Scientific Rationale
People have always contemplated their environment, including the sky and celestial phenomena.
They acted in accordance with these phenomena, reflected them in their places of habitation and constructed their worldviews.
Cultural Astronomy - Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy - studies humankind’s perceptions and understanding of astronomical phenomena, throughout human history and among all cultures, and shows how astronomy was woven into everyday and spiritual life, revealing insights into people’s concepts of space and time.
Research in Cultural Astronomy is interdisciplinary and unites the contributions from different natural, social and formal sciences like astronomy, anthropology, history (also the history of art, science, and religions), archaeology, architecture and mathematics.
Studies, which yield evidence for the astronomical practices and beliefs of peoples from Ancient epochs links the earliest skywatchers to modern astronomers and cosmologists. Cultural Astronomy & Ancient Skywatching is the theme of SEAC 28 and researchers working in this field are welcomed at the conference.
Special session "Archaeoastronomical monuments and rock art on the Balkans and Southeast Europe" will be organized.