Some Notes on Astronomy and Culture
If you've stumbled upon this web site and aren't a researcher in the allied fields
of ethnoastronomy or archaeoastronomy, you may be wondering what this is all about. After all, astronomy is a
science, and religion is a completely different domain of inquiry.
Or is it?
First, I should define exactly what these terms mean.
Cultural astronomy is a broad term referring to the study of astronomy in a given
culture, or cultures. This may refer to the astronomies of contemporary or ancient cultures. It may relate to a
culture's perceptions of solar eclipses, for example, or to the mathematical calculations used by an ancient
culture to determine the times/cycles of celestial events.
Ethnoastronomy simply refers (also fairly broadly), to astronomy within a culture.
Generally speaking, this refers to a modern culture. (But it is not always used in this way.)
Archaeoastronomy refers to the study of astronomy in ancient cultures. This may
take different forms, from an anthropological focus upon a culture's astronomy, to precise studies of the
astronomical alignments of standing stones.
Here, I've vastly simplified the definitions, and there's far more to these relatively new
fields.
My own specific interests span all of these areas, but centre upon astronomy and religion. My
primary research interest is the history of astronomy in late antique and medieval Judaism. My additional
background training was in the astronomies of the ancient Near East as well as the Greco-Roman period,
for it is impossible to say anything of substance about the history of astronomy in Judaism without an awareness of
the celestial myths and astronomical methodologies of Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, and other cultures in the
region.
And this is precisely what makes this new but burgeoning field so exciting -- the
cross-disciplinarity. Academic specialization is, of course, vital to any scholar; however, we also learn a
great deal by analyzing the linkages and overlaps that exist between and among diverse fields. Some fields, of
course, lend themselves to this endeavour more than others.
Again, welcome to this site. I hope to post some resources and reading lists in short order.
- Andrea D. Lobel
© 2010 Andrea D. Lobel
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