Folk Astronomy of the Northern West Coast of Peninsula Malaysia

The Kamilaroi people and their neighbours, the Euahlayi, Ngemba, and Murrawarri, are an Aboriginal cultural grouping located in the northwest and north central of New South Wales. They have a rich history, but have been missed in much of the literature concerned with sky knowledge in culture. This study collected stories, some of which have not previously been reported in an academic format, from Aboriginal people practicing their culture, augmented with stories from the literature, and analysed the data to create a database of sky knowledge that will be added to the larger body of Aboriginal cultural knowledge in Australia. We found that there is a strong sky culture reflected in the stories, and we also explored the stories for evidence of an ethnoscientific approach to knowledge of the sky.

2015

A quick overview. Aveni, Anthony Conversing with the Planets. 1992, Times Books. Celebrates the traditions of many cultures; emphasizes the importance of seeing them in their own context. Aveni, Anthony Empires of Time. 1989, Basic Books. A discussion of calendars, clocks, and cultures, with chapters on the Maya, Aztecs, Incas, Ancient Chinese, and several other early civilizations. Aveni, Anthony Stairways to the Stars: Skywatching in Three Great Ancient Cultures. 1997, John Wiley. Focuses of the monuments and astronomy of the people who built Stonehenge, plus the Maya and the Inca. Gleiser, Marcelo The Dancing Universe: From Creation Myths to the Big Bang. 1997, Dutton/Penguin. An exploration by a physicist of ideas from many cultures of how the universe came to be, including ancient legends and modern science. Hadingham, Evan Early Man and the Cosmos. 1984, Walker & Co. A clear primer on the subject of ancient sites and the astronomical thinking of ancient cultures around the world. Kelley, David & Milone, Eugene Exploring Ancient Skies: A Survey of Ancient and Cultural Astronomy, 2nd ed. 2011, Springer. A textbook for a course at the University of Calgary, this volume compiles a lot of information from different cultures. Krupp, Edwin Beyond the Blue Horizon: Myths and Legends of the Sun, Moon, Stars, and Planets. 1991, HarperCollins. Superb collection of astronomical tales from many cultures. Best book to start with. Krupp, Edwin Skywatchers, Shamans, & Kings: Astronomy and the Archaeology of Power. 1997, J. Wiley. Fine guide to sites around the world, written for beginners with humor and verve. Krupp, Edwin Echoes of the Ancient Skies: The Astronomy of Lost Civilizations. 1983, Harper & Row. An excellent introduction on the thoughts and monuments of earlier cultures. Penprase, Bryan The Power of the Stars: How Celestial Observations Have Shaped Civilization. 2011, Springer. Good non-technical introduction to the myths, constellation, calendars, astronomical buildings, and world views of various cultures. Ruggles, Clive Ancient Astronomy: An Encyclopedia of Cosmologies and Myth. 2005, ABC-Clio. Mammoth A-Z compilation of the ancient knowledge of a wide range of cultures. Walker, Christopher, ed. Astronomy Before the Telescope. 1996, St. Martin's Press. 17 essays on how people observed and interpreted the sky before modern instruments. Zeitlin, Steve The Four Corners of the Sky: Creation Stories and Cosmologies from Around the World. 2000, Henry Holt. Short book introducing and retelling the stories. Websites and Articles on the Web: Ancient Observatories, Timeless Knowledge from the Stanford Solar Center (An introduction to ancient sites where the movements of celestial objects were tracked over the years, with a special focus on tracking the Sun.): http://solar-center.stanford.edu/AO/ Maya official from the town of Oxchuc, Chiapas, attired in traditional dress from his town, observes the Sun through a special telescope.

2023

An autobiographical sketch of how a historian of science came to study the astronomical ideas of traditional cultures, including a bibliography of my methodologically oriented papers.

Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage

We report field studies of the astronomical beliefs of two Indian tribesthe Banjaras and the Kolams. The Banjaras are an ancient tribe connected with the gypsies of Europe while the Kolams have been foragers until recently. They share their landscape with each other and also with the Gonds whose astronomy was reported previously (Vahia and Halkare, 2013). The primary profession of the Banjaras was trade, based on the large-scale movement of goods over long distances, but their services were taken over by the railways about one hundred years ago. Since then the Banjaras have begun the long journey to a sedentary lifestyle. Meanwhile, the Kolams were foragers until about fifty years ago when the Government of India began to help them lead a settled life. Here, we compare their astronomical beliefs of the Banjaras and the Kolams, which indicate the strong sense of identity that each community possesses. Our study also highlights their perspective about the sky and its relation to their daily lives. We show that apart from the absolute importance of the data on human perception of the sky, the data also reveal subtle aspects of interactions between physically co-located but otherwise isolated communities as well as their own lifestyles. We also show that there is a strong relationship between profession and perspective of the sky.

Proceedings of The International Astronomical Union, 2011

The Sultanate of Oman is possibly unique in using stars to time the allocation of water in the traditional irrigation systems called aflāj (s. falaj), which are still an important part of Omani culture and sense of national identity. This is a rapidly disappearing oral tradition that has hardly been known about outside Oman prior to this study. The need for timing water shares is explained and the methods of stargazing described. The identities of the stars, their Omani names and the relationship with modern star names are discussed.

The Conversation (Australia), 1 December, 2014

Indigenous Australian practices, developed and honed over thousands of years, weave science with storytelling. In this Indigenous science series, we’ll look at different aspects of First Australians' traditional life and uncover the knowledge behind them – starting today with astronomy.

Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 2014

The Euahlayi people are an Aboriginal Australian language group located in north-central New South Wales and south-central Queensland. They have a rich culture of astronomy and use of the night sky in resource management. Like several other Aboriginal peoples, they did not travel extensively at night, and so were assumed not to use the night sky for navigation. This study has confirmed that they, like most other Aboriginal groups, travelled extensively outside their own country for purposes of trade and ceremonies. We also found previously unpublished evidence that they used „star maps‟ in the night sky for learning and remembering waypoints along their routes of travel, but not for actual navigation.

2010

In one sense, all cultural uses of astronomy are indigenous, whether past or present. In practice, though, the term ‘indigenous’ is commonly taken to apply only to people outside the ‘Western’ framework of thought, given the global nature of modern science. This introduces a dichotomy that parallels the differences of approach between historians of astronomy—who tend to focus upon places, discoveries and people significant in the development of modern scientific astronomy—and those such as archaeoastronomers who generally take a more anthropological perspective, striving to recognise human achievements in their own terms and to emphasize cultural diversity.

Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 2014

We report field studies of the astronomical beliefs of two Indian tribes: the Banjaras and the Kolams. The Banjaras are an ancient tribe connected with the gypsies of Europe while the Kolams have been foragers until recently. They share their landscape with each other and also with the Gonds whose astronomy was reported previously (Vahia and Halkare, 2013). The primary profession of the Banjaras was trade, based on the large-scale movement of goods over long distances, but their services were taken over by the railways about one hundred years ago. Since then the Banjaras have begun the long journey to a sedentary lifestyle. Meanwhile, the Kolams were foragers until about fifty years ago when the Government of India began to help them lead a settled life. Here, we compare their astronomical beliefs of the Banjaras and the Kolams, which indicate the strong sense of identity that each community possesses. Our study also highlights their perspective about the sky and its relation to the...

Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 6 (2018): 1013‐1038, 2018

Sky is open for all to observe and it has fascinated humans from the time they first realised its existence. Humans have seen various objects in the patterns that the stars make. Most of the commonly held division of the sky has its roots in Babylonia about 3000 years before the Common Era. However, isolated tribal groups have not been a part of this narrative and they have interpreted the sky in different manner. Elsewhere (Vahia and Halkare 2017 and references therein ) we have reported studies of the astronomy of various inland tribes in central India. Here we report the astronomical perspective of the tribes of the Nicobar Island. Isolated from the mainstream they have developed their own story about the astronomy and cosmogony of human race and the nature of Sun, Moon and stars. However, we find surprising lack of interest in using astronomy for navigational purposes.