[icegreentea2]

Not placing new years on the solstice directly gives you the opportunity to get the solstice kick off an interval of festivals/celebration culminating in a new years celebration.

Ancient people (just like us) certainly enjoyed having multi days of festivals/holidays strung together.

The choice of putting the astronomical point at the start or end of the period seems pretty arbitrary (for example, Chinese New Years starts on the new moon, and the lantern festival wraps it all up later on the full moon), but I suspect the "death/rebirth" symbolism of winter solstice strongly biases it towards being more suitable as the start of a celebratory interval, rather than end.

A quick, sloppy scan of new year traditions around the world on wikipedia seems to imply that many customs that start their year on/around the spring equinox have new year kick off the interval.

[Tepix]

> The choice of putting the astronomical point at the start or end of the period seems pretty arbitrary

Arbitrary? I find it to be highly logical.

[fuzzfactor]

>new year on the winter solstice?

You wouldn't get much of a Christmas vacation then would you?

>Ancient people (just like us)

Exactly.