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Radiocarbon Dates and the Maya Correlation Problem

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Linton Satterthwaite
Linton Satterthwaite*
Affiliation:
The University Museum , Philadelphia, Pa
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Extract

This is a plea for caution in using recent and important radiocarbon results as controls in correlating the Classic Maya Long Count with our own chronology. A final choice among alternative day-for-day hypotheses must condition one's view of the meaning of the calendar and of astronomy in Mesoamerican cultures generally. More is at stake than the firm dating of archaeological periods, important as that is, and in our desire for a decision there is danger of oversimplifying the problem. Already there has been a press report that the Spinden 12.9.0.0.0 correlation has been established, though equal support in the new evidence can be claimed for an alternative 12.9.0.0.0 hypothesis of Makemson. Nonspecialists wishing to form opinions as to specific correlations must still study the evidence as a whole. Three excellent summaries, well-spaced in time, have been published by Thompson (1935, 1950) and Andrews (1940).

Type
Facts and Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , April 1956 , pp. 416 - 419
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1956

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References

Andrews, E. W. 1940 Chronology and Astronomy in the Maya Area. In The Maya and Their Neighbors, edited by Hay, C. L. and others, pp. 150–61. Appleton-Century, New York.Google Scholar
Kulp, J. L., Feely, H. W., and Tryon, L. E. 1951 Lamont Natural Radiocarbon Measurements, I. Science, Vol. 114, pp. 565–8. Lancaster.Google Scholar
Libby, W. F. 1954 Chicago Radiocarbon Dates, V. Science, Vol. 120, pp. 733–42. Lancaster. Google Scholar
Thompson, J. E. S. 1935 Maya Chronology: The Correlation Question. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication 456, Contributions to American Anthropology and History, Vol. 3, No. 14, pp. 51–104. Washington.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. E. S. 1950 Maya Hieroglyphic Writing: Introduction. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication 589. Washington.Google Scholar
Weitzel, R. B. 1945 Inscriptions at Chichen Itza and the Maya Correlation Problem. American Antiquity, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 27–31. Menasha.Google Scholar