Markings on a stone pillar at a 12,000 year-old archaeological site in Turkey likely represent the world's oldest solar calendar, created as a memorial to a devastating comet strike, experts suggest.
Markings on a stone pillar at a 12,000 year-old archaeological site in Turkey likely represent the world's oldest solar calendar, created as a memorial to a devastating comet strike, experts suggest.
The research suggests ancient people were able to record their observations of the sun, moon and constellations in the form of a solar calendar, created to keep track of time and mark the change of seasons. Since both the moon's and the sun's cycles are depicted, the carvings could represent the world's earliest so-called lunisolar calendar, based on the phases of the moon and the position of the sun -- pre-dating other known calendars of this type by many millennia.
Another pillar at the site appears to picture the Taurid meteor stream -- which is thought to be the source of the comet fragments -- lasting 27 days and emanating from the directions of Aquarius and Pisces. The find also supports a theory that Earth faces increased comet strikes as its orbit crosses the path of circling comet fragments, which we normally experience as meteor streams.
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13,000-year-old carvings in Turkey may be the world's oldest lunisolar calendarJennifer Nalewicki is a Salt Lake City-based journalist whose work has been featured in The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, Scientific American, Popular Mechanics and more. She covers several science topics from planet Earth to paleontology and archaeology to health and culture. Prior to freelancing, Jennifer held an Editor role at Time Inc.
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Ancient carvings in Turkey could be earliest solar calendarMarkings on a stone pillar at a 12,000-year-old archaeological site in Turkey likely represent the world's oldest solar calendar, created as a memorial to a devastating comet strike, experts suggest.
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