Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-x2lbr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-10T23:34:59.623Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

SOLAR OBSERVATORY OR ALLEGORY? CALAKMUL'S GROUP E-TYPE COMPLEX FORM AND FUNCTION

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 December 2017

Anne S. Dowd*
Affiliation:
ArchæoLOGIC USA, LLC, Western Division, P.O. Box 4363, Vail, Colorado 81658-4363
Anthony F. Aveni
Affiliation:
Colgate University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, 331 Ho Science Center, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, New York 13346
Ramón Carrasco
Affiliation:
C.R.S.–INAH, Centro INAH Campeche, Calle 59, No. 36, entre Calle 14 y 16, Anexo a la Casa del Teniente del Rey, C.P. 24000, Campeche, México
*
E-mail correspondence to: adowd@archaeologicusa.com

Abstract

Members of the Proyecto Arqueológico de la Biosfera Calakmul under Carrasco's direction excavated the Cenote Style Group E-type complex at the Maya site of Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico. The Cenote Style refers to the plan of the E-Group with a series of three temples built onto a long narrow eastern range structure facing a western structure across a broad central plaza. Architectural data exist to evaluate this standardizing group's utility for observing solar events. Astronomical evidence for the function of this complex is presented and discussed. The overall orientation of Structures IVa, IVb, IVc, and VI is slightly east, 13° of true north, while a pair of doorways in Structure IVc align with the setting sun during the summer solstice point, despite the break in the buildings' floor-plan symmetry this represents.

Information

Type
Special Section: Mesoamerican Cultural Astronomy and the Calendar
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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