / An examination of the divide between archaeoastronomy and archaeology / Skyscapes : present and past : from sustainability to interpreting ancient remains / 30b : the West Kennet Avenue stone that never was : interpretation by multidisciplinary triangulation and emergence through four field anthropology / Can archaeoastronomy inform archaeology on the building chronology of the Mnajdra Neolithic temple in Malta? / Star phases : the naked-eye astronomy of the Old Kingdom pyramid texts / An architectural perspective on structured sacred space : recent evidence from Iron Age Ireland / The circumpolar skyscape of a Pembrokeshire dolmen / The view from within : a "time-space-action" approach to megalithism in central Portugal / Afterword: Dances beneath a diamond sky / J. McKim Malville -- Fabio Silva -- Nicholas Campion -- Liz Henty -- Daniel Brown -- Lionel Sims -- Tore Lomsdalen -- Bernadette Brady -- Frank Prendergast -- Olwyn Pritchard -- Fabio Silva -- Timothy Darvill.

"Eleven papers extend discussion of the role and importance of the landscape and the wider environment to past societies, and to the understanding and interpretation of their material remains, into consideration of the significance of the celestial environment: the skyscape. The role of the sky for past societies has been relegated to the fringes of archaeological discourse. Nevertheless archaeoastronomy has developed a new rigour in the last few decades and the evidence suggests that it can provide insights into the beliefs, practices and cosmologies of past societies. Skyscapes explores the current role of archaeoastronomical knowledge in archaeological discourse and how to integrate the two"--Provided by publisher.



9781782978435 9781782978404

2015007231


Archaeoastronomy.
Landscape archaeology.
Sky--Social aspects--History.
Cosmology--History.
Astrology--History.
Sacred space--History.
Prehistoric peoples.
Social archaeology.


Electronic Books.

GN799 / .S597 2015