The provided sources explore the historical and practical applications of astronomy for navigation and cultural understanding across different civilizations. Specifically, the "Astronomy of the Inca Empire" excerpt highlights how the Incas deeply integrated celestial observations, particularly of the sun and dark constellations of the Milky Way, into their religion, agriculture, and architectural alignments at sites like Machu Picchu. Concurrently, the "Chinese astronomy" text from Wikipedia details the long and rich history of astronomical record-keeping and cataloging in China, noting influences from Indian and Islamic astronomy and advancements in predicting eclipses. Finally, the Reddit discussion and the arXiv preprint on "The beginnings of celestial navigation" focus on maritime navigation techniques, explaining methods like celestial navigation using sextants and chronometers, and discussing the evolution of instruments such as the quadrant, astrolabe, and cross-staff, used historically by European and other seafarers to determine latitude