Inverted analemmatic sundial of the Bronze Age

TL;DR

This paper identifies and describes a unique Bronze Age sundial from Crimea, introducing a new 'inverted analemmatic' type where hour markers move while the gnomon remains fixed, based on a 3,000-year-old artifact.

Contribution

It proposes a novel type of sundial, the inverted analemmatic, distinguished by its unique arrangement of hour markers and gnomon, not previously documented.

Findings

Identified a Bronze Age sundial from Crimea as a new sundial type.

Introduced the concept of inverted analemmatic sundial with fixed gnomon.

Demonstrated the sundial's unique hour marker arrangement based on cup marks.

Abstract

This article describes the study of a Bronze Age limestone slab with cup marks, discovered during the archaeological excavations of kurgan 1 of the kurgan grave field Prolom II, located in the Belogorsk region in Crimea. According to the results of the study, it is concluded that the Belogorsk slab is a sundial of about the XV - XII centuries BC and belongs to the Srubnaya culture. By type of sundial, it is closest to the analemmatic sundial. However, the principle of the hourly markings of the Belogorsk slab is so unique that it is proposed to separate this type of sundial into a new type - inverted analemmatic sundial. This type is characterized by the fact that, unlike typical analemmatic sundials, the gnomon remains motionless throughout the year, and in accordance with the analemma, the "dial" "moves" - an ellipse of hour markers from cup marks, i.e. gnomon and hour markers (cup marks) change places in terms of mobility. The movement of hour markers on the Belogorsk slab is not literal, but is imitated by several rows of cup marks, which are fragments of hour marker ellipses for different months of the year. The idea behind this type of sundial is so revolutionary that we can talk about the discovery of a completely new type of sundial, the analogue of which has not yet been discovered. Keywords: cup marks, sundial, inverted, analemma, true solar time, mean solar time, hour markers, Srubnaya culture, Bronze Age, kurgan grave field, slab.