Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Technologies 2014, 2(1), 20-29
DOI: 10.24411/2310-2144-2014-00009
Astronomical features of Ural megalithic monuments orientation
Valentina D. Viktorova1, Nikolaj P. Anisimov*2
1Institute of History and Archaeology, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IIA UrO RAN), st. Kovalevskoj 16, Ekaterinburg, 620990, Russian Federation; e-mail: griffon@k66.ru
2Ural Scientific Research and Design Institute of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Building Sciences (UralNIIproekt RAASN), st. Lenina 50 a, Ekaterinburg, 620075, Russian Federation; e-mail: nikolay.anisimov@mail.ru
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed
Abstract
There is a presence of archaeological monuments of the early and middle Holocene in the middle Trans-Urals, which may be associated with the act of sky survey, determined by this specific landscape. The headwaters of the Iset River during this period represented a vast system of lakes and drainages. On the numerous islands and peninsulas formed by this system, ancient hunters and anglers could watch the sky, defined by an expansive horizon. The lake system itself was contained between the ridges of the Upper Iset granite massif, which extends in the meridional direction for over 100 km. From the islands and peninsulas, a series of sacred peaks can be viewed. Multiyear archaeological research on "stone tents" [residual rock outcrops] on the southern island of paleo-lake Romanovsky revealed that southern and eastern directions were dominant in the directional relationships of religious sites during Neo-Eneolithic times. Signs representing the moon and sun are preserved on the surface of the outcropping rock. West and northeast are prioritized in the orientation of chambers of dolmens of the Eneolithic epoch revealed in recent years. Tunnels in the foothills have longitudinal axes aligning to a north-south orientation. On the slopes and tops of mountains, tunnels, as well as the narrow facets of menhirs, are oriented in an east-west direction. A moon sign appears on the end face of the capstone of one megalithic tunnel monument, termed here the "Lunar Tunnel".
Keywords: archaeoastronomy, petroglyphs, symbolic images, Moon, Sun, megaliths, Ural.
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References
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