Image Credit : Bodofzt - CC BY-SA 4.0
Posted on 01/08/2023 5:01:05 PM PST by SunkenCiv
In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences (PNAS), archaeologists have found that a straight stone causeway on Mount Ttlaloc aligns with the rising sun on February 23rd/24th.
Mount Ttlaloc is an eroded stratovolcano, located in the State of Mexico, in the municipalities of Ixtapaluca and Texcoco.
The mountain was worshiped by the Aztecs, who associated it with the rain god Tlaloc as one of his earthly dwelling places, called Tlalocan...
The researchers found that if an observer stands in the lower part of the stone causeway on Mount Tlaloc, looking upwards on the 23rd/24th of February, they will witness the sun riding exactly in the middle of the shaft.
Interestingly, in the Mexica New Year according to the Aztec calendar, the latest and more accepted date proposed by Professor Rafael Tena (INAH), based on the studies of Durán, Sahagún and Alfonso Caso (UNAM), suggests that the date of the new year occurs on the 23rd of February of the current Gregorian calendar...
Summarising their findings, the team commented: "...The long causeway at the summit strongly suggests that the ceremonial structure was used as a solar landmark, aligning very precisely with the rising sun on February 23 to 24 and October 19 to 20. The same alignment is found if Mount Tlaloc is viewed from Mount Tepeyac, a holy site whose use as a sacred mount and solar observation post preceded the establishment of the Mexica civilization in the Basin."
(Excerpt) Read more at heritagedaily.com ...
Bookmark
Of course they are. Pretty much every Mesoamerican site has astronomical alignment and sight lines.
This mountain was so important in pre-Hispanic life that, according to historical records, the lords of Texcoco, Tenochtitlán and Tlacopan (who were part of the Triple Alliance) attended. In the form of pilgrimage and after long walks, they reached the top to leave offerings and sacrifices to ask for rain to the god Tlaloc.
https://www.adventuressoma.com/montetlaloc
Since those aren’t, AFAIK, significant solar calendar dates, not agricultural dates, what does the alignment signify? I know the article says that is the beginning of their year, but WHY? What is special about that date?
Since any straight line pointing to anywhere in the ESE-SSE or WSW-SSW will ‘align’ with the same sunrise or sunset dates twice a year, which came first: the alignment causeway, or the calendar?
That’s my complaint about archaeoastronomy in general. Look at combos long enough, and find two stones that line up where they may have pointed at the solstice or equinox sunrise or sunset at some point in the past when the Earth pointed differently. Can’t miss. :^)
“Take a right where the old schoolhouse used to be.” — Rodney Dangerfield
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
