The Incas’ Sky

The Incas’ Sky
Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
Total Pages : 236
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9783031584183
ISBN-13 : 303158418X
Rating : 4/5 (83 Downloads)

Synopsis The Incas’ Sky by : Émile Biémont

Astronomy of the Inca Empire

Astronomy of the Inca Empire
Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
Total Pages : 377
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9783030483661
ISBN-13 : 3030483665
Rating : 4/5 (61 Downloads)

Synopsis Astronomy of the Inca Empire by : Steven R. Gullberg

Astronomy in the Inca Empire was a robust and fundamental practice. The subsequent Spanish conquest of the Andes region disrupted much of this indigenous culture and resulted in a significant loss of information about its rich history. Through modern archaeoastronomy, this book helps recover and interpret some of these elements of Inca civilization. Astronomy was intricately woven into the very fabric of Andean existence and daily life. Accordingly, the text takes a holistic approach to its research, considering first and foremost the cultural context of each astronomy-related site. The chapters necessarily start with a history of the Incas from the beginning of their empire through the completion of the conquest by Spain before diving into an astronomical and cultural analysis of many of the huacas found in the heart of the Inca Empire. Over 300 color images—original artwork and many photos captured during the author’s extensive field research in Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, Cusco, and elsewhere—are included throughout the book, adding visual insight to a rigorous examination of Inca astronomical sites and history.

The Incas

The Incas
Author :
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages : 292
Release :
ISBN-10 : 0393333019
ISBN-13 : 9780393333015
Rating : 4/5 (19 Downloads)

Synopsis The Incas by : Gordon F Mcewan

The Incas: New Perspectives offers a revealing portrait of the ancient Andean empire from the earliest stages of its development to its final capitulation to Pizzarro in the mid-16th century. In recent years researchers have employed new tools to get to the heart of the mysterious Inca culture. Drawing on recent work in archaeology, anthropology, ethnohistory, and other sources, The Incas provides the most up-to-date interpretations of Inca culture, religion, politics, economics, and daily life available. Readers will discover how the Incas discovered medicines still in use and kept records using knotted cords; how Inca builders created masterful highways and stone bridges; and how the inhabitants of seemingly unfarmable lands came to give the world potatoes, beans, corn, squashes, tomatoes, avocados, peanuts, and peppers. --Publisher.

At the Crossroads of the Earth and the Sky

At the Crossroads of the Earth and the Sky
Author :
Publisher : University of Texas Press
Total Pages : 247
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780292790513
ISBN-13 : 0292790511
Rating : 4/5 (13 Downloads)

Synopsis At the Crossroads of the Earth and the Sky by : Gary Urton

Above Misminay, the sky also is so divided by the alternation of the two axes of the Milky Way passing through the zenith. This mirror-image quadri-partition of terrestrial and celestial spheres is such that a point within one of the quarters of the earth is related to a point within the corresponding celestial quarter. The transition between the earth and the sky occurs at the horizon, where sacred mountains are related to topographic and celestial features. Based on fieldwork in Misminay, Peru, Gary Urton details a cosmology in which the Milky Way is central. This is the first study that provides a description and analysis of the astronomical and cosmological system in a contemporary community in the Americas. Separate chapters take up the sun, the moon, meteorological phenomena, the stars, and the planets. Star-to-star constellations, the "animal" dark-cloud constellations that cut through the Milky Way, and certain twilight- and midnight-zenith stars are analyzed in terms of their spatial and temporal integration within an indigenous cosmological framework. Urton breaks new ground by demonstrating the indigenous merging of such forms of "precise knowledge" as astronomy, meteorology, agriculture, and the correlation of astronomical and biological cycles within a single calendar system. More than sixty diagrams clarify this Quechua system of astronomy and relate it to more familiar principles of Western astronomy and cosmology.

Yearbook of Astronomy 2025

Yearbook of Astronomy 2025
Author :
Publisher : White Owl
Total Pages : 370
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781036115180
ISBN-13 : 1036115186
Rating : 4/5 (80 Downloads)

Synopsis Yearbook of Astronomy 2025 by : Brian Jones

"Overall, this is a wonderful work written to be accessible to people with more than a passing interest in astronomy." — Booklist on the 2023 edition of Yearbook of Astronomy Maintaining its appealing style and presentation, the Yearbook of Astronomy 2025 contains comprehensive jargon-free monthly sky notes and an authoritative set of sky charts to enable backyard astronomers and sky gazers everywhere to plan their viewing of the year’s eclipses, comets, meteor showers and minor planets as well as detailing the phases of the Moon and visibility and locations of the planets throughout the year. To supplement all this is a variety of entertaining and informative articles, a feature for which the Yearbook of Astronomy is known. Presenting the reader with information on a wide range of topics, the articles for the 2025 edition include, among others, Recent Advances in Astronomy; Recent Advances in Solar System Exploration; Skies over Ancient America: Mystical Mounds and Landmarks of the Prehistoric Americas; Astrophysicist Cecilia Helena Payne and Professor H. N. Russell; The Astronomers’ Stars: The Terrible Twos; Eta Carinae: A Chance Encounter and Journey of Discovery; Saturn at its Equinox: A History of Ring-Plane Crossings from 1612 to 2025; A History of Observatory Designs: Before the Telescope; Signals from the Magnetosphere; How to Read a Scientific Paper; and Small Stars. This iconic publication made its first appearance way back in 1962, shortly after the dawning of the Space Age. Now well into its seventh decade of production, the Yearbook continues to be essential reading for anyone lured and fascinated by the magic of astronomy and who has a desire to extend their knowledge of the Universe and the wonders to which it plays host. The Yearbook of Astronomy is indeed an inspiration to amateur and professional astronomers alike, and warrants a place on the bookshelf of all stargazers and watchers of the skies.

Echoes of the Ancient Skies

Echoes of the Ancient Skies
Author :
Publisher : Courier Corporation
Total Pages : 418
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780486137643
ISBN-13 : 0486137643
Rating : 4/5 (43 Downloads)

Synopsis Echoes of the Ancient Skies by : E. C. Krupp

Popular, authoritative look at the world of archaeoastronomy, the study of ancient peoples' observation of the skies and its role in their cultural evolution. 208 illustrations.

People and the Sky

People and the Sky
Author :
Publisher : Thames and Hudson
Total Pages : 260
Release :
ISBN-10 : STANFORD:36105131717980
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (80 Downloads)

Synopsis People and the Sky by : Anthony Aveni

"Anthony Aveni reveals how !Kung and Mursi hunter-gatherers depended on signals in the sky for their survival and sustenance; how Polynesian sailors navigated a seemingly limitless watery world by star bearings; how social cohesion in cultures as diverse as the Pawnee and the Inca was mirrored in celestial imagery; and how the cosmic connection between the arrangement of Chinese and Aztec cities and the constellations served as an expression of political authority." "For most of human history, people found meaning in the dance of the cosmic denizens. Today, many aspects of this intimate contact between daily life and what happens in the sky have disappeared. Did our ancestors have an understanding of the cosmos that we ourselves lack? How and why did it all happen? These are the questions addressed in this engaging and erudite book."--BOOK JACKET.

Highlighting the History of Astronomy in the Asia-Pacific Region

Highlighting the History of Astronomy in the Asia-Pacific Region
Author :
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages : 659
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781441981615
ISBN-13 : 1441981616
Rating : 4/5 (15 Downloads)

Synopsis Highlighting the History of Astronomy in the Asia-Pacific Region by : Wayne Orchiston

With just 400 pages, this title provides readers with the results of recent research from some of the world's leading historians of astronomy on aspects of Arabic, Australian, Chinese, Japanese, and North and South American astronomy and astrophysics. Of particular note are the sections on Arabic astronomy, Asian applied astronomy and the history of Australian radio astronomy, and the chapter on Peruvian astronomy. This title is of particular appeal to those with research interests in applied historical astronomy; archaeoastronomy; calendars, manuscripts, and star charts; historical instruments and observatories, and the history of radio astronomy.

Encyclopedia of the Incas

Encyclopedia of the Incas
Author :
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages : 335
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780759123632
ISBN-13 : 0759123632
Rating : 4/5 (32 Downloads)

Synopsis Encyclopedia of the Incas by : Gary Urton

The Inca Empire existed for fewer than 100 years, yet ruled more subjects than either the Aztecs or the Maya and occupied a territory stretching nearly 3000 miles. The Incas left no system of writing; what we know of them has been gleaned from the archaeological record and accounts written following the Spanish invasion. In this A-to-Z encyclopedia, Gary Urton and Adriana von Hagen, together with over thirty contributors, provide a broad introduction to the fascinating civilization of the Incas, including their settlements, culture, society, celebrations, and achievements. Following a broad introduction, 128 individual entries explore wide-ranging themes (religion, architecture, farming) and specific topics (ceremonial drinking cup, astronomy), interweaving ethnohistoric and archaeological research with nuanced interpretation. Each entry provides suggestions for further reading. Sidebars profiling chroniclers and researchers of Inca life—ranging from José de Acosta and Cristóbal de Albornoz to Maria Rostworowski and R. Tom Zuidema—add depth and context for the cultural entries. Cross-references, alphabetical and topical lists of entries, and a thorough index help readers navigate the volume. A chronology, selected bibliography, regional map, and almost ninety illustrations round out the volume. In sum, the Encyclopedia of the Incas provides a unique, comprehensive resource for scholars, as well as the general public, to explore the civilization of the Incas—the largest empire of the pre-Columbian New World.

Exploring Ancient Skies

Exploring Ancient Skies
Author :
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages : 623
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780387263564
ISBN-13 : 038726356X
Rating : 4/5 (64 Downloads)

Synopsis Exploring Ancient Skies by : David H. Kelley

Exploring Ancient Skies brings together the methods of archaeology and the insights of modern astronomy to explore the science of astronomy as it was practiced in various cultures prior to the invention of the telescope. The book reviews an enormous and growing body of literature on the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, the Far East, and the New World (particularly Mesoamerica), putting the ancient astronomical materials into their archaeological and cultural contexts. The authors begin with an overview of the field and proceed to essential aspects of naked-eye astronomy, followed by an examination of specific cultures. The book concludes by taking into account the purposes of ancient astronomy: astrology, navigation, calendar regulation, and (not least) the understanding of our place and role in the universe. Skies are recreated to display critical events as they would have appeared to ancient observers - events such as the supernova of 1054, the 'lion horoscope' or the 'Star of Bethlehem.' Exploring Ancient Skies provides a comprehensive overview of the relationships between astronomy and other areas of human investigation. It will be useful as a reference for scholars and students in both astronomy and archaeology, and will be of compelling interest to readers who seek a broad understanding of our collective intellectual history.