[Aztlan] Perhaps Calendrics, architecture
Anna V
anna591317 at yahoo.com
Thu May 11 11:30:47 CDT 2006
Listeros and calendar aficionados,
I completely agree with Michael Finley on the point of
the importance of long term observations in the
development of the calendar. And rather than
contemplate the end of the Long Count, it seems
reasonable to bring the discussion a bit closer to the
beginning of it.
The Tuxtla statuette bears very curious date (it is
only the Long Count that is of interest here):
8.6.2.4.17
which in our notation is
1196017.
This undoubtedly is a variation of the familiar number
and calendar correlation:
40501Syn(1196018.345)=1196017=4600x260+17
Julian date for the statuette according to Edmonson is
March 13, 162 C.E.
Nothing special in the sky on this day, but the year
162 C.E. contains a pair of very rare lunar eclipses
(data thanks to Hermit Eclipse Search):
Date Time Type
162/04/16 18:38 L,T
162/10/10 18:13 L,T
In Mesoamerica it was two total lunar eclipses at the
sunset.
Note, that the first is only a month and a couple of
days later than the suggested date on the statuette
and the interval between two of them is 177 days.
What is even more intriguing, is that the Long Count
date might have had another astronomical connection:
1196017=2048.25 Venus cycles (*583.9214),
and indeed, 146 days (quarter of its cycle and almost
5 lunar Syn) before the first eclipse Venus was in
superior conjunction with the Sun.
No need to elaborate, how lunar periods of 6 and 5
Synodic month reverberate in the later calendrics.
These observations show how ancient and thorough was
Mesoamerican practice of watching the sky and counting
the days. They also might provide some new angle to
the problem of correlation, which is a dark forest for
me, as we say it in Russian. For me they are still
waiting to be explained.
Sincerely,
Anna Vanichkin
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