The geologist and naturalist Édouard Desor already in 1878 formulated the hypothesis that the cupels could represent groups of stars. In this study we examine a group of stars known since the antiquity: the Pleiades. This is the stellar cluster visible even to the naked eye. Seven are the stars that form its main design but generally with a normal view, without the aid of a telescope, only 6 can be counted. There are various representations of asterism in science and art and among the oldest we

more »

... can mention that of the cave of Lascaux dating back to the Paleolithic. Between 2017 and 2018 various petroglyphs and lithic basins have been reported, engraved on the north-west alpine arc and at least in 5 cases it is possible to imagine the star cluster. These are the sites of Monte Roccerè (2 rock engravings), Alpe Cantello, Lillianes, Bard. After a careful analysis of the possibility that such representations are random, we can argue that in some cases such as Monte Roccerè in Alpe Cantello there was "probably" the will to represent the Pleiades. The statistical method presented at the last national congress of the Italian Archeoastronomy Society has been improved. Furthermore, the results are compared with an experimental archeoastronomy test during which about seventy students designed the pleiades as they were projected onto a screen. The results confirm Édouard Desor's hypothesis: one of the possible functions of the cups is the representation of constellations. Il geologo e naturalista Édouard Desor, già nel 1878, aveva formulato l'ipotesi che le coppelle, anche note con il nome di catini litici, rappresentassero gruppi di stelle. In questo studio prendiamo in esame un particolare gruppo di stelle noto fin dall'antichità: le Pleiadi. Si tratta dell'ammasso stellare visibile ad occhio nudo. Sette sono le stelle che formano il suo disegno principale ma generalmente con una vista normale, senza ausilio di un telescopio, se ne possono contare solo 6. Vi sono varie rappresentazioni dell'asterismo nella sci [...]