Understand how humans measured time before modern clocks using periodic natural events and early mechanical devices.
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Visual montage of a sundial, water clock, and hourglass.
Before mechanical clocks, humans used shadows, water, and sand to measure smaller intervals of time.
Hook about the massive Samrat Yantra sundial.
The Samrat Yantra in Jaipur, Rajasthan, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the world's largest stone sundial! Standing 27 metres tall, its shadow moves at 1 millimetre per second, allowing it to measure time intervals as short as 2 seconds.
How ancient humans used natural cycles to track time.
Early humans didn't have watches. Instead, they used repeating natural events to keep track of time. The cycle of the rising and setting of the Sun was used to define a single day.
Mechanisms of sundials, water clocks, and hourglasses.
In a sundial, time is determined by observing the changing position of the shadow of an object cast by the light of the Sun during the day.
Match the ancient clock to its method of measuring time.
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