the astronomy of indigenous stone arrangements

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The Astronomy of Indigenous Stone Arrangements Ray P. Norris 1,2 , Duane W. Hamacher 3 , Robert Fuller 1 1 Department of Indigenous Studies, Macquarie University, NSW, 2109, Australia 2 CSIRO Astronomy & Space Science, PO Box 76, Epping, NSW, 1710, Australia email: [email protected] 3 Nura Gili Indigenous Programs Unit, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia Draft of 21 July 2013 Abstract: The traditional cultures of Aboriginal Australians include a significant astronom- ical component, perpetuated through oral tradition, ceremony, and art. Here we explore the extent to which this is also reflected in stone arrangements. We show that some stone arrangements are carefully aligned to astronomically significant directions such as the point on the horizon at which the solstitial Sun sets. More- over, many stone arrangements were aligned by the builders to cardinal directions with a precision which implies that astronomical observations were used to deter- mine their orientation. These include (a) a stone arrangement in Victoria with alignments to the position on the horizon of sunset at midwinter, midsummer, and the equinoxes, (b) linear stone arrangements in NSW which appear accurately aligned in a N-S direction, apparently derived from astronomical orientations, (c) Bora sites in NSW and Queensland, which appear to be aligned due South. We test whether such alignments might be generated by chance, using Monte Carlo tests, and find that the probability of obtaining these distributions by chance is extremely small, implying that these alignments were deliberately chosen by the builders of the stone arrangements. 1 Introduction The art and oral traditions of many traditional Aboriginal cultures contain references to celestial bodies such as the Sun, Moon, and stars (Stan- bridge 1857, 1861; Mountford 1956; Haynes 1992; Johnson 1998; Cairns & Harney 2003; Norris & Norris 2009; Norris & Hamacher 2011). For exam- ple, in many Aboriginal cultures, the constellation of Orion symbolises a young man or group of young men and the Pleiades (Seven Sisters) symbolise a group of girls pursued by Orion. Another well- known “constellation”, the emu (Cairns & Har- ney 2003; Massola 1963; Norris & Norris 2009), consists not of stars but of the dark clouds within the Milky Way, and is important in many different cultures across Australia. Of even greater interest is the deep understand- ing of the sky evident in many Aboriginal tradi- tions. Evidence of this deep understanding con- sists of traditional songs and stories that explain, in an appropriate cultural context, tides, eclipses, and the motion of the Sun, Moon, and planets (Norris & Norris 2009; Hamacher & Norris 2012) and the ability to predict the rising and setting places of celestial bodies (Norris et al. 2013), sug- gesting that traditional Aboriginal people sought to understand how the sky worked, within their own cultural context. The sky was also used for practical applications including navigation, time keeping, and the maintenance of a calendar (Cairns & Harney 2003; Clarke 2009). Here we show that this interest in the sky is also evident in some Aboriginal stone arrangements. It should be noted that we are not asserting that all stone arrangements have an astronomical connec- tion, nor that the prime function of the stone ar- rangements discussed in this paper is astronomi- cal. Instead, we restrict ourselves to presenting ev- idence that astronomical knowledge played a role in the construction of the stone arrangements dis- cussed here, from which we may deduce that Abo- riginal people in pre-contact times had a good un- derstanding of the motion of the Sun, and made careful measurements to determine cardinal direc- tions. 1

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Page 1: The Astronomy of Indigenous Stone Arrangements

The Astronomy of Indigenous Stone Arrangements

Ray P. Norris1,2, Duane W. Hamacher3, Robert Fuller1

1 Department of Indigenous Studies, Macquarie University, NSW, 2109, Australia2 CSIRO Astronomy & Space Science, PO Box 76, Epping, NSW, 1710, Australia

email: [email protected] Nura Gili Indigenous Programs Unit, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia

Draft of 21 July 2013

Abstract:The traditional cultures of Aboriginal Australians include a significant astronom-ical component, perpetuated through oral tradition, ceremony, and art. Here weexplore the extent to which this is also reflected in stone arrangements. We showthat some stone arrangements are carefully aligned to astronomically significantdirections such as the point on the horizon at which the solstitial Sun sets. More-over, many stone arrangements were aligned by the builders to cardinal directionswith a precision which implies that astronomical observations were used to deter-mine their orientation. These include (a) a stone arrangement in Victoria withalignments to the position on the horizon of sunset at midwinter, midsummer,and the equinoxes, (b) linear stone arrangements in NSW which appear accuratelyaligned in a N-S direction, apparently derived from astronomical orientations, (c)Bora sites in NSW and Queensland, which appear to be aligned due South. Wetest whether such alignments might be generated by chance, using Monte Carlotests, and find that the probability of obtaining these distributions by chance isextremely small, implying that these alignments were deliberately chosen by thebuilders of the stone arrangements.

1 Introduction

The art and oral traditions of many traditionalAboriginal cultures contain references to celestialbodies such as the Sun, Moon, and stars (Stan-bridge 1857, 1861; Mountford 1956; Haynes 1992;Johnson 1998; Cairns & Harney 2003; Norris &Norris 2009; Norris & Hamacher 2011). For exam-ple, in many Aboriginal cultures, the constellationof Orion symbolises a young man or group of youngmen and the Pleiades (Seven Sisters) symbolise agroup of girls pursued by Orion. Another well-known “constellation”, the emu (Cairns & Har-ney 2003; Massola 1963; Norris & Norris 2009),consists not of stars but of the dark clouds withinthe Milky Way, and is important in many differentcultures across Australia.

Of even greater interest is the deep understand-ing of the sky evident in many Aboriginal tradi-tions. Evidence of this deep understanding con-sists of traditional songs and stories that explain,in an appropriate cultural context, tides, eclipses,and the motion of the Sun, Moon, and planets(Norris & Norris 2009; Hamacher & Norris 2012)and the ability to predict the rising and settingplaces of celestial bodies (Norris et al. 2013), sug-

gesting that traditional Aboriginal people soughtto understand how the sky worked, within theirown cultural context. The sky was also used forpractical applications including navigation, timekeeping, and the maintenance of a calendar (Cairns& Harney 2003; Clarke 2009).

Here we show that this interest in the sky is alsoevident in some Aboriginal stone arrangements. Itshould be noted that we are not asserting that allstone arrangements have an astronomical connec-tion, nor that the prime function of the stone ar-rangements discussed in this paper is astronomi-cal. Instead, we restrict ourselves to presenting ev-idence that astronomical knowledge played a rolein the construction of the stone arrangements dis-cussed here, from which we may deduce that Abo-riginal people in pre-contact times had a good un-derstanding of the motion of the Sun, and madecareful measurements to determine cardinal direc-tions.

1

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Figure 1 Plans of the stone rows analysed byHamacher et al (2012), and reproduced by per-mission of Australian Archaeology journal.

2 Linear Stone Arrangementsin New South Wales

Throughout New South Wales (NSW) are manystone rows, whose use is uncertain but which arepresumed to have a ceremonial function. Hamacheret al (2012) have compiled a sample of 32 of thesestone arrangements, selected to have an unambigu-ous direction, and some of which are shown inFig. 1. The measurements were taken from thesite cards held by the National Parks and WildlifeService, and the sites were selected so that onlyreliable surveys were included (see Hamacher et al(2012) for full details). However, the original sur-veyors did not always indicate whether their direc-tions were relative to true or magnetic north, thusintroducing an uncertainty of ∼12◦, correspond-ing to the magnetic declination (the difference inbearing between true north and magnetic north).Here we have accommodated this ambiguity by re-binning the data used by Hamacher et al (2012)into 15-degree bins, which is larger than the ∼12◦

magnetic declination, thus minimising the effect ofthe ambiguity. The results are shown in Figure 2.Over half the stone rows are oriented either north-

south or east-west.To determine whether this result could be caused

by pure chance, we have performed a “Monte Carlo”test on these results, which means that we haveconstructed a large number of models of stone rowsin a computer program, varying the bearings ran-domly. Of the one million tests conducted, lessthan 1000 showed peaks as high as those shown inFig.2, which means that the probability of gettingthe result shown in Figure 2 by chance is less than0.1%. It is therefore clear that, unless there is anerror in either the surveys or in the site selection,the builders of the rows deliberately aligned themeither north-south or east-west, with an accuracyof a few degrees.

Without a compass or similar technology, itis very difficult to find due north, or due west,to this accuracy. For example, the position ofthe setting sun is a poor guide, as it ranges overthe year from north-west to south-west in NewSouth Wales. While a geometrical constructionbased on the Southern Cross is sometimes usednowadays to find due south, it only works becausesomeone else has already worked out the requiredconstruction, using careful astronomical observa-tions. Ultimately, to measure the cardinal direc-tions to an accuracy of a few degrees requires as-tronomical observations. For example, one tech-nique is to view the setting sun from a particu-lar place over the course of a year, using a stoneor stick to mark the position on the horizon atwhich it sets. The mid-point of the resulting lineof markers then indicates due west. Thus the exis-tence of these stone rows, accurately aligned north-south and east-west, indicates indirectly that thebuilders used astronomical observations to deter-mine the direction of north-south and east-west.

3 Bora sites

Bora sites are sacred places in which young Abo-riginal males were initiated. They generally con-sist of two circles of different diameter connectedby a pathway. The larger circle is regarded as apublic space, while the smaller circle is restrictedto the initiates and elders. Fuller et al. (2013)have conducted an analysis of the orientation ofBora sites in NSW and Queensland, and find thatthey are preferentially aligned to the south, asshown in Figure 3. This is consistent with the hy-pothesis (Love 1987, 1988) that Bora ceremonialgrounds in southeastern Australia have a preferredorientation to the celestial emu in the Milky Wayin the south-southwest skies. Not only does thissupport the idea that orientation is an importantfactor in the construction of Aboriginal ceremo-nial sites, but it also supports the putative link

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Azimuth (degrees)

Figure 2 Histogram of the orientation of the stonerows, adapted from Hamacher et al (2012). 0◦

corresponds to north-south, and 90◦ correspondsto east-west.

between these sites and the sky.

Orientaonoftheborasite,measuredfromthelargecircletothesmallcircle

Figure 3 Histogram of the orientation of the borasites, taken from Fuller et al. (2013).

4 Stone arrangements in Vic-toria

4.1 Wurdi Young

Wurdi Youang is an egg-shaped Aboriginal stonearrangement in Victoria, Australia, shown in Fig-ure 4. Norris et al. (2013) have presented a newsurvey of the site, which shows that its major axisis aligned within a few degrees of east-west, andconfirms a previous hypothesis (Morieson 2003)that a selection of outlier stones have been placedso that, when viewed from the largest stones inthe arrangement, they are aligned to the positionon the horizon of the setting sun at the equinoxand the solstices. Furthermore, Norris et al. find

Figure 4 Aerial view of the Wurdi Youang site, re-produced with permission from Marshall & Webb(1999), looking west.

that the straight sides of the arrangement also in-dicate these same directions to the solstices, andthat the three prominent stones at the westernapex of the arrangement, as viewed from the east-ern apex, mark the point where the sun sets atequinox. The astronomical alignments at this siteare therefore indicated by two independent sets ofindicators, shown in Figure 5. Norris et al. also usea Monte Carlo analysis to show that these align-ments are unlikely to have arisen by chance. Theytherefore conclude that the builders of this stonearrangement appear to have deliberately alignedthe site on the astronomically significant positionsof the setting sun at the solstices and equinoxes.It should be noted that, unlike stars, the apparentposition of the Sun is not affected by precession ofthe equinoxes, and so this position on the horizondoes not vary significantly with time, and cannotbe used to date the site.

Wurdi Youang is the only Aboriginal site knownto indicate significant astronomical positions onthe horizon other than the cardinal points, and,unless it is a statistical freak or a hoax, suggeststhat other such sites may be discovered in the fu-ture.

4.2 Carisbrook

Massola (1963) reported the rediscovery of a re-markable stone arrangement near Carisbrook, Vic.,shown in Figures 6 and 7. It is described by Mas-sola as a boomerang shape. While its purpose isunknown, it is likely to have been a ceremonialsite, and it is possible that the large and smallrings represent Bora rings similar to those foundin NSW. The position of the rings relative to thelarge boomerang arrangements also resembles theposition of the large and small Magellanic Cloudsrelative to the Milky Way, although we know of no

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N

10m

Figure 5 A plan of the Wurdi Youang stone ar-rangement, adapted from Norris et al. (2013).The arrows indicate the directions to the equinoxesand solstices, and are superimposed on the the out-liers, left, and the ring (right). Note that thesedirections are not adjusted to fit the ring, but aredefined astronomically. Thus while the straightsections of the ring are not well defined, and notexactly straight, this diagram shows that they arewell aligned to the same astronomical directions asthe alignments over the outliers.

additional evidence to support this hypothesis.Here we point out that the arrangement is re-

markable in that the“boomerang” turns througha full right angle along its length, and is thereforeunlike conventional boomerangs used in south-eastAustralia, which typically turn through a smallerangle. Furthermore, we point out that one end ofthe arrangement is oriented east-west, while theother is oriented north-south, each with an accu-racy of a few degrees. As in the case of the linearstone arrangements described above, such preci-sion can only be achieved by making astronomicalobservations.

4.3 Other Victorian Stone Arrange-ments

These studies of stone arrangements are hinderedby the sparsity of data. For example, only fourmajor stone arrangements in Victoria have beenreported in the literature, and so the evidence ofknowledge of the position of the Sun at the sol-stices relies on just one site - Wurdi Youang. How-ever, several other putative stone arrangements areknown to the authors, such as that shown in Fig-ure 8, and there may well be others, but they lackthe archaeological or ethnographic evidence that

Figure 6 Aerial view of the Carisbrook stonearrangment, reprinted with permission of VAS(1996).

would enable them to be classified as Aboriginalstone arrangements.

5 Conclusion

The published literature already shows unequivo-cally that Aboriginal Australians had a deep knowl-edge of the sky, and were aware of many celes-tial phenomena. Their knowledge went far beyondsimply telling stories of the constellations. Instead,they appear to have been engaged in building aself-consistent, but culturally appropriate, frame-work which explained the phenomena observed inthe sky. This search for understanding resemblesmodern-day science, and so is sometimes labelled“ethnoscience” (e.g. Ruggles 1997).

Here we have shown that this knowledge is ev-ident in the construction of stone arrangements.We are careful not to imply that the stone arrange-ments are “astronomical observatories”, as we donot know the function or purpose of the stone ar-rangements. However, it is clear from the evidencepresented in this paper that their construction re-veals a significant knowledge of astronomy, andparticularly knowledge of the motion of the Sun.

Stone arrangements tend to be under-representedin the literature, and evidence suggests that thereare many stone arrangements that have not yetbeen recorded or classified. It is important thatthey be examined and classified, and if appropri-ate catalogued and protected, so that we may usethem to understand more of the pre-contact Abo-riginal cultures that were so badly damaged by theEuropean occupation of Australia. Perhaps thatknowledge may even be used to help repair some ofthe damage inflicted on those cultures in the past.

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Figure 7 Plan of the Carisbrook stone arrange-ments. adapted from Coutts & Witter (1977).Azimuths are measured relative to true north.

6 Acknowledgements

We acknowledge and pay our respects to the Aus-tralian Aboriginal people and elders, both past andpresent, and in particular to the builders and thetraditional owners of the stone arrangements dis-cussed in this paper. We thank John Moriesonfor initially introducing us to the Victorian stonearrangements.

Figure 8 View of a putative stone arrangementon Mt. Barker, Vic. The arrangement appearssimilar to those studied in NSW by Hamacher etal (2012), and has an orientation roughly north-south, but it has not yet been classified in the lit-erature as an Aboriginal stone arrangement.

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