Essays Relating To The History Of

Occidental Constellations and

Star Names to the Classical Period

Methodologies for Investigating Constellation Origins by Gary D. Thompson

Copyright © 2003-2008 by Gary D. Thompson

Return To Site Contents Page

Methodologies for Investigating Constellation Origins

Tools

Analytical tools and methods able to be applied to the problem of the origin of the constellations ranked in order of approximate reliability and importance:

(1) Historical

• Method(s):

1. Extant astronomical texts (both classical and cuneiform).
2. Historical texts (basically classical - dealing with the constellations).
3. Celestial cartography (involving consideration of modern constellation making methods).

• Advantage(s):

1. Greater reliability.
2. Astronomical lore items are able to be analysed.

• Disadvantage(s):

1. Limited to the more recent historical period from circa 3000 BCE onwards.
2. The texts that have survived do not form a complete and uninterrupted historical record.

(2) Philological

• Method(s):

1. Analysis of constellation names.

• Advantage(s):

1. Possibility of demonstrating constellation borrowing.

• Disadvantage(s):

1. Limited to written records.

(3) Anthropological

• Method(s):

1. Anthropological analogy (regarding the practical purpose of constellation making).
2. Sky strata (regarding the Shamanistic world view).

• Advantage(s):

1. Can provide a wider understanding of the practical (and other) processes of constellation development.

• Disadvantage(s):

1. Limitations to the adequacy of the information collected by informed and uninformed ethnologists and anthropologists.
2. Limitations to the information collected by ethnologists and anthropologists from sources of knowledge unwilling to freely discuss such.

(4) Archaeological

• Method(s):

1. Iconography.

• Advantage(s):

1. Possibility of being a somewhat more effective form of evidence than constellation myths.

• Disadvantage(s):

1. Its use is effectively limited to no earlier than circa 4000 BCE.
2. In the absence of other supportive evidence it can be difficult to decide if astral themes are being depicted.

(5) Statistical

• Method(s):

1. Statistical analysis of semi-qualitative information (or qualitative information) in extant astronomical texts (both classical and cuneiform).
2. Statistical analysis of surviving items of classical celestial cartography..

• Advantage(s):

1. Possibility of obtaining new insights not forming part of recorded historical material.

• Disadvantage(s):

1. Open to being a selective and subjective tool due to qualitative or semi-qualitative nature of the evidence used.
2. Remains a statistical correlation if the conclusions are not always able to be corroborated by other forms of evidence.

(6) Mythological

• Method(s):

1. Constellation myths.

• Advantage(s):

1. Descriptive.

• Disadvantage(s):

1. Absence of demonstrable connections with prehistoric iconography.
2. Do not really document early prehistoric beliefs.
3. Possibility for unconnected later inventions being attached to constellation figures.

(7) Precessional

• Method(s):

1. Southern zone of constellation exclusion.
2. Constellation asymmetry.
3. Progressive zodiacal quartets.

• Advantage(s):

1. Amenable to statistical and descriptive analysis.
2. Possibility of obtaining new insights not forming part of recorded historical material.

• Disadvantage(s):

1. Open to being a selective and subjective tool.
2. Lacks precision.
3. Handles the constellations as an integrated set and generally excludes the idea of a gradual process of constellation development.

References

Genuth, Sara. (1997). "Constellations." In: Lankford, John. (Editor). History of Astronomy: An Encyclopedia. (Pages160-164).

Krupp, Ed. (2000). "Night Gallery: The Function, Origin, and Evolution of Constellations." (Archaeoastronomy: The Journal of Astronomy in Culture, Volume XV, Pages 43-63).

Return to top of page.

This web page was last updated on: Monday, January 8, 2007, 6.30 am.

This web page was created using Arachnophilia 4.0 and FrontPage 2003.

You can reach me here by email:

Return To Site Contents Page