Precession of the Equinoxes and the Calibration of Astronomical Epochs

Abstract

Astronomical observations were used as a marker for time and the Calendar from ancient times. A more subtle calibration of epochs is thrown up by an observation of the position of the solstices and equinoxes, because these points shift in the sky with the years resulting in the gradual shift of celestial longitudes $\lambda$. Chronology based on such observations however needs to be backed up by hard evidence. We match both to take us back to $10,000$ B.C., the epi-paleolithic period, and the beginning of civilization itself.