[Aztlan] Mayan Constellations

[Nick Hopkins]

The two constellations that come to mind immediately are (a) the  
Pleiades, called "the sandal'"--xanab' or some such, in Tzeltal and  
Tzotzil and Chol, at least; and (b) part of Orion.  On  the latter,  
my Chuj informant identified the three stars of the belt as 'ox  
t'ilanh (the Tres Marías in local Spanish).  But the numeral  
classifier t'ilanh doesn't mean "things in a row" (i.e., three stars  
in a row) but "rows of things" (three rows of things).  I suspect  
that the earlier constellation, before the Spanish shifted the  
attention to the Marías, was the triangle that has been called the  
First Hearth, the stone/thrones set by the gods as described on  
Quirigua Stela C and elsewhere.  That is, I think 'ox t'ilanh must  
have been the term for a "triangle".

Nick Hopkins


On Mar 11, 2008, at 8:52 PM, Mario F. Malo wrote:

> Listeros:   Did the Maya have star constellation's as we know  
> them?   If so, do we know the formations and names?         Mario Malo
>
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