Back to Archaeoastronomy
Politecnico di Milano

Archaeoastronomy

Archaeoastronomy is the “science of stars and stones”. It is an interdisciplinary science in between architecture, archaeology, and astronomy. It studies the relationships between the ancient monuments and the sky, in order to gain a better understanding of the ideas of the architects of the past and of their religious and symbolic world. The course provides the first complete, easy introduction to this fascinating discipline. During the course, many spectacular ancient sites of archaeology – such as Stonehenge in England, Giza and Karnak in Egypt, Chichen Itzá in the Yucatan, Macchu Picchu in Peru and the Pantheon in Rome – will be visited and the fascinating events occurring there in special days of the year (such as solstices, equinoxes, or the day of the foundation of Rome) will be shown and explained. The course also provides the necessary background on Astronomy with the naked eye and a general introduction to the role of Astronomy in religion and in the management of power among ancient cultures.

Status: Architectural Design
Status: Social Studies
BeginnerCourse7 hours

Featured reviews

WT

5.0Reviewed Sep 16, 2019

It is a great course. I have enjoyed each of the segments covering many more ancient sites than I have known about in the past and explaining the ones I did know about in much greater depth.

MK

5.0Reviewed Apr 23, 2021

It's a wonderful experience to learn this course from this university . Great information and Knowledge i have gained from this ! thank you coursera politecco di milano . :)

SV

5.0Reviewed Jun 19, 2020

What an amazing course this was! The virtual tour of world-famous ancient monuments along with the excellent lectures by Prof.Magli made this a truly rewarding experience.

TC

4.0Reviewed Aug 23, 2022

Understanding that the lecturer is Italian, but sometimes, it was hard to understand the words. Thanks to the script and subtitle provided in every video that made me complete the couse.

AG

4.0Reviewed Apr 24, 2020

Very interesting course.the test was sometimes a bit difficult for a "begginers" level, and some questions were difficult to answer based only on the course materialBut was a good experience overall

KF

5.0Reviewed Aug 1, 2020

The subject matter was exactly what I hoped it to be: a new approach to interpreting ancient structures. Week 7 was more intense than I expected but informative nonetheless.

JM

4.0Reviewed Jun 3, 2017

I volunteer at a public observatory in the UK and wanted some extra material for our guests. I thought Archeoastronomy would be an inspiring and insightful topic to add to the history of astronomy.

DE

5.0Reviewed Nov 9, 2017

It was a very interesting course, and had addressed the subject matter in an organized manner. It was challenging at times, but maintained my interest throughout the course.

BH

4.0Reviewed Jun 13, 2017

Helpful in achieving a good basic understanding of the technical aspects of astronomy and as a good general introduction to the study of archaeoastronomy. Clearly presented and well illustrated.

PB

4.0Reviewed Apr 4, 2020

Very interesting but sometimes hard to understand for someone without previous knowledge about Astronomy. I will definitely look at sites with different eyes from now on.

IK

4.0Reviewed Oct 15, 2020

The overall course was good but I personally found the last test difficult. I had to read for the test from other websites as I found the readings provided in week 7 insufficient for the test.

AF

5.0Reviewed Feb 29, 2024

The course is very distinctive and rich with information of interest to researchers in the field of ancient history. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the preparation of this project.

All reviews

Showing: 20 of 443

John Read
3.0
Reviewed Aug 2, 2019
Puneet Rakheja
2.0
Reviewed Apr 30, 2018
Alexander P.M. Vinkeles Melchers
3.0
Reviewed Jul 22, 2017
William Tewelow
5.0
Reviewed Sep 16, 2019
WILLIAM F. LI
3.0
Reviewed Apr 18, 2020
Fiona Leiper
5.0
Reviewed Sep 25, 2019
Javier Andrés Sandoval
5.0
Reviewed Dec 20, 2019
D Eischens
5.0
Reviewed Nov 10, 2017
Muhammad Wahaj Khan
5.0
Reviewed Jan 13, 2019
Olivia LePosa
5.0
Reviewed Jun 13, 2018
Manon van Unen
5.0
Reviewed Aug 10, 2018
antonio barletta
5.0
Reviewed Sep 12, 2019
AJ
5.0
Reviewed May 10, 2019
5.0
Reviewed Mar 3, 2019
Naomi G
4.0
Reviewed Nov 3, 2020
David Peachey
3.0
Reviewed Dec 21, 2021
Ginny Humber
2.0
Reviewed Aug 17, 2017
Aslı Tümerkan
2.0
Reviewed Oct 14, 2018
Kathryn Mann
5.0
Reviewed Feb 3, 2022
Barry Martin Fenby
5.0
Reviewed Mar 20, 2019