# Archaeoastronomy · Concept

> Testing whether a monument was aligned on the sky, and how.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts/CPT0DECW06BRKCY/archaeoastronomy  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Concepts](https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts)Archaeoastronomy

Concept · archaeology · in 2 mysteries

# Archaeoastronomy

Testing whether a monument was aligned on the sky, and how.

[Great houses of Chaco Canyon](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon)[Nazca Lines](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/nazca-lines)

The study of alignments between built things and the rising and setting of the Sun, Moon and stars. Stonehenge's solstice axis, the Carnac rows, Chaco's great houses and the Nebra Sky Disc are all read this way. The standing problem is chance: with many stones and many sky events, some alignments will occur by accident, so a claim must say in advance what it predicts and how likely it is by chance.

## Where it comes up

**[Great houses of Chaco Canyon](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon)**

The roads and the Sun Dagger petroglyph on Fajada Butte have made Chaco a centre of archaeoastronomy, with a disputed lunar dimension .

**[Nazca Lines](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/nazca-lines)**

Astronomical alignment is not a general property of the lines . The pampa's figures are now catalogued at a scale that permits statistics, and the 2024 study is the first to show a difference in motif and placement…

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Archaeoastronomy [Concept CPT0DECW06BRKCY]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/CPT0DECW06BRKCY
```

Key

**CPT** 0DECW06BRKCY

Record

Concept

Field

Archaeology

Related

[Null model](https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts/CPT0DECW06JED24/null-model)

Version

2

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

[ Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q214700)

**How this page is made.** The definition is the site's, in its own words. “Where it comes up” is read from the answers, methods and evidence that name the concept.

Related concepts

[Null model](https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts/CPT0DECW06JED24/null-model)

The record

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