Tag Archive for 'Calendar'

Pillar 43 in Enclosure D, Göbekli Tepe. Image credit: Alistair Coombs.

Gobekli Tepe’s Carvings Represent World’s Oldest Solar Calendar, New Research Suggests

Aug 6, 2024 by News Staff

Göbekli Tepe, an archaeological site in southern Turkey, features several Neolithic temple-like enclosures adorned with many intricately carved symbols. Pillar...

A fragment of the Antikythera mechanism. Imager credit: National Archaeological Museum, Athens / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Astronomers Shed Light on Antikythera Mechanism’s Calendar Ring

Jul 10, 2024 by News Staff

The Antikythera mechanism is a multi-component device recovered from a shipwreck close to the Greek island of Antikythera in 1901. It is believed to be...

The Monolith of the Stone of the Sun, also known as the Aztec calendar stone, in the National Museum of Anthropology and History, Mexico City, Mexico. Image credit: El Comandante / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Scholars May Have Finally Deciphered Secrets of Maya 819-Day Calendar

May 1, 2023 by News Staff

Arguably the most enigmatic of the Maya calendar cycles, the 819-day count has challenged modern scholars for decades. Even today it is not completely...

An examples of animal depiction associated with dots. Image credit: Bacon et al., doi: 10.1017/S0959774322000415.

Archaeologists Uncover Upper Paleolithic Proto-Writing System

Jan 6, 2023 by News Staff

In at least 400 European caves such as Lascaux, Chauvet and Altamira, Upper Paleolithic humans drew, painted and engraved non-figurative signs from at...

Ancient Mexicans Had Very Accurate Agricultural Calendar, Study Says

Dec 14, 2022 by News Staff

The accurate agricultural calendar allowed the ancient inhabitants of the Basin of Mexico to plan their agricultural cycle to feed one of the largest population...

Stonehenge was Designed as Solar Calendar, Archaeologist Says

Mar 7, 2022 by News Staff

Scholars have long seen in the monumental composition of Stonehenge evidence for prehistoric time-reckoning — a Neolithic calendar. Exactly how such...

Computer model of the Antikythera Mechanism’s display: in the center, the dome of the Earth, the phase of the Moon and its position in the Zodiac -- then rings for Mercury, Venus, true Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Date, with ‘little sphere’ markers and smaller markers for oppositions. Scale marks and index letters for the synodic cycles of the planets are inscribed on the planet rings. Surrounding these, the Zodiac and the Egyptian Calendar. The true Sun ring has a ‘little golden sphere’ with ‘pointer.’ When the Moon and Sun pointers coincide, the Moon sphere shows black for New Moon; when the pointers are on opposite sides, the Moon sphere shows white for Full Moon. The Head of the Dragon Hand shows the ascending lunar node; the Tail the descending node. Small triangles on the true Sun ring, near the pointer, show wider and narrower eclipse limits. Eclipses are possible if the Dragon Hand is within these limits. When the Moon pointer is before the Head of the Dragon, the Moon is South of the node; after, it is North of the node -- conversely for the descending node. A Date pointer is attached to a narrow date ring, showing the date in the Egyptian Calendar. Image credit: Freeth et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-84310-w.

Scientists Step Closer to Understanding Full Capabilities of Antikythera Mechanism

Mar 15, 2021 by News Staff

A team of researchers from University College London and the Cyprus Institute’s Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center has...

An artist's impression of a fire burning in one of the Warren Field calendar pits around 8,000 BC (V. Gaffney et al)

World’s Oldest Calendar Found in Scotland

Jul 16, 2013 by News Staff

British archaeologists have found what they say is the world’s oldest calendar, dating back to about 8,000 BC. An artist’s impression of a fire...