Using knowledge gained from our previous postings about "The Great Mound, Petroglyph and Painted Rock Art Journey of Native America", we have deciphered the Etowah and Ocmulgee Lamar mounds in Georgia as astronomy.
As shown clearly in the analytical images below, the Etowah mounds, Cartersville, Georgia, mark the Summer Solstice line viz. solstitial colure in Canis Major ca. 1200 A.D. In addition to using large, more familiar stars (usually, but not always, since visual magnitudes may differ over eras, the larger the mound, the brighter the star), the ancients also "mounded" stars not normally seen as that important because they marked that line precisely.
We note at the Wikipedia (which does not cite its source): "The origin of the English name for the mounds, Etowah, is an archaic Muscogee place name, Etalwa. Etalwa probably referred to the solar cross symbol originally."
The Ocmulgee mounds, Macon, Georgia, mark the Summer Solstice line viz. solstitial colure at similarly lesser known stars of Columba ca. 1450 A.D. Of course, the ancients need have seen our modern "constellation" at that location, nor indeed, even its outlines. They "mounded" stars that marked the solstice colure in their era. One mound, the Dunlap Mound, is probably a later chief's house addition. One could try to pick a star for it, but it is not that important.
The third image below compares the location of those lines as drawn in the mounds. The Ocmulgee Lamar mounds are especially interesting because the attendant temples were constructed according to geometric designs seen in nearby stars. We will see more of that in coming postings for other sites.
The astronomical dates of ca. 1200 A.D. and 1450 A.D. conform generally to the dating of these mound sites by the archaeologists via more traditional methods. Depending on the actual radiocarbon dates, it is even possible that both sites had initial mounds that were constructed at nearly the same time and that "precessional mounds" were added later. Usually, however, the Etowah era is regarded in Archaeology to be older than the Lamar mounds. We leave discussion of that issue to the archaeologists.
The decipherments are presented in image form below in graphic illustrations by the decipherer, Andis Kaulins, relying on various books, photographs and maps online, e.g. via megalithic.co.uk which, importantly, shows an older map of Etowah, and, where possible, especially the National Park Service (see Ocmulgee map) and using Starry Night Pro, the software astronomy program by which one can set the day, month and year of star locations in question, http://astronomy.starrynight.com/, but please note that the colored lines, circles and text labels and explanations in the images were added to the Starry Night Pro star positions by Andis Kaulins:
THIS POSTING IS Posting Number 18 of
The Great Mound, Petroglyph and Painted Rock Art Journey of Native America
Etowah and Ocmulgee Lamar Mounds in Georgia Mark the Summer Solstice Line in ca. 1200 A.D. and 1450 A.D. Respectively
As shown clearly in the analytical images below, the Etowah mounds, Cartersville, Georgia, mark the Summer Solstice line viz. solstitial colure in Canis Major ca. 1200 A.D. In addition to using large, more familiar stars (usually, but not always, since visual magnitudes may differ over eras, the larger the mound, the brighter the star), the ancients also "mounded" stars not normally seen as that important because they marked that line precisely.
We note at the Wikipedia (which does not cite its source): "The origin of the English name for the mounds, Etowah, is an archaic Muscogee place name, Etalwa. Etalwa probably referred to the solar cross symbol originally."
The Ocmulgee mounds, Macon, Georgia, mark the Summer Solstice line viz. solstitial colure at similarly lesser known stars of Columba ca. 1450 A.D. Of course, the ancients need have seen our modern "constellation" at that location, nor indeed, even its outlines. They "mounded" stars that marked the solstice colure in their era. One mound, the Dunlap Mound, is probably a later chief's house addition. One could try to pick a star for it, but it is not that important.
The third image below compares the location of those lines as drawn in the mounds. The Ocmulgee Lamar mounds are especially interesting because the attendant temples were constructed according to geometric designs seen in nearby stars. We will see more of that in coming postings for other sites.
The astronomical dates of ca. 1200 A.D. and 1450 A.D. conform generally to the dating of these mound sites by the archaeologists via more traditional methods. Depending on the actual radiocarbon dates, it is even possible that both sites had initial mounds that were constructed at nearly the same time and that "precessional mounds" were added later. Usually, however, the Etowah era is regarded in Archaeology to be older than the Lamar mounds. We leave discussion of that issue to the archaeologists.
The decipherments are presented in image form below in graphic illustrations by the decipherer, Andis Kaulins, relying on various books, photographs and maps online, e.g. via megalithic.co.uk which, importantly, shows an older map of Etowah, and, where possible, especially the National Park Service (see Ocmulgee map) and using Starry Night Pro, the software astronomy program by which one can set the day, month and year of star locations in question, http://astronomy.starrynight.com/, but please note that the colored lines, circles and text labels and explanations in the images were added to the Starry Night Pro star positions by Andis Kaulins:
ETOWAH MOUNDS (below)
OCMULGEE LAMAR MOUNDS (below)
ETOWAH AND OCMULGEE SOLSTICE LINES COMPARED (below)
THIS POSTING IS Posting Number 18 of
The Great Mound, Petroglyph and Painted Rock Art Journey of Native America
Etowah and Ocmulgee Lamar Mounds in Georgia Mark the Summer Solstice Line in ca. 1200 A.D. and 1450 A.D. Respectively
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