The Fifth Sun, with ancient Mexican history and astronomy

Speculations that the Mesoamerican 260-day divinitory count may have a direct relationship to the 260-day interval between solar zenith passages that uniquely occur within a narrow latitudinal band just south of 15° north latitude (the “260-day band”) are supported by evidence from extensive and systematic documentation of architectural and horizon orientations at sites throughout Central Mexico. Sites were located and important structures within those sites were oriented from as early as the early 3rd century BC in accordance with a horizon reference system defined by the dates of the zenith and nadir passages and related calendrically significant solar events of that 260-day band. Subterranean chambers and other constructed devices in Central Mexico have been identified that enabled precise determination of the actual dates of those zenith passages. Calibration of the horizon reference system using the actual zenith passage dates from one solar cycle to the next would maintain concordance with the tropical year. In these respects, the zenith sun of the 260-day band was an organizing principle of the constructed space and calendrics of Central Mexico.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1982

HE INTENT OF this article is to contribute a few considerations from T the fields of ethnohistory and anthropology to the interdisciplinary approach of this volume. The point of departure for this investigation is the study of Aztec calendar festivals and their relation to society in Central Mexico on the eve of the Spanish Conquest, a study in which ritual is analyzed as a social phenomenon. We will deal with certain aspects of pre-Hispanic astronomy from the point of view of its close interrelation with the calendrical system and with cosmouisibn, relating these different elements to each other and analyzing them in terms of their ideological significance. The concept of ideology that will be used in this approach establishes the link between cosmouisibn on the one hand, and social reality and economic and political structure on the other. Methodologically speaking, I will interpret ethnohistorical, archaeological, and astronomical data in terms of anthropological theory. We also might indicate, in reference to the question of terminology, that by cosmouisibn-a term borrowed from the common Spanish usage-we understand the structured view in which the ancient Mesoamericans combined their notions of cosmology into a systematic whole, while ideology will be used in a specific way denoting the basic approach of this paper. It implies, a distinction between "objective social reality" and the "explanation" that the ancient Mesoamericans gave of that reality. Ideology is a system of symbolic representation, and its most important social function is to legitimize and justify the existing order of 81

David Valls-Gabaud and Alexander Boksenberg, eds., The Role of Astronomy in Society and Culture, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 87-95

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

Astronomische Nachrichten, 2021

In this paper, we discuss the astronomical orientations in the city plans of Teotihuacan and Tenochtitlan. Mesoamerica exhibits much archaeoastronomy and these two sites are rich examples. Both exhibit alignments for solar horizon events that are integral in deliberate calendrical systems. The logic of these systems is shown, and this demonstrates that these cities were carefully planned with astronomical knowledge.

Revista Espanola De Antropologia Americana, 1970

The chronological system of the veintenas in the codices of Central Mexico acquires new significance in light of a recent finding. The first page of the veintena sequence in codices Tudela (1530), Magliabechiano (1566) and Ixtlilxóchitl (circa 1566) that shows a pictograph of Atlacahualo is not the first veintena of the Mexica-Aztec calendar but rather the last veintena of the Otomí calendar. This is confirmed when comparing the second page of the sequence because it presents a Gladiator ritual, a ceremony among the people of Tlaxcala (who are Otomí) that is strictly related to the five useless days, and that is "apart from the eighteen veintenas"-says Durán (1967:271). Reaffirming this structure is the Tudela version of the second page because it has two sections: the bottom one with the Gladiator ritual pictograph, and the top one with the Tlacaxipehualiztli pictograph. This automatically puts Tlacaxipehualiztli as the inaugural veintena of Otomí year. In this brief manuscript the author offers commentaries to Milbrath (2022) in a search for dialogue about the coexistence of two distinct chronological systems in Central Mexico-the Mexica-Aztec and the Otomí-that when understood in tandem, accommodate the yearbearer on the 364 th and the 359 th day respectively; and while the first system has Izcalli inaugurating the year on Gregorian date February 12, the Otomí system has Izcalli and Atlacahualo closing the year from February 12 through March 4 till March 23, when a quarter of the year-cycle is completed. The Gladiator ceremony serves as a hiatus after which the Otomí year begins on March 29 on Tlacaxipehualiztli. This explains Durán's entries about such a starting time of the year among the Tlaxcalan people and helps solve many questions in Central Mexican calendrical studies.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1982

HE INTENT OF this article is to contribute a few considerations from T the fields of ethnohistory and anthropology to the interdisciplinary approach of this volume. The point of departure for this investigation is the study of Aztec calendar festivals and their relation to society in Central Mexico on the eve of the Spanish Conquest, a study in which ritual is analyzed as a social phenomenon.

Latin American Antiquity, 2015

We describe the development of a new chronology for the Postclassic site of Calixtlahuaca, Toluca, Mexico. We identify three ceramic phases using discriminant analysis of decorated and plainware types. These phases are consistent with excavated stratigraphy, as well as a series of 54 radiocarbon dates. We then assign absolute dates to the phases using Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates and historical information on the date of site abandonment. The resulting chronology identifies three phases at the site: Dongu (A.D. 1130–1380), Ninupi (A.D. 1380–1450), and Yata (A.D. 1450–1530). We then discuss the local and regional implications of the chronology. More broadly, our results demonstrate the utility of using multiple, complementary methods for developing more precise chronologies.