Mayan astronomers
extraordinary The Maya were astronomers, they made observations and documented movements Sun, Moon, and stars. For that reason it was easy to conceive the idea of \u200b\u200ba young Maya who was attracted by the stars.
before 36 BC the civilization of the Mayas, who lived in southern Mexico and northern Central America, had begun to use multiples of a year of 360 days to produce a very accurate calendar, measuring time intervals very long. The Maya of that time also had the only written language of pre-Columbian America, and the most advanced mathematics and astronomy. We found thousands of Mayan texts inscribed on stone monuments, stelae, pottery and ceramics.
Without telescopes would be very difficult for anyone to learn about distant planets, the nature of the stars and the dynamics of the Universe. However, using their observations (only with their eyes) and measures (with projection of shadows and other rudimentary instruments), the Mayan astronomers watched the sky as models in the sky that allowed them to know when the seasons change. His actions were of impressive precision in his description of planetary motions, and we can conclude that the scientific heritage of the Maya is monumental.
The ancient Maya built observatories and its most important buildings aligned with the movements of celestial bodies such as the Sun and the Pleiades. Chichén Itzá on the mainland Yucatan in Mexico, for example, is regarded as one of the most magnificent archaeological sites in the world, giving us a glare of splendor and sophistication of the ancient Mayan cities were ruled by the sky.
One of the most impressive buildings at Chichen Itza is El Caracol, a circular observatory built on a large square platform. Inside the building is a stone staircase in a spiral, which goes to the top of the observatory where the camera than with windows to make astronomical observations. From these windows the Mayans noticed the positions of the Sun, the declinations of the Moon, and the passages of Venus. They also used the shadows cast on the camera when the sun shone at an angle through the windows of observation, for example, to predict when the solstices would occur.
During the spring and fall equinoxes the sun can be seen lighting up the windows of the observatory, illuminating the interior walls. Positioned around the edge of El Caracol are some holes and stone cups filled with water and astronomers watched the reflection of the stars on the water surface. Hieroglyphic texts in El Caracol back to the ninth century. Mastering the complex
Chichen Itza is the Pyramid of Kukulcan, also known as El Castillo. It is an impressive pyramid with a rectangular base and a staircase that is 30 meters high (with the temple at the top), built by the Maya between 1000-1200 AD, directly over the foundations of another ancient temple.
The pyramid has special astronomical significance according to their design. Each façade of The Castle has a ladder and ninety-one steps, which together with the common step added the upper platform 365, the number of days in a year. The stairs divide the nine terraces on each side of the pyramid into eighteen segments, representing the eighteen months of the Mayan calendar. The design of this magnificent pyramid Reflecta the equinoxes and solstices of our solar year in a spectacular combination of light and shadow. During the equinoxes, the sun casts its light on the stairs and in the shadow of the steps seems to cast a snake undulating in the north steps of the pyramid.
What plausible that a Mayan princess would read books? It is very possible. The Maya wrote many books using a paper called amatl (from Nahuatl "paper"), manufactured from the bark of fig trees, an accordion folded and arranged in the form of a book called a codex. Shortly after the conquest, English priests burned and destroyed many books. Only three of these texts are known to have Maya survived until today. These books Maya codices are known as the Madrid, Dresden, and Paris.
The Dresden Codex is considered the most beautiful and complete books of maya. Amatl made of paper, the 74-page book is lavishly illustrated, and his writing is decorated with colors on both sides. Its primary colors are red, black, and the so-called Maya blue (like the turquoise color that resembles the Caribbean Sea). The Dresden Codex supports the reputation of the Maya as astronomers of great talent. This document contains such magnificent Mayan astronomical calculations, tables, and data that are remarkably accurate. It also represents a number of gods and documents aspects of their lives, agriculture, and their sacred rituals.
Dresden Codex Page
For the Maya, the planet Venus was very important. Mayan astronomers watched Venus and documenting their transit through the sky. The Dresden Codex contains tables and astronomical data of the full cycle of Venus. The Maya had five sets of 584 days or 5 repetitions of the Venus cycle. This corresponds to 2920 days or approximately 8 years. The table of the apparitions of Venus was used to predict the future.
The Mayans believed that everything was related closely to the idea of \u200b\u200btime. For them, the need to document and identify certain events in time and their need to provide regular occurrences astronomical events, religious, social and resulted in the invention of one of the most accurate calendar in history. The Mayan calendar is considered the most complex, intricate, and precise between ancient calendars. Consistent calculations of the cycles of 260 days and 365 days are almost equal to the current solar year as measured in the tropics, with only a margin of error of 19 minutes.
The Mayan calendar also includes calculations of the lunar cycle. The cycle of the moon was counted as 29 or 30 days, alternating. Lunar synodic period is about 29.5 days, so alternating their count between these two numbers the moon was woven between the time sequence of the calendar. The Dresden Codex also includes predictions of lunar eclipses.
For the Maya, the sky, calendars and mythology were integrated into one system of beliefs. The drawings of the stars in the Milky Way (the constellations), were directly related to their vision of creation. The Maya called the Milky Way the "World Tree," which was represented by a tall tree, the Ceiba, which rose to heaven where they believed that life originated.
The Maya also referred to the Milky Way Wakah Chan, which means "White Snake." They thought they were intimately connected with the cosmos. In fact, Kuxan Suum is a Mayan concept that literally means "path in the sky leading to the center of the universe."
There is also evidence suggesting that the Maya were the only civilization to demonstrate knowledge of the Orion Nebula before the invention of telescope. What supports this theory is a Mayan legend connected with the constellation Orion which they called Xibalba. They referred to the nebular and smoke coming from a copal incense. Some scholars believe this is significant and lends credence to the idea that the Maya detected a diffuse area in the sky before the telescope was invented. There
astronomy without mathematics. And Maya astronomy is no exception. The mathematics of the Maya was the most sophisticated system has been developed in pre-Columbian America. The ancient Maya discovered two fundamental ideas of mathematics notation and zero location. That the Maya understood the concept and value of zero is an extraordinary and amazing, because at that time almost none of the civilizations of the world had discovered the concept.
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