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ANTHROPOLOGICAL NOTEBOOKS V/I

FIELDWOR~ AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

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ANTHROPOLOGICAL NOTEBOOKS YEAR V, NO. I REGULAR ISSUE

COPYRIGHT © DRUSTVO ANTROPOLOGOV SLOVENlJE I SLOVENE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY Vecna pot Ill, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

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ISSN: 1408 - 032X Editorial Board: Borut Telban, Tatjana Tomazo-Ravnik, Bogomir Novak

Editor in Chief: Borut Telban Design: Mima Suhadolc Print: Tiskama Artelj

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The publication was financed by the Minnistry of Science and Technology of Republic of Slovenia.

The volulnc is printed entirely Oil recycled paper.

introduction

ARCHAEOLOGY

Contents Anthropological Notebooks Vii, i999

IVAN SPRAJC: Study of Astronomical Alignments in Archaeological Sites of Central Mexico

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

MICHAEl YOUNG: The Making of an Anthropologist: From Frazer to Freud in the Life of the Young Malinowski

LlNUS s. DIGIM'RINA: Wantok Kaikai Wantok: The Irony of Participant Observation or, Personal Observations

TAJlANA BAJUK SENCAR: Fieldwork in the Age of Globalization

. GABRIELE WEICHART: "On the Other Side": Doing Fieldwork among Non-Western People in a Western Country

SOCIOLOGY

FRANE ADAM, DARKA PODMENIK, DIJANA KRAJINA: Qualitative Methods in Sociological Research: History and Perspectives in Slovenia

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

BORUT TElBAN: Fieldwork, Research Methods and Ethnography: A Selected Bibliography

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Ahorigi/l(/I (llld !1o/l-Ahorigil/{lI people, alld were suspiciously looked /lIHiI/, l'I/('re/ilre, she /leeded to estahlish her own positio!1 as a seriollsfieldworker, sometimes stmgglillg against mistrust, otlter times unwillingly changing sides.

Sociologists Frane Adam, Darka Podmenik and Dijana Krajina (Adam and Krajina are from the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, while Podmenik is an independent researchel) summarise the history of qualitative methodology used in sociological and social-psychological research in Slovenia over the last twenty-five years. These methods have nonetheless remained marginal mainly, the allthors argue, because of the unsystematic use of these methods and lack of epistemological (selj)reflection.

The last article in this issue by Borut Telban is intended to provide a selected bib­liography on fieldwork, research methods and ethnography. It does not encompass every­thing published in this broad field. It could, however, be seen as a guidance for all those who are just heginning to set foot in social and cultural anthropology, as well as a useful aid to those who are eager to penetrate deeper into the field of research methods and the tradition of anthropological fieldwork.

viii

Editor-In-Chief Bornt Telban

STUDY OF ASTRONOMICAL ALIGNMENTS IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES OF CENTRAL MEXICO: SOME METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS IVAN SPRAJC

Scientific Research Centre

of Ihe Slovene Acodemy of Sciences ond Arls

INTRODUCTION

The alignment studies are the most typical aspect of archaeoastronomy, a relatively new anthropological discipline whose endeavors are focused upon those segments of the archae­ologically documented societies that have some relationship to the observation of the sky. The object of archaeoastronomical research is not only exact knowledge about celestial phe­nomena but rather all astronomically-derived concepts and related cultural manifestations. Taking into account concrete environmental peculiarities and geographical location, as well as subsistence strategies, sociopolitical structure and historical antecedents of the society studied, archaeoastronomy searches for responses to a number of questions: What were the social functions of astronomical knowledge? Why did certain astronomical phenomena acquire a prevailing importance? Which were the observational bases of the concepts embedded in myths, iconography, attributes of gods, etc.? What is the nature of the interre­lationship between astronomical concepts, natural environment and cultural context? In its attempts to solve such problems,archaeoastronomy participates in the common efforts of anthropological disciplines and contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of ancient societies, as well as of the general processes of cultural evolution. 1

Important information on past astronomical practices and concepts may be provid­ed by architectural orientations ,and other alignments recognizable in the spatial distribution of certain archaeological features. It is thus understandable that most archaeoastronomical alignment studies have been so far accomplished in the areas where the remains of this kind

1 Archaeoastronomy thus differs from the his/UlY (~rm''''"oll()my, which is based primarily on written sources and focused on the development of exact astronomical knowledge, without paying much attention to the natural and cultural circumstances that con­ditioned pm1icular developments, and to non-scientific concepts. The latter, however, are no less interesting for archaeoastronomy, considering its holistic approach and anthropologically relevant goals: both correct and false ideas are, in a particular social group, normally intertwined, composing a relatively coherent world view, which can be properly understood only if examined as a whole and in the light of the natural, social and historical context. Both "scientific", or exacl, and "non-scientific" concepts may thus shed light on a number of aspects of the society being studied (et: Ruggles 1999: 80f, 155). In fact, any attempt to distinguish the two classes of ideas is. to a certain extent, arbitrary and depends on the knowledge and/or beliefs of whoever tries to make such a dis­tinction. It would be illusory to think that our modern scientific criteria are entirely objective: describing the scientific world view, astronomer and historian of science Owen Gingerich (1989: 38f) says: "It is an interlocked and coherent picture, a most workable explan31ion, but it is not ultimate truth," General information on the history and theoretical and methodoLogical bases of archaeoastronomy and some related fieLds of research can be found, for example, in Baity (1973), Aveni (1981; 1989; 1991), Sprajc (1991), Iwaniszewski (1994a; 1995a; 1995b), Ruggles (1999) and several311icles in Macey (1994).

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are particularly abundant One of such regions is Mesoameri~a, a ~ultlJl'Ully defined geo­graphical area corresponding to the central and southern parts of modem Mcxi~o and the northern part of Central America, where civilizations with a number of common cultural tr~its fiourished since the 2nd millenium B.c., when the first complex, state-organized soci­eties emerged, until the Spanish conquest in the early 16th century A.D.

Systematic archaeoastronomical research carried out during the last few decades h~s r~vealed that ~e~oamerican architectural orientations exhibit a clearly non-random dis­trIbution and that CIVIC and ceremonial buildings were oriented largely on the basis of astro­nomical considerations, particularly to the Sun ' s positions on the horizon on certain dates o~the tropicaJ year (Aveni 1975; 1991; A veni and Gibbs 1976; Aveni and Hartung 1986; Tlchy /991; Sprajc I 997a). According to various hypotheses forwarded thus far, the dates recorded by t?e orientati~ns can be interpreted in terms of their relevance in the agricultur- . al cycle and In comput.atl~ns related to the calendrical system. It has been suggested, for ~xample, that the date,S indicated by the alignments are separated by calendrically significant Intervals . The most elaborate model of this type has been proposed by Tichy (1981 ; 1991), who contends that these dates mark intervals of 13 and 20 days and mUltiples thereof. Some authors h~ve reconstructed possible horizon calendars for particular s ites, on the assumption that prominent peaks of the local horizon served as natural markers of sunrises and sunsets on relevant dates (e.g., Ponce de Leon 1982; Aveni et al. 1988; Tichyl991; Broda 1993 ' Morante 1993; 1996; Galindo 1994; Iwaniszewski 1994b). '

Since both the accumulated fieldwork experiences and the feedback information generated .by interpretational attempts revealed that the available alignment data were nei­ther suffiCient nor a~curate enough for testing such specific hypotheses, I undertook precise measureme~ts o!aiI~nm~nts at 37 Preclassic, Classic and Postclassic archaeological sites in . central MeXICO, taking Into account a variety of facts and circumstances whose relevance had not been recognized before. Not only the orientations of civic-ceremonial structures but also the alignments to prominent peaks on the local horizon , placed within the angle of annual ~ovement of the Sun, were measured. The results of my research agree with some general Ideas formerly expressed by other authors, but differ in important details which con­cern the principles underly!ng orientational patterns and the observational use of align­ments. The general conclUSIOns based on my analyses of the alignment data from central Mexican archaeological sites can be summarized as follows : (1) The dates of sunrises and sunsets both along architectural orientations and above prominent hills on the local horizon exhibit consistent patterns; at any particular site they are se~arated by .Intervals that are predominantly mUltiples of 13 and 20 days and are, there­fore , significant m terms of the Mesoamerican calendrical system.3 . (2) Since the horizo~ prominences were measured from the main temple of every site, the patte~s of dates and mtervals based on these alignment data indicate that the important ceremonIal structures were not only oriented towards but also located on astronomical grounds: the places selected for their construction allowed certain surrounding peaks to be

2 The siles included in Ihe sludy dale 10 Ihe period from aboll l 500 Il .C. 10 A.D. 15 19.

3 One of Ihe importanl Mesoameri ca n calendrica l cycles was Ih,' Stl'~''' lIcd sacred COllnl of 260 days : since any dale of Ihis cyc le was a com bmahon of a number from 1. 10 13 and a sIgn In Ihe scr,,·s 01 20. Ihe dales al inlerva ls of 13/20 days had Ihe sa me numer. al /s lgn. The Importance of Inlervahc IlIlle reckOning based nn mll llirlcs o r 13 and 20 days is allesled bOlh in Ihe cenlral Mex ican ' (Starklew)cz 1995) and In Ihe May" codIces (Aveni et ,,/. 1995; I ~W, ).

10

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employed as lIatural Illarkers of slInrises and SLlIlSd~ on cu'lturally sig~ificant dates. 1'·urtherInore. various structurcs have ht:t:n found to he Oriented towards promment peaks on the local horizon. (3) TIlt: relevance of the most recurrent dates, recorded at a number of sites, can ~e intcrpreted in terms of their approximate coincidence with important seasonal changes In the natural environment and the corresponding stages of the agricultural cycle. However, the fact that certain series of exactly the same dates, separated by multiples of 13 and 20 days, are marked by alignments at a number of sites, even in ecologically d!fferent zones, suggests the existence of a ritual or canonical agrIcultural cycle: the dates Involved must have been canonized precisely because the intervals separating them were easy to handle by means of the sacred 260-day calendar count.4

(4) Both the orientations embodied in the monumental architecture of ~ particular site and the prominent local horizon features allowed the use of an ?bservatlOn~1 calenda~ which, in view of the lack of permanent concordance of the calendncal and tropical years , was necessary for predicting important seasonal changes and for efficient scheduling of the corresponding agricultural activities.

While the results of my study in central Mexico, including the interpretations of the align­ment data for particular sites and the supporting evidence, are ~xhaustively presented in ~y Ph.D.dissertation (Sprajc 1997b), the purpose of this paper IS to focus on ~ome sp~clfic methods and techniques that I developed and applied in this research and which, I belIeve, may be useful in further archaeoastronomical inquiries, both in Mesoamerica and elsewhere.

SELECTION OF ALIGNMENTS

An objective data selection is of foremost importance in the alignment stu~ies: th~ res.ults of an analysis of a number of alignments will be valid and meanmgful only If the slghthnes considered have been selected fairly in the first place (Ruggles 1999: 51).

Architectural orientations

The purpose of my research in central Mexico was to exp.lore the or!e~tationa l ru!es that reflect astronomical concepts and related aspects of world view and religIOn. Assummg that such principles were involved particularly in the ~onstructi.on of ceremon!al and i.mportant civic buildings, only the latter's orientations were mcluded m the study. It IS very iIke!y that not only temples but also high rank residences and administrative buildings were OrIented in accordance with astronomical principles, because in this way they reproduced and under­scored the existing earthly and celestial order, of which the protagonists of the ruling class, normally considered as man-gods, claimed to be responsible (cr Broda 1982: I 04~f; 1991: 491 ; Lopez Austin 1973).6 The structures whose function cannot be undoubtedly lmked to

4 V. .\'IIP l'lI: note 3. . . . 5 The Mesoameri can calendrical vcar had invariably 365 days and Ihus did not preserve a fixed correlalJon \VlIh the tropica l year of 365.2422 days (Sprajc J 998) ' . ' . . . 6 A conven ienl exampl e is the Pa lace of Ihe Govemor al Uxmal; Ih is residence of a ruler ca lled Chac was arguabl y orlenled to the

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ritual practices and mechanisms of power were not considereu in lily lInalyses, hecause they were probably one.nted at random or on essentially different grounus, related to environ­m~~tal chara~terIst.lcs (topographic and geomorphological features, climatic peculiarities) military consIderatIOns or other, more practical motives.7 '

. It can be affirmed that the orientations in the Mesoamerican civic and ceremonial archtlec,ture ~~re astronomica.lly functiona!, as a rule, in the east-west direction, referring to the Sun s posItIons ?n th~ hOrIzon on certam dates of the tropical year, because most of the known east-w~st OrIentatIOn azimuths8 fall within the angle of annual movement of the Sun along .the hOflZon (c! .Ave~i a~d Hartung 1986: 59-60; Tichy 199 I: I 17; Sprajc 1997a; 1997b. 9~. Though It. IS qllIte lIkely that some structures were oriented to stars or planets (c! Avenl 1991; SpraJc 1993a;1993b; I 996a; Galindo 1994), the practice could not have been very common: by postulatmg that stars were primary orientational references we ' would be forced to accept that o~ly those ri~ing or setting at azimuths within the angle of an~ual movement of the Sun, or m perpendIcular northerly and southerly directions were 9f mterest. In vie~ of t~ese fa~ts I have ~ot explored the eventual astronomical poten'tial of the north-south ofle~ta.tlO~ aZImuths .. Nelt.her have I considered the structures facing north and south, because It IS dIfficult to Imagme they facilitated observations of astronomical phenomena on the eastern or western horizon. It is also unlikely, however, that such build­m~s recorded astronomIcal events on the n0/1hern and southern horizon: since their orien­tat IOns normally conform to those of the .adjac'ent buildings facing east or west,it was prob­ably the )att~r (related to the Sun) that dIctated the orientations of entire architectural com­plexes (~praJc 1997b: 9f, 13ft). .

. ~t any. site wi~h relatively well preserved architecture we can often find a number of slghtlmes wIth pOSSIble. as~ronomical significance, connecting diverse architectural ele­ments or even separate bllIldmgs and running at different angles with respect to the hori­zontal (cf: Hartung 1975). ~oweve~, according to the evidence available so far (see above: Introd~ctlOn), the a~tr~nomlca~ baSIS seems to be indisputable only for the orientations of the .mam axes of bllIldmgs, whIch can be associated with the phenomena observable on the hOfJz~n ; ~herefore, and wjth the purpose of ~aving a homogenous data sample (c! Hawkins ~968 . 49, Ruggles 1999:. 5Ift), I only conSIdered the alignments indicated by walls, wall fac~s and other constructIOn elements that make patent the orientation of a structure in the honzontal plane. .

Local horizon features

At every site the alignments to prominent horizon features, situated within the angle of the annual movement of the Sun, were also measured, with the purpose of testing the hypothe-

r;'ax imunl northerly eXlreme o f Venus on Ihe weS lern horizon (Sprajc 1993": 47; 1993 b: 272 f; I 996a: 75 t!"; 1996b: I 73 ff; for dif-lerenl Ylewson Ihe Sig nificance Oflhis orienlation see Bricker and Bricker 1996, wilh co mme nts). .

7 The selectIOn of struclurcs co ns ldered In my sludy can be juslified also by Ihe focI Iha t the hypolheses I iotended 10 verif were all based o n o" enlallOlls o f CIVIC and ceremo ma l bulldlOgs. Accordmg 10 the ava ilable data (which are admilledly me g .) I llC nnd .othcr Slruclures with secular functions do not seem 10 have been o riemed on ast ro nomical gro und H a eh" om~s­gJe o ri ~nla"on d . I h h f 'b " '. s. owever, were a 'SIn­. .' e I . o mlna es t c w oe UI an layoul , as IS eVldenl al a lew slles, it mu 51 have been di ctated by Ihe (aslronomica lly

lunctlo nal) Ollelltallon o f tbe malO lemple; th is assumption is suppol1ed by comparative da la from other cult ures (<I Wheal lev 19 71 ) and also,m the case of Teotlhuacan, by Inlernal evidence (Sprajc 1997b: I 57fJ). " 8 T he ((:111111(11 IS the nng lc In the horizontal plane 1lll'<1sured I: lockwise from the north.

12

tiCS "hou!. tilt.! use of horizon calendars. Though the possihility that prominences heyond this nngle also served as markers or certain astronomical phenomena cannot be discarded, the distrihution or architectural orientations suggests that thc alignments related to the Sun were purlicularly important. . ..

The readings or the horizon features were taken from the mam buIldmgs of every Hltl', mostly temples, assuming they were the most important observing points: if astr~­nomical function is attributed to the orientations of civic and ceremonial structures, It lICCms logical to suppose that other phenomena on the horizon were also observed from the Hllme buildings. .,

Although not only peaks but also notches, cuts and similar features (even little prominent) of the local horizon may have served as astronomical markers (c! McCluskey 1990; Zeilik 1985; 1991 ; Morante 1996: 82), I only took into account prominent and c1ea~­Iy defined hilltops lying on the horizon line. This selecti?n is based on th~ data about archI­tectural orientations: while a number of buildings are onented to mountam peaks, none has been found to align with a landmark of any other type. Considering the astro~omical ba.sis of architectural orientations, the prominences on the eastern and western hOrIzon to whIch the buildings are oriented served as exact markers of the phenomena recorded by orienta­tions and, thus, facilitated observations; since the horizon features are in these cases exclu­sively mountain tops, it can be assumed that other astronomical horizon markers were also of the same kind.

The selection of the mountain peaks considered to be "prominent" was necessarily, to a certain extent, SUbjective, as Ruggles and Martlew (1992: S4) also admit in a siinil~r case. However, if all conceivably usable prominences had been taken into account, theIr large number would have introduced too much "noise", making impossible any objective evaluation of their eventual 'astronomical potential (c! Ruggles 1999: 232, note 83).9 Though my selection was not biased by pre-existent astronomical hypotheses~ the r.esults I obtained do seem meaningful. Similarly, Ruggles and Martlew (I992; 1993), m theIr study of prehistoric sites on the Isle of Mull in Scotland, id~ntified prominent sum.mits on. th~ local horizon of each site and, plotting their declinations,10 obtamed astronomically SIgnIficant groups (related to characteristic lunar positions).

MEASUREMENT OF ALIGNMENTS

I employed the alignment data based on my own measurements i.n field and calculati.ons, because the published information was, for various reasons dIscussed below, neIther sufficient nor rel iable enough for the purposes of my research ..

9 The s itua tio n would have been similar to the o ne described by Hawkins ( 1968: 49) in rela tion wilh alignments al megalithic s ites o f western Euro pe: "as the number of markers increases, the problem rapid ly degenemtes 10 the insoluble level". 10 A'ny object in space (not only ce les tia l bod ies but also, for instance, points on the hori zon) ca n be conSidered as located (or pro­jected) on an imaginary celeslia l sphere. The cieclination of a point on this sphere is its angul ~r distance from the eclest",1 equalor, which can be imag ined as a proj ection oC the Earth's equalor on Ihe celeslial sphere. Decimallons are measured perpendicularly to the celestial equator to the north and south (pos itive and negative declinalions). By determin ing the decimall on of a hOrIZon pomt, having ils azimuth and a ltilude measured from a particular spot, one can find o ut which heavenly bodies rISe Of.se t behllld It (or did so in the pasl) and (in the case of the Sun, Moon and Ihe planels) on which dales, because the dec lmatlons 01 celestial objects for particular epochs and dales are kno wn and can be found in astronomical sources (ephemerides, slar at lases etc. ) (er Avem 198 1: 1991; Ruggles ) 999).

13

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As Reymnn (1975: 210) pointed out, the avnilnblc archacologicul site mnps nre "notoriously inaccurate". The true north is frequently laid out erroneously or confused with the magnetic north, and in many cases it is not even clear which of the two is indicated (A veni 1975: 164; 1991: 250). It is noteworthy, Hartung (I980: 165) observes, that the first scientific explorers of Maya ruins showed a concern for measuring exact orientations. In 19 I 3, Alfred Tozzer included a chapter on orientation in his study ofNakum and mentioned that this important topic should not be ignored by future researchers working in Central America (ibi". : 167, note 11). Indeed, various orientation studies were accomplished in the twenties and thirties of this century, particularly notable being those by Blom, Ricketson and Ruppert on Group E of Uaxactun and the Caracol of Chichen itzli (ibid.: 165; Aveni 1'991: 292ff, 314ft). The site maps elaborated in this period are regularly oriented to the astronomical north, indicating the angle of magnetic declination. In the following decades, however, the interest in architectural orientations declined (Hartung 1980: 165); even if the topic regained popularity with the appearance of archaeoastronomy in the sixties, the achievements within the newly consolidated anthropological discipline have not had ade­quate repercussions in the main-stream archaeological literature. In spite of the evident importance and intentionality of orientations in the civic and ceremonial architecture, the site plans marking true north are still extremely rare.

According to Reyman (L975 : 210), even when site maps are very accurate (e.g., Millon et al. 1973), they are still unsuitable for archacoastronomical purposes, because they lack critical data such as the heights of the horizon along the orientation axes. ft should be noted, however, that horizon altitudes, indispensable for calculating astronomi­cal declinations and, therefore, for identifying with precision the celestial phenomena the alignments may have referred to, c.an often be determined on the basis of topographic maps. Accurate site plans can thus be of considerable help, suggesting possible astronom­ical references of orientations, but there is another problem for which field measurements seem to be inevitable.

Prehispanic buildings in Mesoamerica normally exhibit an orientation (either delib­erate or fortuitous) that can be determined, because their ground plans are in most cases roughly rectangular or composed of rectangular elements; in other words, the directions in which the axes of a structure are laid out can be established . Even circular structures or those with a combined ground plan (composed of rectangular and circular elements, e.g. , the ' temples of the wind god Ehecatl) generally possess an orientation, indicated by the stairway of access and other architectural elements. However, the problem consists in the determi­nation of the exact orientation ofa structure. In the available archaeoastronomical bibliog­raphy concerned with Mesoamerican architectural orientations, the azimuth of a line mea­sured at a building is commonly given as representing the orientation of the whole structure. Since the ground plans of most buildings incorporate lines that are roughly parallel and per­pendicular to each other, these data have been highly revealing as to the detern1ination of approximate orientations, and sufficiently exact to allow the discovery of azimuth distribu­tion patterns and orientation groups (cl Macgowan 1945; Aveni 1975; 1991; Aveni and Gibbs 1976; Aveni and HariUng 1986; Tichy 1981; 1982; 1991). However, the azimuths so determined cannot be considered as sufficiently precise for more detailed archaeoastro­nomical studies; because they do not represent the original and intended architectural ori­entations with the accuracy required for testing diverse hypotheses that have been forward­ed on the basis of these data.

14

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Thc walls of [I structlln: IIwy uppcar paralld alld perpenoicular to each other, but J'll"ccisc mcasuremcnts rcvcal that this is frcquelltly not the case (cl Ha:tung 1980: 15~;

f'once de LC()J1 19H2: 9). Such irregulnrities are rclevant, obvl~usly, ~nly I.f elements m~l1I­Ji:sting them arc cvidcntly originnl nnd ill situ. Ideally, all relIable.lmes mcorporate? m a Mtl'Ucture should be measured: if the azimuths of roughly parallel Imes do not exhibit sys­tematic vari-ations that can be associated with particular construction phases or archltect~ral elements, such divergences can be attributed to sloppy construction or to the. fact th~t ~Igh precision was not aimed at by the builders; the. mea~ value of the measured az~muths IS lIke­ly to represent the originally intended orientatIOn With reasonable accuracy, smce the errors in the orientation of individual lines can be expected to cancel out. In several cases I noted that the walls and wall faces near the upper part of the building t~nded t~ be ~ore parallel to each other than in lower sections, which seems understandable: If.the ?nentatlOn of a tem­ple was intentional, it must have been laid.ou.t with part!cular attentIOn I? the ar~a ofsanct~ ,\'tIlletorum, i.e. in the upper parts of the bulidmg. I conSIdered such c.onsIstent al .. gnm~nts , If found, as particularly relevant for the dete~ination of a st~cture's mtended OrIentatIOn.

On the other hand, the lines appearmg to be perpendicular to each other.often do not intersect at right angles. Ground plans of some buildings are patently rhombOldal (e.g., of the Acropolis and the Pyramid of the Stelae at Xochi~alco , .or of Structure I at Teopanzo1co: Sprajc 1997b: 202ff, 268ft). It is obvious th~t the OrIentatIOn of s~ch a structu.re .cannot be described with a single azimuth. I do not belIeve that north-s.outh. Imes of a. bul!dmg can be considered as indicative of its orientation in the east-west direction, and vice versa. I.f, for uxample, the base of a stailway in the north-south dir~ction is measured, ~he perpendicular to this line should not be considered as correspondmg to the structure s east-west aXIS, because the latter could be laid out rather by columns, pillars, wall faces or other cons~~c­tion elements that marked the desired astronomical direction with much greater preCISIOn than the imaginary perpendicular to the stairway. It thus seems much more natu~al to relate astronomical events on the eastern or western horizon to architectural ea~t-west ~mes than to non-existent perpendiculars, whose relationship with these phenomena IS not directly man­ifest or easily observable. The argument is additionally supported by th~ fact th~t the mou~­tains to which many buildings are oriented are located along th~ phy.sIcally eXlste~t archi­tectural lines - as one can verify visually - and not along the Imagmary p~rpendlculars.

As already noted (Reyman 1975: 207; Hartung 1980: 145; Avel1l and ~artung 1986: 7, 12), not all of the lines. actually incorporated in a buiLding are equ~lIy relIable: A number of archaeological structures have been altered during recent excavatlOn, .restoratlOn or reconstruction works. In these cases it is necessary to examine the correspondll1g reports, in order to determine which of the actually manifest lines are original and in .situ (Ha.rt~ng 1980: 155); pertinent indications in the field should also be sought (e.~. , remal.ns of ongll1~1 stucco or certain characteristics of the construction system). If there IS no. eVlde~ce to thIS effect it is recommendable to measure every possible alignment: by averagmg vanous read­ings ~he azimuthal errors originated by recent alterations are likely to be canceled out. Ho~ever, structures suspected to have undergone drastic modifications should be e.xcluded from considerations. When 'measurable lines (walls, wall faces etc.) have been conSiderably altered by deterioration processes, readings should be taken along the lines based, on the most reliable elements, e.g. corners. Measurements of slanted fac~s (taludes) re.qUlre 'par­ticular caution: readings must be taken horizontally, because the aZimuths of theh.nes Sight­ed along the taludes at different angles obviously do not reproduce the OrIentation of the building in the horizontal plane.

15

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Recalling that the Sun disk has a diameter of merely 32 arc llIillutl!S, it is clear that measurement~ must be carried ~ut quite precisely; even if the accuracy which the align­ments were mtended to have IS commonly unknown, reliable evaluations of various hyp.otheses are possible only if the precision of our data equals or, better, exceeds the one achlev~ble by th.e builders (cl Aveni and Hartung 1986: 7; Ruggles 1999: 165). In order to determme suffiCiently exact azimuths of alignments, it is indispensable to take readings with a the~dolIte or surveyor's transit, using an astronomical reference, normally the Sun. The techn~ques that can be employe~ have been described, for example, by Thom (1971: 1190, Avem (1981; 1991: I 48fO, SpraJc (1991: 45fO and Ruggles (1999: I 64fO, as well as in text­books on topography and geodesy, and therefore need not be repeated here. • . A .compass .can also be used, but only as an auxiliary instrument and with extreme cautIOn. Dlre~tlOns I~ the horizontal plane are normally expressed in azimuths, which are a~gles .fro~ 0 to 360 measured from north to the right or, viewed from above, in the clock­wise direction . Observing at whatever spot on the Earth , the direction to the astronomical (true) north/south is determined by the vertical plane that contains geographic poles, i.e. two pomts ~here the.Earth's axis of ~otation intersects the surface of the globe. Since the appar­ent rotatory motIOn of the celestIal sphere is centered on the rotation axis of the Earth it is o~viou.s t.hat the directions in which celestial bodies rise and set depend on the positi~n of thiS aXIs m the sp~~e . However, the direction to which the magnetic needle points is deter­mined by. the pOSIIi?n of the Earth's magnetic field,. whose poles do not coincide with the geographiC P?les. Smce magnetic a~imuths, the~efore, differ from astronomical ones, they have no. relatl?n to the apparent motIOn of celestial bodies and, consequently, to their rising a.nd setting pOints that may have been aimed at by orientations. The angle between the direc­tIOns to the ~stronomical a?d the magnetic north, termed the magnetic declination, depends on the ~ocatlOn of magnetl~ poles and thus on the place of observation. Considering that magnetic poles move continuously and unpredictably, any magnetic declination varies i~egularly, as a functi~n of both place and time; furthermore, seasonal and daily ftuctua-. tlOns and local anomalies are not uncommon and may result in considerable variations in short time-spans and small areas (cl Aveni 1975: 164; 1991: 62f(note I) 139f Ruggles 1999: 165). ' ,

In view of these facts, the magnetic compass can be used in archaeoastronomical work only if the local magnetic declination is determined for each site where the measure­ments are carried out. In order to determine this declination, an observation point must be sel.ected from where both magnetic and astronomical azimuths of several well defined POints (e.g., prominent and distant peaks of the local horizon) can be measured. The points located at a short distance are not suitable for such purposes, because even small movements by the observer r~sult in v~riations of the measured azimuth; walls are even less appropri­ate, because the Sighted pOint usually is not clearly defined .

. Bef?re choosing the spot for these measurements, it is advisable to measure the magnetic aZimuth of one and .the same .reference P?int on the horizon from various points several metres apart. If the Sighted pOint IS suffiCiently far away (a few kilometers), its ~zlmuth measured at anyone of the observation points should be practically the same; if this IS not the ca~e, I.ocal magnetic anomalies exist and the use of the compass should be avoid­~d, be~ause It wIll not render reliable results. The phenomenon is very common in the vicin­~ty of Iron ele~ents,. though it can also be due to natural properties of the soil or the mater­Ial employed In ancient constructions.

16

Ily t;,killg :thout tl'1l :tstI'OIHllllil'ul IInd magnetic readings, surticient pairs or U/llIltlths arc obtained Illl' determining the local magnetic declination, if the compass IIIploYl'u allLlws Illr distinguishing al.ill1utlHlI dil'l~re~ccs or about I/~'; in I~y own mea-

1i1ll'~IllCnts, a prismatic compass was employed , which IS particularly SUitable tor archae?as­lrullmnical work, both for its size and precision (e( Ruggles 1999: (65). For every ahgn­lII

'nt measured we determine the astronomical azimuth and its difference with respect to the

IIlI\ nctic azimuth; the mean value of these differences is then calculated. The more read­In/.ls we have, the more exact the magnetic declination established will be, since the Inevitable errors of individual magnetic readings will tend to cancel out.

In sum, only if the local magnetic declination has been determi.n~d with suffic~ent III:Curucy, can our compass readings be used confidently for determl~mg a~tronomlcal I11.lmuths. Measuring architectural alignments, magnetic readings of a smgl.e Ime .are rec­Iltnmended to be taken in both directions because, by changing the observation pOint, pos­IIlhle local anomalies can be detected (Ruggles 1999: 165); if they are absent, the azimuths of one and the same line measured in opposite directions will differ exactly by 180'. 11

A hand-held compass, if used scrupulously, can speed up field measurementscon­lIidernbly. It is particularly useful if a building preserves a large number of reliable walls that cnll be measured, since in the mean value based on various azimuths the errors of mdlvld-UII! readings will tend to cancel out. '. .

However, the most important and reliable alignments, particularly those that can be ddtc.:rmined with high accuracy (e.g., long and straight walls or horizon promine~ce~) should nlways be measured with a theodolite and astronomical reference. The. theopohte I~ nece~­Ilury also for measuring altitudes of relevant points of the horizon, al~elt a pock~t-slz~d cli­nometer can also be used for these purposes (Ruggles 1999: 165). Since the OrIentatIOn of It structure is normally determined by calculating the mean azimuth of re~dings along vari­OllS lines, the exact point of the horizon to which the orientation corresponds is often not evident in the moment of measurements. It is thus recommendable to measure azimuths and ultitudes of various points along the section of the horizon within which, according to. visu­III estimation, the orientation azimuth of the structure will be located. It is ah,:,ays adVisable to sketch relevant sections of the horizon and include the measurement data In these draw­ings. If the horizon is not visible at present (because of vegetation, modem constructions etc;), trye necessary data can be obtained by calculations (v. infra).

CALCULATION PROCEDURES

The formulae for calculating azimuths of alignments measured with a theodolite and astro­nomical fix and for converting readings of azimuth and altitude into declinations, are given in bo.oks o~ topography and geodesy (e.g. , Mueller 1969: 401 fO, as well as in specialize~ urchaeoastronomical publications (e.g., Hawkins 1968: 50ff; Thom 1971: 120ff; Avem 1981; 1991: 140ff; Sprajc 1991: 45ff; Ruggles 1999), and thus will not be repeated here.

11 It may be pointed out that, instead of azimuths, some compasses mark heariugs, i.e. angles from 0° to 90' reckoned from mag­Iletic nbrth and magnetic south towards east and west (ef Somerville 1927: 31, note I). The values expressed," etther system can l'C easily converted. For example, ~he bearing ofNI5' E equals the azimuth of 15°: the b;aring ofN 15°W correspondsto the an~le Ill' IS ' west of north and, therefore, to the aZllnuth of 345', whereas the aZllnuth of 172 can be expressed as the bea ring of S8 E.

17

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The geographic coordinates of each site necessary for these calculations cun be taken from sufficiently accurate maps. In my case topographic maps of the Mexican 1II.I'/iluloNacional de Esladislica. Geografia e III/ormatica (INEGI; scale I :50,000) were employed. The val­ues of declination of the Sun and equation of time, necessary for azimuth calculations, were determined for the moment of measurement by interpqlation of the values tabulated in ephemerides. Horizon altitudes used when calculating declinations of alignments were cor­rected for atmospheric refraction factors given by Hawkins (1968: 52, Table 1), Thorn (1971: 28ff, Table 3.1) and Aveni (1991: 148). The values tabulated in the quoted works are approximately valid for sea level, the atmospheric pressure of 1002 millibars and the tem­perature of 10·C. The refraction factors were corrected for altitudes above sea level (taken from topographic maps), employing the formula (7) of Hawkins (1968: 53), whereas cor­rections for different atmospheric pressures and temperatures (ibid.: tormula (6», which are unpredictable variables, were not applied .12

At every site 1 tried to measure all relevant points of the horizon, i.e. the horizon altitudes corresponding to architectural orientations, and the azimuths and altitudes of prominent mountains located within the angle of annual movement of the S,un . Occasionally, however, such measurements were not possible, because the view to the hori­zon is nowadays blocked by modem constructions or trees in the immediate neighborhood, or because there was haze or smog on the days of measurements. The missing data were cal­culated on the basis of topographic maps: locating the site (observation point) and the point of interest of the horizon on the map, geographic coordinates (longitude A and latitude f{!)

and "Hitudes above sea level of both points were determined. For calculating the azimuth of the visual line 'from the site, or point I, to the point on the horizon, or point 2, the follow­ing formulae were employed, derived from the relations valid in the spherical triangle (cf Woolard and Clemenc~ 1966: 53ff; Mueller 1969: 37ft):

cos A ,= sinf{!2 - sinf{!, cosd cosf{!, sind ,

(1)

In these formulae \ and f{!, are the coordinates of point I, \ and f{!2 are those of point 2, d is the angular distance between the two points, and A is the azimuth of alignment, observ­ing at point I . The formulae are valid for any place on the Earth, if north/south latitudes and longitudes west/east of Greenwich are given positive/negative algebraic signs.

12 For details about reli'action near the horizon and the problems r~ICv"n'lo archoeoaslronomy, see Schaefer and Liller 1990.

18

horizontal plane-­at point 1 .

surface of ellipsoid /" (sea level)

~ := sin d ~ x = (r + a2 )sin d r + a2

y+(r ~ a,) = cosd ~ y = (r+aJcosd - (r+ at) r + a2

(r + a1 )cosd - (r + a l )

l.=tanh~tanh= ( ). d x r + a2 510

Simplifying, we have

. I ( r + a, J tanh=-- cosd ---sind r + °1

point 2

\

center of Earth . -

Figure 1. Deril';ltion of the forirlllla for calculating the altitude above the horizontal plane

o.f point 2obserl'edji'om point I. . .

19

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observmg at point I, was calculated Tak' . , P( mt - dhovl: thl: l~orJZllntal plane, face, I derived the expression . . mg mto account the curvature 01 the Earth's sur-

I ( ,.+0) tanl, =~ cosd ___ I sm r + 02 (2)

where" is the altitude of point 2 above the horizontal 1 . sea level of points 1 and 2 respectively d' th f an~, 0, and 0 ] are the altItudes above is the mean radius of the Earth (see derivatli~n ~;~gU [jar dlsta~ce ?etween both points, .and r

, value of 6,370,000 m was taken for r in all cal I t~ orm~la m FIgure I). The approximate spherical but rather ellipsoidal its dl'mensl'o cu ~ I~ns. Sdmce . the shape of the Earth is not '. , ns are m ,act escnbed ' t f ' .'

mmor semlaxes (or equatorial and polar radii)' th~ val ' '0 m erms 0 Its major and sions, vary in accordance with difterent ellips~ids tha~~a:~sl;;een to each of the two ?imenc

Earth s shape (as approximations to the g o'd h' h ' . proposed for definmg the . tance between the center of the Earth ; I , ':" IC IS ItS real fonn) . Consequently, the dis­

a function of geographic latitude and ~n a JOlOt at sea level (sur~ace o~ ellipsoid) varies as chosen for this calculation. However t~~:n s, m.oreover, on the dl~enslons o~ the ellipsoid exact for our purposes' emplOYI'ng mo' re pp~otxlmalte value of r given above IS sufficiently '. ' aCCUla e va ues of r for e h't h . atlOns In calculated altitudes would b I' 'b'l ( ac SI e, t e resultant van-

. • '<- e neg Igl e up to about 5. arc seconds) . It IS worth stressmg that horizon altitud h Id . . mto consideration the curvature of the E rth' es s ou not be calculated without taking results can be obtained by the fonnula (d ~ dSfjsurfache. For .smalI distances, satisfactory

tanh= ~ d

enve rom t e relatIOns 10 the plane triangle)

(3)

where h is the altitude of point 2, observin at oi . level of points I and 2 respectively and d

g· tPh ndt I, °1 and °2 are the altitudes above sea

H " IS e Istance betwee b th . . oweve~, expression (3) will render erroneous result . n 0 pomts, 111 metres.

evant POlOtS of the horizon are ofiten " "s 10 great many cases, because the rel-. tar away: ,or example 'f th . f h .

whl~h the altitude is being calculated is situated at d' ' I e pomt 0 t e honzon for nautical miles or 20' of angular distance) from th : Ista?ce Of. about 37 km (equal to 20 th~ altitudes calculated by formulae (2) and (3) ~i~' ~er~atlOn pom~, the difference between altitude calculated by (31, increasin . e .of about. 10 . Therefore, the error in the calculation of the declinationcorgrePsrpoPodrtlOntally Wllth the distance, may affect notably

. on mg 0 an a Ignment Attention should also be called to the fa t th h .' . '

are not reliable when the relevant points of the hC

.' at t e a~lmuth and altltu?e calculations tance,. because the precision of the results de e~~~o~ are sltu~te~ at a ~elatlvely short dis­~raphlc. coordinates and altitudes above sea le~el can ~et~etacl:~lad ;Ith which the geo­tlon pomt and the one on the horizon 'As th d' t b e ennme , oth for the observa-

; . -. e IS ance etween the t '. probable margm of error in the calculated azimuth a d I' . ':"~ pomts mcreases, the the azimuth of a mountain peak located east or we n ,a tltu?e dlmmlshes. For example, if (arc second; co; 30 m)in the latitude determined ~t Of

l the .slte I~ calculated, an error of I"

(arc minutes) in the calculated azimuth 'f th ort 1~ site Will result m an error of 21 ' uated at a distance of 20 km. ' I e mountam IS 5 km away, and of 5', if it is sit-

20

hll' the :dignllll:nts within thL' angle Ilrallllll:d IllOVL'lIlent of the SUIl along the hori-11111 I IIlso IktL'J'Illined thL' eorrespollding sunrise and sUllset dates, valid for the epoch of 11IIII1IIIIIi0l1 or the site or construction or the buildings in question , Due to precessional vari­IlIhln ,~ ill tlw obliquity or the eeliptie and in thc helioeentric longitude of the perihelion of III !o:lIl'th's (lrhit (the latter elCI11cnl determining the length of astronomical seasons), one and Ilw K(lltH! solar deelinatioIl does Ilot necessarily correspond in any time span to exactly the _11t11l' dUll' orthc tropical year (cl' Woolard and Clemence 1966: 235ff; Mueller 1969: 59ff; M IIN 11J!l3: 3-1 I). In order to detennine the exact dates corresponding to the declinations ut'illu SUIl in rdevant epochs, 1 employed Tuckennan's (1962; 1964) tables, which give the NIIII'~ rOliitions lor the period from 60 I B.C. to A.D. 1649; since the positions are given in l'L 1I11tic coordinates, the corresponding declinations were obtained by the formula

sinD0 = sine sinA. (4)

whl'I'C 6", is the declination of the Sun, e is the obliquity of the ecliptic and A. is the ecliptic Illn itude of the Sun. 13 Tuckenna~'s tables present the Sun's longitudes at 10-day intervals, IIlwuYii lor 16:00 hours of Universal Time, taking into con,sideration the movement of the pUl'ihelion and, therefore, the secular variations in the duration of the seasons; the value of III obliquity of the ecliptic was detennined, for the epoch corresponding to every particu-1111' cnse, by means of the formula developed by de Sitter (Thom 1971: 15),14

Obviously, reliable computer programs can also be employed for calculating posi­liolls of the Sun on particular dates in the past.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE ALIGNMENT DATA

In ()I:der to analyze the alignment data 1 elaborated a number of histograms which show the distribution of azimuths, declinations and solar dates, and intervals between these dates (Spl'ajc 1997b: Figures 4.1-4,12). The most important general conclusions of my research In central Mexico (summarized above in Introduction) are supported by the evidenily non­,',mdom distribution of the plotted values, particularly by the clustering of declinations (dates) and intervals around certain values (Figures 2 and 3),15 The fact that the data on IIrchitectural orientations are combined with those corresponding to horizon features might I'l'()voke methodological objections inthe sense that heterogeneous elements are compared,

13 In order to ;valuale the astronomical significance of a1ignments, it is necessary to identify the positions on the celestial sphere III which they corj'espond. Any alignment is defined by its azimuth and altilude above the horizontal piane, which are coordinates "rthe horizon system; whereas the positions on the celeslial sphere can be expressed eithcr by the ecliptic or the equatorial system "I' cooroinales. The astronomical reference of an alignment,is indicated by the corresponding declination, ,,<hich is a celestial coor­dinnte in the equatorial system. Ifalignll1ents are to be related 10 celestial positions exprcssed in ccliptic coordinates, the latter must IIt'sl be converted into the equatorial system: formula (4) derives from Ihe one used for calculating declination (MueHer 1969: 40). cIIllsidering that ecliptic latitude ~ is, in the case of th e Sun, always 0":

sinb = sinll COSE + cosf3 sinE sinA

14 The procedure is described in detail in Sprajc 1997b: 30t: 15 While Figures 2 and J show these data 1'01' all silcS included in my study, hi<logr,ms presenting them separately for the I'rcclassic, Classic and Poslclassic periods can tx: found in Sprajc 1997b: Figures 4.6·4.12. A statistical analysis of the alignment data is still planned to be done.

21

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DECLINATIONS

O£CUNA.TlONS EAST

U dedinOlion of 0 structure

C) declination 01 0 structure foc inq east [J decr.notion of 0 st ruc ture fac ;:'19 west

[~ declination 01 0 st ' vClvre orient ed to 0 mou,"ltoin on eostern horizon

( ] decl;noliol'l 0' 0 st ru cture oriented to 0 malOnlo ;" on western horizon

III declination of 0 movnlo;n on cas torn horizon

~ declinet ion of 0 mount o il' on wester n h orizon

Figure 2 •. Distriblllion 0/ declinations recorded by alignments at central Mexican archaeo­logical sites. Each quadrate represents one declination, corresponding either to a structure or to a horizon prominence; the meaning of signs and lellers in the quadrates is explained in thefigure. Declination vallles on' the horizontal scale are spaced at I' intervals;for exam­ple, al/ declinations greater than 15' and smaller than or equal to 16 ' appear in a single col­ull/n. The declinations recorded on the eastern/western horizon are plolledupwardldown- . ward. For the range o/declinations allained by the Sun, the corresponding dates of the year are also shown: winter and spring dates appear above the declination scale and summer and. autumn dates below it.

whosesigni:ficance was not necessarily comparable (cl Hawkins 1968: 49). It should be pointed out, however, that the alignment data of each type were :first plotted separately' only after~if!1ilar patterns h~d been obtained in both cases, I proceed~d to elaborate histo~rams comb.lnlng the two series of data. In fact, the lack of homogeneity is more apparent than real: In both cases we are dealing with alignments associated with phenomena observable on the horizon; furthermore, a generic relationship between the functions of architectural orientations an~ horizon features is indicated by the buildings oriented to prominent peaks on the local hOrizon (cl Figure 2). Indeed, the results obtained suggest that architectural ori­entations served in combination with natural horizon markers, allowing for the use of obser­vational calendars based on calendricany si'gnificant intervals.

I hope that the methodological approach employed in my study is free from preju­dice~ that might distort the objectivity of the research results and prevent a global compre­henSIOn of the complexity of astronomical factors involved in the orientation and location of ?ivic and c~remonial buildings. As an example of such prejudices, the significance assigned or denied a priori to certain dates of the tropical year can be mentioned. In his cri­tique of the hypothesis (first proposed by Morley and later by A veni) that the alignment from Stela 12 to Stela 10 at Copan was intended to mark sunsets on April 12 and September I, Kohler (1991: 132) contends that these . dates have no particular astronomical

22

• INTERVALS

(ol l)r\ •• IIIIClu'., both !jot .. 11'\ \I'ICI lall (I ) (Ino ,Iruelm., both dol'" ;1"1 Ii'll ... ul ) 1 on .. ,\ruel"", onc dote 11'1 tho eo,l cnd Il'It al",r in !hl! west l~ t.o ,t'uclu'o., bolh dotes ;1"1 \1'11 eo" l~ two It ructu'u , bath dote. in the _.sl !J.I two ,trucll,lr •• , one dot. in the <IIO,t ond the other in the .... ed (JJ one or two moun tain, in the COlt [!) one or t_o mountains in the ""est , . [!) t.o moul'llo;I'I' , OI'lC in the eel! ond the other in '''e west E!I 0 ,t...,c!ure olld (I mountain, bolh dO\I" in the cost EI 0 stnll;ture ond Cl m ountain, both dotes ·in the we,t (iJi 0 st ruc ture ond Cl , mauntoil'l. onc dote in the eost ond the , other in the wut

Figure 3. Distribution of intervals between the dates recorded by alignments at central Mexican archaeological sites. The intervals, each represented by a quadrate, are distances, in days, from anyone 10 anyone of the dates reeorded at any particlllar site, both byarchi­tectural ori~lltatiolls and by prominences on the local horizon. The meaning of numbers ill the quadrates is explained in the figure. Since any (except a solstitial) alignment registers in on~ and the same direction two dates in a year and, therefore, two intervals whose sum is 365 days, both are represented bv a single quadrate: in tlte upper line of the horizontal scale the shorter imervals are listed and in lITe lower one their complements to the 365-day year. The .coll/mns of quadrates are spaced at 2-day intervals: for example, all inlerPals in excess oj 103 and smaller than or equal to 105 days (greater than or eql/al to 260 and smaller than 262 days) are included in a single colllmll. The thick line divides the intervals produced by a Single architectural orientation (quadrates I, 2 and 3) from others. If an inlerval separates 'the dates ret;:orded by two alignmellls, the laller actually mark four dates which, conse­qllently, delimit two short intervals: since both are necessariZv coexistent and similar (though not always exactly equal, due to the variable speed o/tlie SJlII 's apparel1l movement), they are represellted by a single quadrate, its location in the histogralll being determined by their mean value. Since any (except a solstitial) architectural orientation that isfllnctional in both directiolls records two datespnthe eastern al/d two on the westem horizon, two'of the six intervals produced necessarily approach 182 days (half a yea/); such interPals, even if some 0/ them may have been achieved intelltiollally (their exact lengths depend on I/Ori­ZOIl altill/des), are not represented in the histogram, because their highfrequency wOllld not reflect their real importance (for detoils see Sprajc 1997b: 63,122-124). "

significance. Our still deficient knowledge about the importance of certain dates in the Mesoamerican world view certainly does not walTant such an assertion which, one can sus­pect, reflects an "application of European concepts", i.e. precisely the attitude the same f1uthor aptly criticizes in another context (ibid.: 133ft). Nor can the requisite be accepted that, for demonstrating the astronomical nature of architectural alignments in a culture it is

23

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indispensable, in Ihe nl'st place, 10 prove with independent data that cl'iesti;d phenomena were "deified or at least considered to be powerful entities which direcLly inllllcnce the fate of mankind" (ibid. : 131); K6hler (ibid.) adds that, in the absence of archaeological evi­dences, the ethnohistoric and ethnographic data from the same cultural area may at least provide some hints. As Aveni (1995 : S79) points out, this proposition, refuted by the very emergence and development of archaeoastronomy and its achievements in the second half of this century, "declares that one can discover nothing by beginning with alignments" . In tennsof general archaeological methodology we could say that, by implementing K6hler's postulate in practice, we would run the risk of neglecting the intrinsic value of archaeolog­Ical remains and of approaching the attitude criticized by Binford (1972: 86) in relation to inadequate use of ethnographic analogies in archaeology: "Fitting archaeological remains into ethnographically known patterns of life adds nothing to our knowledge of the past." Curiously, however, referring to stellar orientations, K6hler (1991: 131) affinns:

[ ... ] there is also the possibility of obtaining information on the basis of purely archaeological sources. For example, if the orientation towards the point of rising or setting of a particular star is consistently found in a great number of sites of one area, there is a high probability that this orientation was a deliberate one and quite probably had the aim of being aligned with that particular star. ~ However, all conclusions based on a single site must remain highly speculative!

This argument, somehow contradictory in comparison with the formerly quoted claims of the same author, is much closer to what I consider to be the proper guidelines for the study of astronomical alignments in general, not only of those related to the stars.

Another example of a methodologica Ily deficient approach is Morante's (1996: 83ss) attempt at identifying horizon markers at Teotihuacan for the dates he assumes to have been relevant. Even if, for the various dates he mentions, we know that they were, indeed, impor­tant, this method prevents us from finding other possibly significant dates, i.e. it does not allow us to discover anything new, limiting our explanatory endeavors to corroborations of what we already know or suppose (er Ruggles 1994: 498). These critical remarks notwith­standing, the studies of Xochicalco and Teotihuacan accomplished by Morante (J 993; 1996) are important contributions to Mesoamerican archaeoastronomy. It is obvious that a "case study" focused on a single site can hardly detect patterns that would confirm the hypotheses proposed in relation to the alignments at that site. Regularities of this type can only be revealed by comparative research based on a number of sites that manifest some degree of cultural homogeneity, but this approach also involves deficiencies that seem inevitable: when studying diverse sites, it is impossible to pay sufficient attention to the whole complexity of each of them; clearly a delailed research at one site can detect more elements of potential astronomical significance and generate important new hypotheses, but these will have to be verified by comparative investigations. It can be concluded that both approaches are neces­sary and complementary, each of them having its advantages and limitations.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The methodological guidelines presented above were developed in the course of my study· of alignments in central Mexican archaeological sites. If, as J hope, the results of my

24

, 'UI' 'h (sullIlI1aril.l'd ill Inll'OUuCliol1) conlrihllll! to a dl!l!pcr understanding of the IiIMllifl'llIll!l! or arcililel!lural uril!l1lalions and oliler alignmenls inl!orporated in the cultural lu"lip! 'upe or prl!ilispanic cenlral Mexico, the methods and techniques described should be h lpI'll I ill furthcr (In:ilaeoastronomical inveslig,lIions in Mesoamerica, as well as in other IlIl' lltI wilh comparablc Iypes or archaeological remains.

, ince the appearance of the sky and the characteristics of recurrent celestial events ~ 1111 Ill' conHdcntly reconstructed for any place on Earth and any time during the last sever-1IIIIIIIIcllnia, archaeoastronomy largely relies on mathematically exact data and thus has a "I IIlnullnl advantage over studies of other aspects of the past (Ruggles and Saunders 1993: VI, Itllij Ics 1999: 145). This characteristic of archaeoastronomical research is ~n keeping whit Ill' evident tendency in modem archaeology to employ as many as possible of the h'l hllll/llcs, methods and procedures developed by exact sciences, in order to achieve accu­lilt I ",tunlc and reliable results. Curiously, however, very little has been done within the 11111 11 . ll'l~lIm archaeology to include measurements and study of alignments in the excava­Ilun pl'f1cess. Architectural orientations represent "attributes of material objects" (I Wllllisl.cwski 1995a: 192) and should be considered as important as any other piece of III ' hllco\ogical evidence:

Even if the surveyor of a prehistoric structure should be of opinion that there is "nothing in" Orientation, still the direction in which the structure is laid out on the ground should be accurately reproduced in the resulting plan, if only . in the inter­ests of scientific completeness. Until this is done, the matter will never be settled as to whether, in fact , there is, or is not Orientation in these structures of antiquity; and if there is, wherein it is expressed. (Somerville 1927: 37)

IJnli1l1unately, this methodological advice, expressed more than seven decades ago, has not 'hm! much impact among archaeologists, whose general attitude has not changed substan-1IIIIly even in recent decades, in spite of the indisputable achievements made within the spe­ullllizcd field of archaeoastronomy (c! Ruggles 19991 1 ff) . Ideally, architectural orientations IIl1d other archaeologically documented alignments with conceivable astronomical Kignificance should be measured in the course of excavation, when the construction ele­rllcnts are still in situ, considering that, as a result of later interventions, they are often JllOvcd off th~ir original positions or disappear completely (Hartung 1980: 145). Studies of IIlignments should represent an integral parI of archaeological research. However, if the plllee archaeoastronomy deserves within anthropological disciplines, ~pecificaJly arc.haeol­ogy, is to be secured, the application and continuous development of rigorous and objective methodological procedures is obviously of foremost importance.

POVZETEK

C/anek predstavlja nekatere specijiclle metode in te/lIlike, ki so bile uporabljene v sis­tematicni arlreoastronolllski raziskavi orielltacij v predspanski arhitektllri na vrsti pred­klasicnih, k/asiblilt ill postklasicnih arlre%skih najdisc v osredllji Melriki. Rezu/tati te raziskave so na kratko podani v UVOdll, sicer pa se clallek osredotoca na te/",icna in metod~/oska vprasanja, ki so re/evalltl/a za arheoastrOllOlIIska preucevanja nasplolr: obravllavajo se kriteriji za izbor Iinij, ki so bile upostevane v studiji, pa tudi nekatera te/lllicna vprasallja, ki zadevajo zbirallje ill alla/izo podatkov oorielltacijalr.

25

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27

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28

. I tl 'ill MesOlllllcrica: myth or ICHY. FI'IIIlZ, II)K I , ()rc!cr 111111 rc\lItlonshlp 01 splice 11:". I~I~ .! '

'1IIIy'! In : E, r. Iknson, cd" Me,wIIIIIL'm:/l1I SltcS alll/ll ()I!tI-1 Itl! ,~, WII. hhll:\!on: Dumharton Oaks, pp. 217-245, . nial centers on 17° north of

TIC'HY F' . 1982. The IIxial direction of Mesoamencan cerem~

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l a u ~3-83 '

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2~