IHARKA SZÜCS-CSILLIK

Abstract: Alignment is a static orientation of some objects, or set of objects, in relation to others. In archaeoastronomy we can separate stone alignments (stone rows) and alignments connected with orientation (e.g. graves, or skeletons orientation). The object of our research is to emphasize the importance of orientation in the Neolithic time, which we can determine by using a magnetic compass. Our collected data led us to conclude that solar observation was the determinant of orientation. More particularly, the rising of the sun above the horizon and possibly, though less frequently, the setting sun, provided the alignment. It was possible to show a close correlation with sunrise, or sunset at feast days, that is, the day on which the venerated God was celebrated, at Easter and on true east, determined by equinoctial sunrise. We consider the orientation of burials in the Neolithic, on the south-eastern Romanian territory. These necropolises (Cernica, Grǎdiştea Ulmilor, etc.) show clearly that the East-West orientation was mostly taken. The Neolithic burials are aligned on that arc of the horizon where the Sun rises between the winter and summer solstices (solar arc) in a year. In the middle of the solar arc, of course, is also the zone within which Easter (spring and autumn equinoxes) falls. Rezumat: Autorii prezintă în acest studiu importanţa orientării în neolitic, determinată prin utilizarea unui compas magnetic. Datele obţinute conduc la concluzia că observaţia solară era factorul determinant al orientării