Computational Analysis of the Spatial Distribution of Pre-Christian Slavic Sacred Sites

Andjelko Djermek ()
Additional contact information
Andjelko Djermek: Jablanovec Croatia

Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems - scientific journal, 2012, vol. 10, issue 2, 127-158

Abstract: This paper proposes a method to find out the units of length used by the Slavs prior to their Christianization. The method relies on a previous research of the tripartite structure of pre-Christian Slavic sacred sites discovered by Andrej Pleterski. Such spatial structures represent myth in space and are in correlation with the central Slavic myth of the divine battle between Perun and Veles as presented by Radoslav Katièiæ. By measuring the angles which Sun takes through the year cycle and comparing them with the angles between the sacred sites, the pagan priests had means to accurately determine the days of religious festivals and the calendar in general. The angles likely had an important role, but this article tries to examine weather the absolute values of the distance between the sacred sites were also important. The method relies on the mathematical properties of arithmetic and geometric sequences. If for some of the inital parameters of the sequences the probability function for a given distribution of sacred sites in some area shows to be significantly smaller than the average, then it is an indication that the respective distribution is not random. The parameters in such case may point to the system of measures used during the creation of the structure. The proposed method really detected some common modules, but in this phase it is only experimental and still can not be used as a proof of common Pan-Slavic system of units.

Keywords: myth in space; metrology; archeoastronomy; spatial analysis; probability distribution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://indecs.eu/2012/indecs2012-pp127-158.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zna:indecs:v:10:y:2012:i:2:p:127-158

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems - scientific journal from Croatian Interdisciplinary Society Provider Homepage: http://indecs.eu
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Josip Stepanic ().