Littlestone wrote: Fascinating stuff David! Does your research suggest that (astronomical) observations were made principally from inside or from outside of the structure (or perhaps equally from both?).
From a different time (7th century) and a different place (South Korea) there are the stone tower observatories – Cheomseongdae perhaps being the most famous. More here – http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Cheomseongdae (Cheomseongdae means ‘Nearer the Stars Palace’ :-)
Good textbook on early Asian astronomy .
Xu Zhentao, David Pankenier, and Jiang Yaotiao. East Asian Archaeoastronomy:
Historical Records of Astronomical Observations of China, Japan and Korea.
Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach, 2000.
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