Paper on “Agricultural Rhythms and Rituals: Ancient Maya Solar Observation in Hinterland Blue Creek”

The article of Gregory Zaro and Jon Lohse, Agricultural Rhythms and Rituals antiquated Maya Solar Observation in boondocks Blue Creek, in the first place discusses the various and extremely effective country practices in Mesoamerica during clock when sophisticated equipment and instruments were not yet avail commensurate.The authors primary(prenominal)ly foc customd on the antique Mayan culture whose settlements are now collectively cognise as Latin America. Basically, it was evident that a good deal of Mesoamerica was highly successful in ground of outlandish production and the planting and maturation of crops, among others.However, the authors stressed that it is important to not that the ancient cultures that lived in the past had little to no knowledge of soil types, regulation and moisture levels, malodorousness, the growing cycles, and other requirements and that are meaty in crop production, yet they tranquillize were able to have successful and sustainabl e agricultural conditions.The authors point out that the main reasons behind their success are their ancient rituals, practices and beliefs which in general foc utilise on the world and are used to mark the exit of clock time and the seasons relative to their agricultural production.These practices rituals accept sacrifices, rituals that are associated with water management and fertility and the civilizations ability to oversee seasonal changes by observing the movements and changes of the celestial bodies in the sky.In addition, these practices, rituals and other agricultural behaviors, fit in to the authors, are by chance the almost overlooked reasons by most archaeologists who are attempting to have a deeper intellect of ancient civilizations.The authors, in their investigations of these ancient races, arrange their first try out at the Quincunx site, an architectural complex in Belize. At the site, they observed an unusual structure which is unlike the Mayan houses and residential patios.It mostly comp come nears of teleph wholeness exchange masonry room blocks solely the most notable structure of the complex, according to the authors, are the quad broad, low, circular sett platforms that are situated intercardinal directions (which means that the four platforms are placed in southmosteast, southwest, northeast, and northwestern United States each). Each platform is also situated approximately 20 meters from a central structure.The authors remark that initially, it can be surmised that these five-point or quincuncial structure was designed mainly to monitor the movements of the solarize in the sky every(prenominal) year. But upon closer scrutiny, it is actually close associated with the Mayan civilizations high regard for astronomy and their colony on agricultural production.In addition, the authors claimed that the evidence which they use to support their claims include ethnographic and ethnohistoric accounts, especially the Mayan behavior towards astronomy and agricultureTthe five-part or quincuncial design of the site and the solar observations at the said site during times of spendtime solstice on June 21, which are further assessed in relation to architectural elements and features that denote important events in the civilizations register and way of life.Based on the authors accounts, in grade to have a better dread of the Mesoamerican agricultural behaviors and practices, it is first inevitable to near examine symbolisms in their structures, especially the quincuncial design of the site.Basically, according to historical evidence and studies of Mayan cosmos or their belief in astronomy, the five-part complex mainly manufactures the universe. Historically, the Mayans believe that universe is composed of four corners and one center, analogous to the quincuncial structure.The corners seeed what they called the vaxakmen or the races standard bearers or spokes someones. In addition, the place of these corners also designate and give rise to the center, which more or less represents the Mayan communities themselves.Moreover, the situation of the quincuncial complex are also closely associated with fertility and famine, which are essential aspects in Mesamerica as these play major roles in determining their way of life.For example, according to the authors, one Mayan Tribe believed that the north is associated with the color light and the graven image maize/cereal g rain down, the south is associated with the color and the god of wind, the east is associated with clear and the god of rain, and the west is associated with black and the god of death.Meaning to say, the positioning of the quincuncial complex they found may fastly indicate that it is meant to determine their measure in planting crops and other agricultural activities that they Mayan civilization practice during that time.Another example that indicates their strong reverence for astronomy relative to their agricultural production, based on the authors article, is the rituals that the civilization practiced. In one ritual, an altar is situated in a center with four corners. In each of the corners, four men sit down and imitated the sound of thunder.The entire ceremony is mainly done to pray to the gods to bring rain during times of famine or drought. Moreover, the authors remark that places that are socially significant such as plazas, homesteads, and cornfields also followed the quincuncial rule mainly due to their perception of the universe.Furthermore, the authors also noted that the quincuncial structure is also used in actual agricultural production. Basically, the four corners represent solar events two zenith passages, in which the sunlight is directly above the earth, and two summer solstices, in which the sun is either towards or away from the earth, depending on the planets tilt.In this regard, quincuncial symbols, especially in places rice in agriculture, help the civili zation determine the suns position and, in effect, their quantify for successful food production.Finally, in articulate to further support and validate their claims, the authors enter a devastated quincuncial architectural site in Belize and recreated it to show the suns affirmable position in the sky and how the Mayan civilization used this to time their agricultural activities.In their excavation, they were able to discover that during the June summer solstice, a persons shadow was cast from the central structures south admittance to the north edge of the southwestern landing field. From this finding, the authors think that the quincuncial structure was indeed crucial to the lives of Mesoamerica as it affects their agricultural production.However, they emphasized that the passage of time has caused a lot of changes in the structures which is why it is hard to assume that all of Mesoamerica used the same quincuncial symbols described above in their lives. But nevertheless, t hey surmised that all communities in the area shared the same belief that undischarged spaces and areas must divided into five separate and four corners in order to represent the universe.