What purpose did simple constructions like sighting sticks primarily serve?
Answer
Aligning two distant points, like a mountain peak and a star, to mark rising/setting points.
Sighting sticks were utilized as simple aids to align two geographically distant features—one fixed, like a mountain, and one celestial, like a specific star—to precisely mark important horizon points for rising or setting.

Frequently Asked Questions
What was the original dependable clock available to early civilizations for tracking time?What made tracking planets more challenging than tracking fixed stars for naked-eye observers?What purpose did simple constructions like sighting sticks primarily serve?What celestial event was a critical marker for many agricultural societies regarding planting and harvesting?Which celestial observation was crucial for predicting the annual flooding of the Nile River in Ancient Egypt?Which specific planet did the Maya meticulously track with incredible accuracy as part of their sophisticated timekeeping?What was the primary astronomical interest in Mesopotamia (Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians)?What celestial events are the main axis of Stonehenge aligned to mark?What distinguished the philosophical shift in early Greek astronomy compared to earlier traditions?What mathematical refinement was introduced by Greek astronomers to reconcile observed wandering motion with the idea of perfect circular orbits?What was the fundamental premise of the geocentric model proposed by philosophers like Aristotle?Ptolemy's formalized model, detailed in the *Almagest*, became authoritative for over a millennium primarily because of what quality?