Dzibilchaltun, located at 21°06’N, has an eastwest causeway (sacbe)
aligned toward architectural groups that appear to be part of a complex of
solar observatories (Aveni and Hartung 1989, table 35.3; Coggins and Drucker
1988). The eastern group resembles Group E at Uaxactun. The proposed
observation point for watching the changing position of the sunrise is at Stela
3, positioned on a small platform in the center of the sacbe. Further to the
east, the Temple of the Seven Dolls (Structure 1-sub) may provide another sight
line. When viewed from Stela 3, the equinox sun rises where the tower of the
temple meets the flat roof, forming a sort of “seat” for the rising sun
(Coggins and Drucker 1988, figs. 3, 11). Based on a suggested seventh-century
date for the construction, Clemency Coggins (1983) proposes that
Dzibilchalttn’s eastern group was an equinox complex erected to honor the end
Katun 9.13.0.0.0 (3/16/692 N.S.), just before the spring equinox. The Temple of
the Seven Dolls itself may have been an observation point, for one of its four
doors faces west at a 273°50' azimuth, approximating the equinox sunset.
Further study of this temple’s orientations is required. (Susan Milbrat, Star
Gods and the Maya: Astronomy in Art, Folklore, and Calendars [Austin: University
of Texas Press, 1999]. 66)
The Caracol at Chichén Itza, constructed toward the end of the Classic
period, has several solar alignments (Fig. 3.1b; Aveni 1980, figs. 89-91; Aveni
et al. 1975, table 1, fig. 5). The tower of the circular structure has a window
oriented to observe the setting sun at the equinoxes, a stairway niche with one
wall aligned at an azimuth of 292°54’ (22° 54’ north of west), facing the
position of the setting sun on the solar zenith. The Caracol platform is
irregularly shaped so that the northeast corner points toward the rising sun at
the summer solstice and the southwest corner points to the winter solstice
sunset. (Ibid., 68)
A division of the 365-day calendar into two unequal segments of 105
and 260 days is suggested by the orientations found at a number of sites,
including Palenque (17°30'N; Anderson et al. 1981; Galindo 1994:128, 169). A
T-shaped window in the tower of the Palace on the west side casts a beam of
light on an oblique wall for 105 days, from April 30 to August 12, dates also
seen in the alignments at Chichén Itza and Teotihuacan, as noted earlier. The
T-shaped light pattern reaches its maximum width, extending completely across
the wall, on the summer solstice. Other alignments at Palenque involve the play
of light and shadow or sight lines from one building to another. The winter
solstice sun sets in a line running from the Palace tower to the center of the
Temple of the Inscriptions, which houses the tomb of Pacal II (Schele 1977:49).
The Temple of the Sun is oriented toward the rising sun at the winter solstice
so that sunlight would shine into the entrance of the temple (Aveni 1992b:66;
Carlson 1976:110). (Ibid., 69)
The feathered serpent appears with an astronomical warrior in a number
of battle scenes in the Upper Temple of the Jaguars (Coggins 1984, figs.
17—20). Often the solar warrior is also represented, but the mural scenes do
not show the two in close proximity. A landscape on the east wall depicts
warfare taking place in the red hills of the Puuc area; in the scene a Venus
god is emerging from the jaws of a serpent (Coggins 1984:159; Wren 1991:55). On
the south wall, a warrior wrapped in a feathered serpent mounts a scaffold that
Linnea Wren (1996) interprets as a siege tower used in warfare (Coggins 1984,
fig. 20). Overhead, a solar warrior is accompanied by a star warrior carried by
a red-and-yellow serpent. On the west wall, an assault seems to take place near
a large body of water, for canoes are prominent in the imagery (Coggins 1984,
fig. 19). Once again the solar warrior appears with a star warrior, but this
time the serpent seems to be colored yellow. (Ibid., 181, 183)
Climbing the stairs of the Tower at Palenque, one cannot help but
notice a prominent T510f star glyph painted over the stair passage leading to
the second floor (Aveni 1992b, fig. 3.4c). This astronomical glyph has been
interpreted as a giant introductory glyph for the month Yax, the rest of which
is destroyed (Robertson 1985b:77). The glyph does not necessarily refer to
Venus, for similar star glyphs appearing in other architectural contexts at
Palenque seem to refer to other planets (Chapter 6). Here its context near a
window is intriguing, because it could mark an observation post in the tower.
(Ibid., 189)
In the past it has been assumed that Chac and Tlaloc are essentially
the same entity in different cultural contexts (Tozzer 1941: 138). Today
scholars seem reluctant to identify Chac and Tlaloc as the same deity (Kowalski
1987: 192; Taube 1992b:22). Is Tlaloc the same as Chac? They control the same
realms: rainfall and lightning. Both Tlaloc and Chac (God B) hold a lightning
serpent and an axe, possibly symbolizing the sound of thunder (Figs. 5.8b,
5.9a; compare with Codex Vaticanus B 43—48). Page 12 of the Madrid Codex shows
Chac wearing a modified year sign like that on Tlaloc A, indicating that the
two are merged as a single deity (Fig. 7.3). There are five Chacs on pages
11-18. On the mask towers of the Uxmal Nunnery, the role of the fifth Chac is
played by Tlaloc, shown at the top of a stack of four Chac masks (Fig. 5.9g).
One tower illustrated by Kowalski (1990:52) depicts Tlaloc with a year sign in
his mouth like the headdress of Tlaloc A. Both Chac and Tlaloc are found in
similar sets of five. It seems clear they are essentially the same deity, but
rendered in different styles. (Ibid., 199, 201)
