More on Mesoamerican Cosmology and City Plans

Šprajc, Ivan

doi:10.2307/30042812

Cited by 23 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 9 publications

(9 reference statements)

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“…Indeed, Maya archaeologists have also been content to explore possibly alignments among monuments at the core of Maya sites (e.g. Aveni, 2003;Sprajc, 2008; but see Smith, 2003), without usually discussing what wider impact these might have on the surrounding, less ostentatious spaces.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Maya archaeology exhibits a curious combination of obsession and disinterest when it comes to the study of directional patterns in the built landscape. On the one hand, there is an established, if often hotly debated, literature on the alignments of Maya monumental buildings and what they might mean in terms of changing political fortunes, religious priorities or astronomical knowledge (Aveni, 2001;Aveni et al, 2003;Sprajc, 2008). On the other hand, the wider landscape beyond the monumental epicentres of Maya sites is traditionally seen as a dispersed free-for-all, in which both field systems and non-elite habitations are scattered in a regionally variable and, in comparison to monumental epicentres, far less formal way (for a clear summary, see Ashmore, 1981).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Directional layouts in central lowland Maya settlement

Bevan

Jobbová

Helmke

et al. 2013

Journal of Archaeological Science

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a b s t r a c tThis paper suggests the existence of non-random, directional patterns in the location of housemounds across the Late Classic Maya settlement landscape at Baking Pot, Belize, and then explores the wider implications of this patterning in the central Maya lowlands. It introduces an anisotropic method e based on nearest neighbour bearings and successive grid offsets e in order to explore possible rectilinear organisation in settlement layouts despite the presence of uneven and irregular patterns of archaeological dating and recovery. The results suggest a grid-like distribution of houseplots and, by implication, also a set of routes running throughout the housemound landscape and local Maya neighbourhoods during the site's Late and Terminal Classic history. Furthermore, different possible alignments in different parts of the site are tentatively regarded as an indication of shifting orientations to localised grids, following the shift in alignment of monumental architecture, as the settlement landscape expanded over time. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings with respect to the broader interpretation of Maya settlement patterns.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Directional layouts in central lowland Maya settlement

Bevan

Jobbová

Helmke

et al. 2013

Journal of Archaeological Science

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“…Advances in astronomical knowledge made the achievement of these objectives more effective, as they allowed the most appropriate moments for every ceremonial act to be determined with greater precision. Moreover, reliable predictions of celestial events and the corresponding astrological auguries contributed to the legitimation of power, justifying the privileges enjoyed by the rulers and their collaborators dedicated to priesthood, astronomy and calendar (Aveni 1989(Aveni , 2001(Aveni , 2003Broda 1982Broda , 1992Šprajc 1996, 2005.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Astronomy and its role in ancient Mesoamerica

Šprajc

2009

Proc. IAU

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The observation of the sky had an important rôle among the Maya, Aztecs and other prehispanic peoples of Mesoamerica. Their familiarity with the regularities of the apparent motion of the Sun, the Moon and bright planets is attested in a large amount of astronomical data contained in codices and monumental hieroglyphic inscriptions, as well as in their sophisticated calendrical system. On the other hand, the study of architectural alignments has disclosed that civic and ceremonial buildings were largely oriented on astronomical grounds, mostly to sunrises and sunsets on certain dates, allowing the use of observational calendars that facilitated a proper scheduling of agricultural and the associated ritual activities in the yearly cycle. Both accurate knowledge and other astronomically-derived concepts reveal that the significance attributed to certain celestial events by the ancient Mesoamericans can be explained in terms of the relationship of these phenomena with specific environmental and cultural facts, such as seasonal climatic changes and subsistence strategies. It was particularly due to its practical utility that astronomy, intertwined with religious ideas and practices, had such an important place in the worldview and, consequently, in the cosmologically substantiated political ideology of Mesoamerican societies

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“…Since the alignments they rely upon are of different types and no independent contextual data supports their putative astronomical function, none of the criteria required for their astronomically motivated function to be proposed with a reasonable confidence is fulfilled (cf. Aveni 2003;Šprajc 2005), raising the suspicion that the alignments were selected simply because they fit the hypothesis. If it has long been known that the important buildings all over Mesoamerica were oriented largely on astronomical grounds, it is because the azimuths of their main axes concentrate around certain values, a regularity that can only be explained with the use of astronomical references at the horizon (Aveni and Hartung 1986, 7-8).…”

Section: Zenith and Nadir Sun On The Horizon?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Zenith and Nadir Passages of the Sun in Mesoamerica

Šprajc

2018

JSA

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Among the astronomical phenomena occurring only in certain parts of the globe, the Sun's zenith and nadir passages stand out prominently, exemplifying the extent to which geographic latitude determines the significance attributed to particular celestial events and influences their role in cosmological concepts. The Sun reaches the zenith and the nadir (or anti-zenith) exclusively in tropical latitudes. On the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, these events coincide with the solstices, whereas in the intermediate belt each of the two phenomena occurs twice a year on dates that vary as a function of geographic latitude. The idea that the ancient Mesoamericans paid attention to both zenith and nadir Sun has long been very popular and different kinds of evidence have been claimed to reflect the significance of these phenomena. But how reliable is this evidence, and to what extent does it support these hypotheses?

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More on Mesoamerican Cosmology and City Plans

Cited by 23 publications

References 9 publications

Directional layouts in central lowland Maya settlement

Directional layouts in central lowland Maya settlement

Astronomy and its role in ancient Mesoamerica

Zenith and Nadir Passages of the Sun in Mesoamerica

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