Watch Video (02:53) -- Prof. Brian Cox visits Chankillo solar calendar in Peru
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12619455
The Thirteen Towers of Chankillo course north to south along a ridge of a low hill and are regularly spaced, forming a "toothed" horizon with narrow gaps at regular intervals. To the east and west investigators found two observation points. From these vantages, the 300m long spread of the towers along the horizon corresponds very closely to the rising and setting positions of the Sun over the year. This suggests that some activities of the ancient civilization were regulated by a solar calendar.
http://www.volunteerlatinamericablog.com/chankillo-solar-calendar-in-peru
'Archaeoastronomy' is the study of how people in the past have understood the phenomena in the sky how they used phenomena in the sky and what role the sky played in their cultures. Imagine what it was like for ancients to try and make better sense of the world. Something we're still on track with.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeoastronomy
This is a list of sites where claims for the use of "archaeoastronomy" have been made, sorted by country:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_archaeoastronomical_sites_by_country
