[Aztlan] Maya design system/Plaster, etc.

[Falken Forshaw]

Greetings Listeros:

I notice in my most recent posting that a number (critical to the 
point) got left out of a sentence about the Temple of the Three LIntels 
at Chichen Itza.  The missing number is "nine" (9);  the intention is 
to show that the proportion of the Temple is 1x3, using segments on its 
front and sides, and 9x26 (slightly shorter) along the back, resulting 
in skewed sides.  My apologies for the oversight.

Also, I would like to highlight alignment information about the 
"Castillo" at Chichen Itza:
1) the southerly/northerly sides are aligned on the sunset on the day 
of the overhead Zenith Passage (Susan Milbrath, STAR GODS OF THE MAYA, 
UT Press), while its DIAGONAL (the SW-NE one) is aligned on the rising 
of the sun  on the same day.  This is to help correct any idea that the 
building is connected the the Summer Solstice or Longest Day, which so 
far it doesn't seem to be.

2)  The building's famous Shadow Day occurs around the  time of the 
Equinox, when the day and night are equal, which event also occurs 
twice a year like the passage of the sun at its Zenith (directly 
overhead).  I think that the shadow event occurs because of design 
criteria of the slope and level height of the pyramid's levels; the 
slope of the stairs (1:1, or 45 degrees); and  the alignment of the two 
in plan shape (a square.)  The Equinox rise/set azimuths at the horizon 
are what we call E-W, so the position of the stairs' bases relative to 
the building corners are in this relationship.

This blend of geometric and astronomical alignment criteria is most 
clever, and can only be the result of long practice, which we also know 
of the Maya from much earlier examples (the Palace Tower, and Temple of 
the Sun at Palenque).  The latter example is featured recently in the 
journal, ARCHAEOASTRONOMY, and on the website of the Maya Exploration 
Center
(http://www.mayaexploration.org/; click on ONLINE PUBLICATIONS)


Perhaps a design formula can be similarly articulated that would 
produce the sound effect still under discussion.

Sincerely, and again, my apologies for the absent number,

Falken