Ancient Passages To Tombs May Have Been Used To Study Skies

Scientists discovered that ancient passages to stone tombs may have been used by prehistoric humans to get a clearer view of the night skies as part of their ancient rituals.

This new proposal by archaeologists came to light when dark entrances to 6,000-year-old tombs in Portugal were found to possibly be an early form of astronomical tool that helped them enhance their visibility of the stars, reported The Guardian. In particular, the orientation of the entrances were suggested to have aligned to offer a view of the Aldebaran, the red star that also happens to be the brightest in the constellation of Taurus.

Kieran Simcox, and undergraduate student at Nottingham Trent University in England told Discover Magazine that by using the graves, observers would have sat in complete darkness, with the grave opening the only one in front of them, showing a part of the sky where a star could rise.

Scholars also think that the passage graves have elements that show initiation rituals or rites of passage that could have been conducted in the megalithic chamber. Still, as Simcox put it, despite the literature that suggested faint stars can be more easily identified in the dark chambers such as passage graves, there has been no studies regarding their effect.

To find out whether or not such long passageways could spot faint stars, they will have to determine whether or not the tomb bas able to spot faint stars, helping humans determine whether or not the tombs played a part in revealing the rise of Alderbaran. Fabio Silva of the University of Wales Trinity noted, however, that "To accurately time the first appearance of this star in the season, it is vital to be able to detect stars during twilight."

Still, as CBS News noted, all these details are still speculative. Astronomers say that the first sighting of a specific star could be used as a seasonal marker, giving prehistoric people a signal for when they should start migration to summer grazing areas.