Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T07:31:14.999Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Sun, Moon and Venus at Uxmal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Weldon Lamb
Weldon Lamb*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Counts of mosaic facade elements, doors, steps, and colonnettes of the East, West, and North Buildings of the Nunnery Quadrangle at the Maya site of Uxmal suggest that these features, taken together, preserve knowledge of eight facts about the sun, moon, and Venus: the moon's synodic period is 29.53 + days; the lunar sidereal period lasts nearly 27.33 days; the Venus synodic mean is almost 584 days; the observed Venus synodic can vary between 581 and 587 days; any five consecutive Venus synodics equal or come to within one day of eight vague years of 365 days each; one sun-moon correlation has five short years and three long ones together equal to eight vague years or eight true solar years or 99 lunations; the Venus sidereal period is nearly 224 days long; and, finally, 13 Venus sidereals virtually equal five Venus synodics. Cheek glyphs, flanking birdserpents, and plumed-snake headbands all suggest that most of the masks on the East Building, West Building, and Governor's Palace represent not Chac but Kukulcan-Venus. It is therefore suggested that at least some Pure Florescent facades contain astronomical, calendrical, and ritual information, not just attractively arranged mosaic stones, and that other features, such as doors, steps, and colonnettes, should also be considered as potentially informative.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 45 , Issue 1 , January 1980 , pp. 79 - 86
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1980

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Andrews, E. V., Wyllys 1979 Some comments on Puuc architecture of the northern Yucatan peninsula. In Studies in the archaeology of the Puuc region, edited by Mills, Lawrence, pp. 1–17. Central College Press, Pella, Iowa.Google Scholar
Aveni, Anthony F. 1975 Possible astronomical orientations in ancient Mesoamerica. In Archaeoastronomy in pre-ColumbianAmerica, edited by Aveni, A. F., pp. 163–190. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Aveni, Anthony F. 1977 Concepts of positional astronomy employed in ancient Mesoamerican architecture. In Native Americanastronomy, edited by Aveni, A. F., pp. 3–19. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Barthel, Thomas S. 1968 Gotter—Sterne—Pyramiden. Paideuma 14:45–92.Google Scholar
Furst, Peter T. 1975 House of darkness and house of light: sacred functions of West Mexican funerary art. In Death andthe afterlife in pre-Columbian America, edited by Benson, E. P., pp. 33–68. Dumbarton Oaks ResearchLibrary and Collections, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Gibbs, Sharon L. 1977 Mesoamerican calendrics as evidence of astronomical activity. In Native American astronomy, edited by Aveni, A. F., pp. 21–36. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Kelley, David H. 1965 The birth of the gods at Palenque. Estudios de Cultura Maya 5:93–134.Google Scholar
Kelley, David H. 1976 Deciphering the Maya script. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Ludendorff, Hans 1933 Die astronomischen Inschriften in Yaxchilan. In Untersuchungen zur Astronomie der Maya, Nr. 11.Sitzungsberichte der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, phys.—math. Klasse, XXV, Berlin.Google Scholar
Ludendorff, Hans 1936 Zur astronmischen Deutung der Maya-Inschriften. In Untersuchungen zur Astronomie der Maya, Nr. 10. Sitzungsberichte der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaftern, phys.—math, Klasse, XXV, Berlin.Google Scholar
Ludendorff, Hans 1938 Astronomische Inschriften in Palenque. In Untersuchungen zur Astronomie der Maya, Nr. 12. Sitzungsberichteder Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, phys.—math. Klasse, Nr. 1, Berlin.Google Scholar
Marshack, Alexander 1975 An Olmec mosaic pendant. In Archaeoastronomy in pre-Columbian America, edited by Aveni, A. F., pp. 341–377. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Morley, Sylvanus Griswold 1956 The ancient Maya (third ed.). edited by Brainerd, George W.. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.Google Scholar
Ruz Lhuillier, Alberto 1969 Uxmal (fourth Spanish ed.). I.N.A.H., Mexico.Google Scholar
Seler, Eduard 1917 Die ruinen von Uxmal. Verlag der Koniglichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin.Google Scholar
Stephens, John Lloyd 1963 Incidents of travel in Yucatan, vol. I. Dover Publications, New York.Google Scholar
Teeple, John E. 1930 Maya astronomy. Carnegie Institute Washington, Publication 403, Contribution 2.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. E. S 1962 A catalog of Maya hieroglyphs (first ed.). University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. E. S 1971 Maya hieroglyphic writing: an introduction (third ed.). University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. E. S 1972 A commentary on the Dresden Codex. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
U.S. Naval Observatory 1950-1978 The American ephemeris and nautical almanac. Washington, DC.Google Scholar