Archaeoastronomy and the roots of science

the long version

Archaeoastronomy is a rapidly developing interdisciplinary inquiry into the minds of our prehistoric and ancient ancestors, one that attempts to reconstruct the ways in which early peoples made use of the sky and its significance to them. Astronomy appears to be a fundamental component of culture, making the scope of archaeoastronomy worldwide. This book, reviewing recent research, includes new material on the megalith builders in Western Europe, North American Indians, the literate civilizations of Mesoamerica, the Andean culture of the Incas, and the Egyptians, among others. Recent discoveries and controversies are highlighted, and the relationship of ancient skywatching to the development of true science is explored. This is not a tracing of the historical thread leading from pre-science to science; rather it is a cross-cultural search for those elements of prescientific activity that might give us a hint of the process of evolution of our own relationship with the sky.