Why did the people who built the earthworks align them to the moon?
Archaeologists are not sure why the earthworks are aligned to the complicated lunar cycle. It is much easier to show that an earthwork is aligned to an astronomical event than it is to explain why it is that way. The earthworks may have been used as astronomical observatories or the alignments may have been a way of bringing the apparent movements of the moon down to earth for ceremonial purposes. It is likely that a lunar calendar was used to determine the timing of certain religious festivals, but such a calendar would not have to be so big. The oral traditions of contemporary American Indian tribes may provide a key to answering this question.
