– How do we actually know when the earth does a full orbit of the sun and why are our years based off of it?
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From a fixed vantage point the sun rises in a slightly different point on the horizon in the east every day moving a little north or south until the summer and winter soltices where it begins traveling back the other direction. It takes roughly 365 days for one complete cycle.
Stonehenge and similar ancient structures line up with the solstices. This was probably for this exact reason- to track the seasons and similar events, such as the start of the year.
The sun rises at a slightly different part of the sky each morning, moving until it returns to it’s start point, which takes exactly one solar year
The most primative way was to use the stars, since the positioning of stars and which constellations are visible change within a cycle of one year.
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