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Originally posted by Cupid
True, although a lot of modern day depictions do stem from these initial cave paintings which is interesting. I think what baffles me the most is how advanced these ancient civilizations were when it comes to astronomy, compared to everything else like medicine/science etc. The Mayans for example are fascinating with how obsessed with the stars/planets/time they were. I definitely believe we've been visited, I just have no idea when or why.
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I think that astronomy requires less overall knowledge to think and speculate about, especially during the times of ancient civilizations, when very little technology was present. Most modern advances in medicine and science come via modern technology (in chemistry, the development of graphene- in medicine, the development of gamma ray cancer treatments). However, many advances in astronomy did not require modern technology to take place and thus occurred during the lifespans of major ancient civilizations.
From Wikipedia:
"Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences...in early times, astronomy only comprised the observation and predictions of the motions of objects visible to the naked eye. In some locations, early cultures assembled massive artifacts that possibly had some astronomical purpose. In addition to their ceremonial uses, these observatories could be employed to determine the seasons, an important factor in knowing when to plant crops, as well as in understanding the length of the year.
Before tools such as the telescope were invented, early study of the stars was conducted using the naked eye. As civilizations developed, most notably in Mesopotamia, China, Egypt, Greece, India, and Central America, astronomical observatories were assembled, and ideas on the nature of the universe began to be explored. Most of early astronomy actually consisted of mapping the positions of the stars and planets, a science now referred to as astrometry. From these observations, early ideas about the motions of the planets were formed, and the nature of the Sun, Moon and the Earth in the universe were explored philosophically. The Earth was believed to be the center of the universe with the Sun, the Moon and the stars rotating around it. This is known as the geocentric model of the universe, or the Ptolemaic system, named after Ptolemy."
Herbal and traditional forms of medicine that we now consider antiquated and usually useless were the norm back then, and they could not imagine a better medicinal system simply because of the outlandish technology that was required to develop one. They couldn't imagine, in detail, the technology that we have today and therefore would have an extremely hard time imagining major breakthroughs in medicine and science compared to astronomy.
Overall, it was simply easier to think and work in astronomy than in medicine and science in ancient times, and this is one of the reasons (not the only one) why many ancient civilizations were intrigued by astronomy.
