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Archaeology and Archaeoastronomy of Mount Tlaloc, Mexico: A Reconsideration

1994; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 5; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/971561

2325-5080

Stanisław Iwaniszewski,

Latin American history and culture

This paper reevaluates the architectural remains atop Mount Tlaloc in light of recent contributions by Aveni et al. (1988), Broda (1989, 1991a, 1991b), and Townsend (1991). Evidence suggests that there were at least two phases of architectural activity on the mountain. An archaeoastronomical analysis of the ceremonial enclosure leads to the suggestion that the orientation of the structure reveals a paradigm marking out specific days by denoting positions of the sun-at-horizon events at intervals of 20 days. This may be a reference to the nemontemi days of the Mexican 365-day solar calendar. Mount Tlaloc also appears to be associated with other mountains through visual lines that correlate with sunrise on dates when ceremonies were performed in sanctuaries situated on prominent elevations.