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THE CALCULATION OF THE LUNAR SERIES ON CLASSIC MAYA MONUMENTS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2007

Andreas Fuls
Andreas Fuls*
Affiliation:
Institute for Geodesy and Geoinformation Science, Technical University of Berlin, Strasse des 17. Juni 135, 12049 Berlin, Germany
*
E-mail correspondence to: {[email protected]}
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Abstract

Archaeological and historical evidence clearly shows that the Lunar Series of mythical dates were calculated backward—that is, they were often determined from the date on which the monument was erected using a specific formula to calculate the age of the moon. In this article, I present a high-precision adjustment technique that confirms the “Palenque formula” using Lunar Series data from recent excavations. I show that the Palenque formula was also used at Tikal on 9.16.15.0.0 to backward calculate the Lunar Series of 5.0.0.0.0 12 Ahaw 3 Sak. At Coba, the backward calculation of the Lunar Series of the Era base date used a less precise 29.5-day lunar month. I also discuss the relationship between rulers of specific sites and the lunar-month count at those sites, finding that there was no “Period of Uniformity” in lunar calculation, as proposed by John Teeple (1930). Although a uniform six-month count was used during the reign of several rulers, in many cases the month count changed after a new ruler came to throne. I propose a month count related to a cycle of eight tropical years for the Lunar Series of K'inich Yo'nal Ahk I and Yo'nal Ahk III at the site of Piedras Negras.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , Fall 2007 , pp. 273 - 282
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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