People all over the world have looked to the sky for thousands of years. They used the stars, Sun, and Moon to guide them. These patterns in the sky helped them tell stories, mark time, find direction, and celebrate important events.
This section explores how different cultures understand and use the sky. You’ll find ideas from ancient times to today. These include beliefs, traditions, festivals, and science from around the world.
Cultural astronomy can help us think in new ways. It shows how science, culture, and history are linked. It also helps us reflect on who we are and how we connect to others.
We have grouped the content into 5 themes:
Calendars and Timekeeping Astronomy and Belief Star Stories Navigation and Wayfinding Festivals and Celebrations
Each theme has a range of examples. They include well-known sites like Stonehenge and lesser-known traditions like Zulu sky stories. We’ve included cultures from across the globe. By learning about sky knowledge from different times and places, we can better understand our shared human experience.
Do you know a story we haven’t included? We would love to hear from you. If you know of other sky traditions or cultural astronomy examples, please email us at SchoolsObs@ljmu.ac.uk.