Mysteries and discoveries of archaeoastronomy: from Giza to Easter Island

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. The firstcomplete 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 INDICE: Thirty Thousand Years of Silence.- Forests of Stone, Rings of Giants.- The Island of Stones and of the Goddess.- A Civilization with No Right toa Space.- In the Absence of a Method.- Wheels, Octagons and Golf Courts.- An Astronomer’s Funfair.- The Land where the Gods Were Born.- The Last Flower Children.- The Four Parts of the Earth.- The People of the Lines.- The Last of the Lands.- Respect, if You Will Understand.- Predicting the Past.- Power and Replicas.- The Age of Pyramids.- Easy as Two and Two.- On the Trail of Ancient Stars.- The Sacred Landscape in the Age of Pyramids.

• ISBN: 978-0-387-76564-8
• Editorial: Springer
• Encuadernacion: Cartoné
• Páginas: 444
• Fecha Publicación: 01/05/2009
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés