157
true if referring to the deposited corporeal remains of the living in burial tombs.
Here, the enquiry has more to do with the perceived journey and abode of the spirits
of the dead in an imagined afterlife and prompts asking—what might have been so
distinctive about the northern sky and the distant horizon in the minds of
Neolithic people?
5 The Northern Sky Considered
The region of sky defined by circumpolar stars (S1 in Fig. 4 and Table 4) has azimuthal limits of c. 53° east and west of the north celestial pole (NCP) for the mean
latitude range of Ireland. The NCP is a specific but conspicuous point in the heavens
which, if it were demarcated by a star, would appear to be stationary. In the northern
hemisphere, it is the intersection point of the rotation axis of the earth with the
celestial sphere. Any star whose angular distance from the NCP is less than the latitude of the observer is circumpolar. These stars appear to revolve in a counterclockwise manner about the NCP due to the rotation of the earth. An observer facing
the NCP will also be looking due north, the opposite of due south where the sun
culminates in the sky at local noon. Significantly, circumpolar stars remain visible
for the whole of every night throughout every year. On this, Krupp (1997: 19) states
‘As the hub of the most fundamental movement in the sky, the sky’s north pole confers significance to one direction, the direction in which it resides’. Bernadette
Brady (2015) writing on naked-eye astronomy related to the Old Kingdom Pyramid
Texts of Egypt, and drawing on Bradshaw (1990) and Davis (1977), describes ‘the
holiness that the Egyptians attributed to the northern part of the sky’ and how ‘their
entire universe hung from the northern pole’. Brady further states that ‘Upon their
death, the divine kings, not only had the right to re-join these stars but were required
to do so for the cosmic health of the nation’. This ancient textual evidence, although
from another culture, points to religious concern and symbolic importance being
attributed to circumpolar stars and the north sky.
The second region, S2 in Fig. 4 and Table 4, is bounded by the northerly rising
and setting limits of the sun on the horizon. This has an angular width of c. 46° east
and west of the NCP. The sun will never rise or set in S2. The third region, S3 in
Fig. 4 and Table 4, is bounded by the northerly rising and setting limits of the moon.
This has an angular with of c. 36° east and west of the NCP. Similarly, the moon will
never rise or set in this zone. Astronomically, the maximum value of the moon’s
declination will vary over the period of a complete cycle of the nodes which lasts c.
18.6 years (Hatfield, 1969: 4). Expressed differently, the maximum northerly azimuthal limits of lunar rise and set for the latitude range of Ireland, though infrequent, occur only in years of greatest annual lunar standstill.
Regions S1, S2 and S3 each define a horizontal field of vision centred about true
north, each being c. 106° wide (the region of circumpolar stars), c. 92° wide (the
region beyond the northerly limits of sunrise and sunset) and c. 72° wide (the region
beyond the greatest northerly limits of moonrise and moonset) respectively. For
The North Sky and the Otherworld: Journeys of the Dead in the Neolithic Considered
true if referring to the deposited corporeal remains of the living in burial tombs.
Here, the enquiry has more to do with the perceived journey and abode of the spirits
of the dead in an imagined afterlife and prompts asking—what might have been so
distinctive about the northern sky and the distant horizon in the minds of
Neolithic people?
5 The Northern Sky Considered
The region of sky defined by circumpolar stars (S1 in Fig. 4 and Table 4) has azimuthal limits of c. 53° east and west of the north celestial pole (NCP) for the mean
latitude range of Ireland. The NCP is a specific but conspicuous point in the heavens
which, if it were demarcated by a star, would appear to be stationary. In the northern
hemisphere, it is the intersection point of the rotation axis of the earth with the
celestial sphere. Any star whose angular distance from the NCP is less than the latitude of the observer is circumpolar. These stars appear to revolve in a counterclockwise manner about the NCP due to the rotation of the earth. An observer facing
the NCP will also be looking due north, the opposite of due south where the sun
culminates in the sky at local noon. Significantly, circumpolar stars remain visible
for the whole of every night throughout every year. On this, Krupp (1997: 19) states
‘As the hub of the most fundamental movement in the sky, the sky’s north pole confers significance to one direction, the direction in which it resides’. Bernadette
Brady (2015) writing on naked-eye astronomy related to the Old Kingdom Pyramid
Texts of Egypt, and drawing on Bradshaw (1990) and Davis (1977), describes ‘the
holiness that the Egyptians attributed to the northern part of the sky’ and how ‘their
entire universe hung from the northern pole’. Brady further states that ‘Upon their
death, the divine kings, not only had the right to re-join these stars but were required
to do so for the cosmic health of the nation’. This ancient textual evidence, although
from another culture, points to religious concern and symbolic importance being
attributed to circumpolar stars and the north sky.
The second region, S2 in Fig. 4 and Table 4, is bounded by the northerly rising
and setting limits of the sun on the horizon. This has an angular width of c. 46° east
and west of the NCP. The sun will never rise or set in S2. The third region, S3 in
Fig. 4 and Table 4, is bounded by the northerly rising and setting limits of the moon.
This has an angular with of c. 36° east and west of the NCP. Similarly, the moon will
never rise or set in this zone. Astronomically, the maximum value of the moon’s
declination will vary over the period of a complete cycle of the nodes which lasts c.
18.6 years (Hatfield, 1969: 4). Expressed differently, the maximum northerly azimuthal limits of lunar rise and set for the latitude range of Ireland, though infrequent, occur only in years of greatest annual lunar standstill.
Regions S1, S2 and S3 each define a horizontal field of vision centred about true
north, each being c. 106° wide (the region of circumpolar stars), c. 92° wide (the
region beyond the northerly limits of sunrise and sunset) and c. 72° wide (the region
beyond the greatest northerly limits of moonrise and moonset) respectively. For
The North Sky and the Otherworld: Journeys of the Dead in the Neolithic Considered