NATS 1675 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Maya Calendar, Dresden Codex, Mark Venus
18 Dec 2014
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Document Summary
Mayan sites and records reveal: the maya tracked celestial cycles in order to worship the mayan gods associated with celestial bodies. Mayan learned how to predict where the celestial bodies would appear in the sky for their days of worship. 365 steps (shows mayans were aware of the sun"s annual cycle) Pyramid used as a calendar from the shadows on the steps. Annual serpent-pattern of light & shade tracks the time of year (e. g. on the equinoxes, full serpent ends at kukulcan"s head) Openings in the observatory dome at aligned to the n-most & s-most setting positions of planet venus (allowed the maya to measure the duration of venus" full path in the sky) 3 openings in the dome that has celestial alignments. Mayan"s carefully tracked venus" alignment in the sky for their worshipping ceremonies of kukulcan. Astronomer"s would mark venus" date, time and location everyday it rose (584 days, for two rounds)
