Journal of Astronomy in Culture

The Cahokia Mound Group in Illinois, USA, is acknowledged as the largest Native American city north of Mexico. It flourished during the Mississippian Period. Cahokia, however, was only one of three complexes in the immediate area. Located across the Mississippi River from Cahokia, the St. Louis Mound Group was part of the larger complex.The St. Louis Mound Group featured at least 25 earthen mounds including the so-called Big Mound that contained dozens of human burials.

In the 1800s the St. Louis Mound Group was leveled to allow for urban expansion. Few records are in existence documenting the location or other details concerning the group. As a result, an important part of prehistory seems lost.  

In this paper the likely location for the St. Louis Mound Group is identified using survey plats from the 1850s, early lithographs and other data. Findings are assessed for astronomical alignments and landscape relationships, with possible cosmological implications noted.

It has long been acknowledged that J. Norman Lockyer played a central role in the foundation of archaeoastronomy as a field in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His interest in “orientation” flourished on a visit to Egypt, where he became convinced that rigorous scientific methods could be used to prove archaeological theories concerning ancient religions.

However, despite the promising prospect of a public intellectual entering the sparse discourse around archaeoastronomy, little happened to promote the discipline after the Egyptian expedition. Whilst Lockyer is often framed as a lonely figure working at the dawn of the field, newly digitised lantern slides from the Norman Lockyer Observatory archives reveal his extensive interactions with a dedicated network of British archaeoastronomical researchers. Lockyer’s work, along with that of his new community, came at a very unfortunate time. This paper seeks to explain why he was shunned by prominent archaeologists, and why the discourse around archaeoastronomy up until his time smothered Lockyer’s attempts to legitimize orientation.

The Mississippian-era site of Cahokia was the largest Native American city north of Mexico. Archaeologists have long speculated about possible astronomic alignments and spatial relationships in the layout of its 100+ earthen mounds. In this paper LiDAR imagery, historic documents, ethnohistoric and archaeologic data are used to assess the site relative to astronomic and landscape alignments. New findings show how Monks, Rattlesnake, Powell and other mounds are aligned to the Sun, Moon, and Milky Way. Additionally, these alignments intersect prominent bluffs to the east and southeast that appear to have been used as horizon markers. 

The orientation of nearly 50 churches in the historic city of Santiago de Compostela are presented. These include churches built along the history of the town, from the early Medieval period until the end of the 20thcentury. Interestingly, all churches built before the Council of Trent appear to have orientations consistent with canonical prescriptions, notably in two flavors. One would be consistent with the canonical equinox at the date of construction, possibly dictated by the orientation of the Cathedral itself. The other orientation is set a few degrees south of due east and could be dictated by the streets of the Medieval town. After the Council of Trent churches were built mostly to have the façade perpendicular to a main street, so that the apse and the altar no longer are systematically facing towards the rising sun.

The Franciscan complex of San Gabriel in Cholula was one of the first establishments of the order of minor friars in New Spain. Its buildings were erected on the ruins of the pre-Hispanic ritual complex dedicated to the god Quetzalcóatl, using the materials from the old temple and annex buildings. The particularity of the structures built by instruction of the Franciscans is that they do not follow the orientation of the layout of the Cholula city, which is apparently solstitial, and therefore has given rise to multiple speculations in the studies of Cholula. In the present investigation we show evidence that the Royal Chapel of the architectural complex has a temporal orientation coinciding with the so-called sacred orientation of Teotihuacan, while the convent temple presents an orientation that is difficult to interpret, but where one of the definitions of equinox and the date of the patron saint's holiday are possible explanations.

As part of our collaboration with Cosmovisiones/Cosmovisões we will publish the English translations of the abstracts from that journal. This is to give better awareness of the Cultural Astronomy research that is being published there in Spanish and Portuguese. There have been three issues so far and we will publish the abstracts of each one separately, this being the first. Cosmovisiones/Cosmovisões will also publish the abstracts of the Journal of Astronomy in Culture in Spanish translations. Additionally, it is intended for each of the two journals to occasionally select and republish a translated article from the other. This will enhance the cognizance of the related research and its authors. We, at JAC, are excited to bring you these offerings and look forward to great collaborations in the future!

Steven Gullberg, Managing Editor

In continuation of our collaboration with Cosmovisiones/Cosmovisões, here are the abstracts from their second issue. Steven Gullberg, Managing Editor

These are the abstracts from the third issue of Cosmovisiones/Cosmovisões. It, like JAC, is an open access journal so if you find any of the articles to be interesting please go to the Cosmovisiones website to find them. Steven Gullberg, Managing Editor