Overview

Astronomy in the Inca Empire was a robust and fundamental practice. The subsequent Spanish conquest of the Andes region disrupted much of this indigenous culture and resulted in a significant loss of information about its rich history. Through modern archaeoastronomy, this book helps recover and interpret some of these elements of Inca civilization. Astronomy was intricately woven into the very fabric of Andean existence and daily life. Accordingly, the text takes a holistic approach to its research, considering first and foremost the cultural context of each astronomy-related site. The chapters necessarily start with a history of the Incas from the beginning of their empire through the completion of the conquest by Spain before diving into an astronomical and cultural analysis of many of the huacas found in the heart of the Inca Empire. Over 300 color images—original artwork and many photos captured during the author’s extensive field research in Machu Picchu, the SacredValley, Cusco, and elsewhere—are included throughout the book, adding visual insight to a rigorous examination of Inca astronomical sites and history.

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9783030483654

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Reviews

This informative book, clearly a labor of love, animates a subject whose interest remains undimmed. Above the emperor Huayna Capac's former royal estate at Yucay, Gullberg documents two sun pillars whose counterparts in Cusco were destroyed after the Spanish invasion. (Christopher Heaney, Isis, Vol. 112 (4), December, 2021) The book is astonishingly well illustrated, with a total of 312 figures ... . The illustrations include both black-and-white and color photographs of archaeological sites and other items of cultural interest, as well as many original pencil drawings and watercolor paintings of sites and cultural miscellanea by the author's spouse, Jessica Gullberg. In sum, this is a highly informed and informative book. It raises the standard of the study of Inca astronomy and archaeoastronomy to a whole new level. (Gary Urton, Journal for the History of Astronomy, Vol. 52 (3), August, 2021)

The book is astonishingly well illustrated, with a total of 312 figures ... . The illustrations include both black-and-white and color photographs of archaeological sites and other items of cultural interest, as well as many original pencil drawings and watercolor paintings of sites and cultural miscellanea by the author's spouse, Jessica Gullberg. In sum, this is a highly informed and informative book. It raises the standard of the study of Inca astronomy and archaeoastronomy to a whole new level. (Gary Urton, Journal for the History of Astronomy, Vol. 52 (3), August, 2021)

Author Information

Steven Gullberg holds a Ph.D. in astronomy from James Cook University (Australia) and is an Associate Professor at the University of Oklahoma, where he is Lead Faculty for the School of Integrative and Cultural Studies. He is the University’s Director for Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture, and he also serves as Chair of the International Astronomical Union’s Working Group for Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture. He has conducted extensive field research on the astronomy of the Incas in the Peruvian Andes and has written many research papers. At the University of Oklahoma, he led the development of a graduate-level archaeoastronomy distance-learning program designed to educate researchers around the world. Dr. Gullberg regularly presents papers at international conferences as he endeavors to globally advance the field of archaeoastronomy.

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