Calendars and the Mayan time: an astronomical and sociocultural aspects based analysis in Book of Abstracts, 25th International Congress of History of Science and Technology By Carolina de Assis

Calendars and the Mayan time: an astronomical and sociocultural aspects based analysis in Book of Abstracts, 25th International Congress of History of Science and Technology By Carolina de Assis https://www.academia.edu/49056463/Calendars_and_the_Mayan_time_an_astronomical_and_sociocultural_aspects_based_analysis_in_Book_of_Abstracts_25th_International_Congress_of_History_of_Science_and_Technology?rhid=38302077890&swp=rr-rw-wc-33849161&nav_from=1d24f3c1-1289-4e76-bd94-34ac428f891d Of all the abstract concepts that pervade human existence, time is perhaps the one that has been studied diversely. Referenced from the movement of the stars, its perception is unique to each society, shaped by its various social facts, having been incorporated into the time registers designed 23 by the cultures. Among the greatest civilizations in human history, the Mayas, inhabitants of a area known as Mesoamerica, were those who most has used their conception of time in all sectors of society, creating a dependency relationship with this concept wich is rarely found in other culture. Interestingly, the literature on the study of the Mayan calendar, although plentiful, has treated generally about the origin and description of the functioning of these calendars without contextualizing them with multiple cultural aspects. Thus, although the structure of the Mayan calendar has been well known for centuries, issues intrinsic to its operation, as the source of its annual period and the absence of its assessment to natural cycles, for example, remain subject of intense debate in the literature. This works investigates how the notion of historicity, the religion and agriculture as means of livelihood worked together with Astronomy in the construction of the Mayan conception of time which is reflected in their time registers. The results demonstrate that a collaborative analysis of these factors allows the construction of a scenario that not only justifies the specifics of the Mayan calendar, but allows the establishment of a new hypothesis for the origin of the oldest and least known of the three calendars, the Tzolkin. ...

First encounters: Spanish explorations in the Caribbean and the United States, 1492-1570 By Susan Milbrath

First encounters: Spanish explorations in the Caribbean and the United States, 1492-1570 By Susan Milbrath https://www.academia.edu/2460752/First_encounters_Spanish_explorations_in_the_Caribbean_and_the_United_States_1492_1570

THE ROLE OF SOLAR OBSERVATIONS IN DEVELOPING THE PRECLASSIC MAYA CALENDAR By Susan Milbrath

THE ROLE OF SOLAR OBSERVATIONS IN DEVELOPING THE PRECLASSIC MAYA CALENDAR By Susan Milbrath https://www.academia.edu/33849161/THE_ROLE_OF_SOLAR_OBSERVATIONS_IN_DEVELOPING_THE_PRECLASSIC_MAYA_CALENDAR?rhid=38302056052&swp=rr-rw-wc-30952580&nav_from=448dd10b-f056-48ac-b967-46f1d4ef7f1f Intervals of 260 days are recorded by architectural orientations at a number of Maya sites, a pattern that may have developed early at sites such as Nakbe. The 260-day calendar, emphasizing sets of 13 and 20 days, dates back to the Middle Preclassic, when early E-Groups in the Maya area were used for solar observations. These observations were probably linked with a maize cycle spanning 260 days. By the end of the Late Preclassic, however, most E-Groups were abandoned or modified for a different function, serving as a stage for rituals performed by rulers at a time when the Long Count calendar was being developed. The changing role of E-Groups relates to the rise of royal rituals associated with the detailed historical records documented in Maya Long Count inscriptions. En varios sitios en el área maya se registran, a partir de las orientaciones arquitectónicas, intervalos de 260 días. Este patrón pudo haberse desarrollado de forma temprana en sitios como Nakbe, Petén, Guatemala. El calendario de 260 días, que enfatiza los conjuntos de 13 y 20 días, data del preclásico medio, cuando se utilizaron los primeros grupos conmemorativos en el área maya para realizar observaciones solares. Estas observaciones probablemente estuvieron vinculadas con un ciclo del maíz que dura 260 días. Sin embargo, a finales del preclásico tardío, la mayoría de los grupos conmemorativos fueron abandonados o modificados para servir una función diferente. Estos grupos fueron utilizados como escenarios para rituales llevados a cabo por la realeza en el periodo durante el cual se desarrolló el calendario de cuenta larga. El nuevo papel de los grupos conmemorativos se relaciona con el aumento de los rituales reales. Estos mismos son asociados con los detallados registros históricos documentados en inscripciones mayas que usan fechas de cuenta larga. ...

Maya E Groups: Calendars, Astronomy, and Urbanism in the Early Lowlands. By David Freidel, Anne S. Dowd, and Jerry Murdock

Maya E Groups: Calendars, Astronomy, and Urbanism in the Early Lowlands. By David Freidel, Anne S. Dowd, and Jerry Murdock https://www.academia.edu/30952580/Maya_E_Groups_Calendars_Astronomy_and_Urbanism_in_the_Early_Lowlands?rhid=38301938363&swp=rr-rw-wc-37156159&nav_from=ba555994-ee5e-4288-9b6f-1d758ebe1518 In ancient Maya cities, "E Groups" are sets of buildings aligned with the movements of the sun. This volume presents new archaeological data to reveal that E Groups were constructed earlier than previously thought. In fact, they are the earliest identifiable architectural plan at many Maya settlements. More than just astronomical observatories or calendars, E Groups were gathering places for emerging communities and centers of ritual--the very first civic-religious public architecture in the Maya lowlands. Investigating a wide variety of E Group sites in different contexts, this volume pieces together the development of social and political complexity in the ancient Maya civilization. ...

An archaeoastronomical investigation of Pre-Inca sites along the Rio Grande, in the Casma province of the Ancash Region, Perù. By silvia motta

An archaeoastronomical investigation of Pre-Inca sites along the Rio Grande, in the Casma province of the Ancash Region, Perù. By silvia motta https://www.academia.edu/10642493/An_archaeoastronomical_investigation_of_Pre_Inca_sites_along_the_Rio_Grande_in_the_Casma_province_of_the_Ancash_Region_Per%C3%B9 In this paper we outline the results of an archaeoastronomical analysis of a group of Pre-Inca sites, located along the banks of the Rio Grande, Perù. We recognized at about 40 sites analyzing the high-resolution satellite images from Google Earth Pro. They consist mainly of monumental architectures and platform mounds of which we measured the geodetic azimuth of orientation. Subsequently an appropriate statistical study was carried out in order to infer their distribution function with the aim to perform an appropriate archaeoastronomical analysis. Following the data obtained, we can suggest an astronomical significance of these analyzed sites. ...

The astronomical significance of the clockwise misalignment from cardinal directions in the Mayan lowlands. By silvia motta

The astronomical significance of the clockwise misalignment from cardinal directions in the Mayan lowlands. By silvia motta https://www.academia.edu/3852011/The_astronomical_significance_of_the_clockwise_misalignment_from_cardinal_directions_in_the_Mayan_lowlands?rhid=38301938363&swp=rr-rw-wc-37156159&nav_from=8c4e1511-1612-4df1-bd00-6f2213216a51 In this paper we outline the results of our archaeoastronomical study dealing with a number of Mayan settlements located in the lowlands of Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo (Mexico), in order to try to explain the well-known clockwise misalignments with respect to the astronomical cardinal directions. In this work we present the results of our analysis and propose a solution of this problem. The methodology followed in our study is based on statistical methods as well as on the astronomical computations. In a preliminary research we at first analysed the topographic maps of the Mayan sites checking that the deviation of the main axes of the cities is always rotated by few degrees in a clockwise direction from the astronomical North, but with different azimuths. We have successfully tested various hypotheses on the astronomical criteria applied by the Mayan people in order to build and orient their cities, and we are able to show that exists a strict relationship between the architectural alignments and the astronomical observations of the most important stars in the framework of the Mayan religion. ...

ASTRONOMY, RITUAL, AND THE INTERPRETATION OF MAYA “E-GROUP” ARCHITECTURAL ASSEMBLAGES By Jim Aimers

ASTRONOMY, RITUAL, AND THE INTERPRETATION OF MAYA “E-GROUP” ARCHITECTURAL ASSEMBLAGES By Jim Aimers https://www.academia.edu/2247550/ASTRONOMY_RITUAL_AND_THE_INTERPRETATION_OF_MAYA_E_GROUP_ARCHITECTURAL_ASSEMBLAGES?rhid=38301938363&swp=rr-rw-wc-37156159&nav_from=3964eb6b-e5ee-466e-80e9-3279d08654cb E-group architectural assemblages, constructed and used for more than a millennium in the Maya Lowlands, are among the most distinctive and enduring forms in Mesoamerican monumental architecture. Since the 1920s, E-groups have been thought to mark the solstices and equinoxes, but more recent investigations have shown that these alignments were rarely accurate. We argue that accurate solar alignment was probably only a minor element, and primarily an early one, of a larger set of metaphorically linked design considerations that included concepts of sacred geography, ritual performance in reference to yearly solar and agricultural cycles, and longer cycles of time, especially katuns, that played a role in Lowland Maya geopolitical structuring. Although archaeologists associate E-groups with the Lowland Maya, they are not uncommon elsewhere in Mesoamerica, partic- ...