rdf-syntax-grammar
mods:
  schema location: http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
  title info:
    title: Exploring Ancient Skies
    sub title: An Encyclopedic Survey of Archaeoastronomy
  name:
    name part: Kelley, David H.
    role:
      role term: creator
    role:
      role term: author.
  name:
    name part: Milone, Eugene F.
    role:
      role term: author.
  name:
    name part: SpringerLink (Online service)
  type of resource: text
  origin info:
    place:
      place term: xxu
    date issued: 2005
    issuance: monographic
  language:
    language term: eng
  physical description:
    form: electronic
    form: electronic resource
    reformatting quality: access
    form: remote
    extent: XXVI, 612 p. 392 illus., 8 illus. in color. online resource.
  abstract: Exploring Ancient Skies brings together the methods of archaeology and the insights of modern astronomy to explore the science of astronomy as it was practiced in various cultures prior to the invention of the telescope. The book reviews an enormous and growing body of literature on the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, the Far East, and the New World (particularly Mesoamerica), putting the ancient astronomical materials into their archaeological and cultural contexts. The authors begin with an overview of the field and proceed to essential aspects of naked-eye astronomy, followed by an examination of specific cultures. The book concludes by taking into account the purposes of ancient astronomy: astrology, navigation, calendar regulation, and (not least) the understanding of our place and role in the universe. Skies are recreated to display critical events as they would have appeared to ancient observers - events such as the supernova of 1054, the 'lion horoscope' or the 'Star of Bethlehem.' Exploring Ancient Skies provides a comprehensive overview of the relationships between astronomy and other areas of human investigation. It will be useful as a reference for scholars and students in both astronomy and archaeology, and will be of compelling interest to readers who seek a broad understanding of our collective intellectual history.
  table of contents: Historical Perspectives -- Historical Perspectives -- Astronomical Background -- Principal Features of the Sky -- Observational Methods and Problems -- Time and the Calendar -- Transient Phenomena -- Astronomy in Cultures -- Paleolithic and Neolithic Cultures -- Antecedents of the Western Tradition -- African Cultures -- Indo-Iranian Cultures -- China, Korea, and Japan -- Oceanic Cultures -- Mesoamerica -- America North of Mexico -- South American Cultures -- The Descent of the Gods and the Purposes of Ancient Astronomy.
  note: by David H. Kelley, Eugene F. Milone.
  subject:
    topic: Physics
  subject:
    topic: Astronomy
  subject:
    topic: Astrophysics
  subject:
    topic: Cosmology
  subject:
    topic: Observations, Astronomical
  subject:
    topic: Astronomy
    topic: Observations
  subject:
    topic: Physics
  subject:
    topic: Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
  subject:
    topic: Astronomy, Observations and Techniques
  classification: QB1-991
  classification: QB460-466
  classification: QB980-991
  classification: 520
  related item:
    title info:
      title: Springer eBooks
  identifier: 9780387263564
  identifier: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/b137471
  record info:
    record creation date: 100301
    record change date: 20151204183041.0
    record identifier: 978-0-387-26356-4