Abstract

Contributed Talk - Splinter Culture

Thursday, 16 September 2021, 17:25   (virtual Cult)

Astronomical significance of Kreisgrabenanlagen

Gerd Graßhoff
Humboldt Universtity, Max Planck Institut for History of Science

In the early 5th Millennium in Europe, a large group of architectural sites called "Kreisgrabenanlagen" (circular enclosures) were built. Archaeological excavations have established a large data set of the horizontal orientation of these constructions. At TOPOI (The Kreisgraben-Phenomenon | Edition Topoi (edition-topoi.org) an interdisciplinary workgroup published high-resolution digital elevation models with directions towards topographical and astronomical features. These data are tested for possible astronomical meanings. Ten years ago, Georg Zotti tested astronomical interpretations for astronomical orientations of these buildings and has rejected them. I will present a reevaluation of such model tests for the TOPOI data set and I will argue that astronomical orientations cannot be ruled out.