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Astronomy and its role in ancient Mesoamerica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2011

Ivan Šprajc
Ivan Šprajc*
Affiliation:
Scientific Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Novi trg 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia email: sprajc@zrc-sazu.si
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Abstract

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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

Keywords

MesoamericaMayaAztecarchaeoastronomy
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 5 , Symposium S260: The Role of Astronomy in Society and Culture , January 2009 , pp. 87 - 95
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2011

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