Legacy documentation: using historical resources in a cultural astronomy project

Legacy documentation, the accumulated historical knowledge about an archaeological site, must be reviewed in order to locate data on the condition of archaeological features and architecture proposed to be related to astronomical observances. This type of documentation can be located in museums, research libraries, colleges or universities, national public institutions and increasingly in digitized collections available on the internet. Locating and using legacy documentation is more than a simple review of literature, it is an integral part of the process of architectural documentation. The method of architectural documentation involves detailed site proveniencing, obtaining summary data for study units, and detailed descriptions of feature conditions (Nordby et al. 2002). Case studies present the impact of legacy documentation when evaluating the original condition of astronomically associated architecture or features.