From very early times, humankind oriented itself according to the Sun, the planets, the stars and the Moon. A few impressive structures from those times have survived. Even the inhabitants of the Stone Age were aware of the phases_of_the_Moon and observed solar and lunar eclipses.
They aligned the graves of their families according to specific directions. 4000 years ago (early Stone Age) an incredible, massive monument was erected in the form of Stonehenge. It is located in Salisbury Plain in southwest England.
Although it has not been proven without doubt what the role of this circle of standing stones was, it is possible that it was used for observing the sky and creating a calendar. Perhaps the special positioning of the stones was meant to be an aid to predicting the summer and winter solstices.
As an explanation of this: During the course of the year, the Sun rises at different places on the horizon. On the day of the summer solstice, it reaches the northernmost point (21 June), and at the winter solstice (22 December), the southernmost point.
From the center of the main stone circle in Stonehenge, it is possible to observe the Sunrise of the summer solstice as well as the Sunrise of the winter solstice using various marking stones. It was thus possible to predict the start of the various seasons in Stonehenge.
Perhaps it was also a meeting point for religious congregations and ceremonies that had to do with the Sun and the Moon. The circular shape probably depicts the circle of life.
The Incas constructed large temple complexes that were designed and aligned according to special astronomical calculations. There was a large sun temple, "Coricancha" located in the center of the Inca city of Cuzco. 41 rays radiated away from it like the rays of the Sun towards the horizon.
Apart from their highest god, Viracocha, the Incas had a sun god, a god of weather, a god of stars and goddesses of the Earth and the Moon. The Incas also based their calendar on the movements of the Sun. Their kingdom was located near the Equator and had two special dates in a year.
A stake hammered into the ground did not throw any shadow on two days in the year, i.e. at mid-day, the Sun was exactly overhead in the sky. The harvest or special ceremonies, for example, were fixed according to these dates, which occur on 13 February and 30 October in Europe.
The Egyptians also planned their lives according to celestial phenomena. Many of their buildings and pyramids were constructed according to the well-known astronomical laws or dimensions. What is also noticeable is the orientation of the pyramids in a particular direction. The sun pyramids at Huaca del Sol in Peru as well as at Teothuacán near Mexico City are particularly impressive. There are any number of such monumental sites that were constructed in the past, which we could describe here.
