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DressCritical t1_jaa8p1a wrote

Reply to comment by icelandichorsey in Eli5: How did people know how long a year was in olden times? by Slokkkk

Wanna bet?

Karahan Tepe, Turkey, the oldest known ancient site accurately aligned to the winter solstice is over 11,000 years old.

There is a site in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, with a lunar calendar that used the solstice to keep on track that is about 10,000 years old, though it is not nearly so sophisticated.

There are a number of sites in Great Britain, Mesopotamia, and at least one in Germany aligned with the solstice which are as old or older than the pyramids.

The ancient Egyptians tracked more than 4,000 astronomical events. There are a number of examples of ancient calendars and structures that were aligned with the solstice created by the Egyptians, such as the Sphinx.

Heard of Stonehenge? Tracked quite a bit more than the winter solstice. Not that old considering it appears to be 7,000 years younger than the oldest known example.

If going by technology rather than age, then in the New World, we have Machu Picchu, Chichen Itza, Chaco Canyon, and quite a few others.

Scientific method? Not required. Not even close. Not even Neolithic. Mesolithic. Some of these structures were built prior to the most recent period of the Stone Age.

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icelandichorsey t1_jabmyvt wrote

Fair enough, thanks

Your original comment sounded like taking our current world (or even the world of the last 500 years) for granted. A world where enough people have the time to sit around and measure things like this and make accurate enough conclusions and then also be able to influence the hierarchy enough to make it into a "calendar".

Also they would have had to stay in one place rather than migrate long enough, again, we're talking this for granted. That's no small thing although I didn't consider organised religion who of course tick all of these boxes and have been around for thousands of years.

Anyway, your subsequent response clarified that you weren't thinking like this. Thanks

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