Related papers: The road to the Loulan Kingdom
This chapter examines the geographical meaning of the Sahel, its fluid boundaries, and its spatial dynamics. Unlike other approaches that define the Sahel as a bioclimatic zone or as an ungoverned area, it shows that the Sahel is primarily…
To travel into the past, to observe it, perhaps to influence it and correct mistakes of one's youth, has been an abiding fantasy of mankind for as long as we have been aware of a past. Here are described some recent scientific…
The Arabia Shield has a volcanic nature inside. A region of the Western Saudi Arabia is in fact covered with vast fields of lava known as harraat. These lands are spotted by many stone circles and other quite interesting archaeological…
The heartland of the Khmer empire is literally crowded by magnificent monuments built in the course of many centuries. These monuments include the world-famous state-temples, such as Angkor Wat, but also many other temples and huge water…
In this review we concentrate on the dynamical evolution of the Milky Way as monitored in the solar neighbourhood. The relevant data sets are presented and discussed in detail. In the second part we review various mechanisms, which drive…
The possible existence of astronomical references in the planning of the so-called Great Hopewell Road, a 90 Kilometres straight road composed of two parallel earthen embankments which, according to recent surveys, likely connected the…
Here we propose a tour about the life of Isaac Newton, using a georeferenced method, based on the free satellite maps. Our tour is modelled on the time-line of the great scientist's life, as an ancient "itinerarium" was modelled on the…
An arid land, known as the Syrian Desert, is covering a large part of the Middle East. In the past, this harsh environment, characterized by huge lava fields, the "harraat", was considered as a barrier between Levant and Mesopotamia. When…
Ancient regional routes were vital for interactions between settlements and deeply influenced the development of past societies and their "complexification". At the same time, since any transportation infrastructure needs some level of…
The lunar geological record contains a rich archive of the history of the inner Solar System, including information relevant to understanding the origin and evolution of the Earth-Moon system, the geological evolution of rocky planets, and…
Our understanding of the history of the solar system has undergone a revolution in recent years, owing to new theoretical insights into the origin of Pluto and the discovery of the Kuiper belt and its rich dynamical structure. The emerging…
Earthworks appear in the satellite images of deforested sections of the Amazon Basin. These images, and several other archaeological evidences, are showing that a lost civilization is waiting for further researches.
A series of peculiar, visual alignments between the pyramids of the pharaohs of the 4, 5 and 6 Egyptian dynasties exists. These alignments governed from the very beginning the planning of the funerary monuments of successive kings and, in…
We review observational evidence bearing on the formation of a prototypical large spiral galaxy, the Milky Way. New ground- and space-based studies of globular star clusters and dwarf spheroidal galaxies provide a wealth of information to…
During the first few centuries CE, the centre of the known world gradually shifted from Alexandria to Constantinople. Combined with a societal shift from pagan beliefs to Christian doctrines, Antiquity gave way to the Byzantine era. While…
This review discusses the structure and evolution of the Milky Way, in the context of opportunities provided by asteroseismology of red giants. The review is structured according to the main Galactic components: the thin disk, thick disk,…
Galactic archaeology represents a multidisciplinary approach aimed at unraveling the intricate history of the Milky Way galaxy through the study of its stellar populations. This abstract delves into the significance of galactic archaeology…
The fields of occultation and microlensing are linked historically. Early this century, occultation of the Sun by the Moon allowed the apparent positions of background stars projected near the limb of the Sun to be measured and compared…
The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy, with physical properties inferred from various tracers informed by the extrapolation of structures seen in other galaxies. However, the distances of these tracers are measured indirectly and are…
The cyclic model of the universe has an old history in India. It has held the preeminent position regarding the origins of the universe, and it is described in astronomical texts, Puranic encyclopaedias, and philosophical literature. Within…