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Results for calendar:

calendar: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: calendrics
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A cyclical system of measuring the passage of time. The day is the fundamental unit of computation in any calendar. Most ancient civilizations (and perhaps some non-literate prehistoric societies) developed calendrical systems to mark the passage of time and various methods have been employed by different peoples. Where these were both carefully calculated and written down, as in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Mesoamerica, they are of considerable assistance to archaeologists for dating purposes. In the Americas, the origins of calendrics are still obscure, but evidence from Monte Albán suggests that the 52-year Calendar Round was known by the 6th century BC. The Long Count system was in use by c 1st century BC if not before. Ancient Near Eastern calendars varied from city to city and from period to period. In most cities the year started in the spring and was divided into 12 or 13 months. In some places the months were of fixed length; in others they were lunar months starting at the first sighting of the crescent of the new moon. As there are more than 12 lunar months in a solar year additional, or intercalary, months were included so that every third year contained 13 months. The earliest Egyptian calendars were based on lunar observations combined with the annual cycle of the Nile inundation, measured with nilometers. On this basis, the Egyptians divided the year into 12 months and three seasons: akhet (inundation), peret (spring/ crops), and shemu (harvest). The Egyptians had 30-day months and 5 intercalary days in their solar or civil calendar. For agricultural purposes and for determining religious festivals, they used a different calendar based on observations of Sirius, the dog star. The calendar in use in ancient Mesopotamia and the Levant was lunar, based on 12 months of 30 days each. This produced a year of only 354 days, about 11-1/4 days short of the true solar year; the necessary correction was made by the addition of seven months over a period of 19 years. This type of calendar is still used in both Judaism and Islam for religious purposes, though many countries now also employ the Gregorian solar calendar for secular purposes. The origin of the calendric system in general use today -- the Gregorian calendar -- can be traced back to the Roman republican calendar, which is thought to have been introduced by the fifth king of Rome, Tarquinius Priscus (616-579 BC). This calendar was likely derived from an earlier Roman calendar -- a lunar system of 10 months -- that was supposedly devised about 738 BC by Romulus, the founder of Rome. In the year 46 BC, Julius Caesar corrected the calendar by having a year of 445 days (known as the ultimus annus confusionis' or 'the last year of the muddled reckoning'). He then adapted the Egyptian solar calendar for Roman use, inserting extra days in the shorter months to bring the total up to 365, with the addition of a single day between the 23rd and 24th February in leap years. This calendar, known as the Julian Calendar, remained in use until the time of Gregory XIII in 1582, who made a further correction (of eleven days) and instituted the calendar which is in general use today. Very useful to Mesoamerican archaeologists is the Maya Long Count or Initial Series, which was a means of recording absolute time. Its starting date of 3113 BC (using the Goodman-Thompson-Martinex correlation) marks some mythical event in Maya history and itself stands at the beginning of a cycle 13 Baktuns long. A Baktun at 144,000 days in the largest unit of time in the calendar and is further divided into smaller units: the Katun (7200 days); the Tun (360 days); the Uninal (20 days) and the Kin (a single days). Thus Long Count dates are expressed in terms of these units in a five place notation. Therefore the date 9.18.0.0.0. indicates the passage of 9 x 144,000 plus 18 x 7200 days since the initial date of 3113 BC. In cultural contexts, however, the dates are inscribed as a series of hieroglyphs which incorporate numeration via bars (units of five) and dots (units of one). Short count dating replaced the Long Count after 900 AD and the Katun replaced the Baktun as the largest unit. It is less precise, however.
calendar round: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Calendar Round
CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A ritually and historically important calendar used throughout Mesoamerica in which the solar calendar of 365 days ran in parallel with a sacred 260-day ritual calendar of named days. The calendar round is a 52-year cycle, since both calendars begin on the same day only once every 52 years. Coefficients for days and months were expressed by bar-and-dot numerals, a system that is first known in Monte Albán I and that became characteristic of the Classic Maya. The basic structure of the Mayan calendar is common to all calendars of Mesoamerica. To identify a date of the Calendar Round, they designated the day by its numeral and name, and added the name of the current month, indicating the number of its days that had elapsed by prefixing one of the numerals from 0 through 19. A date written in this way will occur once in every Calendar Round, at intervals of 52 years. It is the meshing of the two Maya calendars, the Tzolkin and the Haab.
Calendar Stone: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A 20-ton, 4-meter wide carved monolith commissioned by the emperor Axayacatl in 1479, which symbolizes the Aztec universe. The populations of central Mexico believed that they were living in the fifth epoch of a series of worlds (or suns) marked by cyclical generation and destruction. The central figure of the stone is this fifth sun, Tonatuih. Surrounding this are four rectangular cartouches containing dates and symbols for the gods Ehecatl, Texcatlipoca, Tlaloc and Chilchihuitlicue who represent the four worlds previously destroyed and the dates of the previous holocausts -- 4 Tiger, 4 Wind, 4 Rain, and 4 Water. The central panel contains the date 4 Ollin (movement) on which the Aztecs showed that they anticipated that their current world would be destroyed by an earthquake. In a series of increasingly larger concentric bands, symbols for the 20 days of the month, precious materials, and certain stars are represented. The outermost band depicts two massive serpents whose heads meet at the stone's base. The Calendar Stone" is in the Museo Nacional de Antropología (National Museum of Anthropology) in Mexico City."
Maya calendar: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A method employed by the Maya of measuring the passage of time, comprised of two separate calendar systems: the Calendar Round, used for everyday purposes, and the Long Count, used for the reckoning of historical dates. Maya chronology consisted of three main elements: a 260-day sacred year (tzolkin) formed by the combination of 13 numbers (1 to 13) and 20 day names; a solar year (haab), divided into 18 months of 20 days numbered from 0 to 19, followed by a five-day unlucky period (Uayeb); and a series of cycles -- uinal (20 kins, or days), tun (360 days), katun (7,200 days), baktun (144,000 days), with the highest cycle being the alautun of 23,040,000,000 days. All Middle American civilizations used the two first counts, which permitted officials accurately to determine a date within a period defined as the least common multiple of 260 and 365: 18,980 days, or 52 years. The Classic Maya Long Count inscriptions enumerate the cycles that have elapsed since a zero date in 3114 BC. Thus, 9.6.0.0.0 a katun-ending date, means that nine baktuns and six katuns have elapsed from the zero date to the day 2 Ahau 13 Tzec (May 9, AD 751). To those Initial Series were added the Supplementary Series (information about the lunar month) and the Secondary Series, a calendar-correction formula that brought the conventional date in harmony with the true position of the day in the solar year.
A.D.: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: ad, AD
CATEGORY: chronology
DEFINITION: Used as a prefix to a date, it indicates years after the birth of Christ or the beginning of the Christian calendar. Anno Domini means In the year of our Lord". The lower case "ad" represents uncalibrated radiocarbon years and "AD" denotes a calibrated radiocarbon date or a historic date that does not need calibration. There is no year 0; 1BC is followed by 1 AD."
Anu: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Sumerian An
CATEGORY: deity
DEFINITION: The Mesopotamian sky god, whose seat was at Uruk. Anu was part of the ruling triad with Bel (Enlil) and Ea (Enki). In the city of Uruk there was a series of seven superimposed temples dedicated to Anu. Anu was the god of kings and the yearly calendar, but he had only a small role in Mesopotamian mythology.
archaeoastronomy: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: astroarchaeology
CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The study of the relationship between prehistoric knowledge of astronomical events through calendars, observatory sites, and astronomical images in art and past cultural behavior. The field includes the study of mathematical correlations between archaeological features and the movements of celestial bodies. Some sites (Stonehenge, New Grange) show a definite interest in simple solar observations. Ancient astronomical knowledge can be inferred through the study of the alignments and other aspects of these archaeological sites.
astronomy: CATEGORY: related field
DEFINITION: Most ancient civilizations studied the skies for astronomical knowledge. Ancient astronomy has been studied by archaeologists in prehistoric Europe through monuments and in Central America through inscriptions and documents. Studies of prehistoric astronomy in Europe have concentrated on the megalithic monuments and stone circles, which have been proven to incorporate alignments of the sun, moon, and brighter stars -- especially significant points in their cycles. Solar alignments occur at New Grange and Stonehenge, lunar orientations at the Recumbent Stone Circles of Aberdeenshire and the Carnac stones in Brittany. Many theories are discussed as to the accuracy of measurements and the degree of astronomical understanding achieved by these early societies. The ability to predict astronomical events would have enhanced political power, which is something suggested in Mesoamerica. The ability to predict events by the governing elite class increased their credibility as able rulers. The Mesoamerican people put great emphasis on the calendar and astronomy and were able to make extremely accurate measurements of the solar year, the appearance of eclipses, and the phases of the Moon. Buildings seen as observatories occur at Chichen Itza and at Palenque, and the Dresden codex is a detailed collection of calculations tracing the eclipses of the Moon and Sun and the cycles of Venus and possibly Mars and Jupiter. The Maya were even aware of the impreciseness of the 365-day year in their Calendar Round and added a correction factor to account for the quarter-day per year discrepancy. The cycle of the Moon, in comparison, was calculated with amazing accuracy (29.5302 days compared to the actual figure of 29.5306). The cycle of Venus (calculated at 583.92) was also pinpointed as accurately as measurements taken by modern astronomical methods. The ancient astronomers' awareness of long-term astronomical phenomena was astonishing.
Aztec: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Mexica, Tenochcas
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: The last pre-Columbian civilization to enter the Valley of Mexico after the collapse of the Toltec civilization in c 12 AD, who built a magnificent capital at Tenochtitlán and were later conquered by the Spaniards (1521). They called themselves the Mexica or Tenochca and were the dominant political group of the Late Post-Classic Period. The people spoke Nahuatl. Their origin is obscure, partly because of the deliberate destruction of their own records, but tradition says that in 1193 AD the last of seven Chichimec tribes left Aztlan , a mythical birthplace somewhere north or west of Mexico, and filtered south. For a while they lived around Lake Texococo, but in 1345 they were allowed to found Tenochtitlán (under present-day Mexico City) on some unoccupied islands. By 1428 Tenochtitlán, Texococo, and Tlacopan formed an independent state which controlled most of present-day Mexico from the desert zone in the north to Oaxaca in the south, with extensions as far as the Guatemalan border -- all through military expansion. By inclination and training the Aztecs were militaristic, and a person's status depended on his success as a warrior. The chief god of the Aztecs, Huitzilopochtli, was a war god who required the blood of sacrificial victims, and only constant warfare supplied the altar of the god. Human sacrifice was necessary also to ensure the daily rising of the sun. Other major deities were Huitzilpotchtli (the warrior god and chief deity of Tenochtitlan), Texcatlipoca (god of night, death and destruction), Xipe Totec (god of spring and renewal), and Quetzacoatl, the plumed serpent (god of self-sacrifice and inventor of agriculture and the calendar). Tenochtitlán became a great imperial city, so large that it could not be self-sufficient but had to rely on tributes from its provinces. Luxury goods and necessities were brought to the city, and craftsmen produced jewelry, turquoise mosaics, featherwork, and carved stone. Mold-made clay figurines were common, and the black-on-orange pottery was decorated with geometrical designs and stylized creatures. Little architecture or painting survived the Spanish conquest of 1521. Copies of several books have been preserved (as the Dresden Codex). Aztec society was set in a clearly defined hierarchical class system. At the top was the ruling class (pipil) from whom and by whom the emperors were chosen. The mass of the population were freeman (machuale) and under them were the serfs (mayeques) and then at the bottom the slaves. Most people were of the landholding group called the calpulli, which had its own internal hierarchy. Change of social class was possible through state service in the military and sometimes through merchant activity. The merchants (pochteca) served as early-reconnaissance and espionage groups. The arrival of the Spaniards and the fall of Tenochtitlán after a 90-day siege marked the end of Aztec dominance.
BC: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: bc, BCE, B.C.E.
CATEGORY: chronology
DEFINITION: An abbreviation used to denote so many years Before Christ" or before the beginning of the Christian calendar. The lower case 'bc' represents uncalibrated radiocarbon years; the capitals BC denote a calibrated radiocarbon date or a date such as an historically derived one that does not need calibration. There is no year 0: 1 BC is the same year as AD 1 or 1 AD."
BCE: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: B.C.E.
CATEGORY: chronology
DEFINITION: Before the common era; before the Christian era. Dates are often listed as BCE (Before the Common Era = BC) and CE (Common Era = AD). In the Gregorian calendar, eras are designated BCE (before the Common Era or Christian Era) and CE (Common Era or Christian Era), terms which are equivalent to BC (before Christ) and AD (Latin: anno Domini).
calendrical age determination: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An absolute dating technique used when an object has been inscribed with a date from an ancient calendrical system or is associated with calendrical inscriptions that can be correlated with a modern calendar.
calendrics: CATEGORY: chronology; related field
DEFINITION: The decipherment and study of calendars.
calibration: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: calibrated dates
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A method used to obtain the most accurate dating, especially with radiocarbon dating. The term refers to the adjustment of dates in radiocarbon years by means of the dendrochronological data so that a date in calendar years is achieved. Fluctuations in the amount of carbon 14 in the atmosphere mean that radiocarbon dating is not completely accurate. By obtaining radiocarbon dates for wood of known dendrochronological date, a correction factor can be introduced to calibrate radiocarbon dates. Uncalibrated dates are raw dates in radiocarbon years. Accurate calibration of radiocarbon dates are not possible before 6285 BC.
Caso y Andrade, Alfonso (1896-1970): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: Mexican archaeologist and government official who explored the early Oaxacan cultures and who excavated Tomb Seven at Monte Albán, the earliest-known North American necropolis. His discovery and analysis of the burial offerings at Tomb Seven proved that Monte Albán had been occupied by the Mixtec people after they had displaced the Zapotecs before the Spanish conquest. Caso found evidence of five major phases, dating back to the 8th century BC, and established a rough chronology through comparisons with other sites. Caso also deciphered the Mixtec Codices. He made important contributions to regional archaeology and to the interpretation of Mixtec manuscripts, Mexican calendars, and dynastic history in general. He held posts as head of the Department of Archaeology at the National Museum, director of the museum, and director of the National Institute for Indian Affairs.
ceque: CATEGORY: feature
DEFINITION: Any of 41 imaginary lines radiating outward from the Temple of the Sun in Inca city of Cuzco, Peru. The lines go to the edges of the valley and along each were a series of huacas or shrines at which offerings were made. The huacas and ceques combined to total the 328 days of the Inca calendar.
chronology: CATEGORY: chronology; technique
DEFINITION: Any method used to order time and to place events in the sequence in which they occurred. A sequential ordering that places cultural entities in temporal, and often spatial, distribution. It involves the collection of dates or successive datings establishing the position in time of a series of phenomena such as the phases of a civilization or the events of the history of a state. A chronology is relative/floating when only the order of a succession of facts is known, but not their dates, and absolute when the opposite is true. For periods or areas for which no textual evidence is available, relative chronologies have to be established and these are mostly based on pottery sequences and typology. Relative chronology is also based on the application of the principles of stratigraphy and cross-dating. The discovery of inscribed monuments and calendars associated with dated astronomical observations contributed to the development of an Egyptian chronology and it has served as a framework -- through cross-dating -- for all other Near Eastern chronologies. Inscribed Egyptian objects found in Near Eastern contexts have allowed the latter to be dated. Absolute chronology is based on scientific methods such as radiocarbon dating, thermoluminescence dating, and archaeomagnetism. Dates are often calibrated with dendrochronological dates. For dates after 1500 BC, an absolute chronology is not likely to change by more than ten years.
chronometric dating: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: absolute dating; chronometry
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Any technique of dating that relies on chronological measurement such as calendars, radiocarbon dates, etc. and which give the result in calendar years before the present, or B.P. Most of these techniques produce results with a standard deviation, but they have a relationship to the calendar which relative dating techniques do not. Among the most useful chronometric dating techniques are radiocarbon dating, potassium argon dating, and thermoluminescence dating. Dendrochronology, the relationship of dated ancient trees with live trees has no standard deviation and is the most accurate of all, though not universally applicable. Chronometric dating has developed in the last 30 years and has revolutionized archaeology.
Copán: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A ruined ancient Mayan city, in extreme western Honduras near the Guatemalan border, one of the largest and most impressive sites of that civilization. Copán was an important Maya city during the Classic Period (c 300-900 AD), peaking in the 8th century with as many as 20,000 people. The site has stone temples, two large pyramids, several stairways and plazas, and a ball court for tlachtli. Most of these structures center on a raised platform called the Acropolis and are constructed in a locally available greenish volcanic tuff. Copán is particularly known for the ornate stone carving on the buildings and the portrait sculptures on its many stelae. The Hieroglyphic Stairway, which leads to one of the temples, is beautifully carved with 2500 hieroglyphics total on the risers of each of its 63 steps. During the Classic Period, there is evidence that astronomers in Copán calculated the most accurate solar calendar produced by the Maya up to that time. The site's ruins were discovered by Spanish explorers in the early 16th century and rediscovered by American traveler John Lloyd Stephens in 1839, who purchased" the site for $50. Since then much of the beautiful carving has deteriorated but the highly detailed pen-and-ink drawings of his colleague Frederick Catherwood still survive and are a great source of iconographic detail. Restoration work revealed much of Copán's political and dynastic history through the decipherment of hieroglyphic inscriptions on its monuments. A dynasty of at least 16 kings ruled Copán from about 426-822 AD; the Maya had completely abandoned the site by about 1200. Finds date from the Late Prehistoric period (c 300 BC-AD 250."
Danzantes: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: danzante
CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: Stone slab, bas-relief carvings of Monte Alban, Mexico, dating to c 100 BC-100 AD, that flank the earliest flat-topped. They depict nude male figures, some with mutilated or elaborately emphasized sexual organs, in unnatural dancing or possible swimming poses. Certain elements of the iconography, such as thick lips and downturned mouths, indicate an Olmec origin. Associated hieroglyphs and calendar dates support this theory. The term means "dancer" in Spanish. These are usually life-sized and have been found at San Jose Mogote and Monte Alban in Oaxaca.
de Vries effects: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Any fluctuation in the calibration curve produced by variations in the atmosphere's carbon-14 content, the result being calibration to more than one calendar age
dendrochronology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: tree-ring dating
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An absolute chronometric dating technique for measuring time intervals and dating events and environmental changes by reading and dating the pattern (number and condition) of annual rings formed in the trunks of trees. The results are compared to an established tree-ring sequence for a particular region with consideration to annual fluctuations in rainfall which result in variations in the size of the rings laid down by trees on the outside of their trunks. These variations, given favorable conditions, form a consistent pattern; and sections or cores taken from beams in ruins have been matched to provide a long chronology over large areas. The method is based on the principle that trees add a growth ring for each year of their lives, and that variations in climatic conditions will affect the width of these rings on suitable trees. In a very dry year growth will be restricted, and the ring narrow, while a wet and humid year will produce luxuriant growth and a thick ring. By comparing a complete series of rings from a tree of known date (for example, one still alive) with a series from an earlier, dead tree overlapping in age, ring patterns from the central layers of the recent tree and the outer of the old may show a correlation which allows the dating, in calendar years, of the older tree. The central rings of this older tree may then be compared with the outer rings or a yet older tree, and so on until the dates reach back into prehistory. Problems that arise are when climatic variation and suitable trees (sensitive trees react to climatic changes, complacent trees do not) are not be present to produce any significant and recognizable pattern of variation in the rings. Another problem is that there may be gaps in the sequences of available timber, so that the chronology 'floats', or is not tied in to a calendrical date or living trees: it can only be used for relative dating. Also, the tree-ring key can only go back a certain distance into the past, since the availability of sufficient amounts of timber to construct a sequence obviously decreases. Only in a few areas of the world are there species of trees so long-lived that long chronologies can be built up. This method is especially important in the southwestern United States, Alaska, and Scandinavia, dating back to several thousand years BC in some areas. Dendrochronology is of immense importance for archaeology, especially for its contribution to the refining of radiocarbon dating. Since timber can be dated by radiocarbon, dates may be obtained from dendrochronologically dated trees. It has been shown that the radiocarbon dates diverge increasingly from calendrical dates provided by tree-rings the further back into prehistory they go, the radiocarbon dates being younger than the tree-ring dates. This has allowed the questioning of one of the underlying assumptions of radiocarbon dating, the constancy of the concentration of C14 in the atmosphere. Fluctuations in this concentration have now been shown back as far as dendrochronological sequences go (to c 7000 BC), and thus dating technique is serving the further research on another. In 1929, A.E. Douglass first showed how this method could be used to date archaeological material. The long-living Bristlecone Pine (Pinus aristata) of California has yielded a sequence extending back to c 9000 bp. In Ireland, oak preserved in bogs has produced a floating chronology from c 2850-5950 bp.
floating chronology: CATEGORY: chronology
DEFINITION: A chronometrically dated chronology which is not yet tied in to calendar years. A floating chronology is a decipherable record of time that was terminated long ago. The most common floating chronologies occur in dendrochronology where climate affects the growth of rings and sequences are local. Local sequences cannot always be tied to the master sequences established in certain areas from the present day back into prehistory, and therefore the local sequences will 'float' until some link with a known historical date is found. Similarly, in magnetic dating many of the sequences will float until some independently dated sites can be entered on the curve. The term is also used in reference to varve chronologies.
Gezer: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: An important Biblical tell site of Palestine near Jerusalem, occupied from the Chalcolithic (5th millennium BC) to the Byzantine period. The first fortified town belonged to the Middle Bronze Age (early 2nd millennium BC); an important discovery of this phase was a 'High Place' (ceremonial meeting place) consisting of a row of 10 tall monoliths. To the Iron Age belong the remains of a gateway built by Solomon. Succeeding levels show a decline, with destruction attributed to Assyrians and later, Babylonians. The city became important again in the Hellenistic period. The most noteworthy finds were a potsherd with one of the earliest uses of the alphabet (18th-17th c BC) and the Gezer calendar (11th-10th centuries BC), the oldest known inscription in Early Hebrew writing. The city was particularly prosperous during 2nd millennium BC and is mentioned in Egyptian texts from 15th century onwards.
hypaethral: CATEGORY: structure
DEFINITION: In architecture, designating a building that is open to the sky and has no roof, as the Kiosk of Trajan at Philae, Egypt. It especially referred to temples, the cella of which had no roof or a partial roof. On the roofs of Egyptian temples, hypaethral temples are arranged with regard to astronomical observations, by which the calendar was regulated.
intercalation: CATEGORY: chronology
DEFINITION: The act or instance of inserting extra time such as days, months, and the like, into the calendar.
Landa, Bishop Diego de (1524-1579): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: Spanish Franciscan priest and bishop of Yucatán who is best known for his classic account of Mayan culture. His book Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan" is the primary resource for interpretation of Maya archaeology. Especially important was the calendar section recorded day and month names and rudimentary explanation of Katun. Landa was sympathetic to the Mayan people but he abhorred their human sacrifices. Landa in his religious zeal ordered all icons and Mayan books to be burned. At the same time he wrote his comprehensive work on Mayan culture his orders to destroy all icons and hieroglyphics obliterated the Mayan language forever helping to undermine and destroy the civilization he so vividly described. Yet his book which was not printed until 1864 provided a phonetic alphabet that made it possible to decipher about one-third of the Mayan hieroglyphs and many of the remainder have since been deciphered."
Müller, Sophus (1846-1934): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: Danish prehistorian and paleontologist who succeeded Christian Jurgensen Thomsen as Director of the National Museum of Denmark in 1865. In the field, Müller improved the techniques of excavation, particularly in recognizing stratigraphic relationships. Müller developed new techniques of excavation and monument preservation and supported the principle of the influence of Mediterranean civilization on northern Europe. He built detailed typological sequences and cross-dated them by reference to the historical calendars of the Near Eastern civilizations. He was aware of the possibility of variation in culture among contemporary groups and suggested, for instance, that there were several contemporary versions of the Neolithic of northern Europe. During the late 19th century, he discovered the first of the Neolithic battle-ax cultures in Denmark.
Maya: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Classic Maya
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: Very important culture of Mesoamerica, one of the major Classic civilizations, which occupied the peninsula of Yucatan and Belize, the lowland jungle south of it, and the highlands of Guatemala and western Honduras. The civilization developed from other pre-Classic cultures by about 200 BC and continued until being conquered by the Spaniards in 1541 AD. By c 200 BC, at sites like Tikal and Uaxactún, the first pyramids were being built. Population increase and the introduction of new ceramic and architectural forms are accompanied by an artistic transition from Olmec through Izapan to Mayan. The classic Maya civilization dates to c 292 AD, the earliest Long count date found on stele 29 at Tikal. The Early Classic period (200-600) was the golden age of the lowland culture and the great centers acted as foci for administration, religion, and the arts. Architecture, sculpture, and painting were highly developed; records were kept in hieroglyphic writing, and elaborate ceremonies were carried out in the temples on top of their pyramids. A class of astronomer-priests observed the sun, moon, and planets, and had evolved a calendrical system more accurate than the Julian calendar used in Christian Europe. In mathematics the priests used a vigesimal system with the concept of zero and with a positional notation. The Classic Maya culture is characterized by an immense investment of labor in construction of ceremonial architecture, the erection of stelae, and a growing differentiation between the elite and the peasant population. The Maya practiced swidden agriculture as well as intensive agriculture, terracing and raised fields, and arboriculture. Polychrome pottery is a hallmark of the Maya Lowland Classic culture. The Late Classic period (c 600-900 AD) shows development in sculpture and architecture -- and regional styles can be recognized. Northern Yucatan began to come into its own at sites like Chichén Itzá and Uxmal, where fine buildings in the Punc style were erected during the 7th-9th centuries. The later part of this period witnessed the end of civilization in the lowlands; the great centers were abandoned during the 9th and early 10th centuries. The Post-Classic period, c 900 to the Spanish conquest, had strong Mexican influence, particularly at Chichén Itzá where buildings were constructed in the Toltec style of central Mexico, and the art shows representations of Toltec warriors overpowering Maya chiefs. During the collapse in the southern Lowlands, centers in the northern Lowlands began to grow, c 800-1000 AD. The South's decline may have played a role in the North's prosperity. Sometime around 1200, the Itzá were driven from their capital, and Mayapán became the leading city of Yucatan. In about 1440-1450, Mayapán was overthrown and there followed a time of disunity and warfare which lasted until the Spaniards conquered Yucatan in 1541. The Maya kingdoms of highland Guatemala were subdued in 1525, but in the lowlands the descendants of the exiled Itzá held out until 1697. The collapse of Maya culture (in c 900) is a puzzling phenomenon, but its relative suddenness still remains without satisfactory explanation. There are no Long Count dates after 900, after which time lowland populations dwindled by as much as 90 percent. The term Maya also refers to a culture area and is typically divided into the lowland and highland Maya. Descendants of the Maya still occupy the region.
Medina: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: ancient Yathrib
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: An oasis town in western Saudi Arabia, 447 km (278 miles) from Mecca, known as Yathrib before Muhammad's residence there. Medina is second only to Mecca as the holiest place of Muslim pilgrimage. It is venerated by all Muslims as the place to which the Prophet Muhammad fled from Mecca in 622. This event (the Hijrah / Hegira / higira) marks the beginning of the Islamic era and Muslim calendar. Muhammad built himself a house consisting of a walled compound containing a courtyard, living quarters, and a double portico. The Prophet and his followers worshipped here and the building, with its large courtyard and covered hall, became the prototype of congregational mosques, such as those at Samar-Ra. Soon afterward Muhammad drove out the Jews who had controlled the oasis. Thereafter known as Medina, the city prospered as the administrative capital of the steadily expanding Islamic state, a position it maintained until 661, when it was superseded in that role by Damascus. The House of the Prophet was rebuilt in 707-709 by the caliph al-Walid, who inserted a niche (the mihab) in the end wall of the portico to indicate the direction one must face while praying.
Monte Albán: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A major ceremonial center of the Zapotec people in Oaxaca, Mexico, built around 900 BC on top of an artificially flattened mountain. Monte Albán (I = 900-300 BC) was probably created to serve as the capital of the entire valley, which had previously been divided among several states. It was an immense complex of monumental construction, with a huge plaza (300 x 200 m) dominated by three central mounds. The plaza was flanked on the east and west by temples, pyramids, and platform mounds; on the northern and southern extremities are more complexes of monumental building, including a ball court. There are also underground passageways. By the end of Period I, the city had between 10,000- 20,000 inhabitants living in houses on hill slope terraces around a nucleus of ceremonial and governmental buildings. Hieroglyphic writing was in use, with bar-and-dot numerals, and dates were expressed in terms of the calendar round. More than 300 carved slabs ('danzantes') depict naked and contorted figures who may be captives, and inscriptions definitely recording conquests occur soon afterwards. In Late I/Early II, the city was surrounded by a defense wall. Period I includes the appearance of Grey Ware and Olmec-influenced monumental art. Period II is characterized by contact with Maya lowland centers and later, by the increasing influence of Teotihuacán. Period IIIA (the 3rd-5th centuries AD) is marked by increased contact with Teotihuacán, reflected in pottery (thin orange ware, cylindrical tripod vases), tomb frescoes, Talud-Tablero architecture, and stela inscriptions. Monte Albán reached the height of its power in Period IIIB, 500-900 AD, during which elaborate funerary urns in Grey Ware make their appearance and when the site reached its peak population of 50-60,000 people. Most of the surviving buildings belong to this time. During Monte Albán IV, 900-1521 AD, building ceased. After 900, the centers of power moved elsewhere and Monte Albán was considerably depopulated. It was essentially abandoned. In Period V, Monte Albán was of only secondary importance as a city and a political force. Mixtec art styles make their appearance in the valley and Monte Albán was used as a cemetery, with earlier Zapotec tombs reused for the Mixtec dead. One of the richest discoveries in ancient Mexico was Tomb 7, with over 500 precious offerings in Mixtec style gold and silver ornaments, fine stonework, and a series of bones carved with hieroglyphic and calendrical inscriptions.
Quetzalcóatl: CATEGORY: deity
DEFINITION: The Náhuatl name for the principal Aztec god of Late Postclassic central America, usually depicted as a feathered serpent. He was the god of self-sacrifice, patron of the arts and crafts, and inventor of agriculture and the calendar. In another form he was also the wind god and god of the morning and evening star. The name was also used as the official title of high priest among Aztecs. His cult can be recognized in the Classic period at Teotihuacán, at Tula, Cholula, and at many Mexican sites. He was an important figure in the early Toltec pantheon (becoming identified with a local ruler), and his effigy appears in the Maya territory after the Toltec invasion of Chichén Itzá. According to legend, Quetzalcóatl was driven away from Mexico, but before leaving he gave a promise to return. For a while, the Aztecs believed that the invading Spaniards were the god and his followers returning to fulfill this prophecy -- this belief leading to the downfall of the Aztec empire.
radiocarbon dating: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: radioactive carbon dating, radiocarbon age determination, carbon-14 dating; radiochronometry; RC
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An absolute radiometric dating technique for determining the age of carbon-bearing minerals, including wood and plant remains, charcoal, bone, peat, and calcium carbonate shell back to about 50,000 bp. The technique is based on measuring the loss of radiocarbon (carbon-14) that begins disintegration at death at a known rate. It is one of the best-known chronometric dating techniques and the most important in archaeology presently. It can be used for the dating organic material up to 75,000 years old. It is based on the theory of Willard F. Libby (1947); his radioactive-carbon dating provided an extremely valuable tool for archaeologists, anthropologists, and earth scientists. When organic matter dies it ceases to exchange its carbon, as carbon dioxide, with the atmosphere, so its C14 dwindles by decay and is not replenished. Determination of the radioactivity of carbon from a sample will reveal the proportion of C14 to C12, and this will in turn, through the known rate of decay of C14, give the age of, or more accurately the time elapsed since the death of, the sample. Two things in the method have to be allowed for: first, the 'date' given is never exact. The +/- figure, which should always be quoted, is a statistical one, meaning that there is a 2 to 1 chance that the correct date lies within that bracket. Secondly, the rate of decay of C14 is based in all published examples on a half-life of 5730 +/- 40 years (after 5730 years, one half of the C14 will have disintegrated, after another 5730 years one half of the remainder, and so on). Correction tables are used to correct 'raw' radiocarbon dates (quoted as years ad or BC) into true dates (AD or BC). The method yields reliable dates back to about 50,000 bp and under some conditions to about 75,000 bp. One of the basic assumptions of the technique is that the amount of radiocarbon in the atmosphere has remained constant through time. It has now been established, with the dendrochronological sequence for the bristlecone pine, that the C14 concentration has fluctuated. The reasons for the fluctuation are not yet fully understood. The calibration of radiocarbon dates is therefore necessary in order to achieve an approximate date in calendar years. Dates quoted in radiocarbon years, before calibration, are written BC or bp (before present), as opposed to calibrated dates, written BC or BP. The original half-life for radiocarbon of 5,568 ? 30 years has been revised to 5,730 ? 40 years, though dates are normally published according to the old half-life in order to avoid confusion (the date can be adjusted for the new half-life by multiplying the old date by 1.029). All radiocarbon dates are quoted with a standard deviation. Ideally, a series of dates should be obtained for any deposit as a series may cluster around a central point. New refinements continue to improve the technique's accuracy as well as extend the range of dates which can be achieved. A previous limit of 50,000 years on the age of material which could be dated, set by the limits on the ability of the proportional counter used to record beta particle emissions, has been extended to 70,000 years by the use of isotopic enrichment, the artificial enrichment of the C14 to C12 ratio.
recalibration: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Correction process carried out on radiocarbon dates to adjust them to calendar years, using results gained from dendrochronology.
relative dating: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: relative dates; relative dating techniques
CATEGORY: technique; chronology
DEFINITION: Dating methods where phases or objects can be put into a sequence relative to each other, but which are not tied to calendrically measured time. It is the sequencing of events or materials relative to another but without linkage to ages in years bp (before present) or calendar years. A relative date is a date which can be said to be earlier than, later than, or contemporary with an event but which (unlike an absolute date) cannot be measured in calendar years. When archaeologists say that event A occurred before or after event B, they have a relative date for A. Before the advent of chronometric dating techniques, all dating was relative except where links with historical events could be proved. Some of these techniques, mainly stratigraphy and seriation, are still useful where chronometric dates cannot be obtained. Theoretically, floating chronologies which cannot be tied to an absolute date (e.g. certain dendrochronological sequences) are relative chronologies even though the techniques are essentially chronometric.
Sothic cycle: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: In ancient Egypt, the civil year was a quarter of a day too short in relation to the rising of Sothis (Sirius), the Dog star, so that the new year advanced by one day every four years; New Year's Day and the rising of Sothis coincided again only after approximately 1,460 years. Period elapsing between each such rising is known as Sothic cycle. The error with respect to the 365-day year and the heliacal risings of Sirius amounted to one day every four tropical years, or one whole Egyptian calendar year every 1,460 tropical years (4 365), which was equivalent to 1,461 Egyptian calendar years. After this period the heliacal rising and setting of Sothis would again coincide with the calendar dates. The dates for the start of each Sothic cycle are fortunately known because the Roman historian Censorinus fixed the coincidence of New Year's Day and heliacal rising of Sothis in 139 AD. Taking into account a slight difference between a Sothic year and a year of the fixed stars, the years 1322, 2782, and 4242 BC are taken as starting points of a Sothic cycle. Sothis appeared immediately preceded the Nile flood and was important in the Egyptian calendar; the cycle is strictly not of Sothis, which did not vary, but of the civil calendar.
Stirling, Matthew Williams (1896-1975): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: American archaeologist who worked extensively to investigate the Olmec, especially at La Venta, San Lorenzo, Tres Zapotes, and Cerro de las Mesas. At Tres Zapotes, near the Tuxtla Mountains in the old Olmec heartland" he found its most famous monument the fragmentary Stela C. On the reverse is a column of numerals in the bar-and-dot system which he read as a date in the Maya calendar corresponding to 31 BC; this is more than a century earlier than any known dated inscription from the Maya area itself. It was thus highly probable that this calendrical system formerly thought to be a Maya invention was developed in the Late Formative by epi-Olmec peoples living outside the Maya area proper. He also found at La venta the tremendous "colossal heads"."
Stonehenge: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Ancient monument on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England, the remains of four massive trilithons surrounded by concentric circles of megaliths, probably constructed since c 3200 BC. It was a major Neolithic and Early Bronze Age ritual monument, architecturally unique, surrounded by a whole complex of barrow cemeteries and ritual sites. It had many phases of reconstruction. Apart from a cursus, the oldest structure was a circular earthwork about 100 meters in diameter, consisting of a ditch with an inner bank broken by a single entrance. Just inside the bank was a ring of 56 Aubrey holes (pits), some of which contained cremations. There were further cremations in the ditch and on the inner plateau. The presence of grooved ware pottery, together with radiocarbon dates from a cremation suggest that Stonehenge I belongs to the end of the Neolithic. Phase II occurred in c 2200-2000 when two concentric rings of sockets were dug at the center of the site for the erection of 80 bluestones imported from the Preseli Hills of southwest Wales. To this period belongs the Avenue, two parallel banks and ditches which run from the entrance to the river Avon 3 km away. In Stonehenge's third phase, the bluestones were removed, and Sarsen stones, some weighing over 50 tons, were brought from the Downs 38 km away to the north. These blocks, unlike those of any other henge or megalithic tomb, were dressed to shape before erection, and were then set up as a circle of uprights with a continuous curving lintel, enclosing a U-shaped arrangement of five trilithons. This phase has been dated 2120 +/- 150 BC and its work was carried out by the bearers of the Wessex culture. At a later stage (phase IIIc) the bluestones were re-erected in their present positions, duplicating the sarsen structure. There is a radiocarbon date of 1540 +/- 105 BC for the early part of this final stage, and the whole of Stonehenge III probably falls within the Early Bronze Age. The final stage came in the Middle or Late Bronze Age when the Avenue was extended 2000 meters east. The function of the monument is usually held to be religious, though it had no connection with the Druids. Theories are that the northeast-southwest axis may suggest some form of sun cult, the stone settings may have been used for astronomical observations in connection with the calendar, and the Aubrey holes for calculating the occurrence of eclipses. It has also been interpreted as the temple of a sun or sky cult. Archaeologists have long been fascinated by this monument, with its evidence of massive manpower input (one calculation suggests 30 million man-hours would have been required for the phase IIIA structure), its architectural sophistication, and astronomical alignments.
Thompson, Sir John Eric Sidney (1898-1975): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: English archaeologist and ethnographer who worked in the Maya area. He reconstructed the Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itza and correlated the Mayan and Gregorian calendars (Goodman-Martinez-Thompson correlation between Mayan and Christian calendars which provided the basis for the chronology of Classic Maya civilization). Thompson was able to extensively decipher early Mayan glyphs, determining that they contained historical as well as ritualistic and religious records. He also worked at Lubaantun, Rio Bec and Pushilha, and he was the first to establish a chronology for the Belize Valley based on the seriation of ceramics. His books include The Civilization of the Maya" (1927) "The Rise and Fall of Maya Civilization" (1954) and "Maya History and Religion" (1970)."
Tula: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Tollán
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The Toltec capital, located in the modern state of Hidalgo, Mexico, then identified as Tollán. Founded on an already existing settlement in c 960 AD, it grew to cover 11 sq. km. The site gained importance c 800 AD after Teotihuacán fell. There was a stepped pyramid on which there was a temple and buildings had colonnaded halls. At its height, there were some 1000 mounds and at least as many low rectangular house mounds, and five ball courts. The monumental civic architecture featured Talud-Tablero architecture. In sculpture, the most diagnostic figures are the Chac Mools, reclining human figures holding offering dishes, and the famous Atlantean statues that supported the roof of Pyramid B. The earliest pre-architectural phases at Tula are characterized by the presence of Coyotlatelco ware, but the dominant ceramic occurring after c1000 is Mazapan ware. Imported Plumbate Ware also occurs frequently. Although the Toltec are associated with the introduction of metallurgy into central Mexico, no metals have been found. Tula was violently destroyed, probably by a Chichimec group, in either 1156 or 1168 AD (depending on how one reads the Calendar date). Although its exact location is not certain, an archaeological site near the contemporary town of Tula in Hidalgo state has been the consistent choice of historians.
tzolkin: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Tonalpohualli
CATEGORY: language
DEFINITION: The sacred 260-day almanac of the Calendar Round of Mesoamerica. There are 20 named days and 13 numbers.
vigesimal mathematics: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The base-20 system used in Mesoamerican writing systems and by the Maya for the Long Count calendar.

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