Research Catalog

Title

People and the sky : our ancestors and the cosmos / Anthony Aveni.

Author

Aveni, Anthony F.

Publication

New York : Thames & Hudson, 2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

252 p. : ill. (some col.); 24 cm.

Summary

"Anthony Aveni reveals how!Kung and Mursi hunter-gatherers depended on signals in the sky for their survival and sustenance; how Polynesian sailors navigated a seemingly limitless watery world by star bearings; how social cohesion in cultures as diverse as the Pawnee and the Inca was mirrored in celestial imagery; and how the cosmic connection between the arrangement of Chinese and Aztec cities and the constellations served as an expression of political authority." "For most of human history, people found meaning in the dance of the cosmic denizens. Today, many aspects of this intimate contact between daily life and what happens in the sky have disappeared. Did our ancestors have an understanding of the cosmos that we ourselves lack? How and why did it all happen? These are the questions addressed in this engaging and erudite book."--Jacket.

Subject

• Archaeoastronomy
• Astronomy > History
• Nautical astronomy
• Constellations > Folklore
• Astronomy > Social aspects

Genre/Form

• Folklore
• History

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 242-247) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Introduction : The sky, a legacy lost -- 1. The storyteller's sky -- 2. Patterns in the sky -- 3. The sailor's sky -- 4. The hunter's sky -- 5. The farmer's sky -- 6. The house, the family, and the sky -- 7. The city and the sky -- 8. The ruler's sky -- 9. The astrologer's sky -- 10. The timekeeper's sky -- 11. The western sky -- Epilogue : Distancing the sky -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Acknowledgments -- Sources of illustrations -- Index.

ISBN

• 9780500051528 (hbk.)
• 0500051526 (hbk.)

LCCN

^^2008299005

OCLC

182663525

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library