What are archaeoastronomy and cultural astronomy?
Archaeoastronomy is the study of beliefs and practices concerning the sky in the past, and especially in prehistory, and the uses to which people’s knowledge of the skies were put. It uses archaeological and historical methods to investigate past astronomies. Ethnoastronomy is similar to archaoastronomy, except that it focuses upon more modern societies through the methods of anthropology, ethnography and sociology. Since there is no clear dividing line between the two fields, the term “cultural astronomy” has emerged which encompasses both. Astronomical alignments at Stonehenge, Mayan tables of eclipses and the motions of Venus, and why modern people still believe in astrology are among the topics covered in current research in these fields.
