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Polimi OPEN KNOWLEDGE

Archaeoastronomy

via Polimi OPEN KNOWLEDGE

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Overview

Archaeoastronomy is the “science of stars and stones”: it studies the relationships between the ancient monuments and the sky, in order to gain a better understanding of the ideas of the architects of the past and of their religious and symbolic world. The course provides the first complete, easy introduction to this fascinating discipline.

During the course, many spectacular ancient sites – such as Stonehenge in England, Giza and Karnak in Egypt, Chichen Itzá in the Yucatan, Macchu Picchu in Peru and the Pantheon in Rome – will be visited and the fascinating events occurring there in special days of the year (such as solstices, equinoxes, or the day of the foundation of Rome) will be shown and explained. The course also provides the necessary background on Astronomy with the naked eye and a general introduction to the role of Astronomy in religion and in the management of power among ancient cultures.

Taught by

Giulio Magli

Reviews

4.8 rating, based on 8 Class Central reviews

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  • Melissa R
    This was a very good introductory course with great photos on the videos. The first week might be a little technical, but it's very important to pay attention, and find other resources if needed, in order to be able to answer all the quizzes. The following weeks were really fun as they covered many archaeological sites all over the world.

    This course is also available in Coursera, which has an additional week about various celestial bodies other than the sun.

    I really enjoyed this course.
  • Profile image for HARI DASS
    HARI DASS
    At this course we studied Archaeoastronomy, which explores how ancient people understood and used the stars and sky. This course focused on ancient European civilizations and their connections to astronomy. We learned about how ancient Europeans built structures like Stonehenge to track celestial events like solstices and equinoxes. By studying these ancient sites and artifacts, we gained insights into how early societies viewed the cosmos and integrated astronomy into their cultures and daily lives.
  • Profile image for Hannah Wc
    Hannah Wc
    Love this course !!! Very interesting. While
    It is easy course to implement the things learned like inclination etc might take some time and be challenging - finally discover the meaning of positioning of the pyramids and other grand structures!!!!
  • Anonymous
    This was thoroughly enjoyable for me, especially as I have been able to visit many of the sites that were discussed in this course. I have been taking an astronomy course, and this course provided related content on how the ancient cultures used architecture as a way to keep time, show political power, etc.
  • Anonymous
    Very interesting and unique in terms of subject. Also well structured, as I think a mooc should be. Short modules, easy to understand, with some questions soon after the short lessons. Some improvement could be done with the english, but as a whole it was very good.
  • Anonymous
    The subject was very interesting and the web-course was well organized. I'd like to follow some other course about Archaeoastronomy with this modality and I hope the University will organize also an archeological trip to visit a monument we have studied
  • Anonymous
    The course was excellent! I enjoyed every lesson, topic and presentation and learned quite a lot. I'm delighted that educators are sharing their time with the general public so we can further our own educational objectives.
  • Straccia Nazzareno
    very interesting course. A new and clear mode to read monuments. The history has new instruments and tools to discover the past.

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