Astronomical observatories have been built by humans for thousands of years, all over the world. Generally controversialâ€"it's somewhat difficult to determine the true purpose of a building based on alignmentsâ€"they are still a great source of fascination. Here's a selection of the some of the most interesting (and certain) astronomical observatories from our ancient past.
E-Group arrangements are clumps of buildings identified by Maya scholars located at least 70 Maya cities. The arrangements include four buildings, arranged around a plaza; and they probably had a range of functions and uses, not the least of which is for tracking the summer and winter solstices.
Building J is a very oddly shaped building, in a very odd alignment in the Zapotec site of Monte Alban, which researchers believe pointed to Capella, the harbinger of the sun's zenith passage.
Caracol (the Snail) is a round, concentrically-vaulted structure on the Maya site of Chichén Itzá, and thought to have been used to view several sun, moon, and star alignments. Rebuilt several times over the length of its use (AD 800-1000), possible viewed alignments include Venus and the solar equinoxes.
The Thirteen Towers of Chankillo were built in the 4th century BC to mark the sun's range solstice to solstice, and they are located in the arid coastal desert of Peru.
Each equinox, spring and fall, Michael Fox of Knowth.com posts new photos of the sunlight hitting the rock art inside the passage tomb of Cairn T at Loughcrew. This links to the latest, September 20, 2009.
The Observatorio at Mayapan is very similar in construction to that at Chichen Itza, and within its walls was discovered a carving illustrating the position of Venus in the night sky.
Newgrange is in the Brú na Bóinne valley of Ireland, and it is a megalithic tomb built about 3200 BC with a long passageway that lights up during the winter solstice.
Google EarthRujm el-Hiri (also known as Rogem Hiri or Gilgal Rephaim) is a Chalcolithic tower built about 5,000 years ago on the Golan Heights in the Bashan plain of Syria, and thought to represent an observatory of the solstices.
Daniel Berehulak / Getty ImagesStonehenge is a megalithic rock monument of 150 enormous stones set in a purposeful circular pattern, located on the Salisbury Plain of southern England, the main portion of it built about 2000 BC, and it marks the summer solstice.
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