African Cultural Astronomy: Current Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy research in Africa (Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings)

268 Pages·2008·11.033 MB·English

by  Jarita Holbrook, Rodney Thebe Medupe, Johnson O. Urama

Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings
African Cultural Astronomy
Current Archaeoastronomy
and Ethnoastronomy research in Africa
Jarita C. Holbrook
Editor
UniversityofArizona,Tucson,AZ, USA
R. Thebe Medupe
Editor
UniversityofCape Town, Rondebosch,SouthAfrica
Johnson O. Urama
Editor
UniversityofNigeria Nsukka, EnugaState,Nigeria
Editors
JaritaC.Holbrook R.ThebeMedupe
UniversityofArizona UniversityofCapeTown
Tucson,AZ Rondebosch
USA SouthAfrica
JohnsonO.Urama
UniversityofNigeriaNsukka
EnugaState
Nigeria
ISBN:978-1-4020-6638-2 e-ISBN:978-1-4020-6639-9
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2007936372
(cid:2)c 2008SpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.
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inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,microfilming,recording
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Contents
ChasingtheShadowoftheMoon:The2006GhanaEclipseConference... 1
JaritaC.Holbrook
PartI:CulturalAstronomyResearchLessons
TheUseofEthnographicMethodsinCulturalAstronomyResearch ..... 21
BarthChukwuezi
ABriefOutlineontheGeographicalBackgroundofAfrica ............. 29
BasilU.Eze
TheAstronomicalGnomon.......................................... 39
J.McKimMalville
Naked-eyeAstronomyforCulturalAstronomers....................... 53
J.C.HolbrookandAudraBaleisis
Leadership ........................................................ 77
ShawnaHolbrook
IntegratingAfricanCulturalAstronomyintotheClassroom ............ 83
SanlynBuxnerandShawnaHolbrook
AContemporaryApproachtoTeachingEclipses....................... 95
TimothyF.Slater
Teaching CulturalAstronomy:Onthe DevelopmentandEvolution
oftheSyllabusatBathSpa Universityandthe UniversityofWales,
Lampeter..........................................................109
NickCampion
v
vi Contents
PartIICurrentResearchinAfricanCulturalAstronomy
EvidenceofAncientAfricanBeliefsinCelestialBodies .................121
FelixA.Chami
AstronomyofNabtaPlaya ..........................................131
J.McKimMalville,RomauldSchild,FredWendorfandRobertBrenmer
Romans, Astronomy andthe Qibla: Urban Formand Orientation
ofIslamicCitiesofTunisia ..........................................145
M.E.Bonine
TheTimbuktuAstronomyProject....................................179
RodneyThebeMedupe,Brian Warner,ShamilJeppie,SalikouSanogo,
MohammedMaiga,AhmedMaiga,MamadouDembele,DrissaDiakite,
Laya Tembely, Mamadou Kanoute, Sibiri Traore, Bernard Sodio
andSharronHawkes
The CosmologicalVisionofthe Yoruba-Ida`a`chaof BeninRepublic
(WestAfrica):ALightonYorubaHistoryandCulture .................189
Aime´DafonSe`gla
TheRelationshipBetweenHumanDestinyandtheCosmicForces–A
StudyoftheIGBOWorldview .......................................209
BarthChukwuezi
CulturalAstronomyintheLoreandLiteratureofAfrica ...............217
Damian.U.Opata
AstronomyandCultureinNigeria ...................................231
J.O.Urama
Participation and Research of Astronomers and Astrophysicists
ofBlackAfricanDescent(1900–2005).................................239
HakeemM.OluseyiandJohnsonUrama
Index .............................................................257
Contributors
AudraBaleisis DrissaDiakite
UniversityofArizona FacultedesSciencesetTechniques
UniversitedeBamako,Mali
M.E.Bonine
UniversityofArizona
BasilU.Eze
Department of Geography and
RobertBrenmer
Meteorology,EnuguState
40,Kingsway,Aldwick
UniversityofScienceandTechnology,
WestSussexP0214DL,U.K
Enugu,Nigeria
SanlynBuxner
UniversityofArizona SharronHawkes
Dogged Films, Johannesburg,
NickCampion
SouthAfrica
DirectoroftheSophiaCentreforthe
Study Cosmology in Culture, and
JaritaCHolbrook
SeniorLecturerin Archaeologyand
BureauofAppliedResearch
Anthropology,
inAnthropologyUniversityofArizona
UniversityofWales,Lampeter,UK.
Email:[email protected]
E-mail:[email protected]
FAX:[phone]
FelixA.Chami
History/ArchaeologyDepartment, ShawnaHolbrook
UniversityofDaresSalam InternationalFoundationforEducation
E-mail:[email protected] andSelf-Help(IFESH),Benin
BarthChukwuezi
ShamilJeppie
AssociationofProfessor
HistoryDepartment
DepartmentOfSociology/
UniversityofCapeTown
Anthropology,UniversityOfNigeria
SouthAfrica
Nsukka
MamadouDembele MamadouKanoute
FacultedesSciencesetTechniques FacultedesSciencesetTechniques
UniversitedeBamako,Mali UniversitedeBamako,Mali
vii
viii Contributors
AhmedMaiga TimothyF.Slater
FacultedesSciencesetTechniques UniversityofArizona,
UniversitedeBamako,Mali 933N.cherryAve.,Tucson,
AZ85721USA,
MohammedMaiga Telephone:[phone]
FacultedesSciencesetTechniques Fax[phone]
UniversitedeBamako,Mali
BernardSodio
J.McKimMalville
FacultedesSciencesetTechniques
UniversityofColorado
UniversitedeBamako,Mali
[phone]
E-mail:[email protected]
LayaTembely
FacultedesSciencesetTechniques
RodneyThebeMedupe
UniversitedeBamako,Mali
AstronomyDepartment
UniversityofCapeTown
E-mail:[email protected] SibiriTraore
FacultedesSciencesetTechniques
HakeemM.Oluseyi UniversitedeBamako,Mali
FloridaInstituteofTechnology
[phone] JohnsonUrama
E-mail:holuseyi@fit.edu DepartmentofPhysics
andAstronomy
SalikouSanogo
UniversityofNigeria,Nsukka
FacultedesSciencesetTechniques
UniversitedeBamako,Mali
BrianWarner
AstronomyDepartment
RomauldSchild
UniversityofCapeTown
InstituteofArchaeologyandEthnology
E-mail:[email protected]
PolishAcademyofScience,Warsaw
Aime´ DafonSe`gla FredWendorf
ORKESTRAConsulting DepartmentofAnthropology
16PlacedelaMadeleine SouthernMethodistUniversity,Dallas
75008Paris
Tel:[phone] Damian.U.Opata
Portable:0619318742 DepartmentofEnglish
E-mail: a s [email protected], andLiteraryStudies,
[email protected], UniversityofNigeria,Nsukka,Nigeria
[email protected] E-mail:[email protected]
Chasing the Shadow of the Moon: The 2006
Ghana Eclipse Conference
JaritaC.Holbrook
Abstract TheMarch29,2006,totalsolareclipsewasacelestialeventfortuitously
passing over many of the most modern countries of West Africa: Ghana, Togo,
Benin,andNigeria.ForthoseofusresearchingtheculturalastronomyofAfricans,it
fitintoourdiscourse:ararecelestialeventtowhichAfricanswouldberesponding.
And, we upped the ante by organizinga conference on the cultural astronomy of
Africans for the week of the eclipse. This report details the process of creating
the first international conference dedicated to the cultural astronomy of Africans
which was also the first cultural astronomy conference to include workshops and
trainingsessionsfornon-specialists.Thestrategiesforfundraising,attractingpar-
ticipants, and interacting with the international media are presented. I highlight
the achievements of this conference project and include a section on the lessons
learned. Because of the establishment of an anthropologyinternship class for un-
dergraduates;theworkshopsforundergraduates,teachers,andresearchers;andthe
total solar eclipse the Ghana Eclipse Conference was a unique and also success-
ful project. May our strategies serve as a blueprint for the next African cultural
astronomy conference. I next give an overview of this volume of the conference
proceedings and end with a discussion of research methods in African cultural
astronomy.
AfricanAstronomy: Pastand Present
“...[H]istory inilliteratesocieties isnotdifferent from thepursuit ofthepast inliterate
ones,becauseitusesarchaeological,linguistic,anthropological,andeven(fordatingpur-
poses)astronomicalevidencesuchaseclipses.”[53:1]
Theterm‘culturalastronomy’emergedfromtheOxfordsmeetingsinArchaeoas-
tronomyinthe1980sand1990s.“AstronomiesandCultures”thetitleoftheconfer-
enceproceedingsfromthethirdOxfordconferencein1990reflectsafundamental
JaritaCHolbrook
BureauofAppliedResearchinAnthropology,UniversityofArizona
E-mail:[email protected]
Fax:[phone]
J.Holbrooketal.(eds.),AfricanCulturalAstronomy–CurrentArchaeoastronomy
andEthnoastronomyResearchinAfrica.(cid:2)C SpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.2008 1
2 J.C.Holbrook
Fig. 1 Picture taken by S. Buxner of the paper on Saturday after the eclipse. Astronomy and
CultureinactioninGhana
shiftinthinkingaboutastronomy:thewaythatastronomyentwinesincultureisnot
universalandthatallastronomyisculturallyembedded[1].Ashiftinterminology
triedtocapturethisbymovingtowards“astronomies”and“culturalastronomy”[2].
FocusingonthecontinentofAfrica,encompassingbothNorthAfricaandSouthof
theSahara,terminologyneedsclarificationastowhatismeantby“Africancultural
astronomy” or “African astronomy.” Neither term is meant to imply an uniform
homogenous expression of astronomy Africa wide. Rather that with the term
“Africanastronomy”AfricanisaplaceholderfortheAfricanethnicgroupofinterest
suchasIgboastronomy,Bamanaastronomy,orSandaweastronomyorequivalently
Yorubaculturalastronomy,andsoon.
Culturalastronomycombinesknowledgeandmethodsfromthefieldsofastron-
omy,anthropology,andhistoryinordertostudythepracticesandtraditionsoflay
expertsandnon-expertswhorelate,inthebroadestsense,tothesky.Thequoteabove
referenceshowhistoriansofAfricahaveusedastronomyintheirresearch:Eclipsesare
usedtoaidinthedatingoforalhistories[3,4,5].Ratherthanhowastronomycanaidin
thestudyofAfrica,thereistheculturalastronomystudyoftheastronomyofAfricans.
Since1997,myresearchhasfocusedontheculturalastronomyofAfrica,alsoreferred