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Establishing the credibility of archaeoastronomical sites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2016

Clive Ruggles
Clive Ruggles*
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient HistoryUniversity of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom email: rug@le.ac.uk
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Abstract

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In 2011, an attempt to nominate a prehistoric “observatory” site onto the World Heritage List proved unsuccessful because UNESCO rejected the interpretation as statistically and archaeologically unproven. The case highlights an issue at the heart of archaeoastronomical methodology and interpretation: the mere existence of astronomical alignments in ancient sites does not prove that they were important to those who constructed and used the sites, let alone giving us insights into their likely significance and meaning. The fact that more archaeoastronomical sites are now appearing on national tentative lists prior to their WHL nomination means that this is no longer just an academic issue; establishing the credibility of the archaeoastronomical interpretations is crucial to any assessment of their value in heritage terms.

Keywords

Astronomical heritageCredibilityChankillo
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 11 , General Assembly A29A: Astronomy in Focus , August 2015 , pp. 97 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2016 

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