About 2000-3000 years ago when would the winter solstice have occurred? Could it have been after Dec 21?

Question

The earth precesses on its axis, so that would affect the seasons, and the rising and setting of the sun. The ancient Romans celebrated the day of "Sol Invictus" on Dec 25th. Could it have been because the winter solstice was later than now?

Answer 1

Due to the way the Gregorian calendar (the one we use) is set up, there is a correction factor added every fourth year, except on century years (1800,1900, 2000) every four hundred years. This keeps the calendar in sync with the earth. Thus the winter solstice occurs on either Dec 21 or Dec 22 every year. That's what leap year is all about.

However, the calendar they used centuries ago did not do this correction, and seasons were discovered to creep. That's why Pope Gregory revised the calendar to add this correction.

Bottom line, it depends on which calendar you refer to.

Answer 2

3000 years ago, they didn't use our calendar.

The modern Gregorian calendar is designed to keep the solstice at December 21 (or thereabouts) pretty much forever, INCLUDING effects of precession. [One can't really be overly precise about such things, since the earth's spin is slowing at an uneven and unpredictable rate.]

So if you project our modern Gregorian calendar back 3000 years, then yes, solstice would still be occurring on about December 21.

But prior to 1582, they used the Julian Calendar, which was not as accurate. Using the Julian Calendar, the winter solstice occurred on December 23 in 7 AD, and December 30 in 994 BC.

Answer 3

The average length of a Gregorian year is 365.2425 mean solar days compared to the tropical year of 365.2422 -- that is 1 day error in about 3300 years.
Had we kept the Julian calendar (England & America had adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752) there would have been much bigger asynchronous years.
Stonehenge is carbon dated as early as 2800 BC and some of the stones are aligned with the Moon and Sun risings and settings during the solstice (winter and summer).

Answer 4

Yes and no. The calendar was out of whack because there was a failure to recognize leap years. Look up Julian and Gregorian clanedar to understand all of this.

But the physical time of year (ignoring human calendars) on which the solstice occurs could not have changed in the last 3,000 years. That is waaay too short of a time.

Answer 5

The Romans did not desinate a The Tropic of Capricorn nor the Tropic of Cancer. So the date of the winter solstics would not be the same. the date back then using the modern lines of latitude would more than likely be before Dec 22nd.

Answer 6

I believe the earth's axis precesses through a complete circle in 26,000 years. That causes the seasons in the north and south hemispheres to swap completely every 13,000 years. In the 2,000 years since Christ was born the seasons have shifted about 2 months.

Answer 7

Um....what calender are you working under? According to mine, the solstice is the 21st next year. I mean, what do you think the whole 12/21/12 stuff is about? Not the 23rd. Nobody is comparing it to Christmas, by the way, just pointing out that it isn't Christ's birthday. I don't understand your point?