The tendency to ascribe ancient artifacts to "ritual purposes" or religion always astounds me.
This is a calendar. It's proven to be a calendar. We know how it works as a calendar. It's a tool for predicting celestial events.
It doesn't need to be hand-wavingly described as "worn by a priest or diety of a sun-god religion". What evidence is there for that? Which sun-god?
Why is there never any proof or evidence required for saying an artifact has a religious purpose?
It's like saying "this object, that we know to be a screwdriver, must be an item of ritual significance to the god of Sunday Afternoon Home Maintenance, and used by their priests in their rituals"
This is a calendar. It's proven to be a calendar. We know how it works as a calendar. It's a tool for predicting celestial events.
It doesn't need to be hand-wavingly described as "worn by a priest or diety of a sun-god religion". What evidence is there for that? Which sun-god?
Why is there never any proof or evidence required for saying an artifact has a religious purpose?
It's like saying "this object, that we know to be a screwdriver, must be an item of ritual significance to the god of Sunday Afternoon Home Maintenance, and used by their priests in their rituals"