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.
