さらに議論を呼ぶ天文考古学的取り組みが建築物の年代特定に用いられてきたが、それらの建築物はその方位を測定し、過去においてある特定の天体(太陽もしくは選択された恒星のどちらか)が測定された方位角で昇ってくるまたは沈む時を計算した結果、天文学的信念に基づいてその建築物の方位が決定されていると考えられてきたものである。天文学者のノーマン・ロッキャーはこの手法をストーンヘンジに対して用い[9]、計測したストーンヘンジの通り道の方位を至点(夏至・冬至)での日の出の位置(これは地球の赤道傾斜角の変化に伴ってゆっくり変化する)と比較した。考古学者F. C. ペンローズは同様の手法を古代ギリシャの寺院に適用し、寺院の方位と歳差運動のために緩慢に変化する恒星の地平線への出現位置とを関連させることにより、寺院の建造年代を推定しようとした[10]。
^John M. Steele, "The Use and Abuse of Astronomy in Establishing Ancient Chronologies," Physics in Canada/La Physique au Canada, 59 (2003): 243-8, p. 247.
^Richard Mostert and Marco Mostert, "Using astronomy as an aid to dating manuscripts, The example of the Leiden Aratea planetarium", Quaerendo, 20 (1999): 248-261; see esp. § 6. Reliability of the Dating Method, p. 258.
^William D. Stahlman, "Astronomical Dating Applied to a Type of Astrological Illustration," Isis, 47 (1956): 154-160, p. 158.
^Arthur Beer, "Astronomical dating of works of art", Vistas in Astronomy, 9 (1967): 177-223.
^Norman Lockyer and F. C. Penrose, "An Attempt to Ascertain the Date of the Original Construction of Stonehenge from Its Orientation", Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 69. (1901 - 1902): 137-147.
^Penrose, F. C. (1893). “On the Results of an Examination of the Orientations of a Number of Greek Temples with a View to Connect these Angles with the Amplitudes of Certain Stars at the Time the Temples were Founded, and an Endeavour to Derive therefrom the Dates of their Foundation by Consideration of the Changes Produced upon the Right Ascension and Declination of the Stars by the Precession of the Equinoxes”. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London: A184: 805-834.
^Dinsmoor, William Bell (1939). “Archæology and Astronomy”. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society10: 95-173.
参照
Neugebaer, Otto. A History of Ancient Mathematical Astronomy, (3 vols). New York: Springer, 1975. Vol. 3, pp. 1071–1076 provides a brief introduction to astronomical chronology.
参考文献一覧
Giovannetti-Singh, Gianamar. "Astronomical Chronology, the Jesuit China Mission, and Enlightenment History". Journal of the History of Ideas, 83(3) (2023): 487-510. https://doi.org/10.1353/jhi.2023.a901491
Gingerich, Owen and Barbara Welther. Planetary, Lunar, and Solar Positions, A. D. 1650 to 1805, Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, 59S. Philadelphia, 1983.
Neugebauer, Paul V. Astronomische Chronologie (2 vols). Berlin: De Gruyter, 1929.
Steele, John M. "The Use and Abuse of Astronomy in Establishing Absolute Chronologies", Physics in Canada/La Physique au Canada, 59 (2003): 243-248.
Tuckerman, Bryant. Planetary, Lunar, and Solar Positions, 601 B.C. to A, D. 1, Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, 56. Philadelphia, 1962.
Tuckerman, Bryant. Planetary, Lunar, and Solar Positions, A. D. 2 to 1649, Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, 59. Philadelphia, 1964.