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Home , Archaeoastronomy, Boyden Observatory, Cultural astronomy

Astronomy, Indigenous Knowledge, and Interpretation: Advancing studies of Cultural in Africa

Jarita Holbrook University of the Western Cape

Abstract: is the study of the The International Society for and use of astronomical knowledge, beliefs, Astronomy in (ISAAC) Oxford X conference or theories to inspire, inform, or influ- came to Africa for the first time in 2014. Oxford X ence social forms and ideologies, or exposed South African students and researchers to cul- any aspect of behaviour. Cul- tural astronomy data and analysis methods, as tural astronomy also includes the mod- as to potential mentors to further the goal of ad- vancing the field. Cultural Astronomy studies in South ern disciplines of ethnoastronomy and ar- Africa, however, remain in a nascent stage, which in cheoastronomy. some ways can be said for the entire field, but especially when it comes to studies of Africa. An overview of the Here considered part of Cultural As- debates within the field of cultural astronomy since the tronomy, Archaeoastronomy is defined by 1980s is presented along with ideas for advancing cul- Dictionary.com as “the branch of archae- tural astronomy in South Africa. ology that deals with the apparent use by prehistoric of astronomical Keywords: South Africa, Cultural Astron- techniques to establish the seasons or the omy, Indigenous Knowledge, Astronomy cycle of the year, especially as evidenced in

the construction of and other rit- Introduction ual structures.” Ethnoastronomy, in turn, Cultural Astronomy is the study of is “the branch of astronomy concerned and their relationship to the . These re- with the astronomical beliefs and practices lationships include practical things such as of specific .” Within this broader timekeeping, weather prediction, seasonal formulation, the discipline of cultural as- for agricultural activities, and tronomy has roots going back hundreds of navigation; artistic inspiration such as years, though the term itself was first used songs, poems, , stories, paintings, in the late 1980s. Scholars trace the disci- , etc.; and metaphysical beliefs pline to Athanasius Kircher (1635; cf. such as celestial deities, , the loca- Fletcher 1970) who worked to understand tion of the Christian heaven and other re- the time keeping devices of the ancient ligious connections; as well as human rela- world. Later, Charles Dupuis (1794) stud- tionships regarding the scientific studies of ied the astronomical symbolism found in astronomy, , space , religions, and Sir (1894) atmospheric , and planetary sci- measured alignments of ancient structures, ence. Included is the study of the history such as the Egyptian , to celestial and evolution of all of these and more bodies. within regions, cultures, and sub-groups. A Scientific meetings focused on cultural formal definition of cultural astronomy astronomy were held with some regularity, was put forth by Nicholas Campion (1997):

Journal of Astronomy in Culture 1(1), 2016, pp. 1-7 Copyright © International Society for Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture 2

Table 1. “Oxford Conferences” sponsored by ISAAC

Year Theme Location 1981 Archaeoastronomy United Kingdom 1986 World Archaeoastronomy Mexico 1990 Archaeoastronomy in the 1990s 1993 Astronomical Traditions in Cultures Bulgaria 1996 Conversations Across Space and Time USA 1999 Astronomy and Spain 2004 Viewing the Sky Through Past and Present Cultures USA 2007 Astronomy and in Folk Traditions and Heritage Lithuania 2010 Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy Building a Bridge Peru 2014 Astronomy, Indigenous Knowledge, and Interpretation South Africa starting in 1981 with an inaugural confer- “” divide. Monuments with as- ence on archaeoastronomy held at Oxford tronomical symbolism and alignments are University. Since then, an “Oxford” con- found across the continent, such as Great ference sponsored by the International So- Zimbabwe, Namorotunga in Kenya, and ciety for Archaeoastronomy and Astron- the pyramids of Egypt (Bent and Swan omy in Culture (ISAAC) has been held 1892; Doyle 1997; Robbins and Lynch every few years at different locations 1983). But there are also studies of the around the world (Table 1). The confer- large number of indigenous peoples with ences advance the field by creating a cadre living traditions throughout Africa (Ben- of scholars that contribute articles, provide nett 1899; Ruggles 1987; Snedgar 1997; a peer review network, and establish jour- Turton and Ruggles 1978). Connected to nals. this division was the methodological issue At the early Oxford meetings, partici- of statistical approaches versus ethno- pants debated assumptions, data collection graphic approaches. Since we have few or methods, and analysis techniques. These no records from the people who con- approaches seemed to be divided into two structed many astronomically aligned camps that focused on the differences of monuments and megaliths across Europe, studying archaeoastronomy in two differ- researchers studying these structures de- ent global regions: “” and “New pend upon amassing statistics to show re- World.” Originally put forth by Anthony gional patterns. The larger the dataset, the Aveni (1989), Old World archaeoastron- more robust the statistics and, hence, the omy focused on the study of astronomical greater the evidence of intentionality. In alignments in ancient monuments and contrast, researchers working with living megaliths (mainly in Europe) and was cultures tend to focus on one group of peo- heavily reliant on the archaeological rec- ple which they study deeply rather than ord and statistical analyses of the sites. New broadly (Aveni 2003; Ruggles 2011); thus World archaeoastronomy was focused on with living cultures, astronomical living indigenous cultures in the Americas, knowledge is established through directly relying heavily on historical and ethno- questioning people. graphic records, as well as anthropological Debates ensued about which of these studies. A subset of the latter approach two approaches is more “scientific” evolved into what we call ethnoastronomy. and/or more rigorous. Further arguments The case of Africa, however, does not ensued about whether or not having strong fit comfortably within the “Old World” vs statistical results was evidence enough to

Holbrook, J. 3 prove the intentionality of celestial align- Africa, and it fostered collaborations be- ments without having supporting evidence tween researchers within South Africa. from artifacts, written records, or religious artifacts (Aveni 2006a, 2006b; Schaefer Advancing Cultural Astronomy in 2006a, 2006b). South Africa Oxford X, held at the South African Cultural astronomy in South Africa en- Astronomical in Cape Town a range of projects, from the in 2014, was the first Oxford conference and the study of hosted in Africa. Titled “Astronomy, In- South African , to archaeol- digenous Knowledge, and Interpretation” ogy, folklore, art history, and interdiscipli- the conference sought to push the bounda- nary pursuits such as gender and indige- ries of how statistical and other data are in- nous studies. Modern astronomy and as- terpreted in cultural astronomy. Although trophysics in South Africa began with the this was the first “Oxford” meeting held in establishment of the South African Astro- Africa, two related conferences were held nomical Observatory (originally the Royal in South Africa over the previous decade: Observatory of the Cape of Good Hope) in the African Astronomical History Symposium 1820. The history of the South African As- Symposium in Cape Town, 2005 and the Re- tronomical Observatory has been studied emergence of Astronomy in Africa conference at in some detail, but this is not the case with the Cradle of Man, 2012 (Du Plesis and Boyden Observatory near Masilela 2013; Glass 2005). (established by Harvard University in In previous Oxford conferences, dis- 1927) and other across South cussions emerged about the problems Africa (Gill 1913; Jarrett 1971; Laney raised when interpreting celestial align- 1996a, 1996b; Warner 1995, 2008). Stud- ments at archaeological sites without con- ies of indigenous South African astronomy ducting background research on the his- include broad overviews and compiling in- tory, culture, and beliefs of the people that formation found in historical records and built the site. This raised concerns about early , such as the Bleek and how we project the way we think today Lloyd Collection (Alcock 2014; Bergland back onto ancient cultures and onto other 1976; Bleek and Lloyd 2001, 2007; Breutz cultures; about over-interpreting existing 1969; Snedgar 1997, 1998). Very little re- data; and about not considering the mate- search is being done on the indigenous as- rial remains associated with the site. When tronomical knowledge of past and present faced with these issues, the cultural astron- South African cultures (Holbrook and omy community responded by promoting Prada-Samper n.d.). To advance cultural collaborations with archaeologists, histori- astronomy in South Africa, the Oxford X ans, anthropologists, and others to conference introduced South Africans to strengthen the rigour of interpreting their archaeoastronomical techniques used to research. They also pushed for stronger analyze ancient sites throughout the coun- peer review and continued discussions at try, as well as interpreting astronomical conferences, such as the one in Cape symbolism in and artifacts. Exam- Town. The Oxford X conference achieved ples were presented from other parts of the three goals: it increased our understanding world where similar projects are being un- of how to more rigorously interpret astro- dertaken. These include Peru, Hungary, nomical sites and knowledge systems, it so- and (Aldana 2002; Ghezzi lidified research in cultural astronomy in and Ruggles 2011; Malville 2011; Pásztor

JAC, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2016 4 2009). These examples demonstrated a their and includes but is not lim- deep understanding of ancient people, ited to - their lives, their religion, and the artifacts and structures connected to their a) knowledge of and management of biolog- knowledge and use of the night sky. Studies ical resources and ecosystems; of people living today included examples b) literary, performing and artistic works from America (Lee et al. 2013; Ted- (arts and culture); lock 1985), and emerging unpublished re- c) all items of moveable ; search in South Africa. These examples d) all items of immoveable cultural property; emphasized the time, care, and difficulty e) indigenous institutions, philosophies, involved with conducting ethnographic governance matters and languages; work with living cultures to record their f) scientific, technical and spiritual knowledge correctly and appropriately. knowledge; The different studies show what is possible g) indigenous environmental resources; and for studies within South Africa, and fo- h) indigenous communities' heritage cused on South African people. Attracting more young people to the field is key to ad- "indigenous knowledge systems" refers to a combi- vancing cultural astronomy within South nation of knowledge systems encompassing technol- Africa. Only a handful of undergraduate ogy, cosmology, spiritual, social, economic and and postgraduate students attended the philosophical learning, or educational, legal and conference. Many more are needed. governance systems which manifest as indigenous knowledge, indigenous cultural expressions and in- Astronomy and Indigenous digenous knowledge associated with the utilisation Knowledge in South Africa of natural resources. Through the National Research Founda- tion (NRF), the South African government It is in the NRF IKS document that “IKS has financially supported the disciplines of and Astronomy” is listed as one of the ar- Indigenous Knowledge Systems and As- eas covered by their Indigenous tronomy. The NRF estimated budget for Knowledge Systems funding instrument Indigenous Knowledge Systems for (National Research Foundation 2015). 2016/2017 was 15,300,000 ZAR. On a Thus, in terms of government funding sup- much larger scale, Astronomy and Space port, it would appear that this would be an Sciences is allocated 114,900,000 ZAR ideal NRF unit to apply to for grants with (Georgiet 2015). These large financial the potent combination of astronomy and commitments indicate the importance of Indigenous Knowledge systems. However, these areas of research and scholarship to there is the stipulation that each grant pro- South Africans. posal under IKS has a co-investigator that Official definitions of indigenous is a recognized indigenous knowledge knowledge appear in the 2014 IKS Bill holder. This is a stumbling block for many (Pandor 2015): cultural astronomy projects. There re- mains the option of situating future pro- “indigenous knowledge” means tangible and intan- jects in the humanistic and social sciences gible aspects of the whole body of knowledge that within NRF, emphasizing links to anthro- has been held, used, refined and transmitted by the pology, art history, folklore, etc. rather indigenous communities collectively or as individual than IKS if a knowledge holder cannot be custodians of such knowledge as part of expressing recruited.

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Conclusions method in archaeoastronomy,” in T. Cultural Astronomy has deep historical Bostwick, & B. Bates, Viewing the Sky roots but remains a new endeavour in Through Past and Present Cultures: Selected Pa- South Africa. Africa has not been over- pers from the Oxford VII International Conference on Archaeoastronomy, Phoenix, pp. 57–70. looked in the cultural astronomy literature 2006b “Schaefer’s Rigid Ethnocentric Crite- (e.g. Aveni 1993; Baity 1973; Bent and ria: Reply to Rebuttal,” in Viewing the Sky Swan 1892; Holbrook et al. 2003; Roberts through Past and Present Cultures: Selected Pa- 1981), but active research remains focused pers from the Oxford VII International Conference on Europe and the Americas. To advance on Archaeoastronomy, pp. 79–83. the field of cultural astronomy in South Af- Baity, E. C. rica, research students, funding, and men- 1973 “Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastron- tors are needed. As outlined above, fund- omy So Far,” Current , vol. 14, ing could be obtained through the Na- no. 4, pp. 389–449. tional Research Foundation. Also, the in- Bennett, A. L. 1899 “Ethnographical Notes on the Fang,” ternational scholars that attended the Ox- in Journal of the Anthropological Institute of ford X conference can help with mentor- Great Britain and , vol. 29, issue 1/2, ing South African students. The Oxford X pp. 66–98. conference helped lay a foundation by Bent, J.T. and R. M. W. Swan hosting workshops for students and school 1892 The ruined cities of Mashonaland; being a rec- teachers, and exposing South Africans to ord of excavation and exploration in 1891. Lon- the many different types of projects that fall don, Longmans, Green and Co. within the cultural astronomy rubric. The Bergland, A. I. initial groundwork has been laid. Attract- 1976 “Zulu thought-patterns and symbol- ing students and new researchers to under- ism,” Johannesburg, Cape Town: David Philip. Bleek, W. H. I. and L. Lloyd take projects is the next goal. 2001 Specimens of Bushman folklore. Daimon. 2007 “The Digital Bleek and Lloyd” References [Online] http://lloydbleekcollec- Alcock, P. tion.cs.uct.ac.za/. [Accessed: 31-Mar- 2014 Rising: South African Astronomical Be- 2015]. liefs, Customs and Observations. Self-pub- Breutz, P. L. lished, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. 1969 “Sotho-Tswana Celestial Concepts,” in Aldana, G. Ethnological publications. 52, Pretoria: De- 2002 “Solar stelae and a venus window: Sci- partment of Native Affairs, pp. 199–210. ence and royal personality in Late Classic Campion, N. Copán,” Journal for the History of Astronomy 1997 “Editorial,” Culture and Cosmos. A Journal Supplement, vol. 33, p. 29. of the and Cultural Astron- Aveni, A. F. omy, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1–2. 1989 “Introduction: Whither Archaeoas- Dictionary.com tronomy?,” in World Archaeoastronomy, 2015 “Archaeoastronomy | Define Archaeo- Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] ; New astronomy at Dictionary.com,” Diction- York, pp. 3–12. ary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 1993 “Africa’s Socialized Astronomy,” in An- 2015 “Ethnoastronomy | Define Ethnoas- cient Astronomers, St. Remy Press, Montreal, tronomy at Dictionary.com,” Diction- pp. 90–99. ary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 2003 “Archaeoastronomy in the Ancient Doyle, L. and F. Edward Americas,” Journal of Archaeological Research, 1997 “Astronomy in Africa,” in Encyclopaedia vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 149–191. of the history of science, , and medicine 2006a “Evidence and intentionality: on in non-western cultures, H. Selin., Ed. Kluwer

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