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Splendour in the sky How to watch Effects of Aurora Borealis Beliefs of indigenous people The Northern Lights in HistoryRelated sites
The Northern Lights in history |
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Before the Christian EraSome of the drawings made by Cro-Magnon people on the walls and ceilings of caves in Southern France probably depict the northern lights.
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These rock paintings could be the very first recordings of the northern lights in the history of
mankind - they can be dated back to 30,000 years before our time.
There is a lot of documentation about the northern lights in the cultures of eastern Asia. Several references to the northern lights appeared in China more than 2,000 years ago. A list of auroral observations in China starts in 687 BC. On the average, there is about one observation of the aurora described in the list during every 40 years. Chinese people never used any special name for the northern lights. Instead, the heavenly lights were described by using terms characterising fire and animals, especially the dragon. The oldest written document is approximately from the year 2,600 BC. |
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