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Marietta Castle winter solstice watch virtual

The Castle Historic House Museum announced today that the annual Winter Solstice Sunset Watch from Marietta’s “Sacra Via” will be presented virtually from 4:15-5 p.m. Dec. 21.

Castle archaeologist, Wes Clarke, will discuss the astronomical alignments of Marietta’s earthworks, used to track the passage of seasons in ancient times.

The annual event will be presented live via Zoom out of an abundance of caution due to recent increases in COVID-19 cases, stated Kyle Yoho, Education Director of The Castle.

This virtual presentation is free.

According to Clarke, “One function of the large earthwork complexes, such as the one found at Marietta, was to track the passage of seasons through astronomical observations. Aligned along the parallel walls of “Sacra Via” is the winter solstice sunset.”

Clarke added, “The winter solstice marks the official arrival of winter, and also the days with the shortest amount of daylight during the year.”

The winter solstice is an annual happening when the sun is at its southernmost point in the Northern Hemisphere.

Generally known as the shortest day of the year with the least amount of daylight, the North Pole will be the farthest from the sun Dec. 21.

Clarke is a Registered Professional Archaeologist with over 45 years’ experience conducting research in the American Midwest and in Southeast Asia.

He has particular interest in early historic pottery, Ohio art history, the history of pioneer Ohio, and early state development in Southeast Asia, and has published numerous articles on these topics.

He is currently in the seventh season of excavations on the historic Clark family pottery site at The Castle Museum, where he works as the Manager of Collections.

To register for this live Zoom presentation, visit mariettacastle.org, click on the “Events” tab, scroll down to “Virtual Solstice Watch” and click on “Register Here.”

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