We face similar challenges while studying astronomical beliefs of more advanced cultures like the Harappan culture, as even in those cases, the language remains unknown and we can only interpret their motives based on our limited knowledge of those civilisations. But a lot more work has to happen to look at all those sites in a systematic manner.
As shown by one of our group members, erect stone slabs (aka Menhirs) at Nilaskal near Mangalore may have been arranged to match with sunrise-sunset on important days. In fact, we know more than 200 megalithic sites south of Vindhyas, which include all varieties like burial chambers and stone circles. The Stonehenge in the UK is a famous example, but there are many such megaliths around the world. They built stone burial chambers for their dead, sometimes made stone circles around their burials, while also creating large stone circles or erecting large stones in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason. We refer to them as “megalithic cultures” (mega = large, lithos = stone). Pleiades cluster in different cultures (Prof Mayank Vahia )Īnother interesting aspect of some of these cultures is their use of large stones in their social practices. In the figure below, we have reproduced the perception of the Pleiades cluster in different cultures. Depending on the culture, the same objects may look very different from different cultures. Our group also conducted a study with Gonds of Central India and some of the Nicobar tribes, which indicated tantalising possibilities about the seafaring practices of Nicobar tribes and the antiquity of migration of Gonds in central India. Around the world, archaeo-astronomers conduct interviews with Native Americans or Australian aboriginals or tribes of the Amazon to understand their astronomical beliefs and trace paths through shared knowledge. The quality of those interpretations may differ based on what would be cognitively plausible for humans at that time and what supporting evidence is presented with the interpretation.Īnother way to explore those ancestors would be to learn from the present-day cultures that have not mingled enough with modern society. They can be interpreted in multiple ways, none of which can claim 100% certainty. A word of caution though: All drawings of early humans, at this stage of development, are very rudimentary.
Scientists were able to show that this drawing may well have been a depiction of a supernova which lit up the ancient sky.Īncient drawings on rocks and stones (Indira Gandhi National Centre For Arts (IGNCA)) We knew from other evidence that this drawing had to be at least 4,500 years old. Mayank Vahia, looked at some of the astronomical symbols and tried to reinterpret what those ancient painters were trying to convey.įor example, at Burzahoma near Srinagar, a hunting scene was drawn on a small rock, which showed two equally bright objects like the Sun or the Moon. Our group, the Archaeoastronomy research group at TIFR, Mumbai led by Prof. We have found thousands of such rock paintings/carvings from Kashmir in North India, to all the way in the south.
#Ancient space symbols how to
It turns out, these primitive groups knew how to draw pictures, and since they did not possess slates, paper or canvasses, they drew on the cave walls or carved on the stones around them.
Sun God (Indira Gandhi National Centre For Arts (IGNCA))Ĭan we gain any insights about the astronomy of these men and women who predate civilisation itself?
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