У Nuallбin, Seбn, 361
Obeyesekere, Gananath, 179
Obliquity of the ecliptic, 190, 263, 273, 308, 317–319, 410
Occam’s razor, 430
Oceania. See Hawai‘i; Polynesia and Micronesia
Oceania, ancient navigation in, 299, 300–303, 337, 394–395, 398, 445 O’Kelly, Michael, 310 Olmeca-Xicalanca, 55, 255 Oracle bones, 24, 90, 92, 233 Orientation, 319–321
archaeotopography, 23 British Iron-Age roundhouses,
195–197, 320 Christian churches, 68, 96–99, 151 cosmology and, 115 house and tomb similarities, 239 Mayan structures, 258 mosques, 202 political power and, 343–344 prehistoric European tombs and
temples, 320–321, 348–351
See also Alignment studies; Cardinal directions and alignments; specific alignments, places or structures
Orientation signature, 321, 350
Orion, 321–324 Aboriginal mythology, 3 Javanese calendar, 207–208, 323 Lakota and, 323 Navajo cosmology, 294
Orion’s Belt, 322 alignments and ceremonies or
pilgrimages, 335–336 Borana calendar and, 285 cursus alignments, 125–126, 428 Japanese agricultural calendar and, 222 Pyramids of Giza and, 16, 114, 145,
323, 355 Orkney Islands, 237–240, 237–240 Ring of Brodgar, 50–52
Pagan festivals, Christianization of, 95 Palaeoscience, 325–328 science versus symbolism debate,
375–376 space and time perceptions, 390–392 symbols, 414–415
Pantheon, 328–329 Paquime, 85 Parallax, lunar, 234–235 Parapegmata, 130, 230 Parker, R. A., 11 Parpallу, Spain, 318, 386 Parthenon, 419 Passage tombs, 250
Brittany, 166 Clava cairns, Scotland, 103–105, 117 Dowth, Ireland, 265
Knowth, Ireland, 46–47, 150 Maes Howe, Orkney Islands, 237–240 Newgrange, Ireland, 46–47, 103, 158,
238, 250, 262, 309–312, 386, 415 wedge tombs of Ireland, 435–436
Pawnee: cosmology, 329–331 earth lodges, 115, 196, 319, 328,
331–332
star chart, 332–333 Pecked cross-circle designs, 257, 259–261 Peg-hole star calendars, 130, 230 Penumbra, 231 Persia, Mithraic cult, 269–270 Peru, Inca cultures. See Inca Peru, Nasca lines and figures, 286–292 Petroglyphs. See Rock art Pilgrimages, 333–336
Andean Island of the Sun, 203–204 Andean mountain shrines, 13 Thornborough, 427
Planetary alignment, Venus. See Venus Planetary motions, inferior planets, 191–192. See also Venus Planetary motions, superior planets,
410–412
Plate bearing, 424
Pleiades, 182 Aboriginal mythology, 3 Borana calendar and, 285 declination, 129 Hawaiian calendar and, 177–178, 229,
343 Japanese agricultural calendar and, 222 Lakota sacred geography, 222 Misminay astronomy and, 267,
268–269 names for in Oceania, 337 Navajo cosmology, 294, 296 Nebra disc and, 304 Orion and, 322 Pawnee star chart artifact, 333 Teotihuacan street orientation and, 422
Polaris: declination, 129 meridian and, 254 Navajo cosmology, 294 navigation and, 299, 303
Political power, 343–344
Polynesia and Micronesia, 336–339 calendar system, 337–338 canoes, 301
Index 513
Polynesia and Micronesia (cont.) lunar calendar, 242–243 Mangareva, 241–242 navigation, 299, 300–303, 337,
394–395, 398, 445 Orion and, 323 Pleiades and, 337 solstitial alignments, 242, 338 temple platforms and enclosures,
340–343
Tongan Ha‘amonga-a-Maui, 175–176 zenith stars, 444–445 See also Hawai‘i
Portuguese antas, 17–18, 350 Post-processual archaeology, 21–22 Poverty Point, 183 Power, 343–344 Pranotomongso, 208 Prayer directions, Islamic, 201–202 Precession, 190, 263, 318, 319, 345–346,
379, 390, 398–399 Precision and accuracy, 347–348 Presa de Mula, 351–352 Processual archaeology, 21 Pueblo culture, Chaco Canyon. See Chaco
Canyon Pyramid of the Flowers, 56 Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan 421 Pyramid texts, 106, 145, 355 Pyramids, Egyptian, 143 Pyramids of Giza, 16, 28, 114, 143, 145,
254, 323, 353–356 Pythagorean proportions, 119–121
Quadripartite cosmology, 68–69, 82–83,
122, 187, 240, 388 Quetzalcoatl, 214 Quipu, 78, 291, 357–359
Ra, 9, 143, 145 Ramadan, 201 Rapa Nui (Easter Island), 137–140, 145,
241, 301, 340 Rectangular megalithic enclosure, Crucuno, 119 Recumbent stone circles, 30–31, 272,
351, 361–364, 402, 435 Refraction, 364–365 Reiche, Maria, 287, 289–290 Reinhard, Johan, 291 Retrograde motion, 411–412 Rigel, 247, 396 Ring of Brodgar, 50–52, 253
Rock art: Australian Aborigines, 3–4 Chaco supernova pictograph, 86–89,
394 Presa de Mula, Mexico, 351–352 supernova pictograph, 111–112 Swedish, 412–414 symbolism, 415
Roman calendar (Julian). See Julian
calendar Roman Pantheon, 328–329 “Romanian Stonehenge” (Sarmizegetusa
Regia), 370–372, 386
Rome, ancient: astronomy and astrology, 365–366 Mithraic cult, 269–270, 366
Roundhouses, Iron-Age (Britain),
195–197, 320 Roundhouses, Yekuana, 115, 439–441 Rujm el-Hiri, 366–368
Sacred calabash, 395
Sacred geographies, 223, 369–370 Aztec, 33–35, 223 Cacaxtla, Mexico, 56 Hopi calendar and worldview, 186–187 Inca ceques, 77–80, 106, 226, 291 Inca huacas, 77–78 Lakota, 219–221, 223–224 Navajo cosmology, 293–295 See also Chaco Canyon; specific
cultures or sites
Sacsahuaman, 126 Sahara Desert, Egyptian Nabta Playa
megaliths, 282 Sahlins, Marshall, 179 Saiph, 285 Samhain, 75, 95, 265, 436 Santu Antine, 314 Sardinia, 197–199, 313–314, 349 Sarmizegetusa Regia, 370–372, 386 Saroeak, 372–374 Saros cycle, 39, 161, 233 Saturn, 410–412 Science and technology of prehistoric