Origin of sundials
One of mankind’s oldest concerns has been to measure time. Observing the cycles in the movement of the moon, the stars and the sun allowed us to order and divide this element which, paradoxically, seems indefinable. The first measuring instrument was the sundial, also called the quadrant. The primitive idea was simple: to use the shadow cast by a stick – a shadow that moves in the opposite direction in the apparent course of the sun – during the entire course from sunrise to sunset. These discoveries are believed to have taken place in different parts of the world simultaneously. There is no historical consensus on the origin of sundials, although it seems that early civilizations, those tribes settled near rivers – the Egyptians on the Nile River and the Mesopotamians on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers – advanced in scientific astronomy and mathematics, began to perfect methods of time measurement. Some authors attribute the invention to the Chaldean people in 3500 BC; others associate it with the Egyptians. From the Egyptians, it would pass to Greece, then to Sicily, and finally to Rome, where it was perfected and spread to all the peoples of modern culture.
Types of hours and types of time
The division of time was divided in different ways depending on the people and the period. At first, there were irregular hours, which divided the day into equal parts, and it is well known that no two days are the same, since daylight hours are shorter or longer depending on the season. There were many divisions; 12, like the Roman hours, or 24, like the historical hours. There were also Mallorcan hours. This is how it all worked until the Renaissance.
It was not until the end of the 15th and 16th centuries that sundials as we know them today spread throughout Europe. From the 16th century onwards, the equal hours of true or civil time were created, which are the ones we have now and which are marked by sundials. The true time is derived from the fact that the sundial is placed parallel to the earth’s axis. Each day, the sun’s time is different according to the time of the year, because it is marked by each time the sun is above the meridian. The next day it is again on the meridian, we divide this time by 24 and we have a solar hour. As each hour is different, the mean time had to be invented, creating the international time system, which is the one we use.
Type of clocks: the case of Mallorca
The sun dials are basically made up of a pointer, which is the element that produces the shadow, and the quadrant where this shadow is cast. The pointer must always be placed parallel to the axis of the world, South-North. For the sundial to be mathematical, it is necessary to observe a series of rules and to solve a number of calculations that are not within everyone’s reach. Each clock varies, depending on the exact point where it is located. According to their orientation, the clocks correspond to four main types: equatorial, parallel to the Equator; horizontal, parallel to the horizon; vertical oriented, where the plan is perpendicular to the horizon and is situated in an East-West direction and finally the declining vertical, where the plan is vertical but oriented obliquely in an East-West direction.
It is suspected that there are more than a thousand sundials in Mallorca, both ancient and modern. The 18th and early 19th centuries are considered to be those of maximum splendour. It is believed to be one of the places in Europe with the highest concentration of sundials. Most of the sundials found on the island are of the vertical type. They are mounted perpendicularly on the wall and cannot record all the hours of sunlight, as their orientation limits them. The maximum time they can see the sun – and only during the summer – is twelve hours. Therefore, the time marked is always twelve hours.
On the other hand, flat or horizontal clocks can mark all the solar hours, since they can be oriented as they wish, and can find the sun all the time. As for the oriented verticals, we can distinguish them when they are found in the chamfers of the farms, or on the roofs, because they are oriented towards noon. The declining verticals, on the other hand, are found on the façades of houses and are made of lime mortar stucco, sgraffito or painted, and are usually larger than the oriented ones. This clock, painted on the façade of the old vicarage and dated 1886, is an example of a declining vertical clock with Arabic numerals.
