Journal of Astronomy in Culture

It has long been acknowledged that J. Norman Lockyer played a central role in the foundation of archaeoastronomy as a field in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His interest in “orientation” flourished on a visit to Egypt, where he became convinced that rigorous scientific methods could be used to prove archaeological theories concerning ancient religions.

However, despite the promising prospect of a public intellectual entering the sparse discourse around archaeoastronomy, little happened to promote the discipline after the Egyptian expedition. Whilst Lockyer is often framed as a lonely figure working at the dawn of the field, newly digitised lantern slides from the Norman Lockyer Observatory archives reveal his extensive interactions with a dedicated network of British archaeoastronomical researchers. Lockyer’s work, along with that of his new community, came at a very unfortunate time. This paper seeks to explain why he was shunned by prominent archaeologists, and why the discourse around archaeoastronomy up until his time smothered Lockyer’s attempts to legitimize orientation.