THE EQUINOX, ASTRONOMY and TIME
The equinox was chosen a long time ago as an important point in time. Many religions still retain festivals that key upon this date. This date became important because it marked the midpoint of the Earths elliptical orbit around the sun and the beginning of the season of warmth and natural growing season.
The ancient scientists who decided this had discovered what we call precession. This is a a complex feature of the rotation of the earth best described as a wobble. Over a long span of time, the wobble alters the apparent position of the suns arc across the sky. The rising point And setting point also seems to move, but ever so gradually. The only constant was the mid-point which is the equinox. The ancients who first noted this had several thousand years of careful observation and notation to confirm this feature.
The ancients who figured this out were the first Astronomers. Actually, we would call them astrologers. The clue that they were the ones responsible comes from the rule to determine the age. We are now in the age of Pisces, about to go into the age of Aquarius. The age is determined by which constallation (or house) the sun is in on the morning of the vernal (spring) equinox; a known fixed point of reference. It takes about two thousand years for the change of age to take place.
CALCULATING TIME
Just when, mankind assembled and agreed upon a measurement system for time is an unknown. The casual measurement of the maximums and minimums for solar position at sunrise and sunset probably lead to the first And oldest method of marking time. It took clever and patient People to make observations and notations. To their point of view, the sun "stood still" twice a year. This is metaphoric reference to the arc of travel of the sun in relationship to the earth being so small it was simply not measurable. This point in time became what call the solstices. The day count was unequal to the position count, to make matters more complex. Logically, it should take just as long to get from one solstice to the other, but it didn't. Mankind pondered the problem for a very long time. Literally, thousands of years of observing, measuring and most importantly, making notes on their observations and passing these notes on to later generations.
Somewhere along this way, someone noticed that the solstice positions were moving. The only way this notice could have happened was if the solar position had been recorded several thousand years earlier and a comparison made. The result of all the conflicting data was the choice of the midpoint of this variable arc to key the annual calendar. The equinoxes are the result of this logic. It is a necessary constant.
"The day of balance" is a metaphoric reference to the equinox. Historians and archaeologists presume this was a reference to an equal amount of day and night, but the Ancients did not have stopwatches. Actually, on the day of equinox, there is still a variance between the actual times of day and night. It depends on the latitude of the observer. The "equal day and night" idea works only on the equator.
What balanced was the equation marking the midpoint of the suns traverse at maximum daily zenith (noon). This is solar position that is relatively easy to note and mark by using a gnomon or standing stone's shadow. The obelisks, most notably the Egyptian variety, were probably descendents of the original time keepers. The monument served a serious function. Best was, the philosophy of function worked anywhere on the planet.
The mathematics used for the calculations, regardless of base, used whole numbers. Fractions were expressed in ratios. Little is known as to the actual process, but the results demonstrated at the Inyo petroglyph site clearly indicate the processes worked well.
The fractional ratios were probably described and written as grids. This pictoral representation would work to communicate the ratio or fraction regardless of the number base. Also communicated was the metaphor of the ratio and with this came application.
All grid images are from the INY-272 location.
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For more information about the astronomy of Inyo, read the article by Professor Alan Gillespie available by clicking HERE.
