Solstice and solar position observations in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditions

A major focus of archaeoastronomical research conducted around the world is to understand how ancient cultures observed sunrise and sunset points along the horizon, particularly at the solstices and equinoxes. Scholars argue that observations of sunrise and sunset points are useful for developing calendars and predicting seasonal change, which is the foundation of the Eurocentric four-season Julian (and later Gregorian) calendar. Famous examples include Stonehenge, Newgrange, Chichen Itza and Chankillo. Studies at these and other sites around the world tend to focus on solar point observations through alignments in stone arrangements and the orientations of monuments, such as temples. Despite the on-going study of Indigenous Knowledge in Australia revealing a wealth of information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander observations and interpretations of solar, lunar, and stellar properties and motions, very little has been published about this subject. The authors explore this topic through four case studies, based on ethnography, ethnohistory, archaeology and statistics. This demonstrates that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities did, and continue to, observe the solstices and other significant solar points along the horizon for timekeeping and an indication of seasonal change—but in ways that are rather different to the four-season model of Europe.