Branch of astronomy which attempts to show significant astronomical insight among prehistoric cultures, through the careful measurement of these cultures' remnant structures and collation of these with astronomical data.
The first archaeoastronomical works appeared in the 19th century, dealing mostly with the Egyptian pyramids and their orientation in relation to the constellations. Interest in the subject grew when the astronomer Gerald S. Hawkins showed (1963) that certain angles in the structure of the British prehistoric site Stonehenge corresponded to lunar and solar positions.
Archaeoastronomy is still a disputed subject in science.