http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ mirrored file
For complete access to all the files of this collection
	see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php 
==========================================================

A New Interpretation of the Stone Rings of Zempoala

In the central plaza of Zempoala, just beneath the massive pyramids that
frame its northeastern corner, are three intriguing rings of stone, each
fashioned of rounded beach cobbles cemented together to form a series of
small, stepped pillars. The largest of the rings contains 43 of the
stepped pillars, the middle- sized ring has 28 such features, and the
smallest ring numbers 13 stepped pillars around its circumference. It
would appear that the three rings were used to calibrate different
astronomical cycles, possibly by moving a marker or an idol from one
stepped pillar to the next with each passing day (in somewhat the same way
that has been suggested for recording the passage of time at the Pyramid
of the Niches at El Tajín).

[jnote: 43*13 +28 = 587, synodic period of Mars]

The largest ring is the most enigmatic, for no cycle based on 43 is known
from Mesoamerica. However, the manner in which the ring is constructed
differs from the two smaller rings in that it is divided at the cardinal
points into quarters -- on its north side by a door or gate opening into
the circle, and on the east, south, and west by a composite pillar having
a step on each side of it. Thus, each of the respective quarters contains
10 single-stepped pillars, all of whose steps face in the same direction
-- clockwise in the northeasterly and southwesterly quadrants and
counter-clockwise in the southeasterly and northwesterly quadrants. (To
describe it in another way it may be said that all steps in the southern
half of the circle face north while all those in the northern half face
south.) While it is obvious that a conscious effort had been made to
distinguish the four cardinal points or quadrants through the
architectural device of alternating the orientation of their steps, what
is not so clear is whether only the single-stepped pillars in each
quadrant were meant to be counted -- yielding a total of 40 -- or whether
one or more of the three composite pillars marking the cardinal points
were to have been counted as well -- yielding a total of 43. (Naturally,
if it were the steps which were being counted, the total would be 46
instead, i.e., 40 pillars with single-steps and three with double-steps).
Lacking any indigenous explanation for how the circle was actually
employed, we can only conclude that its Totonac builders were attempting
to calibrate some celestial cycle which lay in the range of 40 to 46 days,
but what might this have been?

Of course, if it is argued that the three composite pillars, each with
their double steps, served merely as architectural markers which set off
the cardinal points, then the number that was being reckoned was 40 rather
than either 43 or 46. However, no count of 40 days is known from
Mesoamerica, although it obviously could have served to define two cycles
of 20. Naturally, if it had been used as one component in defining a
"year," then we might have expected to find some means of recording nine
full circuits of the ring -- i.e. 9 x 40 = 360 -- but no such "device" is
present. If it had been used in conjunction with the middle-sized ring, it
would, of course, define an interval of 1120 days (40 x 28), which bears
no relationship to either the sacred or secular calendar. However, had it
been used together with the smallest ring of 13 pillars, it could have
calibrated two full cycles of the sacred almanac, or 40 x 13 = 520 days.
The latter, known as a double tzolkin in Mayan terminology, equates to
three eclipse half-years, and thereby provides a useful interval in
predicting eclipses. (An eclipse year is the length of time it takes for
the sun to move from one of its intersections with the path of the moon,
or node, until it returns to the same intersection, or node. It measures
346.62 days in length. Hence, an eclipse half-year totals 173.31 days, and
three eclipse half years add up to 519.93 days. In Mesoamerican terms,
this value would be rounded to 520 days, or the equivalent of two rounds
of the 260-day sacred almanac.)

If we are correct in suggesting a lunar association for the two smaller
rings, namely 13 full moons per year with approximately 28 days between
each of them, then what observable movement of the moon has a periodicity
in the range of 40 to 46 days?. For anyone practicing a horizon-based
astronomy, as did the Mesoamericans, it would soon become apparent that
the average interval between extreme rising positions of the moon was
about 13 days, although it varies in fact between 12 and 15 days. Were
they to have defined the interval between two consecutive risings at
either the moon's northern or southern extreme positions, they would have
found that it averaged between 27 and 28 days -- in other words, one
sidereal month (27.32 days). But for a people with no appreciation of
fractions, neither of these cycles was accurate enough to pinpoint the
possible occurrence of an eclipse. On the other hand, a cycle which
embraces an interval of one and a half sidereal months (which is the
length of time it would take the moon to move, for example, between two
consecutive risings at its northern extreme and its next rising at its
southern extreme) averages out at almost exactly 41 days (27.32 + 13.66 =
40.98). To have used such a cycle, of course, would have meant ignoring
two of the pillars in the ring -- most likely, I would imagine, the two
composite pillars marking the east and west extremes of the circle --
while counting only the southernmost one.

How might this cycle have been useful in warning of eclipses? Naturally,
the 41-day cycle can be tested anywhere in the world, but for this study
an analysis was made of all the eclipses which were visible at Zempoala
during the years 1992 through 1997. Not too surprisingly, the most common
intervals between eclipses were found to be 162-163 days (3 occurrences),
177-178 days (3 occurrences), and 191-192 days (3 occurrences), and/or
combinations of these values.

To approximate the lowest of these values would obviously require four
rounds of counting, perhaps each round being calibrated by a mneomic
device which designated one of the four quadrants of the circle. Thus, as
a given count neared the end of the fourth round of the ring, the priest
would be aware that an eclipse might take place, although he could never
be entirely sure whether it actually would take place (in the sense of
being visible to him). If the fourth round was completed without an
eclipse being observed, i.e., taking him up through day 164, he would
initiate both a second count using the 13-pillar ring and a third count
using the 28-pillar ring. If the second count likewise was completed
without an eclipse being observed, i.e., with day 177 having been passed,
he had a fall-back position by utilizing the 28-pillar ring to bring him
up to day 192. Of course, if an eclipse did take place near the end of a
13-day cycle, it was also quite possible that another eclipse would occur
by the time the 28-day cycle ended, in effect building an additional
15-day cycle into the equation as well. On the other hand, if day 192 also
came and went without an eclipse being observed, he could quite
confidently start his initial 41-day count over again.

It is, therefore, quite possible that by using the three rings in the
manner described, the Totonac priests were able to calibrate the movements
of the moon closely enough so as to know when it might next be "devoured"
by the sun. In any event, there is every reason to believe that the three
stone rings of Zempoala afford yet another bit of evidence testifying to
the intellectual curiosity and architectural ingenuity of the early
Mesoamericans.

(Note that references for this and the other papers are found on the 'home
page' of this article.)

Return to Home Page