Evidences shows how much the ancient civilizations fond or worship the stars. They can be seen on walls, ceiling and caves of our ancestors clearly showing how much they're aware of stars' existence and how observant they were to those little glowing things. But how do they observe them closely? If telescopes don't exist yet, how do they study them?
Long before astronomers used telescopes to peer at the stars, people have already found a way to take a good look at those sky lights.
Scientists that studied 6,000-year-old tombs in Portugal suggests that the structures could have also been used to help early astronomers observe stars rising at twilight earlier than they would otherwise have been able to.
According to Kieran Simcox, an undergraduate student at Nottingham Trent University in England, by reducing the background area and focusing on just a small part of the sky, an observer will be able to see a star earlier than had they been outside.
The long, dark chambers of these types of tombs known as "passage graves," would have provided the complete darkness necessary for the best viewing, with only the opening to the passage grave showing the part of the sky where the star lies. These were found along the entire Atlantic coast of Europe.
The passage grave with its long corridor acts like a telescope without a lens, as described by Fabio Silva of University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
According to Dr. Silva, ancient observers in Portugal likely would have been particularly interested in finding Aldebaran, which lives in the constellation Taurus and is one of the brighter stars in the northern hemisphere.
The first rising of the Aldebaran would have happened at the end of April or beginning of May 6,000 years ago. It may also serve as an important signal for them that it was time to move their herds and flocks to summer grazing areas up in the mountains each year.
According to reports by The Guardian, the viewing practice could have been linked to ancient rituals related to the revelation of a cosmic secret to the initiate, whereby individuals were left alone in the tomb with the remains of their ancestors.
These kinds of graves are found throughout Europe, including Spain, Scandinavia, and Britain. Most of the passageways are from the Neolithic period, between 6,000 and 2,000 B.C., though some were found later, in the Bronze Age. Ireland's Newgrange and Scotland's Maeshowe are among the famous examples.
"This kind of 'archaeoastronomy' highlights the fact that human beings have always been fascinated by the stars and that sky-watching has had an important role in human society for millennia," said Marek Kukula, public astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich in London.
Source: The Christian Science Monitor
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