{"title":"The Temple of Apollo in Didyma","authors":"Alper K. Ates, Glenn Maffia","doi":"10.1558/jsa.23277","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/jsa.23277","url":null,"abstract":"The Temple of Apollo in Didyma, located on the Aegean coast of southwestern Turkey, is not aligned towards the cardinal directions: GPS measurements and satellite imagery indicate that the azimuth of the temple is 55.117°. Lack of prominent geological features in the surrounding landscape raise the idea of a probable celestial orientation. Various orientation studies have suggested bright stars of Gemini, sunrise direction during the summer solstice or the heliacal rising direction of Cygnus and Lyra during the winter solstice as potential vantage directions, and we propose that the temple is aligned towards the heliacal rising direction of Castor (a Geminorum). During the Hellenistic period Castor’s heliacal rise also coincided with the summer solstice, and we believe this alignment serves calendrical and symbolic purposes. We rest our case on astronomical computations, classical texts, archaeological evidence and the unique architectural plan of the temple. ","PeriodicalId":508285,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Skyscape Archaeology","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139803350","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The World of Nebra Sky Disc and Stonehenge","authors":"Emília Pásztor","doi":"10.1558/jsa.28176","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/jsa.28176","url":null,"abstract":"Ever since its discovery in 1999, the Nebra Sky Disc has been one of the best-known and most debated European Bronze Age archaeological artefacts. In 2021–2022 it was particularly in the public spotlight due to two jointly organised international exhibitions, one at the State Museum of Prehistory Halle (Saale), Germany and then one at the British Museum in London. In view of the renewed public interest in the disc that these exhibitions have awakened, this article reviews research relating to the artefact and its interpretation, with particular consideration of supposed links with Bronze Age sky lore promoted by the exhibitions and their accompanying literature.","PeriodicalId":508285,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Skyscape Archaeology","volume":"11 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139804181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Temple of Apollo in Didyma","authors":"Alper K. Ates, Glenn Maffia","doi":"10.1558/jsa.23277","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/jsa.23277","url":null,"abstract":"The Temple of Apollo in Didyma, located on the Aegean coast of southwestern Turkey, is not aligned towards the cardinal directions: GPS measurements and satellite imagery indicate that the azimuth of the temple is 55.117°. Lack of prominent geological features in the surrounding landscape raise the idea of a probable celestial orientation. Various orientation studies have suggested bright stars of Gemini, sunrise direction during the summer solstice or the heliacal rising direction of Cygnus and Lyra during the winter solstice as potential vantage directions, and we propose that the temple is aligned towards the heliacal rising direction of Castor (a Geminorum). During the Hellenistic period Castor’s heliacal rise also coincided with the summer solstice, and we believe this alignment serves calendrical and symbolic purposes. We rest our case on astronomical computations, classical texts, archaeological evidence and the unique architectural plan of the temple. ","PeriodicalId":508285,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Skyscape Archaeology","volume":"89 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139863011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The World of Nebra Sky Disc and Stonehenge","authors":"Emília Pásztor","doi":"10.1558/jsa.28176","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/jsa.28176","url":null,"abstract":"Ever since its discovery in 1999, the Nebra Sky Disc has been one of the best-known and most debated European Bronze Age archaeological artefacts. In 2021–2022 it was particularly in the public spotlight due to two jointly organised international exhibitions, one at the State Museum of Prehistory Halle (Saale), Germany and then one at the British Museum in London. In view of the renewed public interest in the disc that these exhibitions have awakened, this article reviews research relating to the artefact and its interpretation, with particular consideration of supposed links with Bronze Age sky lore promoted by the exhibitions and their accompanying literature.","PeriodicalId":508285,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Skyscape Archaeology","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139864042","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Duncan Garrow and Neil Wilkin, 'The World of Stonehenge'","authors":"Amanda Chadburn","doi":"10.1558/jsa.28180","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/jsa.28180","url":null,"abstract":"Duncan Garrow and Neil Wilkin, The World of StonehengeLondon: British Museum Press, 2022. Hardback, 271 pp. ISBN 978-07141-2349-3-HB. £40.","PeriodicalId":508285,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Skyscape Archaeology","volume":"25 48","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139803347","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Duncan Garrow and Neil Wilkin, 'The World of Stonehenge'","authors":"Amanda Chadburn","doi":"10.1558/jsa.28180","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/jsa.28180","url":null,"abstract":"Duncan Garrow and Neil Wilkin, The World of StonehengeLondon: British Museum Press, 2022. Hardback, 271 pp. ISBN 978-07141-2349-3-HB. £40.","PeriodicalId":508285,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Skyscape Archaeology","volume":"59 2-3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139863247","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}