ASTRONOMICAL ASPECTS OF THE CULT PRACTISE OF THE PEAK SANCTUARY KOKINO

Abstract

The latest astronomical research of the site known as "Tatikev Kamen" (or peak sanctuary Kokino) casts light on the cult practice of the local population of the Bronze Age in this region in northeast Macedonia. The newly-discovered astronomic platform has been used to observe the heliacal appearance of the star Aldebaran in a period of approximately 500 years, as well as the sunrise at the equinox. In 21 century BC, Aldebaran has been much nearer to the point of equinox. Therefore, the stone notch that marked the spring equinox has been used in the same time as a marker for the heliacal rising of Aldebaran, an event which has happened two months after the spring equinox. In the morning of the heliacal rising of the star, the appearance of the sun on the "mutual” marker has been visible from the platform with the stone thrones. In this article we express the view that the period from the spring equinox to the appearance of the Sun at the "mutual marker" (from the platform with the thrones) is a period in which, even nowadays, according to the local culture and folklore tradition, the local population celebrates different holidays which still encapsulate visible elements from pagan cults. Those are folklore customs related to the celebrations of the so-called Agrarian and Stock Breeding New Year, as well as holidays related to the cosmological concepts of the Bronze Age people in the region.