A New Archaeoastronomical Investigation of the Irish Axial-Stone Circles

This paper presents the preliminary results of a project undertaken in 1994 to investigate the astronomical potential of the axial-stone circles (ASCs) of seven or more stones in Counties Cork and Kerry, south-west Ireland. This group of sites is of particular interest in that the monuments in the group bear a striking resemblance to the recumbent stone circles (RSCs) of Aberdeenshire, eastern Scotland, which appear to exhibit a strong pattern of alignment in relation to prominent hilltop summits and the rising and setting position of the moon. The first indications from the Irish data are that similar patterns of alignment are not evident in the Irish ASCs. The Irish sites show no preference for orientation upon prominent hilltops and no clear astronomical trends

PENGGUNAAN METODE ROLE PLAYING UNTUK MENINGKATKAN KEMAMPUAN ARTIKULASI ANAK TUNARUNGU : study eksperimen pada anak tunarungu kelas VIII di SLB-B Prima Bhakti Mulia Kota Cimahi

Penelitian ini dilatarbelakangi oleh permasalahan komunikasi antara anak tunarungu dan orang yang bisa mendengar di SLB-B Prima Bhakti Mulia Kota Cimahi yang menggunakan metode komunikasi secara oral. Anak tunarungu kesulitan menyampaikan hal yang ingin mereka ungkapkan dengan berbicara karena hambatan perkembangan bicara dan bahasanya, sehingga mereka hanya dapat mengungkapkannya lewat ujaran dengan suara yang minim. Penelitian ini bertujuan mengetahui pengaruh penggunaan metode role playing untuk meningkatkan kemampuan artikulasi anak tunarungu, dengan alasan bahwa percakapan dengan temannya saat bermain peran dapat meningkatkan kemampuan artikulasi untuk berkomunikasi. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian adalah metode eksperimen dengan desain Pre-experimental one group Pre-test Post-test. Pengolahan data menggunakan uji perbandingan Wilcoxon signed rank test. Tempat penelitian di SLB-B Prima Bhakti Mulia Kota Cimahi dengan jumlah sampel sebanyak 7 anak. Hasil penelitian menunjukan penggunaan metode role playing dapat meningkatkan kemampuan artikulasi anak tunarungu yang dibuktikan dengan hasil uji Wilcoxon yang menunjukan Jhitung = 28 > Jtabel = 2, maka H0 ditolak. Peneliti merekomendasikan metode role playing dapat digunakan sebagai salah satu upaya untuk meningkatkan kemampuan artikulasi anak tunarungu;--

The Case for Formal Methods in Standards

It is argued that applying formal methods to standards making would result in more accurate, more understandable, and more useful standards. The main benefit seen in using formal methods in a standard's development and expression is improving the standard's quality. In the early stages of standards development, formal methods can result in considerable clarification during the development and expression of the underlying conceptual model for a standard or family of related standards. They can also define precisely the relation among the components of both the standard being developed and other standards. Later in the development process, formal methods can improve a standard's quality during its use by letting it be expressed clearly, unambiguously, and concisely in a way that natural language does not allow. Finally, formal methods can aid standards development at the maintenance stage, for example, by allowing the adequacy of a proposed change to be proved. Guidelines for applying formal methods in the standardization process are provided

Virtual Walkabouts

The Virtual Walkabout resource aims to provide not only a tool for expressing the spatial relationships of archaeological landscapes, buildings and artefacts but also a resource for learning and teaching through a simple fieldwork project. The Virtual Walkabout archives contain a series of still, 2-dimensional photographic images that collectively try to express the experience of walking around an archaeological site or monument. The images are presented in their Virtual order from a given point of departure, and are connected by a series of moves, forwards, backwards, pan left, pan right, step left or step right. The Virtual Walkabout archives derive from an original idea of Prof Clive Ruggles who provided the initial set of images from the sites of Beaghmore and Avebury. In addition, the Virtual Walkabout includes a generator tool which can be used to generate walkabouts from any archaeological site, provided the images are arranged, processed and indexed as appropriate. The Walkabout Generator is supported by a short tutorial which is intended to encourage students to undertake their own simple fieldwork project and presents many of the common problems that fieldworkers face but which students often overlook. Lecturers and tutors are invited to use the walkabout to prepare students for fieldwork. Students and those using the walkabout are encouraged to submit their own virtual walkabouts for possible archiving with the ADS. The site is easily navigable through the standard ADS interface and users are required to accept the ADS terms and conditions prior to accessing the resource. The site requires a JavaScript enabled browser to view the archived walkabouts and a digital camera or standard camera and scanner together with image processing software are required to create a virtual walkabout

Ancient astronomy: an encyclopedia of cosmologies and myth

Long before astronomy was a science, humans used the stars to mark time, navigate, organize planting and dramatize myths. This encyclopaedia draws on archaeological evidence and oral traditions to reveal how prehistoric humans perceived the skies and celestial phenomena

Handbook of archaeoastronomy and ethnoastronomy

How human communities interpret what they perceive in the sky is vital in fulfilling humankind’s most basic need to comprehend the universe it inhabits, both from a modern scientific perspective and from countless other cultural standpoints, extending right back to early prehistory. Archaeoastronomy, which is concerned with cultural perceptions and understandings of astronomical phenomena, is a rich cross-disciplinary field. The central aim of “Handbook of Archaeoastronomy” is to provide a reliable source for theory, method, interpretation and best practices that will give a definitive picture of the state of the art research in this field for serious scholars regardless of the discipline(s) in which they are qualified. It will be equally suitable for those already contributing to the field and those interested in entering it. Also included are studies in ethnoastronomy, which is concerned with contemporary practices related to astronomy, particularly among modern indigenous societies. A major part of this MRW is comprised of a set of wide-ranging archaeoastronomical case studies both geographically and through time, stretching right back to Palaeolithic days, and also in terms of the types of human society and nature of their astronomical ideas and practices. However, these are chosen in order to best illuminate broader issues and themes, rather than to attempt, for example, to provide systematic coverage of recent ‘discoveries.’ Thematic articles cover general themes such as cosmologies, calendars, navigation, orientations and alignments, and ancient perceptions of space and time. They also highlight various aspects of the social context of astronomy (its relationship to social power, warfare, etc) and how we interpret astronomical practices within the framework of conceptual approaches. There are also discussions of broad issues such as ethnocentrism, nationalism, and astronomical dating. The “methods and practices” articles cover topics from field methodology and survey procedures to social theory, as well as providing broad definitions and explanations of key concepts. We are also including a number of “disciplinary perspectives” on approaches to archaeoastronomy written by leading figures in the constituent fields. These articles cover material that, generally speaking, would be familiar to graduates in the relevant discipline but, critically, not so to those with different backgrounds