Mesoamerican Astronomy
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Mesoamerican Astronomy
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Author : Charles River
language : en
Publisher: Independently Published
Release Date : 2022-12-22
Mesoamerican Astronomy written by Charles River and has been published by Independently Published this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2022-12-22 with categories.
Many ancient civilizations have influenced and inspired people in the 21st century, and the Greeks and Romans continue to fascinate the West today, but of all the world's civilizations, none have intrigued people more than the Mayans, whose culture, astronomy, language, and mysterious disappearance all continue to captivate people. In the past decade especially, there has been a renewed focus on the Mayans, whose advanced calendar led many to speculate the world would end on the same date the Mayan calendar ended in 2012. For the Maya, astronomy was not a purely scientific pursuit but intimately linked to religious, mythological, and ideological elements that were of the highest importance. The celestial realm held a sacred nature, as did the many gods and goddesses that dwelt there, so for all Mesoamerican cultures, astronomy was a fundamental part of their everyday lives. Thus, astronomy was present in their calendars, religion, and even agriculture, and in close relation to astronomy, the concept of time was also an essential part of their worldview. The Maya recorded time on almost every surface they could, including lintels, cornices, panels, stelae, friezes, ceramics, and paper. This insistence on capturing dates has led many scholars to suggest the Maya were obsessed with time. The Maya had some of the most advanced astronomical measurements in the world, and their work built upon thousands of years, spanning from around 2500 BCE until the the arrival of the Spanish in 1519. Unlike the Maya, the Aztecs are not widely viewed or remembered with nuance, in part because their own leader burned extant Aztec writings and rewrote a mythologized history explaining his empire's dominance less than a century before the Spanish arrived. Naturally, Cortes and other Spaniards depicted the Aztecs as savages greatly in need of conversion to Catholicism. While the Maya are remembered for their astronomy, numeral system, and calendar, the Aztecs have primarily been remembered in a far narrower way, despite continuing to be a source of pride to Mexicans through the centuries. The Aztec recorded many of the astronomical events they observed in codices and hieroglyphic inscriptions, but the main evidence of their deep astronomical knowledge comes from their calendar system. This information was then used to plan the orientation of buildings and ceremonial centers, which were aligned to sunrises or sunsets corresponding to special dates, such as solstices or equinoxes. Observational calendars were also used to schedule agricultural activities, as well as rituals, festivals, and celebrations. Though the Spanish physically conquered them in quick fashion, the culture and legacy of the Inca Empire has continued to endure throughout the centuries in both Europe and South America, due in no small part to the fact they were one of the most advanced and sophisticated cultures on the continent. Like the Aztecs, the Spanish burned much of the Inca's extant writings, but it is estimated that as many as 35 million once fell under their banner, and the empire's administrative skills were so sharp that they kept accurate census records. Their religion, organization, and laws were also effectively centralized and tied to the rulers of the empire, and their military mobilization would have made the ancient Spartans proud. The sun was the main element present in the Inca worldview, so Inti, the sun god, was worshipped above all others and, even though the different parts of the empire were allowed to practice their individual beliefs, they were encouraged to venerate the sun. The connection with the sun even extended to their kings since they were considered to be the sons of the sun. Naturally, this meant astronomy was a key component of the Incas' beliefs, and in addition to the sun, the Inca observed the moon, stars, constellations, and some planets, all of which became integral parts of their cosmology.
Cosmology Calendars And Horizon Based Astronomy In Ancient Mesoamerica
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Author : Anne S. Dowd
language : en
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
Release Date : 2015-05-01
Cosmology Calendars And Horizon Based Astronomy In Ancient Mesoamerica written by Anne S. Dowd and has been published by University Press of Colorado this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2015-05-01 with Social Science categories.
Cosmology, Calendars, and Horizon-Based Astronomy in Ancient Mesoamerica is an interdisciplinary tour de force that establishes the critical role astronomy played in the religious and civic lives of the ancient peoples of Mesoamerica. Providing extraordinary examples of how Precolumbian peoples merged ideas about the cosmos with those concerning calendar and astronomy, the volume showcases the value of detailed examinations of astronomical data for understanding ancient cultures. The volume is divided into three sections: investigations into Mesoamerican horizon-based astronomy, the cosmological principles expressed in Mesoamerican religious imagery and rituals related to astronomy, and the aspects of Mesoamerican calendars related to archaeoastronomy. It also provides cutting-edge research on diverse topics such as records of calendar and horizon-based astronomical observation (like the Dresden and Borgia codices), iconography of burial assemblages, architectural alignment studies, urban planning, and counting or measuring devices. Contributors—who are among the most respected in their fields— explore new dimensions in Mesoamerican timekeeping and skywatching in the Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacano, Zapotec, and Aztec cultures. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of anthropology, archaeology, art history, and astronomy.
Star Gods Of The Maya
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Author : Susan Milbrath
language : en
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Release Date : 2010-01-01
Star Gods Of The Maya written by Susan Milbrath and has been published by University of Texas Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2010-01-01 with Social Science categories.
“A prodigious work of unmatched interdisciplinary scholarship” on Maya astronomy and religion (Journal of Interdisciplinary History). Observations of the sun, moon, planets, and stars played a central role in ancient Maya lifeways, as they do today among contemporary Maya who maintain the traditional ways. This pathfinding book reconstructs ancient Maya astronomy and cosmology through the astronomical information encoded in Pre-Columbian Maya art and confirmed by the current practices of living Maya peoples. Susan Milbrath opens the book with a discussion of modern Maya beliefs about astronomy, along with essential information on naked-eye observation. She devotes subsequent chapters to Pre-Columbian astronomical imagery, which she traces back through time, starting from the Colonial and Postclassic eras. She delves into many aspects of the Maya astronomical images, including the major astronomical gods and their associated glyphs, astronomical almanacs in the Maya codices and changes in the imagery of the heavens over time. This investigation yields new data and a new synthesis of information about the specific astronomical events and cycles recorded in Maya art and architecture. Indeed, it constitutes the first major study of the relationship between art and astronomy in ancient Maya culture. “Milbrath has given us a comprehensive reference work that facilitates access to a very broad and varied body of literature spanning several disciplines.” ―Isis “Destined to become a standard reference work on Maya archeoastronomy . . . Utterly comprehensive.” —Andrea Stone, Professor of Art History, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Archaeoastronomy In Pre Columbian America
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Author : American Association for the Advancement of Science
language : en
Publisher: Austin : University of Texas Press
Release Date : 1975
Archaeoastronomy In Pre Columbian America written by American Association for the Advancement of Science and has been published by Austin : University of Texas Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 1975 with Science categories.
Written by leading specialists, the papers in this volume explore the newly developed interdisciplinary field of archaeoastronomy. Their value is enhanced by extensive citation of data for that part of America north of Panama. They provide an excellent introduction to the growing field of archaeoastronomy. Three broad, interlocking topics are discussed: early American rock art in the southwestern United States, astronomical orientations of buildings, and native American calendars.
Skywatching In The Ancient World
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Author : Clive Ruggles
language : en
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
Release Date : 2010-12
Skywatching In The Ancient World written by Clive Ruggles and has been published by University Press of Colorado this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2010-12 with Social Science categories.
Compiled in honor of Anthony F. Aveni, America's leading archaeoastronomer, Skywatching in the Ancient World offers state-of-the-art work in cultural astronomy by well-known experts in Mayan glyphic studies, cultural history, ethnohistory, and the history of science and of religions. This collection's wide range of outstanding scholarship reveals that cultural astronomy has come into its own. The diverse topics addressed by the contributors include the correlation between Colonial Northern Zapotec and Gregorian calendars, the period of use of the Dresden Codex Venus table and the significance of the Lunar Almanacs that precede it, a new interpretation of an Inka tapestry mantle as a commemorative calendar, temple orientations in Hawai'i and church orientations in Medieval England, and the connection in cultural imagery between astronomers (science) and wizards (magic). Contributors include: Harvey M. Bricker, Victoria R. Bricker, Edward E. Calnek, Clemency Coggins, John Justeson, Edwin C. Krupp, Stephen C. McCluskey, Susan Milbrath, Clive Ruggles, David Tavárez, Barbara Tedlock, Dennis Tedlock, Gary Urton, and R. Tom Zuidema. Mesoamerican Worlds Series
Heart Of Creation
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Author : Andrea Joyce Stone
language : en
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
Release Date : 2002
Heart Of Creation written by Andrea Joyce Stone and has been published by University of Alabama Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2002 with History categories.
This accessible, state-of-the-art review of Mayan hieroglyphics and cosmology also serves as a tribute to one of the field's most noted pioneers. The core of this book focuses on the current study of Mayan hieroglyphics as inspired by the recently deceased Mayanist Linda Schele. As author or coauthor of more than 200 books or articles on the Maya, Schele served as the chief disseminator of knowledge to the general public about this ancient Mesoamerican culture, similar to the way in which Margaret Mead introduced anthropology and the people of Borneo to the English-speaking world. Twenty-five contributors offer scholarly writings on subjects ranging from the ritual function of public space at the Olmec site and the gardens of the Great Goddess at Teotihuacan to the understanding of Jupiter in Maya astronomy and the meaning of the water throne of Quirigua Zoomorph P. The workshops on Maya history and writing that Schele conducted in Guatemala and Mexico for the highland people, modern descendants of the Mayan civilization, are thoroughly addressed as is the phenomenon termed "Maya mania"—the explosive growth of interest in Maya epigraphy, iconography, astronomy, and cosmology that Schele stimulated. An appendix provides a bibliography of Schele's publications and a collection of Scheleana, written memories of "the Rabbit Woman" by some of her colleagues and students. Of interest to professionals as well as generalists, this collection will stand as a marker of the state of Mayan studies at the turn of the 21st century and as a tribute to the remarkable personality who guided a large part of that archaeological research for more than two decades.
Mysterious Advanced Astronomy In Mesoamerica
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Author : Norah Romney
language : en
Publisher: DTTV PUBLICATIONS
Release Date : 2022-08-24
Mysterious Advanced Astronomy In Mesoamerica written by Norah Romney and has been published by DTTV PUBLICATIONS this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2022-08-24 with History categories.
The Olmec language and Teotihuacan language are still outside this preliminary classification: the ones represented by the Olmec area and those of Teotihuacan, which are currently being studied and discovered. Though it is still difficult to prove, there is some probability that the Olmec language preceded Totonac. In contrast, it is more specific than the writings and speech of Teotihuacan, which led to Nahua's development. The Mexican population that migrated to Nicaragua later spread this language in its various variants throughout the central Valley of Mexico, even reaching the south of Mesoamerica, to Nicaragua. During the destruction and abandonment of Teotihuacan around 600, the written system of their successors, the Toltecs, was lost but may have been revived later in Aztec ideographic writing.
Calculating Brilliance
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Author : Gerardo Aldana
language : en
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Release Date : 2022-03-15
Calculating Brilliance written by Gerardo Aldana and has been published by University of Arizona Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2022-03-15 with Science categories.
This book contextualizes the discovery of a Venus astronomical pattern by a female Mayan astronomer at Chich'en Itza and the discovery's later adaptation and application at Mayapan. Calculating Brilliance brings different intellectual threads together across time and space, from the Classic to the Postclassic, the colonial period to the twenty-first century to offer a new vision for understanding Mayan astronomy.
The Role Of Archaeoastronomy In The Maya World
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Author : UNESCO Office Mexico
language : en
Publisher: UNESCO Publishing
Release Date : 2016-12-31
The Role Of Archaeoastronomy In The Maya World written by UNESCO Office Mexico and has been published by UNESCO Publishing this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2016-12-31 with categories.
Astronomers Scribes And Priests
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Author : Gabrielle Vail
language : en
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Release Date : 2010
Astronomers Scribes And Priests written by Gabrielle Vail and has been published by Harvard University Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2010 with History categories.
This book examines evidence for cultural interchange among the intellectual powerbrokers in Postclassic Mesoamerica, specifically those centered in the northern Maya lowlands and the central Mexican highlands. It includes a wealth of new data and interpretive frameworks in a comprehensive discussion of a critical time period in Mesoamerica.