Foundations of New World Cultural Astronomy : A Reader with Commentary

by Aveni, Anthony F.

• ISBN13: 9780870819001
• ISBN10: 0870819003
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-09-30
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Colorado

Summary

The field's founding scholar offers a personal selection of seminal essays in New World cultural astronomy, organized thematically to address the evolution of scholarship on the age-old discourse between people and the sky and including research by linguists, historians, astronomers, engineers, ethnologists, and archaeologists, with commentary on the significance of each piece.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction: The Unwritten Record	p. 1
Archaeoastronomy: Establishing a Method and Applying a Paradigm	p. 13
Astronomical Alignment of the Big Horn Medicine Wheel	p. 19
Geometry and Astronomy in Prehistoric Ohio	p. 39
Archaeoastronomy at Machu Picchu	p. 61
Acquiring Cultural Context	p. 71
The Inca Calendar	p. 77
Horizon Astronomy in Incaic Cuzco	p. 109
Here Comes the Sun: The Cuzco-Machu Picchu Connection	p. 125
On Seeing the Light: A Reply to Here Comes the Sun by Dearborn and Schreiber	p. 158
Blinded by the Light: A Response to On Seeing the Light by Anthony Aveni	p. 162
Here Comes the Sun: the Cuzco-Machu Picchu Connection: A Reply to Dearborn and Schreiber	p. 168
Stand and Deliver: A Comment on Zuidema's Reply to Dearborn and Schreiber	p. 171
On Shadows of Doubt: A Reply to Dearborn's Review of Inkawasi: The New Cuzco	p. 173
Lengthening Shadows: A Response to Hyslop's Comments	p. 177
Chankillo: A 2,300-Year-Old Solar Observatory in Coastal Peru	p. 181
Keeping the Sacred and Planting Calendar: Archaeoastronomy in the Pueblo Southwest	p. 199
Native Astronomy in Mesoamerica	p. 231
The Role of Astronomical Orientation in the Delineation of World View: A Center and Periphery Model	p. 253
Astronomical Alignments at the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan, Mexico	p. 273
Astronomical Observations from the Temple of the Sun	p. 305
Astronomy, Ritual, and the Interpretation of Maya "E-Group" Architectural Assemblages	p. 347
A Reflection of the Ancient Mesoamerican Ethos	p. 383
The Role of Ethnoastronomy	p. 395
Current Astronomical Practices among the Maya	p. 399
Quichean Time Philosophy	p. 413
Astronomical Models of Social Behavior among Some Indians of Colombia	p. 425
The Hooghan and the Stars	p. 439
Animals and Astronomy in the Quechua Universe	p. 457
Culture Confronts Nature in the Dialectical World of the Tropics	p. 485
Ethnoastronomy and the Problem of Interpretation: A Zuni Example	p. 495
The Classic Maya: A Testing Ground for Precise Astronomy in the Written Record	p. 503
Ancient Maya Ethnoastronomy: An Overview of Hieroglyphic Sources	p. 509
Astronomical Knowledge and Its Uses at Bonampak, Mexico	p. 565
A Palenque King and the Planet Jupiter	p. 587
Archaeoastronomical Implications of an Agricultural Almanac in the Dresden Codex	p. 607
Cultural Astronomy's Greatest Mysteries	p. 617
Between the Lines: Reading the Nazca Markings as Rituals Writ Large	p. 621
Possible Rock Art Records of the Crab Nebula Supernova in the Western United States	p. 635
A Thousand Years of the Pueblo Sun-Moon-Star Calendar	p. 647
Astronomical Markings at Three Sites on Fajada Butte	p. 669
Romancing the Stone, or Moonshine on the Sun Dagger	p. 693
Lunar Standstills at Chimney Rock	p. 711
The Present and Future of Cultural Astronomy	p. 721
The Study of Cultural Astronomy	p. 725
Cosmograms and Maya City Planning: Selected Articles	p. 751
Archaeology and Astronomy: A View from the Southwest	p. 793
I Wasn't Going to Say Anything, but Since You Asked: Archaeoastronomy and Archaeology	p. 803
Nobody Asked, but I Couldn't Resist: A Response to Keith Kintigh on Archaeoastronomy and Archaeology	p. 806
Index	p. 809
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