The contribution of Clive Ruggles to the study of Cultural astronomy has been
seminal also in his collaboration with ICOMOS and IAU’s Commission C4 towards
placing Cultural Astronomy (and Archaeoastronomy) on the World Heritage List. In
his own research, Ruggles had already indicated the significant relationship between
the study of astronomy and heritage several years earlier (e.g. Ruggles, 2000). This
research paved the ground for acknowledging the importance of astronomy in world
heritage. Several of his papers have explored and converged on the importance of
locations from where astronomical observations were made, rendering these places
significant cultural landmarks both for ancient and modern cultures (Ghezzi &
Ruggles, 2007; Ruggles, 2010a, 2010b, 2020; Simonia, Ruggles, & Chagunava,
2008). Ruggles’ work recognised this tight relationship and this is perhaps most
evident in his research in Hawaii and the Pacific, which is pioneering in going
beyond the study of the complex relationships between the Hawaiian temple system, landscape, and the heavens, to preserve also ethnographic material (Johnson,
Mahelona, & Ruggles, 2015). Ruggles poured his vision on astronomical heritage
into his long-term engagement with what later evolved to the IAU Commission C4
on World Heritage and Astronomy (formerly IAU’s Working Group on Astronomy
and World Heritage) and produced the first thematic studies in science heritage. It
was the first time the study of astronomy, and more importantly the study of ancient
astronomy, had achieved such a universal milestone. The two ICOMOS-IAU Global
Thematic Studies on Astronomical Heritage (Ruggles & Cotte, 2010, 2017), present
a universal vision on astronomical heritage and set the blueprint for what entails
astronomical “outstanding universal significance to humankind” and associated
issues. By doing so, they set the groundwork for identifying universal astronomical
significance to humankind.
All the papers in this section relate to Ruggles’ work towards establishing a
strong Heritage of Astronomy.
Michel Cotte, who has collaborated with him since the early steps of promoting
the Heritage of Astronomy in 2009, under the auspices of ICOMOS and has joined
efforts in developing a World Heritage list, recounts Ruggles’ contribution to these
developments and the importance of including Scientific Heritage on the World
Part III
Heritage
seminal also in his collaboration with ICOMOS and IAU’s Commission C4 towards
placing Cultural Astronomy (and Archaeoastronomy) on the World Heritage List. In
his own research, Ruggles had already indicated the significant relationship between
the study of astronomy and heritage several years earlier (e.g. Ruggles, 2000). This
research paved the ground for acknowledging the importance of astronomy in world
heritage. Several of his papers have explored and converged on the importance of
locations from where astronomical observations were made, rendering these places
significant cultural landmarks both for ancient and modern cultures (Ghezzi &
Ruggles, 2007; Ruggles, 2010a, 2010b, 2020; Simonia, Ruggles, & Chagunava,
2008). Ruggles’ work recognised this tight relationship and this is perhaps most
evident in his research in Hawaii and the Pacific, which is pioneering in going
beyond the study of the complex relationships between the Hawaiian temple system, landscape, and the heavens, to preserve also ethnographic material (Johnson,
Mahelona, & Ruggles, 2015). Ruggles poured his vision on astronomical heritage
into his long-term engagement with what later evolved to the IAU Commission C4
on World Heritage and Astronomy (formerly IAU’s Working Group on Astronomy
and World Heritage) and produced the first thematic studies in science heritage. It
was the first time the study of astronomy, and more importantly the study of ancient
astronomy, had achieved such a universal milestone. The two ICOMOS-IAU Global
Thematic Studies on Astronomical Heritage (Ruggles & Cotte, 2010, 2017), present
a universal vision on astronomical heritage and set the blueprint for what entails
astronomical “outstanding universal significance to humankind” and associated
issues. By doing so, they set the groundwork for identifying universal astronomical
significance to humankind.
All the papers in this section relate to Ruggles’ work towards establishing a
strong Heritage of Astronomy.
Michel Cotte, who has collaborated with him since the early steps of promoting
the Heritage of Astronomy in 2009, under the auspices of ICOMOS and has joined
efforts in developing a World Heritage list, recounts Ruggles’ contribution to these
developments and the importance of including Scientific Heritage on the World
Part III
Heritage