Anthony F. Aveni

Maya Calendar Reform? Evidence from Orientations of Specialized Architectural Assemblages

Long before they devised a written calendar, the Maya articulated their seasons by means of an “orientation calendar” that consisted of visual alignments involving their architecture. One specialized set of buildings, Group Eat Uaxactun, Guatemala, in the Peten lowlands, has been regarded as the prototype of such a calendar. We present new data based on precise measurements made in the field at 12 Group E complexes and obtained for a number of additional sites from reliable maps where on-site astronomical fixes were acquired. Statistical analysis of the resulting 99 alignments supports the hypothesis that, at least at some stage of development, certain of these specialized complexes did indeed function astronomically. The earliest version of the orientation calendar seems to have developed in the Peten; it was focused on the solstices. A later orientation calendar seems to have functioned principally during the season leading up to the onset of rain and crop planting. It consisted of a division of the dry season into 20-day months prior to the first annual passage of the sun across the zenith (approximately May 10 in the Christian calendar). We argue that this later orientation calendar was derived from Teotihuacan during the Early Classic period (A.D. 278–593).

The Pecked Cross Symbol in Ancient Mesoamerica

Attention is directed to a design, possibly of Teotihuacan origin, carved both in rock and in the floors of ceremonial buildings throughout ancient Mesoamerica. Consisting generally of a double circular pattern centered on a set of orthogonal axes, the so-called pecked cross or quartered circle figure is shown to exhibit a remarkable consistency in appearance throughout its 29 reported locations, thus suggesting that it was not perfunctory. The metric properties of the symbols gleaned from field surveys are delineated, and several interpretations of their possible functions are discussed. These symbols may have been intended as astronomical orientational devices, surveyors bench marks, calendars, or ritual games. Evidence is presented which implies that more than one and perhaps all of these functions were employed simultaneously, a view which is shown to be consistent with the cosmological attitude of the pre-Columbian people.

Archaeoastronomy in the Ancient Americas

Since its popular resurgence in the 1960s, the interdisciplinary field of archaeoastronomy, which seeks evidence from the written as well as the unwritten record to shed light on the nature and practice of astronomy and timekeeping in ancient civilizations, has made ever-increasing significant use of the archaeological record. This essay briefly touches on the origin and history of these developments, discusses the methodology of archaeoastronomy, and assesses its contributions via the discussion of selected case studies at sites in North, South, and Mesoamerica. Specifically, archaeology contributes significantly to clarifying the role of sky events in site planning. The rigorous repetition of axial alignments of sites and individual oddly shaped and/or oriented structures can be related to alterations in the calendar often initiated by cross-cultural contact.Together with evidence acquired from other forms of the ancient record, archaeology also helps clarify the relationship between functional and symbolic astronomical knowledge. In state-level societies, it offers graphic evidence that structures that served as chronographic markers also functioned as performative stages for seasonally timed rituals mandated by cosmic connections claimed by the rulership.

On the Orientation of Precolumbian Buildings in Central Mexico

Guernsey, Samuel James 1931 Explorations in northeastern Arizona. Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Papers 12(1). Hill, Malcolm W. 1948 The atlatl or throwing stick: a recent study of atlatls in use with darts of various sizes. Tennessee Archaeologist 4:3744. Kidder, A. V., and S. J. Guernsey 1919 Archaeological explorations in northeastern Arizona. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 65. 1921 Basket-Maker caves in northeastern Arizona. Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Papers 8(2). Mallam, R. Clark 1971 An atlatl weight from southeast Nebraska. Plains Anthropologist 16:123-24. Mason, J. Alden 1928 Some unusual spear throwers of ancient America. The Museum Journal 19:290-324. University of Pennsylvania. Mau, Clayton 1963 Experiments with the spear thrower. The New York State Archaeological Association Bulletin 29:1-13. McGregor, John C. 1965 Southwestern archaeology. University of Illinois Press, Urbana. Metcalf, George, and Harold Carlson 1971 An atlatl weight from North Dakota. Plains Anthropologist 16:121-22. Murdoch,John 1892 Ethnological results of the Point Barrow expedition. Bureau of American Ethnology 9th Annual Report, 1887-88, pp. 3441. Neuman, Robert 1967 Atlatl weights from certain sites on the northern and central Great Plains. American Antiquity 32:36-53. Parker, Arthur C. 1917 Notes on the banner stone with some

Alta Vista (Chalchihuites), Astronomical Implications of a Mesoamerican Ceremonial Outpost at the Tropic of Cancer

We have empirically tested and evaluated several astronomically related hypotheses about the ruins of Alta Vista near the modern town of Chalchihuites, Zacatecas, in Northwest Mexico. We conclude that the site was deliberately located and oriented astronomically by people of the Teotihuacan civilization. As supporting evidence we analyze (a) a double solar alignment incorporating a labyrinthine hallway at the ruins, and (b) a pair of circle-shaped markers, of a type found at Teotihuacan, pecked into a flat stone on a hilltop to the south. The former can be correlated with an equinoctial sunrise observation and the latter with a summer solstice sunrise, each over the same distant peak. Furthermore, a detailed examination of the pecked petroglyphs reveals that they may have served as time-marking devices.

Myth, Environment, and the Orientation of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan

In the light of the recent excavations of the Templo Mayor in downtown Mexico City, we explore the problem of the role of astronomy, calendar, and the landscape in the design and orientation of the building and of the city in general. We employ ethnohistoric data relating to the foundation myth of Tenochtitlan as a means of generating hypotheses concerning astronomical orientation that can be tested by reference to the archaeological record. We find that eastward-looking observations (implied in dismantling and reconstructing the myth) that took place around the time of the equinox may have been related to an attempt to transform a true east orientation from the natural environment into the architecture via a line that passed through the center of the Temple of Huitzilopochtli (the more southerly temple of the pair constituting the top of the Templo Mayor). It also is possible that the notch between the twin temples served a calendrical/orientational function. Evidence is presented to support the view that the mountain cult of Tlaloc, represented in the environment on the periphery of the Valley of Mexico by Mount Tlaloc, also may have directly influenced the orientation of the building and that it was part of a scheme for marking out days of the calendar by reference to the position of the rising sun at intervals of 20 days from the spring equinox. In this regard, we discuss the connection between the Templo Mayor and an enclosure containing offertory chambers atop Mount Tlaloc, which is located on a line extended to the visible horizon 44 km east of the ceremonial center. The ethnohistoric record implies that this place had been used for sacrifices to the rain god after whom the other of the twin temples of the Templo Mayor was named.

Ancient Maya Astronomical Tables from Xultun, Guatemala

Mayan Astronomy Mayan Codices are books written on bark in the few centuries before Columbus landed. Several record detailed hieroglyphic calculations of lunar and planetary motions and their relation to the Mayan calendar. Their predecessors have been unclear. Saturno et al. (p. 714) now describe a room in a Mayan complex in Guatemala dating to several centuries before the Codices that seems to have similar calculations on two of its walls. The east wall contains lunar calculations; the calculations on the north wall are more enigmatic, but may relate to Mars, Mercury, and/or Venus. Wall paintings in a Mayan temple dating to the 9th century C.E. show calculations of Moon and, perhaps, planetary motion. Maya astronomical tables are recognized in bark-paper books from the Late Postclassic period (1300 to 1521 C.E.), but Classic period (200 to 900 C.E.) precursors have not been found. In 2011, a small painted room was excavated at the extensive ancient Maya ruins of Xultun, Guatemala, dating to the early 9th century C.E. The walls and ceiling of the room are painted with several human figures. Two walls also display a large number of delicate black, red, and incised hieroglyphs. Many of these hieroglyphs are calendrical in nature and relate astronomical computations, including at least two tables concerning the movement of the Moon, and perhaps Mars and Venus. These apparently represent early astronomical tables and may shed light on the later books.

Astronomical Tables Intended for Use in Astro-Archaeological Studies

Tables are presented which give the rise-set azimuths of prominent celestial bodies and the heliacal rise-set dates of bright stars for a combination of epochs, latitudes, and horizon elevations. Department of Physics and Astronomy Colgate University August, 1971 Since the work of Hawkins (1963) at Stonehenge the field of astro-archaeology has been recognized by both anthropologists and historians of astronomy as a discipline capable of retrieving significant information about the scientific and religious practices of ancient man. Hawkins (1966) has reviewed some of the basic techniques employed in astro-archaeological studies, and Baity (1968) has summarized the importance of such studies to ethnologists. In particular, she has stressed the need for relevant astronomical data regarding the rising and setting lines of important celestial bodies. While Andersen and Fletcher (1968) have provided graphs giving the rising and setting azimuths of Central de Venezuela, Boletin 11:127-137. Macgowan, K. 1945 The orientation of Middle American sites. American Antiquity 11: 118. Marquina, I. 1964 Arquitectura prehispanica. Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico City. Nuttall, Z. 1901 The fundamental principles of old and new world civilizations. Peabody Museum, Harvard University. Archaeological and Ethnological Papers 2:1-602. 1906 The Astronomical methods of the ancient Mexicans. In Boas Anniversary Volume, edited by B. Laufer, pp. 290-298. Stechert, New York. Paddock, J. 1966 Oaxaca in ancient Mesoamerica. In Ancient Oaxaca, edited by J. Paddock, pp. 83-242. Stanford University Press, Stanford. Ricketson, O. 1928 Astronomical observatories in the Maya area. Geographical Review 18:215-225. Smiley, C. 1965 Orientation by sextant and sun. Astronomical Society of Pacific, Publications 77:241-245. the sun and moon, their data are intended solely for rough site testing for astronomical orientation. If researchers were supplied with an exact set of tables covering a wide range of situations, they would be freed from the task of having to feed continually their raw alignment data into the computer or of having to send their data to a distant processing center. In this publication, tables are presented which give (a) the rise-set azimuths of prominent astronomical objects and (b) heliacal rise-set dates for bright stars. They are designed to cover a wide range of conditions that might be encountered at archaeological sites and are offered to investigators interested in the subject of astronomical orientations who do not have a computer facility readily available to them in the hope that the data reduction phase of their research programs will become less cumber-

Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy So Far [and Comments and Reply]

ed from different sites, concluding (MacKie

Agreeing to Disagree: The Measurement of Duration in a Southwestern Ethiopian Community [and Comments and Reply]

The Mursi are cultivators and cattle herders who live in the Lower Omo Valley of southwestern Ethiopia and whose methods of measuring duration have so far been unaffected by contact with literate cultures. In this article it is shown how the Mursi solve the problem of relating a cycle of seasonal events to a nonintegral series of lunar months, while remaining unaware that this cycle is related, in fact, to the solar year. This analysis leads to three main conclusions which may have some relevance to the understanding of time-reckoning systems in other ethnographic and historical contexts. Firstly, institutionalized disagreement about which month of the year and which day of the month it is, at any particular moment, with retrospective resolution of this disagreement, is revealed as the (unconscious) mechanism of adjustment where by lunar months are kept in step with the solar year. Consequently, the Mursi do not have a calendar which is capable of dating events, since there is no absolute standard to which people can refer to find out what time of the year or month it is. Secondly, while the evidence presented in the article does not support the Durkheimian view that different cultures have fundamentally different ways of perceiving time, it does demonstrate, in a less extreme form, the social determination of knowledge, for it shows that the measurement of duration in Mursi country is as much a matter of public opinion and social consensus as it is of the application of objective criteria of measurement. Thirdly, a discussion of Mursi astronomical observations and, in particular, of their use of the rising positions of the sun to determine the summer and winter solstices leads to a cautionary conclusion about recent attempts to reconstruct, from archaeological evidence and astronomical calculations, methods of time reckoning and their associated social structures in communities about which we know very little indeed. The Mursi evidence suggests that it might be all too easy to reach false conclusions-for example, about accurate solar observations-from evidence which is, of necessity, divorced from its social context.