Includes both the Foundations of Archaeoastronomy and Fieldwork and Analysis for Archaeoastronomy courses. A total of 16 hours of pre-recorded lectures plus plenty of resources, materials and check your knowledge quizzes to complement and consolidate your learning after the Field School.
1. Foundations of Archaeoastronomy
For as long as the sun has risen over ancient stones and temples, people have wondered whether their builders intended them to point toward the heavens. The foundations of archaeoastronomy lie not only in grand theories, but in the careful, grounded methods by which we test those ideas — measuring orientations, tracking celestial motions, and asking what can truly be known from the material record.
This course is an invitation to step into the practical craft of archaeoastronomy: how we take observations, make measurements, and evaluate claims about sky-aligned architecture with confidence and clarity.
Through a combination of hands-on instruction and real-world examples, you will:
- Learn the fundamental methods used by archaeoastronomers, from azimuth measurements to
- Gain the ability to measure simple architectural features yourself and check whether they align with sunrise or sunset at key moments in the year.
- Understand the astronomical principles required to interpret alignments correctly — including declination, solar cycles, obliquity and axial precession.
- Build the confidence to read and critically assess published archaeoastronomical research — so that by the end of the course, you’ll be able to grasp the often obscure terminology and methodology behind the vast majority of academic studies in the field.
- Develop a scientific sensibility that balances curiosity with rigor, separating what the evidence truly supports from what remains conjecture.
By the end of this weekend, you will look at ancient monuments with a new kind of vision — not just as static ruins, but as potential instruments through which past peoples watched and engaged with the sky.
Whether you are an enthusiast of ancient cultures, a student of astronomy, or simply someone fascinated by how people once understood the cosmos, this course offers a solid foundation in the essential toolkit of archaeoastronomy.
2. Fieldwork and Analysis for Archaeoastronomy
For every claim of celestial alignment, there is a story of fieldwork — of standing in shifting light, sighting along weathered stones, struggling with irregular forms, and translating physical geometry into meaningful data. Beyond foundational methods lies a deeper art: understanding how to work with the landscape, the built environment, and the sky in dynamic interplay.
This intermediate course is your invitation to refine your practice of archaeoastronomy in the real world — navigating the subtle complexities that emerge when ideal methods meet imperfect monuments and living horizons.
Through a blend of practical guidance, analytical training, and real-case exploration, you will:
- Learn how to adapt measurement techniques to different types of structures — from linear rows to curved enclosures, from axial temples to ruined buildings.
- Explore strategies for recognizing which celestial objects might be relevant to a given orientation — whether solar, lunar or stellar.
- Gain experience in troubleshooting field challenges: balancing accuracy and precision, developing innovative yet accurate methodologies, and accounting for topography and horizon effects.
- Develop skill in data analysis — using Stellarium to explore and identify potential alignments.
- Build proficiency in turning raw observations into defensible interpretations, and discerning when an apparent alignment might be coincidence rather than design.
By the end of the course, you will not only be better equipped to conduct meaningful fieldwork, but also more adept at evaluating the quality of others’ measurements and conclusions — stepping confidently into the level of professional archaeoastronomical inquiry.
