Land, Sea and Skyscape: Two Case Studies of Man-made Structures in the Azores Islands

• DOI: 10.46472/cc.0217.0211
• Publication Date: 2020-12-04T22:48:16Z
• Authors: Fernando Pimenta; Nuno Ribeiro; Anabela Joaquinito; António Félix Rod...; Antonieta Costa; Fabio Silva
• Keywords: 0601 history and archaeology; 06 humanities and the arts; 01 natural sciences; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

The exploration of the Mediterranean seascape goes back to the foragers of the early Holocene period around the ninth millennium BCE. Two case studies in the Azores islands show possible integration of elements of landscape, seascape and skyscape in the way two different types of artificial structures were aligned. The major axes of the Maroiço structures from Pico Island may have been aligned on the summit of Pico Mountain and, reciprocally, on the setting sun at the summer solstice over the neighbouring Faial Island. The artificial caves near the sea excavated in Monte Brasil, Terceira Island, may have integrated solar calendrical marks, especially for the Equinox sunset over the distant S. Jorge Island.