General data
The main objective of this project is to study the importance of astronomy as a fundamental part of human culture and civilization from Paleolithic to the present day. Our interest is mainly devoted to the people of the ancient Mediterranean cultures from the Atlantic to the Middle East, with a special dedication to Spain, its geographical neighbourhood and ancient Egypt. However, we are also developing projects in Mesoamerica, Peru and the Pacific islands.
Members of the project
Highlights and results
- The summit of Gran Canaria has been considered as an excellent example of a Cultural Landscape worthy of being declared World Heritage site within the Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative of UNESCO and the IAU. In 2018 the memory has been completed and the process of evaluation by ICOMOS has begun.
- A rock engraving or petroglyph of the aboriginal era on the island of La Palma (Benahoare) has been interpreted as an island map where its major landmarks are represented for purposes of sympathetic magic. This is without doubt one of the finest examples of prehistoric map produced before the development of modern cartography.
- The megalithic monumental complex of Castillejo del Bonete stands as the first evidence of a solar marker (towards the winter solstice sunrise) in a megalithic site of the Iberian Peninsula, indicating that the precise location of the monument was carefully chosen (Benítez de Lugo Enrich, L., Esteban, C., 2018).
Scientific activity
Publications related
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On the Orientation of Ancient Egyptian Temples: (5) Testing the Theory in Middle Egypt and Sudan
Not Available
Belmonte, J. A. et al.Advertised on:
12010Bibcode -
On the Orientation of Prehistoric Sardinian Monuments: A Comparative Statistical Approach
On the basis of a recently updated data base of Sardinian Megalithic monuments, we perform two independent statistical analyses on several groups of these structures and confirm the existence of differences between the southern and northern halves of Sardinia, indicating that there seem to be different traditions of orientation in these two parts
González García, A. C. et al.Advertised on:
112014 -
The Orientation of Pre-Romanesque Churches in the Iberian Peninsula
The orientation of Christian churches is a distinctive feature of its architecture, repeating patterns from early Christian times that show a general tendency to orientate their apses in the solar range, with a predilection for orientations near the astronomical equinox. We measured the orientation of a total of 167 churches built prior to A.D
Gonzalez-Garcia, A. C. et al.Advertised on:
72015
