Under One Sky

摘要

The Acropolis in Athens, the elaborate temples of Angkor in Cambodia, and the stone statues of tiny Easter Island, home for 1000 years to the most isolated human community on Earth. These are among the 878 World Heritage Sites (both cultural and natural) protected by UNESCO as places of "outstanding universal value" to humankind. As such, each contains extraordinary creative masterpieces from lost cultural traditions. And each represents a vestige of the past that stands out as a powerful source of inspiration to people across the planet.rnYet one aspect of our cultural heritage - astronomy - is woefully under-represented on the World Heritage List. To those of us in the modern, lit-up world, the first time that we see a truly dark night sky can be breathtaking. But until relatively recently, most people experienced this spectacle every clear night, wherever they lived. If we want to appreciate the beliefs and practices reflected in the architecture of ancient temples and tombs, we cannot ignore their relationship to the sky.