'Bridging the gap' through Australian cultural astronomy

Duane W. Hamacher, Ray P. Norris

    Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperConference Paperpeer-review

    10 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    ![CDATA[For more than 50,000 years, Indigenous Australians have incorporated celestial events into their oral traditions and used the motions of celestial bodies for navigation, time-keeping, food economics, and social structure. In this paper, we explore the ways in which Aboriginal people made careful observations of the sky, measurements of celestial bodies, and incorporated astronomical events into complex oral traditions by searching for written records of time-keeping using celestial bodies, the use of rising and setting stars as indicators of special events, recorded observations of variable stars, the solar cycle, and lunar phases (including ocean tides and eclipses) in oral tradition, as well as astronomical measurements of the equinox, solstice, and cardinal points.]]
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationArcheoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy: Building Bridges between Cultures: Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, Volume 7, S278: “Oxford IXâ€Â� International Symposium on Archaeoastronomy, Lima, Peru, 5-14 January 2011
    PublisherCambridge University Press
    Pages282-290
    Number of pages9
    ISBN (Print)9781107019782
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2011
    EventOxford International Symposium on Archaeoastronomy -
    Duration: 5 Jan 2011 → …

    Publication series

    Name
    ISSN (Print)1743-9213

    Conference

    ConferenceOxford International Symposium on Archaeoastronomy
    Period5/01/11 → …

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