Artículo

Orientation Calendar in Mesoamerica: Hypothesis Concerning their Structure, Use and Distribution

Tichy, Franz

Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas, UNAM, publicado en Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl y cosechado de y cosechado de Revistas UNAM

Licencia de uso

La titularidad de los derechos patrimoniales de esta obra pertenece a las instituciones editoras. Su uso se rige por una licencia Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 Internacional, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode.es, para un uso diferente consultar al responsable jurídico del repositorio por medio del correo electrónico nahuatl@unam.mx. Ver términos de la licencia

Procedencia del contenido

Entidad o dependencia
Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas, UNAM
Revista
Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl
Repositorio
Revistas UNAM
Contacto
Revistas UNAM. Dirección General de Publicaciones y Fomento Editorial, UNAM en revistas@unam.mx

Cita

Tichy, Franz (1990). Orientation Calendar in Mesoamerica: Hypothesis Concerning their Structure, Use and Distribution. Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl; Vol. 20, 1990; 183-199. Recuperado de https://repositorio.unam.mx/contenidos/4145369

Descripción del recurso

Autor(es)
Tichy, Franz
Tipo
Artículo de Investigación
Área del conocimiento
Artes y Humanidades
Título
Orientation Calendar in Mesoamerica: Hypothesis Concerning their Structure, Use and Distribution
Fecha
2022-10-05
Resumen
The basis for any calendar is the observation of the path of the sun, moon and also the stars which have since time immemorial determined the ordering and measuremerit of time for Man. These very astronomical phenomena also give him the means with which to find bis way in his environment —making it possible to recognize and determine the cardinal directions. By orientation calendars we mean such calendars whose structure and subdivisions are derived from events resulting from the annual motion of the sun on the horizon. The direction towards specific points on the horizon was fixed purposefully, following ancient traditions, by tracing orientation lines in the landscape; in many cases, these lines passed through buildings oriented in these very directions. In the last two decades it has become increasingly evident that these direction lines were used in Mexico and in the Maya area with great frequency, precision and on a wide scale and were applied widely in the planning of towns, ceremonial centers and of settlements with their surrounding fields. The solstitial points with the sunrises and sunsets on the days of the summer and winter solstices were of fundamental importance to the inhabitants of Mesoamerica.
Idioma
eng
ISSN
ISSN impreso: 0071-1675

Enlaces