Grofe, Michael J. (Author)
Archaeoastronomy: The Journal of Astronomy in Culture
Volume: 24
Pages: 56--101
Maya hieroglyphic texts contain numerous intervals of time that count both backward and forward from a fixed point of historical reference to specific mythological dates, often thousands of years in the past or future. This article considers the evidence that these intervals incorporated precise astronomical calculations of solar, lunar, and planetary movements, with a substantial emphasis on the measurement of the sidereal year and its ability to shift the seasonal position of the Sun among the stars. This analysis requires a specific methodology for assessing the likelihood that these Distance Numbers were either intentionally calculated to incorporate these astronomical measurements or merely coincidental. The evidence suggests that historical dates were directly linked to parallel mythological events in deep time through the use of whole multiples of the sidereal year. Mythological reconstructions of remote astronomical events were conceivably used in a variety of ways that served to link specific Maya rulers and their lineages to the divine actions of the gods and the cycles of time
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