VDI (1995. N 1) has already published reports on interdisciplinary research by historians and astronomers and an interdisciplinary discussion on the Zodiac problem. Among such joint forums is the conference "Ancient Astronomy: Sky and Man", where, in accordance with the basic principles of paleoastronomy, equal attention was paid to historical, cultural and natural history issues.

The conference was held on November 19-24, 1997 at the Sternberg State Astronomical Institute (MSU GAISH). Its participants included: the Astronomical Society (EAAS), the Moscow State University GAI111, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of the History of Natural Science and Technology (IIET) Russian Academy of Sciences, the Astrocosmic Center of the FIAN and the Institute of Asian and African Countries at Moscow State University. The focus of the conference is indicated by the names of its thematic sections: "SETI ¹ and ancient civilizations"; "Archeoastronomy"; "Ancient Sun and Man"; "Ethnoastronomy"; "History of Astronomy in the history of culture".

At the first session on November 19, which was chaired by V. I. Slish, ACC FIAN, and D. S. Rayevsky, IV RAS, astronomers and historians compared their approaches to the problem of "ancient civilizations". In the report of N. S. Kardashev (ACC FIAN) "Cosmology and civilization", the question was raised about the possibility of the existence of the oldest super-civilizations in our Metagalaxy, billions of years ahead of humanity in development. This possibility should be taken into account when studying the most ancient civilizations.

Astronomical conditions for the formation of planetary systems and the development of civilizations were considered in general terms in the report of V. I. Slysh (ACC FIAN). Fundamental aspects of the formation and development of civilizations from an astronomical point of view were covered in the reports of L. M. Gindilis (GAISH MSU) "SETI: technical and humanitarian aspects" and G. M. Iplis (IIET RAS) "The universal nature of space civilizations and the necessary universality of the anthropic principle in cosmology". In the report of V. V. Kazyutinsky (Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences) "Epistemological foundations of the exchange of semantic information between space civilizations", it was pointed out that the problem of this exchange, as it is understood in astronomy, is partly similar to the problem of deciphering the sign systems of extinct civilizations.

Much attention was paid to the ancient Chinese civilization, as it is very different from the European one and approaches to its study in some areas overlap with approaches to the study of other civilizations in the framework of SETI. I. S. Lisevich (IB RAS) in his report "Ancient Chinese ideas about cosmogenesis" interpreted the work of Qu Yuan (IV century BC).) "Heavenly questions". Now it is becoming increasingly clear that it is connected with ancient Chinese cosmography. Apparently, here is a list of questions that every "initiate" should know the answer to and that were asked to the future mystic in the rite of initiation, as if on behalf of the deity. They reflected ideas about the entire development of the Universe since its inception (compare E. N. Kaurov's conclusions about the long path and high level of development of ancient Chinese astronomy, which dates back to the Middle Paleolithic). According to I. S. Lisevich, the cosmogonic ideas of the ancient Chinese have two components: mythological and natural philosophy, and the ancient Chinese themselves did not draw a border between them, which gave rise to a sharply different system of concepts from the modern one. In the report of A. M. A mathematical algorithm for the sequential construction of the so-called "Drawing of the Great Limit" was presented as a possible economical method of interstellar communication, which involves overcoming cardinal differences in the languages of the "interlocutors".

On the second day of the conference (November 20), two meetings were held. The morning session (chaired by T. M. Potemkina, IA RAS) was devoted to the topic "Archeoastronomy". The session covered both some astronomical aspects and specific archaeological sites ("Savin" - T. M. Potemkina, IA RAS; mounds "with moustaches" on Atasu in Kazakhstan-N. M. Bekbasarov, Astrophysical Institute, Alma - Ata; monuments of the VIII-VII centuries BC in Altai - L. S. Abramovich). Marsadolov, the Hermitage; archeoastronomical monuments of Mesoamerica-V. A. Yurevich, Earth and Universe magazine), as well as more general issues of archeoastronomy of burials: from the Eneolithic to the Early Middle Ages (M. G. Gusakov-CAI of the UGC OIP) and Mousterian burials (E. N. Kauroye). Outside of the program, a report by P. M. Geruni (RI Research Institute, Yerevan) was heard.

The evening session (chaired by V. N. Obridko, IZMI RAS) was devoted to the topic "The Ancient Sun and Man". Here the issues of ecology of ancient societies and special natural resources were considered.

¹ SETI - Search of Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

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factors that formed the foundations of the archaic worldview. In the report of T. K. Breus (ICI RAS), V. N. Obridko and F. A. Shishkin. Halberg (USA, University of Minnesota) "Some aspects of the relationship between human ecology and solar activity" presented serious medical, biological and astronomical arguments in favor of the biological reasons for the origin of the weekly calendar cycle associated with human adaptation in the environment; its connection with the lunar cycle may be secondary. The report of B. M. Vladimirsky (Crimean Astrophysical Observatory) and L. D. Kislovsky (Institute of Crystallography of the Russian Academy of Sciences) discussed the possibility of the biological origin of the oldest calendar cycles, predetermined by the adaptation of ancient man to the influence of historically changing factors of solar-lunar relations, hidden from his direct perception. Similar in approach were the reports of V. A. Dergachev (St. Petersburg Institute of Physics and Technology), V. F. Chistyakov (Ussuriysk Astronomical Observatory) "Large-scale solar and climatic cycles and their impact on the life of peoples" and G. V. Kuklin (Irkutsk Institute of Physics and Technology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences) "Palingnosis (reconstruction) of the course of solar activity in the historical past". In the report of Yu. S. Khudyakova (IAE SB RAS, Novosibirsk) spoke about the prospects for creating a database on terrestrial disasters of cosmic origin.

The third day of the conference (November 21, chaired by E.N. Kaurov, EAAS, and Yu. N. Efremov, GAISH RAS) was devoted to ethno - astronomy. The morning session focused on the adaptation of ancient man to natural conditions. E. N. Kaurov's report "The Archaic system of astronomical observations and circumpolar constellations" based on astronomical, geophysical, and historical data provided a justification for the hypothesis that observations and recording of the position of the World's Pole began in the Mousterian epoch, during the transition from the Mikulinsky interglacial to the Wurm Ice Age (about 100-110 thousand years ago The first circumpolar constellations (Ursa Major, Dragon ) were identified, and they also marked the beginning of the tradition of observing circumpolar constellations and the Pole of the World, which was recorded in the mythology and monuments of ancient China. Fragments of the archaic astronomical tradition that characterize the syncretic astral worldview of the ancients were discussed in the reports of I. A. Svyatopolk-Chetvertynsky (INR RAS) "Establishment of the monthly lunar cycle according to the Sumerian and Babylonian tradition (STC text)" and G. E. Kurtik (IIET RAS) "Astral symbolism in ancient Mesopotamia of the third millennium BC". The transition to a modern astronomical worldview was considered in the reports of S. V. Zhytomyr (Moscow State University) "Mythological roots of spherical astronomy and the Phenomena of Arata" and Yu. V. Tchaikovsky (IIET RAS) "Astronomy of Thales in a historical context".

At the evening session, the attention of the speakers was mainly focused on the dating of the ancient star catalog "Almagest" of Ptolemy (II century AD). Yu. N. Efremov (GAISH) and Yu. A. Zavenyagin (NC "Kurchatov Institute") in the report "Almagest" and chronology" gave a generalized analysis of the current state of dating of this monument and more They once demonstrated the inconsistency of the well-known scheme of A. T. Fomenko. In the report of A. K. Dambis, Yu. N. Efremov and O. L. Durlevich (Traffic Police of Moscow State University) "Dating of the epoch of observation of stars in the Almagest catalog by proper motions", a correct method of astronomical refinement of its dating was proposed. G. G. Yershova (IA RAS) addressed the ancient Mayan astronomy in her report "Comets and meteors in the Mayan view". The proposed calendar reform of Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) was discussed in the report of A.V. Kuzmin (GANGES) "Problems of the ancient Egyptian calendar".

The fourth day of the conference (November 22, chaired by V.V. Kazyutinsky, Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences) was devoted to the problems of the history of astronomy in the context of cultural history. V. V. Kazyutinsky in his report "The Copernican Revolution at the crossroads of worldview traditions" demonstrated a new point of view on the ongoing reassessment of Copernicus ' contribution to the creation of the modern astronomical paradigm. The reports of R. V. Bagdasarov (IEA) "The symbolism of the constellations Sagittarius and Centauri in Russian traditional culture", I. M. Denisova (IEA) "Reflection of the system of archaic representations of the universe in Russian folk art", L. A. Tultseva (IEA) "Helioastric characteristics of man in Russian folklore and folk beliefs" showed that the origins of the study of ethnography are very different. Russian national culture dates back to ancient times. This adds to the picture of ancient "folk" astronomy, which was based on the natural interest of ancient man in the sky, stimulated, obviously, by biological selection. L. L. Kofanov (IVI RAS) devoted his report "The starry sky in the system of Roman augural law" to the reflection of the astral worldview in the legal institutions of the Romans. According to tradition, Numa Pompilius was the first to observe the stars, and thus became the founder of the augural discipline, which also experienced the most ancient influence of the South Italian Greeks (probably Pythagoras and his school) since at least the sixth century BC. Kazakh astronomy.

On November 24, the final "Round table" was held on the cardinal question "What is archaeoastronomy (paleoastronomy)?". Such discussions are now becoming somewhat traditional, which is not surprising given the rapid development of Russian archaeoastronomy in recent years.

A thematic collection "Dragon and Zodiac" (on the subject of ethno-astronomy)was published for the conference,

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as well as a collection of conference abstracts. The organization of the conference and the publication of its proceedings were supported by a grant from the Soros Foundation (Open Society Institute, Higher Education Program, project N H2H749) and the Federal Astronomy Program (project N 1.10.2.1), as well as grants of financial support for the IV Congress of the Astronomical Society.

The results of the conference "Ancient Astronomy: Sky and Man", which can equally interest representatives of the humanities and natural sciences, will serve as a good incentive for the development of interdisciplinary studies of antiquity.

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