| Popis: |
This chapter traces the historical roots of the scholarship regarding the relationship between Group E-type structures and the Maya solar calendar. It begins with a brief survey of the evidence that the Maya kept such a calendar, and then summarizes the bearing of alignment studies of E Groups on how they were involved in developing a seasonal calendar motivated by agricultural necessity. It seems clear that an orientation calendar based on positions of sunrise on the equinoxes and solstices existed in the built environment, at least at Uaxactún, as early as the Terminal Preclassic-Early Classic transition (ca. 278 CE). Though difficult to pin down chronologically, statistical evidence from alignment studies suggests that the seasonal basis of the calendar was altered, possibly as a result of Teotihuacan influence (ca. Tzacol Phase: 350-550 CE) to fit with sunrise on the first of its two annual overhead (zenith) passages, and specifically to the 20-day months leading up to that event. This time of year (about 10 May in the Christian calendar) would have offered an opportunity to conduct rituals in anticipation of the rainy season and subsequent crop planting. |
