The Mesoamerican Pecked Cross as a Calendrical Device

Worthy, Morgan; Dickens, Roy S.

doi:10.2307/280563

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…The gridded landscape oriented to the cardinal directions, together with the rectilinear apartment compounds, emphasizes a quadripartition of space repeated at various spatial levels or scales. These include small four-part diagrams engraved in floors or on rocks in the outlying landscape (Cabrera Castro, 2000, Winning, 1987) known as "pecked circles" or "pecked crosses," a motif that overlays a cross shape with a circle, made by pecking small depressions in the surface of a stone or floor (Aveni, 2000;Aveni et al, 1978;Worthy and Dickens, 1983). The astronomical and calendrical associations of these particular diagrams and certain Teotihuacan buildings is well studied (Aveni, 2000), implicating celestial sightings that mark successive stages in the annual calendar and other time cycles (Pasztory, 1978;110).…”

Section: Teotihuacan Inscription Devices: Diagrams and Calendarsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Place and Person at Pre-Hispanic Teotihuacan, Mexico

D. Gillespie

2024

IJAHSS

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There are significant societal differences evident in the material remains of the Classic period (ca. AD 250-600) city of Teotihuacan in central Mexico compared to contemporary Maya kingdoms in southern Mexico and Guatemala, despite both being part of the larger Mesoamerican civilization, sharing many cultural features. One proposed explanation for these differences derives from an analytical social science dichotomy that contrasts groups and individuals. According to this approach, Maya art and architecture indicate a society centered on individuals, particularly the rivalrous semi-divine rulers. Teotihuacan’s depersonalized art, lack of royal tombs, and gridded city plan are believed to indicate a corporate ethos in which individuals were subsumed by the societal collective. However, archaeological evidence for these interpretations is not compelling; moreover, the dichotomy itself is misleading. The key to these differences may lie in conceptions of embodied versus emplaced personae. The identity of Teotihuacanos was shaped by living within the city itself, and their concepts of personhood were entwined with their built environment in ways different from their Maya counterparts.

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Section: Teotihuacan Inscription Devices: Diagrams and Calendarsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Place and Person at Pre-Hispanic Teotihuacan, Mexico

D. Gillespie

2024

IJAHSS

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“…Aveni et al (1978), por su parte, destacaron la presencia de patrones numéricos especialmente relacionados con un conjunto de 18 puntos a partir de sumatorias (10+4+4 puntos) en representaciones similares. Este patrón, vinculado más con el año solar que con el venusino, llevó a plantear un vínculo entre éste y las cruces punteadas, como proponen Worthy y Dickens (1983).…”

Section: La Cruz Punteada Como Cuenta Del Tiempounclassified

La Cruz Punteada como cuenta del tiempo. Significado y relevancia para el noroeste de Mesoamérica

Lorenzo

2023

anantrop

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El presente trabajo consiste en el análisis de una representación glífica usualmente denominada “cruz punteada”. Esta expresión mesoamericana ha recibido variedad de explicaciones sin ahondar en un caso de estudio particular, argumentando que se trata de marcadores astronómicos, estaciones para trazar ejes urbanos, mecanismos de orientación, calendarios, cuentas de los días, tableros adivinatorios o de juego. La intención de esta investigación es analizar una de estas manifestaciones mediante una metodología que parte de un marco etnohistórico. El resultado del análisis revela que se trata de un calendario venusino, el cual contiene en sí mismo otras medidas del tiempo relevantes para los indígenas del Altiplano en el siglo xvi. La utilidad del trabajo permite el desarrollo de nuevas interpretaciones en torno a este tipo de petroglifos en otras regiones como el noroeste.

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“…Additionally, there is always the concern that incised lines could result from uncareful excavations with sharp implements. With good context, scholars categorize incised features as calendars (Aveni et al 1978; Worthy and Dickens 1983), games (Voorhies 2017), and graffiti (Trik and Kampen 1983). Rarely do incised lines signal specialized building practices as they do at Yaxuná.…”

Section: Incised Lines and Intentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incised Lines: Planning and Design in the Late Formative E Group at Yaxuná, Yucatán, Mexico

Collins

2022

Latin Am. antiq.

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Although direct evidence of civic planning is rare among Mesoamerican sites, such features offer great insight into past practices, intentions, and urban transformation. Using data from the transition to the Late Formative period (ca. 400–300 BC), I argue that direct evidence of urban planning is present in the monumental constructions of Yaxuná in Yucatán, Mexico. There, investigators detected a series of carefully rendered incised lines directly on Floor 6 of the E Group plaza. Along with the buildings' exposed surfaces, incised lines served as visual markers for placing rubble and dry-core fill into two categories: large dry-core stones and small compact fill. These visual distinctions informed the location of features built on top of this fill, including Floor 5 and a causeway spanning the plaza's central axis, distinguished from the white floor surface sascab (a durable product of pulverized limestone) by a red-orange color. The incised lines at Yaxuná grant insight into how ancient builders envisioned public works and then implemented and completed features in a step-by-step design process, which required precision and foresight.

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The Mesoamerican Pecked Cross as a Calendrical Device

Cited by 6 publications

References 2 publications

Place and Person at Pre-Hispanic Teotihuacan, Mexico

Place and Person at Pre-Hispanic Teotihuacan, Mexico

La Cruz Punteada como cuenta del tiempo. Significado y relevancia para el noroeste de Mesoamérica

Incised Lines: Planning and Design in the Late Formative E Group at Yaxuná, Yucatán, Mexico

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