Hostname: page-component-669899f699-7xsfk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-26T23:35:37.087Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Astronomy, Architecture, and Landscape in the Olmec Area and Western Maya Lowlands: Implications for Understanding Regional Variability and Evolution of Orientation Patterns in Mesoamerica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2024

Ivan Šprajc  and
Takeshi Inomata
Ivan Šprajc*
Affiliation:
Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU), Ljubljana, Slovenia,
Takeshi Inomata
Affiliation:
School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
*
Corresponding author: Ivan Šprajc; Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the area along the southern Gulf Coast in Mexico, a large number of previously unrecorded archaeological sites have recently been detected with the aid of lidar data, which also allowed us to determine the orientations of hundreds of structures and architectural assemblages, including many standardized complexes dated to the Early-to-Middle Formative transition. As revealed by our analyses, most orientations were based on astronomical and calendrical principles, occasionally combined with certain concepts of sacred geography. While the results of these analyses were presented in a recently published article, here we explore the potential of alignment data for addressing other questions of archaeological relevance. The distribution of particular building types and regional variations in alignment patterns in the study area suggest the existence of two somehow different cultural spheres, loosely corresponding to the areas conventionally called the Gulf Olmec region and the western Maya Lowlands. Examining pertinent evidence, we argue that it was in this area where some of the most prominent orientation groups materialized in later Mesoamerican architecture originated. We also attempt to reconstruct the paths of their diffusion, which are expected to contribute to understanding the dynamics of long-distance cultural interaction in Mesoamerica.

Resumen

Resumen

Investigaciones recientes basadas en los datos de escaneo láser (lídar) detectaron una gran cantidad de sitios arqueológicos previamente no reportados en el área a lo largo de la costa sur del Golfo de México. Los datos lídar también nos permitieron determinar las orientaciones de un gran número de estructuras y grupos arquitectónicos, incluyendo muchos complejos estandarizados datados a la transición entre los periodos Preclásico Temprano y Medio. Nuestros análisis han revelado que las orientaciones fueron diseñadas, en su mayoría, a partir de principios astronómicos y calendáricos ocasionalmente combinados con algunos conceptos de geografía sagrada. Mientras que los resultados de estos análisis han sido presentados en un artículo publicado recientemente, aquí exploramos el potencial de los datos sobre los alineamientos para abordar otras cuestiones de relevancia arqueológica. La distribución de los edificios de ciertos tipos y las variaciones regionales en los patrones de orientación en el área de estudio sugieren la existencia de dos esferas culturales algo diferentes, que aproximadamente corresponden a las áreas convencionalmente designadas como la región olmeca del Golfo de México y las tierras bajas mayas occidentales. Examinando las evidencias pertinentes, argumentamos que fue ésta el área donde se originaron algunos de los grupos de orientación más comunes en épocas posteriores. Asimismo, intentamos reconstruir las trayectorias de su propagación, contribuyendo de esta manera a la comprensión de los procesos de interacción cultural a larga distancia en Mesoamérica.

Keywords

MesoamericaMayaOlmecarchaeoastronomyarchitectureorientationscalendarcultural historyMesoaméricamayasolmecasarqueoastronomíaarquitecturaorientacionescalendariohistoria cultural
Type
Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 35 , Issue 2 , June 2024 , pp. 381 - 401
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for American Archaeology

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

References Cited

Aveni, Anthony F. 2001. Skywatchers: A Revised and Updated Version of Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Aveni, Anthony F., and Hartung, Horst. 1986. Maya City Planning and the Calendar. Transactions Vol. 76, Pt. 7. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.10.2307/1006457CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aveni, Anthony F., and Hartung, Horst. 2000. Water, Mountain, Sky: The Evolution of Site Orientations in Southeastern Mesoamerica. In In Chalchihuitl in Quetzalli: Mesoamerican Studies in Honor of Doris Heyden, edited by Keber, Eloise Quiñones, pp. 55–65. Labyrinthos, Lancaster, California.Google Scholar
Bachand, Bruce R. 2013. Las fases formativas de Chiapa de Corzo: Nueva evidencia e interpretaciones. Estudios de Cultura Maya 42:11–52.10.1016/S0185-2574(13)71385-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borstein, Joshua A. 2001. Tripping over Colossal Heads: Settlement Patterns and Population Development in the Upland Olmec Heartland. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Borstein, Joshua A. 2005. Epiclassic Political Organization in Southern Veracruz, Mexico: Segmentary Versus Centralized Integration. Ancient Mesoamerica 16:11–21.10.1017/S095653610505008XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broda, Johanna, Iwaniszewski, Stanislaw, and Montero, Arturo (editors). 2001. La montaña en el paisaje ritual. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City; Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Cañas Ortiz, Alejandro. 2014. La presencia maya en la antigua ciudad de Teotihuacan: Estudio de la interacción y propuesta para un modelo explicativo. Thesis, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Clark, John E. 2016. Western Kingdoms of the Middle Preclassic. In The Origins of Maya States, edited by Traxler, Loa P., and Sharer, Robert J., pp. 123–224. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia.10.2307/j.ctv2t4c0m.12CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, John E., and Hansen, Richard D.. 2001. Architecture of Early Kingship: Comparative Perspectives on the Origins of the Maya Royal Court. In Royal Courts of the Ancient Maya, Volume 2: Data and Case Studies, edited by Inomata, Takeshi and Houston, Stephen D., pp. 1–45. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado.Google Scholar
Clark, John E., and Pye, Mary E.. 2000. The Pacific Coast and the Olmec Question. In Olmec Art and Archaeology in Mesoamerica, edited by Clark, John E. and Pye, Mary E., pp. 217–251. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Clayton, Sarah C. 2005. Interregional Relationships in Mesoamerica: Interpreting Maya Ceramics at Teotihuacan. Latin American Antiquity 16:427–448.10.2307/30042508CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corona Núñez, José. 1957. Mitología tarasca. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Cyphers, Ann. 2008. Los tronos olmecas y la cambiante configuración de poder. In Ideología política y sociedad en el periodo Formativo: Ensayos en homenaje al doctor David Grove, edited by Cyphers, Ann and Hirth, Kenneth G., pp. 313–341. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Cyphers, Ann. 2012. Las bellas teorías y los terribles hechos: Controversias sobre los olmecas del Preclásico Inferior. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Daneels, Annick. 1997. Settlement History in the Lower Cotaxtla Basin. In Olmec to Aztec: Settlement Patterns in the Ancient Gulf Lowlands, edited by Stark, Barbara L. and Arnold, Philip J. III, pp. 206–252. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Diehl, Richard A. 1981. Olmec Architecture: A Comparison of San Lorenzo and La Venta. In The Olmec and Their Neighbors, edited by Benson, Elizabeth P., pp. 69–81. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Doering, Travis F. 2007. An Unexplored Realm in the Heartland of the Southern Gulf Olmec: Investigations at El Marquesillo, Veracruz, Mexico. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa.Google Scholar
Dowd, Anne S., and Milbrath, Susan (editors). 2015. Cosmology, Calendars, and Horizon-Based Astronomy in Ancient Mesoamerica. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.10.5876/9781607323792CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flannery, Kent V., and Marcus, Joyce. 2000. Formative Mexican Chiefdoms and the Myth of the “Mother Culture.” Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 19:1–37.10.1006/jaar.1999.0359CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flannery, Kent V., and Marcus, Joyce. 2015. Excavations at San José Mogote 2: The Cognitive Archaeology. Memoirs No. 58. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.10.3998/mpub.11395541CrossRefGoogle Scholar
González-García, A. César, and Šprajc, Ivan. 2016. Astronomical Significance of Architectural Orientations in the Maya Lowlands: A Statistical Approach. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 9:191–202.Google Scholar
Hernández Jiménez, Lourdes. 2012. Reconocimiento extensivo en la región sur de Veracruz. Ollin 10:23–30.Google Scholar
Hodgson, John G., Clark, John E., and Murrieta, Emiliano Gallaga. 2010. Ojo de Agua Monument 3: A New Olmec-Style Sculpture from Ojo de Agua, Chiapas, Mexico. Mexicon 32:139–144.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi. 2017. The Isthmian Origins of the E Group and Its Adoption in the Maya Lowlands. In Early Maya E Groups, Solar Calendars, and the Role of Astronomy in the Rise of Lowland Urbanism, edited by Freidel, David A., Chase, Arlen F., Dowd, Anne S., and Murdock, Jerry, pp. 89–107. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, Daniela Triadan, Kazuo Aoyama, Castillo, Victor, and Yonenobu, Hitoshi. 2013. Early Ceremonial Constructions at Ceibal, Guatemala, and the Origins of Lowland Maya Civilization. Science 340(6131):467–471.10.1126/science.1234493CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Inomata, Takeshi, Triadan, Daniela, Pinzón, Flory, Burham, Melissa, Ranchos, José Luis, Aoyama, Kazuo, and Haraguchi, Tsuyoshi. 2018. Archaeological Application of Airborne LiDAR to Examine Social Changes in the Ceibal Region of the Maya lowlands. PLoS ONE 13(2):e0191619. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0191619.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Inomata, Takeshi, Triadan, Daniela, Vázquez López, Verónica A., Fernandez-Diaz, Juan Carlos, Omori, Takayuki, Méndez Bauer, María Belén, Hernández, Melina García, et al. 2020. Monumental Architecture at Aguada Fénix and the Rise of Maya Civilization. Nature 582(7813):530–533.10.1038/s41586-020-2343-4CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Inomata, Takeshi, Fernandez-Diaz, Juan Carlos, Triadan, Daniela, Mollinedo, Miguel García, Pinzón, Flory, Hernández, Melina García, Flores, Atasta, et al. 2021. Origins and Spread of Formal Ceremonial Complexes in the Olmec and Maya Regions Revealed by Airborne Lidar. Nature Human Behaviour 5(11):1487–1501.10.1038/s41562-021-01218-1CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Inomata, Takeshi, Pinzón, Flory, Palomo, Juan Manuel, Sharpe, Ashley, Ortiz, Raúl, Méndez, María Belén, and Román, Otto. 2017. Public Ritual and Interregional Interactions: Excavations of the Central Plaza of Group A, Ceibal. Ancient Mesoamerica 28:203–232.10.1017/S0956536117000025CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iwaniszewski, Stanislaw. 2015. Cultural Interpretation of Archaeological Evidence Relating to Astronomy. In Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, edited by Ruggles, Clive L., pp. 315–324. Springer, New York.10.1007/978-1-4614-6141-8_24CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Justeson, John S., Norman, William M., Campbell, Lyle, and Kaufman, Terrence. 1985. The Foreign Impact on Lowland Mayan Language and Script. Middle American Research Institute Publication 53. Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana.Google Scholar
Killion, Thomas W., and Urcid, Javier. 2001. The Olmec Legacy: Cultural Continuity on Mexico's Southern Gulf Coast. Journal of Field Archaeology 28:3–25.Google Scholar
Lowe, Gareth W. 1977. The Mixe-Zoque as Competing Neighbors of the Early Lowland Maya. In The Origins of Maya Civilization, edited by Adams, Richard E. W., pp. 197–248. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Lowe, Gareth W., Lee, Thomas A., and Espinosa, Eduardo Martinez. 1982. Izapa: An Introduction to the Ruins and Monuments. Papers No. 31. New World Archaeological Foundation, Provo, Utah.Google Scholar
Malmström, Vincent H. 1973. Origin of the Mesoamerican 260-Day Calendar. Science 181(4103):939–941.10.1126/science.181.4103.939CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nichols, Deborah L. 2016. Teotihuacan. Journal of Archaeological Research 24(1):1–74.10.1007/s10814-015-9085-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ochoa, Lorenzo, and Hernández, Martha Ivón. 1977. Los olmecas y el valle del Usumacinta. Anales de Antropología 14:75–90.Google Scholar
Paulinyi, Zoltán. 2014. The Butterfly Bird God and His Myth at Teotihuacan. Ancient Mesoamerica 25:29–48.10.1017/S0956536114000054CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pool, Christopher A. 2007. Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.10.1017/CBO9781139167147CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reyman, Jonathan E. 1975. The Nature and Nurture of Archaeoastronomical Studies. In Archaeoastronomy in Pre-Columbian America, edited by Aveni, Anthony F., pp. 205–215. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Rice, Prudence M. 2017. The E Group as Timescape: Early E Groups, Figurines, and the Sacred Almanac. In Maya E Groups: Calendars, Astronomy, and Urbanism in the Early Lowlands, edited by Freidel, David A., Chase, Arlen F., Dowd, Anne S., and Murdock, Jerry, pp. 135–176. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.10.2307/j.ctvx072vd.12CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rojas Martínez Gracida, Araceli. 2022. El calendario de 260 días y otros calendarios a la luz de la sabiduría de los ayöök de Oaxaca. Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 64:175–214.Google Scholar
Rosenswig, Robert M., López-Torrijos, Ricardo, Antonelli, Caroline E., and Mendelsohn, Rebecca R.. 2013. Lidar Mapping and Surface Survey of the Izapa State on the Tropical Piedmont of Chiapas, Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science 40(3):1493–1507.10.1016/j.jas.2012.10.034CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruggles, Clive L. 2015. Calendars and astronomy. In Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, edited by Ruggles, Clive L., pp. 15–30. Springer, New York.10.1007/978-1-4614-6141-8_4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rust, William F. 2008. A Settlement Survey of La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Sabloff, Jeremy A., and Rathje, William L.. 1975. Cozumel's Place in Yucatecan Culture History. In A Study of Changing Pre-Columbian Commercial Systems: The 1972–1973 Seasons at Cozumel, Mexico, edited by Sabloff, Jeremy A. and Rathje, William L., pp. 21–28. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Sánchez Nava, Pedro Francisco, and Šprajc, Ivan. 2015. Orientaciones astronómicas en la arquitectura maya de las tierras bajas. Colección Arqueología, Serie Logos. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Sánchez Nava, Pedro Francisco, Šprajc, Ivan, and Hobel, Martin. 2016. Aspectos astronómicos de la arquitectura maya en la costa nororiental de la península de Yucatán. Prostor, kraj, čas 13. Založba ZRC, Ljubljana, Slovenia. https://doi.org/10.3986/9789612548964.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaafsma, Polly, and Taube, Karl A.. 2006. Bringing the Rain: An Ideology of Rain Making in the Pueblo Southwest and Mesoamerica. In A Pre-Columbian World, edited by Quilter, Jeffrey and Miller, Mary, pp. 231–285. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Scholes, France V., and Roys, Ralph L.. 1968. The Maya Chontal Indians of Acalan-Tixchel: A Contribution to the History and Ethnography of the Yucatan Peninsula. 2nd ed. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Šprajc, Ivan. 1993. The Venus-Rain-Maize Complex in the Mesoamerican World View: Part I. Journal for the History of Astronomy 24(Pts. 1/2):17–70.10.1177/002182869302400102CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Šprajc, Ivan. 2000. Astronomical Alignments at Teotihuacan, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity 11:403–415.10.2307/972004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Šprajc, Ivan. 2001. Orientaciones astronómicas en la arquitectura prehispánica del centro de México. Colección Científica 427. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Šprajc, Ivan. 2004. The South-of-East Skew of Mesoamerican Architectural Orientations: Astronomy and Directional Symbolism. In Etno y arqueo-astronomía en las Américas: Memorias del simposio Arq-13 del 51 Congreso Internacional de Americanistas, edited by Boccas, Maxime, Broda, Johanna, and Pereira, Gonzalo, pp. 161–176. Congreso, Santiago.Google Scholar
Šprajc, Ivan. 2016. Lunar Alignments in Mesoamerican Architecture. Anthropological Notebooks 22(3):61–85.Google Scholar
Šprajc, Ivan. 2018. Astronomy, Architecture, and Landscape in Prehispanic Mesoamerica. Journal of Archaeological Research 26(2):197–251.10.1007/s10814-017-9109-zCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Šprajc, Ivan. 2021. Astronomical Aspects of Group E-type Complexes and Implications for Understanding Ancient Maya Architecture and Urban Planning. PLoS ONE 16(4): e0250785. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250785.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Šprajc, Ivan. 2023. Equinoctial Sun and Astronomical Alignments in Mesoamerican Architecture: Fiction and Fact. Ancient Mesoamerica 34(2):281–297. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Šprajc, Ivan, Inomata, Takeshi, and Aveni, Anthony F.. 2023. Origins of Mesoamerican Astronomy and Calendar: Evidence from the Olmec and Maya Regions. Science Advances 9(1):eabq7675. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abq7675.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Šprajc, Ivan, Morales-Aguilar, Carlos, and Hansen, Richard D.. 2009. Early Maya Astronomy and Urban Planning at El Mirador, Peten, Guatemala. Anthropological Notebooks 15(3):79–101.Google Scholar
Šprajc, Ivan, and Nava, Pedro Francisco Sánchez. 2015. Orientaciones astronómicas en la arquitectura de Mesoamérica: Oaxaca y el Golfo de México. Prostor, kraj, čas, 8. Založba ZRC, Ljubljana, Slovenia. https://doi.org/10.3986/9789612548162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Šprajc, Ivan, Nava, Pedro Francisco Sánchez, and Ortiz, Alejandro Cañas. 2016. Orientaciones astronómicas en la arquitectura de Mesoamérica: Occidente y Norte. Prostor, kraj, čas 12. Založba ZRC, Ljubljana, Slovenia. https://doi.org/10.3986/9789612548926.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stark, Barbara L. 1999. Formal Architectural Complexes in South-Central Veracruz, Mexico: A Capital Zone? Journal of Field Archaeology 26:197–225.Google Scholar
Stark, Barbara L., and Heller, Lynette. 1991. Cerro de las Mesas Revisited: Survey in 1984–1985. In Settlement Archaeology of Cerro de las Mesas, Veracruz, Mexico, Monograph 34, edited by Stark, Barbara L., pp. 1–25. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Stoner, Wesley D., and Stark, Barbara L.. 2023. Distributed Urban Networks in the Gulf Lowlands of Veracruz. Journal of Archaeological Research 31(3):449–501. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-022-09178-4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuart, David, Hurst, Heather, Beltrán, Boris, and Saturno, William. 2022. An Early Maya Calendar Record from San Bartolo, Guatemala. Science Advances 8(15):eabl9290. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abl9290.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Symonds, Stacey, Cyphers, Ann, and Lunagómez, Roberto. 2002. Asentamiento prehispánico en San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, Veracruz, México. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1972. A Commentary on the Dresden Codex: A Maya Hieroglyphic Book. Memoirs 93. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Wisdom, Charles. 1940. The Chorti Indians of Guatemala. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar