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DressCritical t1_ja9thlm wrote

Reply to comment by incizion in Eli5: How did people know how long a year was in olden times? by Slokkkk

Patience is required for two things.

  1. You must check repeatedly during the shortest days of the year to find out on which one the shadow of the stick is the the longest at noon.

  2. You must keep track day after day for a year until the shortest day returns again. Until the shortest days return, however, all you need to do is to add a day to your tally.

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