Astronomical Observatories in the Maya Area
1928; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 18; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/208047
ISSN1931-0846
Autores Tópico(s)Latin American history and culture
ResumoT HE oldest dated ruins so far discovered in the Maya area lie in the center of the northern portion of the Department of Peten, Guatemala. They were first reported by Dr. Sylvanus G. Morley in I916 who named the site Uaxactun, a combination of two Maya words, uaxac, meaning eight, and tun, meaning stone. This name suggested itself, as Stela 9 in this city is inscribed with a date in the Maya calendric system equivalent to June 10, 68 A. D., the earliest date recorded on a monument contemporaneous with the occupation of the city that has yet been found in the New World.' The original Maya name of the city may never be known, so completely has the combination of time, a humid climate, and the ruthlessness of the Spanish conquistadores obliterated evidence pertaining to the once wide-spread Maya civilization. In I925 the Government of Guatemala granted permission to the Carnegie Institution of Washington to carry out archeological investigations at this site.
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