Sarah Feinberg
Nassif Iskander
Astronomy
Research Paper
Nov. 17th 2014
Located in Mexico, the Mayan ruin of Chitchen Itzá is known as one of the most
exceptional displays of historical astronomical thought. While most information regarding
Chichen Itza is presented as fact, a large majority of those statements are educated conjectures. It
is believed that the area became a society as early as the 4th century, when it was settled by
farmers (Hayes, Holly). Construction on the 2.5 square mile city began during the 7th century,
and these building are identified as a part of the Late Classical Era. Today, the ruins of this time
are known as the southern “old” zone of Chichen Itza. The city would not reach its peek until the
arrival of the Toltec peoples in the 10th century during the Post- Classical Era. On top of being a
religious and ceremonial site, as a result of the integration of new cultures such as the Toltec’s,
Chitchen Itza’s refined city center became the core of regional trade (National geographic). The
end of the 12th century marked a shift in power when Mayapán, the cities rival, captured Chichen
Itza, while the people did not leave construction halted. The city remained a pilgrimage for
Mayan’s until the 16th century Spanish Conquistadors conquered.
To understand the astronomical feats of the architecture of Chichen Itza it is imperative to
first understand the calendar of the Mayan society who called the city home. Dating back to as
early as the 5th century, today it is known as the calendar suppose to end December 2012 at
11:11 am. While the Mayan’s were not the inventors of the common pre-Colombian calendar
blueprint they further developed it. Time is fully recorded when three corresponding calendars,
the Long Count, the Tzolkin (divine calendar), and the Haab (civil calendar), are used
simultaneously. The Long Count date is said first, then the Tzolkin, and lastly the Haab. The
Long Count was used to track the longest periods of time, hence the name. Known to the
Mayan’s as the “universal cycle” they calculated it to be 2,860,000 days, or 7885 solar years.
This resulted in the Mayan’s hypothesize that in 2012 the universe would be entirely destroyed.
The Tzolkin and the Haab can pinpoint and name the days, but not the year. Specifically, the
Haab is a 365-day solar calendar, divided into 19 months, 18 with 20 days and one month with
only 5 days. The outer ring (see Figure 1) of glyphs represent the personality associated with
each of the 19 months. While the Mayan’s were exceptional astronomers they did not recognize
that in fact a year was actually only ≈364.25 days long. Used specifically to determine the time
of religious events the Tzolkin, meaning “the distribution of the days,” has 20 periods of 13 days
making it a 260-day calendar.
With this information on the calendar of the Mayan society, its association with the
architecture of Chichen Itza can now be understood. A majority of the buildings were dedicated
to the rain god Chac. A series of sinkhole wells was the cities only water source; however, they
also served as sacrifice locations. Young females were thrown into these large sinkholes as
sacrifices to Chac thought to live in their depths (National geographic). Many were Puuc Mayan
in style, the mosaic trait makes each one identifiable through observation. Others were clearly
influenced by the Toltec societies architectural characteristics. El Caracol / the “Snail”/ the
Observatory: given the name Snail as a result of the buildings snaillike spiral staircase inside is
one of the earliest recorded astronomical observatories and it is located in Chichen Itza (Hayes
Holly). Reflecting the cultures rising and continuing interest in observation of cosmic motions
and precise measurements, additions and modifications to El Caracol were completed over many
centuries. The approach of spring and autumn equinoxes, the summer solstice, the solar zeniths
and the cardinal directions were observed through slits in the tower walls (O'Connor, J. J.). In
Mesoamerican culture there are two seasons, the dry season and the wet season, rather than four,
and 80 percent of the rain falls between May and October. Since it varies based of of latitude the
specific date of the solar zenith is not the same everywhere, in Chichen Itza it falls on May 25th
and the second on July 20th (Aveni, 58). On these two days in the city, no shadows are cast at
noon. Due to its association with the farming cycle the first zenith is thought to be the paramount
day in the Yucatec Maya calendar while the second zenith is almost as important marking the
first day of the Haab (Aveni, 58) .The Caracol’s stairway is accurately oriented to the zenith
sunset at azimuth of 292° or 22° north of west; while, the opposing wall aligns with the
maximum northern setting point of Venus (Aveni 59).
El Castillo (the castle) or Temple of Kukulkan located directly across from the entrance
and in an open court is the quintessential landmark of the city, providing intriguing information
regarding Mayan astronomies integration into the society. Likely built in 790 ± 70 it is apart of
the Chichen- Toltec style and some theorize it was built to commemorate the completion of the
10th baktum on March 13 830. This date is actually extremely close to the spring equinox (Aveni,
61). Its alignment reflects the cultures fundamental division of the Yucatec Maya year into two
half’s. It incorporates specific symbolism referencing the cultures calendar and its western
orientation is 291° only a single degree off from the solar zenith sunset [Figure 2](Aveni, 59).
While the east façade has an orientation of 111° which marks the time of the solar nadir in late
November which signaled the maize harvest’s beginning in Yucatan. It is unknown if the solar
nadir was recognized by Yucatan astrologist but this provides evidence (Aveni, 61- 62). The
temple was designed with four flights of stairs, each with 91 steps, creating a total of 364, by
including the central platform the number grows to 365, thus referring to the Haab calendar. On
either side of these staircases are nine terraces (18 on all four walls), in total they equal the
number of months in the Mayan solar calendar. Each terrace facing has 52 panels to symbolize
the number of years needed for the cultures religious and solar cycles to realign. The Northern
staircase holds feathered serpent sculptures for decorative purposes, but more importantly
astronomical ones. The serpents were crafted with the intention that on the day of the spring and
fall equinoxes a particular effect would ensue in which a diamond patterned shadow would
appear on each staircase of the pyramid looking similar to a slithering snake.
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