Essay Anthropology

Ancient humans used the moon as a calendar in the sky

Cave art and stone carvings reveal early humans’ time-tracking sophistication

crescent moon

TIMEPIECE  Archaeological evidence suggests that early humans used the moon as a timekeeper, as first argued during the Apollo missions.

Kym MacKinnon/Unsplash

By Rebecca Boyle

- More than 2 years ago

The sun’s rhythm may have set the pace of each day, but when early humans needed a way to keep time beyond a single day and night, they looked to a second light in the sky.