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Precision in the Layout of Maya Architecture*

1982; Wiley; Volume: 385; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1749-6632.1982.tb34259.x

1749-6632

Anthony F. Aveni, Horst Hartung,

Architecture and Art History Studies

Annals of the New York Academy of SciencesVolume 385, Issue 1 p. 63-80 Precision in the Layout of Maya Architecture* ANTHONY F. AVENI, ANTHONY F. AVENI Departments of Physics and Astronomy and Sociology and Anthropology Colgate University Hamilton, New York 13346Search for more papers by this authorHORST HARTUNG, HORST HARTUNG Faculty of Architecture University of Guadalajara Guadalajara, MexicoSearch for more papers by this author ANTHONY F. AVENI, ANTHONY F. AVENI Departments of Physics and Astronomy and Sociology and Anthropology Colgate University Hamilton, New York 13346Search for more papers by this authorHORST HARTUNG, HORST HARTUNG Faculty of Architecture University of Guadalajara Guadalajara, MexicoSearch for more papers by this author First published: May 1982 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1982.tb34259.xCitations: 3 * AFA's research was supported by the National Science Foundation, grant no. INT-791512, and by the OSCO Foundation. AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL References 1 J. E. S. Thompson, A Commentary on the Dresden Codex: A Maya Hieroglyphic Book ( Philadelphia : American Philosophical Society, 1972). 2 When examined in greater detail, the fabled Teotihuacán precision also has its subtle asymmetries. While Millon et al., Urbanization at Teotihuacan ( Austin : University of Texas Press, 1973), stated that there is good evidence that the Teotihuacanos planned the grid structure of their city, still, these authors point out that "most long and many short east-west orientations are 91° or 91°30′ east of Teotihuacan north." Moreover, most angles, including those at the corners of the Pyramid of the Sun and, especially, at the Ciudadela, deviate noticeably from a right angle (pp. 37, 53, 56, 57), the latter by a full order of magnitude greater than the building tolerance attributed to Teotihuacán builders by investigators on the mapping project. Without a doubt, the individual buildings were being forced to conform to nonorthogonal grids defined by several axes probably associated with different building epochs; e.g., 15°30′ for the Street of the Dead, 106°30′ for East Avenue, 106°55′ for the Ciudadela, and 285°25′ for West Avenue. There is good evidence that one of the underlying motives for setting up the peculiar, skewed, nonorthogonal Teotihuacán grid was astronomical. (J. Dow, "Astronomical Orientations at Teotihuacan: A Case Study in Astro-Archaeology," American Antiquity, vol. 32 (1967), pp. 326– 334, and; A. F. Aveni, and S. L. Gibbs, " On the Orientation of Pre-Columbian Buildings in Ancient Mexico," American Antiquity, vol. 41 (1976). pp. 510–517.). 3 A. M. Tozzer, "Prehistoric Ruins of Tikal, Guatemala," Memoirs of the Peabody Museum, vol. 5 (1911). no. 2. 4 J. E. S. Thompson, "Maya Astronomy," Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series A, vol. 276 (1974), pp. 83– 98. The statement is on p. 94. 5 Atoni housebuilders of the Pacific always disoriented the doorways of their houses a few degrees from the east so as not to violate the sacred way of the sun (C. Cunningham, " Order in the Atoni house," in Right and Left: Essays on Dual Symbolic Classification, ed. R. Needham ( Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1973). pp. 204– 238). 6 A. F. Aveni, Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico ( Austin : University of Texas Press, 1980), chap. 5. For details see Hartung.16,19,20. 7 A. F. Aveni. Possible Astronomical Orientations in Ancient Mesoamerica," in Archaeoastronomy in Pre-Columbian America, ed. A. Aveni ( Austin : University of Texas Press, 1975), pp. 163– 190. 8 Details of the techniques are given in A. F. Aveni, "Archaeoastronomy," Advances in Archeological Method and Theory, vol. 4 (1981), pp. 25– 32. Basically, we determined the absolute azimuths of walls or, in the absence of an astronomical reference, the relative orientation of one wall of a building with respect to another. 9 Multiple sets of measurements of all wall alignments were taken in order to establish estimates of probable error of measurement. Our greatest shortcoming in this regard lies not in transit reading accuracy, but rather in the fact that few original walls remain completely intact and perfectly straight. 10 J. Kowalski, (Diss. Yale University, n.d.) His work on the iconography of the Governor's Palace at Uxmal is in progress. 11 In an earlier investigation we had shown that the orientation of the Palace of the Governor is quite unusual.7 Its façade is skewed 20° from the other buildings at Uxmal in a clockwise sense, as seen on a plan of the site. The main doorway seems to have been aligned deliberately (to within 8 minutes of arc) with the principal pyramid at the ruins of Nohpat 6 km distant. Also, the planet Venus at its extreme southerly rising point on the eastern horizon would have risen directly over the Nohpat pyramid (error 2 minutes of arc). Moreover, the façade of the Palace contains both Venus symbols like those appearing in the Venus table in the Dresden Codex and the number 8 written in dot-bar notation. This number may correspond either to the 8-year interval between identical Venus horizon extremes or to the 8-day disappearance of the planet before heliacal rise in the east. 12 This building also surmounts the artificial terrace of dimensions 153 m by 181 m occupied by the Palace of the Governor, the entire complex having been skewed 20° clockwise from the north relative to all the other buildings at Uxmal, presumably to align with Nohpat and Venus.. 13 Our measurements on the Hall of Columns at Mitla, Oaxaca, one of the bestpreserved non-Maya buildings in Mesoamerica (dating from about A.D. 1200). revealed no better overall building precision. Its corners deviated from a right angle by 0°53′ (avg.), with both short and long walls out of parallel by about the same magnitude. 14 See Figure 2b, where one can count the 11 doorways on the North Building as well as 3 and 5 doorways on a pair of buildings flanking the wide stairway leading up to it. The seven doorways of the west building can be seen in Figure 2a.. 15 Figure 2c shows this alignment at ground level. 16 H. Hartung, Die Zeremonialzentren der Maya ( Graz : Akademische Druck- und- Verlagsanstalt, 1971. See especially pp. 48– 57, plan 6, and figs. 13–20.. 17 A. F. Aveni, 7 pp. 182– 187. 18 G. Kubler, The Art and Architecture of Ancient America ( Middlesex : Penguin, 1962), p. 149, suggests the sequence north-south-east-west. 19 H. Hartung, " Ancient Maya Architecture and Planning: Possibilities and Limitations for Astronomoical Studies." in Native American Astronomy, ed. A. Aveni ( Austin : University of Texas Press, 1977), pp. 111– 130. 20 H. Hartung, " Consideraciones sobre los Trazos de Centros Ceremoniales Mayas," in 48th Acts of the International Congress of Americanists, vol. 4 ( Stuttgart : Kommissionsverlag K. Renner, 1972), pp, 14– 26. 21 A. Aveni, " Concepts of Positional Astronomy Employed in Ancient Mesoamerican Architecture," in Native American Astronomy, ed. A. Aveni ( Austin : Univeristy of Texas Press, 1977), pp. 3– 21. 22 H. Hartung, 16 pp. 33– 42, plans 1–4 and H. Hartung, " A Scheme of Probable Astronomical Projections in Mesoamerican Architecture, in Archaeoastronomy in Pre-Columbian America, ed. A. Aveni ( Austin : University of Texas Press, 1975). p. 203. 23 H. Hartung, 16 pp. 43– 47, plan 5. 24 H. Hartung, 16 pp. 58– 68, plan 7, figs. 21–29 and; A. F. Aveni, 7 p. 125. Citing Literature Volume385, Issue1Ethnoastronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the American TropicsMay 1982Pages 63-80 ReferencesRelatedInformation