Astronomic background of Mayan architecture and urbanism

The aim of the project is to perform a systematic archaeoastronomical study of orientations in Maya architecture. The research accomplished so far has shown that ceremonial and other important public buildings in Mesoamerica were largely oriented on the basis of astronomical criteria, mostly to sunrises and sunsets on particular dates, whose significance can be explained in terms of scheduling agricultural activities. Since the available data on orientations in the Maya area are deficient and not accurate enough for reliable archaeoastronomical conclusions, we plan to carry out field measurements on numerous archaeological sites, so as to collect a statistically significant sample of data, whose distribution will disclose the degree of intentionality of orientations and their possible astronomical correlates. To clarify the use, meaning and social role of astronomically oriented buildings, we will study the iconography and other related archaeological data, as well as ethnographic information concerning agriculturally important dates of the yearly cycle.