Archaeoastronomy of the Ocmulgee Earth Lodge (Macon, Georgia US)

[orion25]

DID YOU KNOW that the Ocmulgee Earth Lodge was an ancient observatory and ceremonial chamber for the Mississippians over a thousand years ago? Research indicates that on November 5 (October 22 our time), sunrise entered the earth lodge and illuminated the chief's seat on the eagle platform. The smoke hole at the top of the lodge allowed the lodge dwellers to view the Pleiades star constellation and the Taurid Meteor shower that was prominent at the time (circa 1014 AD). Here are some pictures I took at the Earth Lodge from October 14-22 commemorating the event. Because of trees, you aren't able to see the sunrise reach the eagle platform, but you can see the sunlight enter the chamber at a considerable distance along the walkway. Now is a great time to visit the Ocmulgee Earth Lodge! I hope you enjoy my pictures!

Location: Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, Macon, GA, U.S.

Sunrise through the entrance of the earth lodge:

This interior shot of the earth lodge shows the raised eagle platform where the chief and two other important men sat. The sun would shine on them on this particular morning at daybreak. You can see a reflection on the protective glass enclosure of the sun in the lodge entrance:

Daybreak on Coleman Hill a mile west of the Ocmulgee Earth Lodge. Because of trees, it is not possible to see daybreak at the Earth Lodge site:

You can see why it's not possible to see daybreak at the Earth Lodge site and, therefore, not possible to actually see the sun's rays reach the eagle platform. Here, it is about an hour after daybreak and the sun is just beginning to peer through the trees:

The sun shining on the exterior entrance of the Earth Lodge:

The Pleiades (here, shot at my own home observatory) was visible through the smoke hole in the Earth Lodge at zenith during this time a thousand years ago, and the Taurid meteor shower (which was very active at the time) was also visible. Research indicates that this was the reason the lodge was oriented with the sunrise on this date. These prehistoric earth lodge dwellers likely performed ceremony to either the Pleiades, the Taurids or both:

 

Cheers!

Reggie

[Knighty2112]

Nice write up Reggie on a fascinating subject. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[orion25]

3 hours ago, Knighty2112 said:

Nice write up Reggie on a fascinating subject. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Thanks, Gus. I always loved studying ancient cultures and rituals  

[SwiMatt]

This looks very cool @orion25 ! Do we know anything about the astronomical knowledge and rituals of the Mississippian culture? Do we have any anthropological knowledge of this, beyond these alignments with stars?

[orion25]

On 26/05/2023 at 14:22, SwiMatt said:

This looks very cool @orion25 ! Do we know anything about the astronomical knowledge and rituals of the Mississippian culture? Do we have any anthropological knowledge of this, beyond these alignments with stars?

Thanks for reading my post, my friend. Information about Mississippian cosmology is limited but research indicates only a basic knowledge of the cosmos, based on the four cardinal directions and movements of the sun and the moon. Seasonal factors in relation to the sun were obviously important to the Mississippians who were an agricultural people. The "Harvest" and "Hunter's" moons likely assisted them with nighttime harvesting and hunting. It is unknown if eclipses were considered significant but there is some evidence of the acknowledgment of Venus as a "morning/evening star" from iconography on gorgets (round pendants) discovered at archaeological sites. Research indicates that Mississippian astronomy was likely NOT to have been significantly influenced by Mesoamerican culture (as once thought) due to the latter's differing point of reference for the four cardinal directions and other specific cultural views of the sky, but Venus was important in Mesoamerican cosmology also.  Here is an interesting read:

http://rla.unc.edu/Mdvlfiles/paper/Daniel-Hartung 1981.pdf

[SwiMatt]

This is so interesting, thank you! 

I don't think it's surprising to find that both Mesoamerican cultures and Missisippian culture could have independently developed rites and knowledge around a feature as prominent as Venus. I would expect to find the same in Old World cultures, althought it's so hard to know due to the almost complete lack of ethnographical evidence from prehistory!

[orion25]

2 hours ago, SwiMatt said:

This is so interesting, thank you! 

I don't think it's surprising to find that both Mesoamerican cultures and Missisippian culture could have independently developed rites and knowledge around a feature as prominent as Venus. I would expect to find the same in Old World cultures, althought it's so hard to know due to the almost complete lack of ethnographical evidence from prehistory!

There is also evidence of red cedar structures (called "Woodhenges") built by the Mississippians to acknowledge the equinoxes and the solstices, like Stonehenge in Great Britain. Here is another informative article about the Cahokia culture, the largest Mississippian culture we know of north of Mexico:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/march/12/cahokia.htm

 

Regards,

Reggie

[SwiMatt]

Thanks for the suggested reading @orion25, I will read with pleasure later today (and come back with further comments, probably )

[orion25]

6 hours ago, SwiMatt said:

Thanks for the suggested reading @orion25, I will read with pleasure later today (and come back with further comments, probably )

👍👍👍👍

[SwiMatt]

17 hours ago, orion25 said:

Thanks for reading my post, my friend. Information about Mississippian cosmology is limited but research indicates only a basic knowledge of the cosmos, based on the four cardinal directions and movements of the sun and the moon. Seasonal factors in relation to the sun were obviously important to the Mississippians who were an agricultural people. The "Harvest" and "Hunter's" moons likely assisted them with nighttime harvesting and hunting. It is unknown if eclipses were considered significant but there is some evidence of the acknowledgment of Venus as a "morning/evening star" from iconography on gorgets (round pendants) discovered at archaeological sites. Research indicates that Mississippian astronomy was likely NOT to have been significantly influenced by Mesoamerican culture (as once thought) due to the latter's differing point of reference for the four cardinal directions and other specific cultural views of the sky, but Venus was important in Mesoamerican cosmology also.  Here is an interesting read:

http://rla.unc.edu/Mdvlfiles/paper/Daniel-Hartung 1981.pdf

Thanks for this and for the WP link! When reading up on archaeoastronomy it's so difficult to find serious scholarship, but this got me a good surface knowledge to start with.

Much astronomical knowledge in ancient times (before written history) was developed to better survive the year cycle, and these findings follow the same pattern. There are some traces of heliacal raisings being used as farmer's almanac as far back as 3000 BC in the Mediterranean. What is so fascinating with ancient cultures that arose on the American continent is that there are ethnographic sources to help better understand the archeological measurements. Much archaeoastronomy in Europe is fundamentally just measuring some alignments, which makes it a bit unreliable when it comes to understanding the cultural significance of findings...