The Origins of Calendars and Timekeeping
The measurement of time catalyzed the development of numbers, mathematics and astronomy, and cosmology, as the first humans began counting days, then hours, then minutes, and seconds of time. The methods of timekeeping vary by civilization and reflect the belief systems, environment, and mathematics of each culture. A more complete treatment of the entire range of calendars and how they arose from each civilization can be found in Penprase (2010).
Many Native North American groups used changes in vegetation and animal behaviors to set their calendars and named their months based on these annual cycles. Like the Hawaiian and Zuni peoples, observations of the moon, sun, and stars would give the “master clock” to reset the calendar and start a new year. The stellar observations could include noting the position of the Big Dipper (also known as the Plough or Ursa Major) relative to the horizon at the beginning and middle of the night, as is the...
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Penprase, B.E. (2016). Calendars and Timekeeping Around the World. In: Selin, H. (eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7747-7_9840
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