Maya Calendar Reform? Evidence from Orientations of Specialized Architectural Assemblages Export

@article{citeulike:2434916, abstract = {[English] Long before they devised a written calendar, the Maya articulated their seasons by means of an \&\#246;rientation 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). // [Spanish] Antes del calendario escrito, los Mayas Antiguos organizaban las estaciones mediante un "calendario de orientacion" basado en alineaciones visuales demarcados por su arquitectura. Este parece ser el caso de un complejo arquitectonico llamada Grupo E, en el sitio Uaxactun en las tierras bajas de Peten. Siguiendo este planeamiento, presentamos nuevos datos, unos basados en medidas precisas del campo que proceden de dos estructuras del tipo Grupo E, y otros son datos que se derivan de mapas fiables corregidos por medidas astronomicas. El analisis estadistico de unas 99 alineaciones que apoyan la hipotesis de que ciertos de estas estructuras especializadas funcionaron astronomicamente, por lo menos durante algunas fases de su desarrollo. Proponemos que la version mas antigua del calendario de orientacion, centrada en los solsticios, se desarrollo en el Peten. Sin embargo, encontremos alineaciones posteriores que pertenecen a otro calendario de orientacion. El analisis de la distribucion de las alineaciones indica un calendario que funcionaba principalmente entre la estacion lluviosa y la estacion de siembra. Especificamente, el calendario de orientacion dividia la temporada arida en meses de 20 dias, hasta el primer paso anual del sol a traves del cenit (aproximadamente el dia 10 de Mayo segun el calendario Cristiano). Proponemos que este calendario de Uaxactun se derivo del de Teotihuacan durante el periodo Clasico Temprano (278-593 d.C.).}, author = {Aveni, Anthony F. and Dowd, Anne S. and Vining, Benjamin}, citeulike-article-id = {2434916}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.jstor.org/stable/3557592}, journal = {Latin American Antiquity}, keywords = {calendar, cosmology, maya, orientation, settlement}, number = {2}, pages = {159--178}, posted-at = {2008-02-27 08:23:47}, priority = {2}, title = {Maya Calendar Reform? Evidence from Orientations of Specialized Architectural Assemblages}, url = {http://www.jstor.org/stable/3557592}, volume = {14}, year = {2003} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2434916 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2434916 N2 - [English] Long before they devised a written calendar, the Maya articulated their seasons by means of an örientation 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). // [Spanish] Antes del calendario escrito, los Mayas Antiguos organizaban las estaciones mediante un "calendario de orientacion" basado en alineaciones visuales demarcados por su arquitectura. Este parece ser el caso de un complejo arquitectonico llamada Grupo E, en el sitio Uaxactun en las tierras bajas de Peten. Siguiendo este planeamiento, presentamos nuevos datos, unos basados en medidas precisas del campo que proceden de dos estructuras del tipo Grupo E, y otros son datos que se derivan de mapas fiables corregidos por medidas astronomicas. El analisis estadistico de unas 99 alineaciones que apoyan la hipotesis de que ciertos de estas estructuras especializadas funcionaron astronomicamente, por lo menos durante algunas fases de su desarrollo. Proponemos que la version mas antigua del calendario de orientacion, centrada en los solsticios, se desarrollo en el Peten. Sin embargo, encontremos alineaciones posteriores que pertenecen a otro calendario de orientacion. El analisis de la distribucion de las alineaciones indica un calendario que funcionaba principalmente entre la estacion lluviosa y la estacion de siembra. Especificamente, el calendario de orientacion dividia la temporada arida en meses de 20 dias, hasta el primer paso anual del sol a traves del cenit (aproximadamente el dia 10 de Mayo segun el calendario Cristiano). Proponemos que este calendario de Uaxactun se derivo del de Teotihuacan durante el periodo Clasico Temprano (278-593 d.C.). IS - 2 JF - Latin American Antiquity EP - 178 TI - Maya Calendar Reform? Evidence from Orientations of Specialized Architectural Assemblages VL - 14 SP - 159 KW - calendar KW - cosmology KW - maya KW - orientation KW - settlement AU - Aveni, Anthony AU - Dowd, Anne AU - Vining, Benjamin PY - 2003/// UR - http://www.jstor.org/stable/3557592 ER -