Sundials

You just might have heard about sundials at one time or another. This is because sundials have indeed been around for centuries already. In fact, sundials have been used by the early Greeks and Romans. This is because the sundial provides an interesting and entertaining way of telling time. The earliest sundials came in the form of bowls, and they had shadow-casters that were known as gnomons. These gnomons came in either vertical or horizontal shapes. The gnomons cast shadows over the bowl, so that time could be indicated. Hour lines were patterned all over the bowl’s hollow portion. And it is the dial that shows the hour.

But let’s delve a bit into sundial history for a while. If you would take a look into the history of sundials, you would learn that the early Greeks and early Romans have been using this to tell time way back 1500 BC. Studies show that the Greeks were the first ones who employed the use of the sundial in telling time. But the Romans were the ones who modified the sundial into the form that it takes today. By 100 BC, a lot of people already knew how to build a sundial, and they have made such for their very own gardens. This is because sundials do make great ornaments for the garden.

Way back in Greece, Italy, and Asia Minor, the sundial was the primary method of telling time. Back then, sundials were actually used for agricultural activities, such as planting and harvesting; ceremonial activities, such as the location of the sun and times of worship; and as a basis of mathematical formulas.

Most of today’s garden sundials are actually of the horizontal kind. These are the ones that are perched on high pedestals, with its gnomon in a raised position as well. Its dial is also etched masterfully onto the whole piece. This kind of sundial makes use of trigonometric calculations, in order for it to function properly. Being in the garden and all, the sundial is actually positioned at a particular spot, wherein it would be the inevitable focal point of the whole area. Most of the dial faces are light in color, while the etched numbers are dark in color. And the pedestal frequently comes with a motto or a euphemism. More often than not, sundials have either thick bronze or marble as their base component. These are indeed the preferred base components of a lot of sundial makers.

A lot of people have the misconception that sundials are able to give the correct and official time. This is not true at all. You have to remember that the sundial is merely a representation of time, based on the position of the sun. Thus, it would be the sun’s position that would influence the time given by the dial. The solar noon of a particular place would not be the same as the solar noon of another place. So, there really would be no point of keeping or decorating your garden with a sundial, to keep track of the official time. This would not make sense at all. This is especially because the position of the sun would differ across the four seasons. Keeping a sundial for the official time would require a lot of adjustments and such. And this would really defeat the purpose of the sundial. Today’s sundial does make great decorations and ornaments for garden. But beyond garden décor, the sundial does not really serve that much purpose in today’s society anymore.

But this does not stop people from having sundials in their gardens. In fact, a lot of fairy gardens in England have a sundial as their focal piece, instead of the usual birdbath. And you cannot really deny it; sundials make better focal pieces than birdbaths.