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Ancient America: Linking people to the cosmos in ancient Ohio [1]
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Date: 2022-07-31
With regard to the Native people of North America, David Hurst Thomas, in his section in The Native Americans: An Illustrated History, writes:
“Native Americans have always lived close to the heavens, paying attention to what was overhead and intertwining their lives with the perpetual cycles of sun, moon, planets, and stars. They observed eclipses and the conjunctions of planets, devised calendars for festivals, and established dates for planting.”
While today the kind of knowledge captured by astronomers is written down in books and scientific reports, American Indians traditionally kept this knowledge in their oral stories and mythologies, in their ceremonies, in art, and in symbolic architecture.
Many different peoples, both farming people and food foraging people, have celebrated, and continue to celebrate, the changing seasons with religious ceremonies. Very often the archaeological features used as solar and/or lunar calendars were also used ceremonially. In his chapter on religion in The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, Chris Scarre writes:
“In a world without electric lights, and in regions where cloudless skies are common, the night sky would have made a powerful impression on the people’s understanding of their place in the cosmos. This is borne out by the evidence which shows that astronomical observations played a crucial part in the religious beliefs of many early societies. It has long been established that many important ritual or religious monuments were carefully aligned on solar, lunar, or stellar events, often to an astonishingly high degree of accuracy.”
In a major exhibit on Moundbuilders, the Ohio History center in Columbus, Ohio has an explanation of ancient astronomy called Linking People to the Cosmos
According to the display:
“People throughout the world use the sky to orient themselves in time and space.”
The moundbuilding cultures of ancient Ohio—Adena, Hopewell, Fort Ancient—designed their architecture so that it lined up with the rising and setting of the sun and moon. According to the display:
“The American Indian ancestors who built these structures understood the complex cycles of the sun and moon. The earthworks demonstrate their genius and mastery of astronomy, architecture and mathematics.”
The horizon—the point at which the earth and sky appear to meet—is one of the keys to understanding ancient astronomy. From their earthworks, the ancient American Indian astronomers would observe where the sun and the moon rise in the east and set in the east.
According to the display:
“The American Indian people who built the Hopewell earthworks aligned the earthwork walls and gateways to key solar and lunar appearances and disappearances on the horizon.”
The Sun
The sun provides us with two major time periods: day and night. In addition, knowing that the rising and setting of the sun moves north and south during the year provides a longer period of time: the year. At the two solstices, the sun reaches its northern and southern limits.
Two important solar events are the summer solstice (the longest day of the year) and the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year).
The Moon
The lunar cycles are more complex than the solar cycles. The cycle from new moon to full moon to new moon takes about 29 days and is used for a monthly cycle. The longer cycle of the moon takes 18.6 years to complete: during this time the rising of the moon will go from the northern limit on the horizon to the southern limit and then return to the northern limit.
The Myaamia (Miami) Lunar Calendar observes the lunar cycle’s connection to the ecological changes in the environment. The names given to each lunar month reflects the ecological event(s) of that month: Young Bear Moon, Crow Moon, Sandhill Crane Moon, Whippoorwill Moon, Mid-Summer Moon, Green Corn Moon, Elk Moon, Grass Burning Moon, Smoky Burning Moon, Buck Moon, Bear Moon.
According to the display:
“The relationship between the Myaamia and the environment was crucial to their subsistence. Planting, harvesting and knowing what time of year certain game ws more readily attainable were all part of their lunar calendar.”
Twelve lunar months, however, is 11 days shorter than the solar year. Every third year there is a thirteenth moon—Lost Moon (waawiita kiihswa)—to bring the lunar year into alignment with the solar year.
More Ancient America
Ancient America: Astronomy
Ancient America: A very brief overview of the Hopewell moundbuilders
Ancient America: Solar Calendars
Ancient America: A very short overview of the prehistory of the Grand Canyon
Ancient America: A very short overview of Clovis
Ancient America: A very brief overview of the Adena moundbuilders
Ancient America: Effigy Mounds
Ancient America: Misconceptions about Moundbuilders
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