Archaeoastronomy in the old world [proceedings of an International Symposium on Archaeoastronomy, held at the Queen's College, Oxford, from 4 to 9 September 1981

This volume summarises the proceedings of a conference which took place at the University of Oxford in September 1981. Held under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union and the International Union for the History and Philosophy of Science, the meeting reviewed research in Old World Archaeoastronomy. The publisher received the final typescript for production in March 1982. The papers in this book are concerned with shedding light on a controversial aspect of European prehistory, especially that of north-west Europe: was astronomy practised here in the late Neolithic and bronze ages, and if so, what was its purpose? These questions are of obvious interest to prehistorians, but fresh interest in them has been stimulated largely by those whose professional background is in the pure and applied sciences, while they raise technical issues which have aroused the interest of statisticians and astronomers. CONTENTS......Page 6 PREFACE......Page 8 CONTRIBUTORS......Page 9 MEGALITHIC ASTRONOMY: HIGHLIGHTS AND PROBLEMS......Page 10 ARCHAEOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL VIEW......Page 34 THE STATISTICAL APPROACH......Page 54 STATISTICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL ARGUMENTS FOR THE ASTRONOMICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF STANDING STONES WITH A SECTION ON THE SOLAR CALENDAR......Page 62 MEGALITHIC ASTRONOMICAL SIGHTLINES: CURRENT REASSESSMENTAND FUTURE DIRECTIONS......Page 92 ASPECTS 0E THE ARCHAEOASTROMOMY OF STONEHENGE......Page 116 IMPLICATIONS FOR ARCHAEOLOGY......Page 126 DECODING THE CALLANISH COMPLEX A PROGRESS REPORT......Page 200 ASTRONOMY AND STONE ALIGNMENTS IN S. W. IRELAND......Page 214 STONE RINGS OF NORTHERN POLAND......Page 224 ASTRONOMICAL ORIENTATION OF NEOLITHIC SITES IN CENTRAL EUROPE......Page 234 STONE CIRCLE GEOMETRIES : AN INFORMATION THEORY APPROACH......Page 240 THE PRESENT POSITION OF ARCHAEO-ASTRONOMY......Page 274 INDEX......Page 284 The papers in this book, summarising the proceedings of a conference at the University of Oxford in September 1981, are concerned with shedding light on a controversial aspect of European prehistory: was astronomy practised in the late Neolithic and bronze ages? This volume will be of interest to prehistorians, professionals with pure and applied sciences background and statisticians. Edited By D.c. Heggie. The Papers Were Presented At An International Symposium On Archaeoastronomy That Was Held At The Queen's College, Oxford, From 4 To 9 September, 1981--pref. Includes Bibliographies And Index.