alt Hacker NewsIt's wild to think about how different things were in pre-modern times.
There are no computers, sensors, watches, or spaceships. There are also no TV-style distractions, and a lot more people are growing food. When would you notice that the longest day of the year is a few days away from what the books say it's supposed to be?
For that matter, the printing press was only a century old. How well-known was it that particular days are meant to be the longest or shortest of the year?
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If I recall correctly - it was surprisingly well known (in fact it was a common way to make fun of "lettered" people because they'd claim dates that were obviously silly; everyone knew when the solstice was).
Some of the earliest things we have a sun-based calendar trackers, which need not be more complicated than a stick and a rock (meaning millions more have not survived).
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In an agrarian economy people are definitely much MORE attuned to the cycles of the seasons. If your town always starts planting crop X two weeks before the solstice, and the harvest festival is the week after the equinox, you’re going to keep track of these things.