Montclair State University Department of Anthropology Anth 140: Non Western Contributions to the Western World Dr. Richard W. Franke

1
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• Week 06 Lecture 03
• The Western Hemispheres Greatest Astronomers and
  Mathematicians

2
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• The learning objectives for week 06 lecture 03
  are
• to learn a little about Maya astronomy and
  mathematics

3
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• Terms you should know for week 06, the topic of
  the Maya are
• Tikalis one of the most important Maya cities
  and archaeological sites, now in Guatemala. It
  had up to 50,000 inhabitants in 600 AD.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western World Dr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• Week 06 Sources
• Braun, Barbara. 1993. Pre-Columbian Art and the
  Post-Columbian World Ancient Sources of American
  Art. New York Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers.
• Hagen, Victor W. von. 1960. World of the Maya.
  New York Mentor Books.
• Henderson, John S. 1981. The World of the
  Ancient Maya. Ithaca Cornell University Press.
• Joseph, George Gheverghese. 1991. The Crest of
  the Peacock Non-European Roots of Mathematics.
  London I. B. Tauris and Co. Ltd.
• Ruddell, Nancy. 1995. Mystery of the Maya. Hull,
  Quebec Canadian Museum of Civilization.
• Stuart, George E. and Gene S. Stuart. 1977. The
  Mysterious Maya. Washington, D.C. National
  Geographic Society.
•  
•  

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• The Maya built a state level civilization in the
  area of modern day Southern Mexico and Northern
  Central America.

6
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 2. Their culture spread from the highlands of
  Southwestern Mexico to the lowlands of Yucatan.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 3. The Classic period Maya 300 AD to 900 AD
  developed a population density as great as modern
  day Europe.
• 4. They built large cities, with Tikal comprising
  40,000 to 50,000 inhabitants in the 7th and 8th
  centuries.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 5. Archaeologists have identified the remains of
  at least 83 Maya cities.
• 6. Three of the most important centers were
• Tikal
• Palenqué
• Chichén Itzá

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• Tikal
• In northeastern Guatemala near the border with
  Belize. By 600 AD, Tikal had about 50,000
  residents spread across 10 kilometers (6 miles).
• Palenqué
• In southern Mexico west of the Yucatan. Palenqué
  is the site of the famous tomb of King Pacal, who
  died in 683 AD. The carved limestone sarcophagus
  lid is one of the most impressive examples of
  Maya sculpture and portrays much of their
  religious system.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• Tikal

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• Tikal has some of Central Americas most dramatic
  pyramids

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The site will probably yield archaeological
  treasures for decades if not centuries to come.
  Slowly we will learn more about the mysterious
  Maya.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• Chichén Itzá
• Near the northern end of the Yucatan Penninsula.
  Chichén Itzá is the site of a famous Maya temple
  dedicated to the Feathered Serpent God. Each
  year, at the two solar equinoxes, the sun hits
  the side of the stairs illuminating the image of
  a snake (on the risers of the stairs) descending
  from the sacred mountain into the earth.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 7. Maya culture is as old as that of Europe the
  Maya began settled communities by 1,800 BC and
  had centralized urban areas by 1,200 BC, the time
  of the Trojan Wars in Greece.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke
Early Preclassic 1,800 BC to 900 BC
Middle Preclassic 900 BC to 300 BC
(Olmec) (1,200 BC to 100 BC)
Late Preclassic 300 BC to 250 AD
Classic 250 AD to 900 AD
Toltec Era 900 AD to 1541 AD
Spanish Era 1541 AD to 1813 AD
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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 8. Built massive pyramids
• Developed a complex writing system
• Developed an efficient and elaborate mathematical
  system
• Made precise astronomical observations
• Created a highly accurate 3-part calendar
• Made masterful stone sculptures

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke 2012
Update

• The Maya
• Art historian Barbara Braun discovered that Maya
  architecture had a strong influence on the major
  American architect Frank Lloyd Wright

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke 2012
Update

• The Maya
• One of Wrights Hollywood houses from 1920 shows
  the influence of Maya temple designwhile
• Source Braun 1993153

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke 2012
Update

• The Maya
• The Maya corbelled vault substitute for the
  arch(which they did not develop)

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke 2012
Update

• The Maya
• appears as a design feature in a San Francisco
  medical offices building at 450 Sutter Street,
  constructed in 1930.
• Source Braun 1993169.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke 2012
Update

• The Maya
• The outside of the building also has Maya
  features sometimes called Neo-Mayan Art Deco.
• Sources
• Braun 199341.
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/450_Sutter_Street

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke 2012
Update

• One of Wrights most famous buildings is the
  Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1956-1959) in
  Manhattan. Wright designed the building from his
  studies on the Maya observatory at Chichén Itzá.

• Sources for the photos http//www.beembee.com/201
  1/solomon-r-guggenheim-museum
• https//encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?qtbnANd
  9GcSkzbCMqlt2kRSTKq7SG2ZSfcErNBFV0iriBtEiPsC_Rr_fj
  0mTMQ
• http//www.greatbuildings.com/gbc/images/cid_cr102
  9_b.150.jpg

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke 2012
Update

• Sources for the photos
• http//www.cancunofertas.com.mx/english/images/gal
  erias/chichen-itza_05.jpg
• http//0.tqn.com/d/gomexico/1/0/I/1/-/-/chichen.jp
  g
• https//encrypted-tbn1.google.com/images?qtbnANd
  9GcQMZ4LUHloxTR3tDUvOnqmXHoqo420YFHW4JOnNHqofPpD3p
  rN71g

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke 2012
Update

• The Maya
• In addition to Wright, other famous artists who
  drew on the Maya and other Mexican, Central
  American and Peruvian artistic and architectural
  traditions are
• Paul Gauguin (used ancient Peruvian Chimu styles
  as well as his more famous Polynesian influences)
• Henry Moore (Aztec influence)
• Diego Rivera perhaps Mexicos most famous
  painter used all kinds of Central American
  influences
• Joaquin Torres-Garcia Mayan and Andean art and
  architecture
• Source Braun 1993. Brauns book is available in
  Sprague Library. Dozens of spectacular photos.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 9. Like their Inca neighbors far to the south,
  the Maya created their civilization in an unusual
  and difficult environment without the benefit of
  a large river system.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 10. Instead, they organized villages around
  cenotes, or water holes in the limestone

28
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 11. Then they built reservoirs, called
  chultuns.
• This one connects nearly a mile to the famous
  temple of Kukulkan discussed later

29
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 12. Like the Naza, the Maya also constructed
  canals
• Some of these canals range up to a mile in
  length, 100 feet in width and are 10 feet deep.
• 13. The Maya civilization mysteriously collapsed
  around 900 AD

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 14. The reason for the sudden abandonment of
  their great cities has never been fully
  identified.
• 15. Some scholars consider soil erosion while
  others argue that a volcano-induced prolonged
  drought killed off thousands.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya Collapse and Modern Environmental
  Problems
• 15a. If you are interested in the possible
  implications of the Maya collapse for modern
  societies, open the file in the Week06 folder on
  Blackboard called
• Lessons from the Ancestors.doc

32
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 16. The Spaniards thus conquered the Maya long
  after their major ability to resist a foreign
  invasion had dissipated.
• 17. With the Spanish conquest came destruction of
  much of the Maya written record

33
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• 18. The Lost Maya Books
• We found a large number of books in these Maya
  characters and, as they contained nothing in
  which there were not to be seen superstition and
  lies of the devil, we burned them all, which they
  regretted to an amazing degree, and which caused
  them much affliction.
• Diego de Landa, 16th Century Bishop of Yucatan.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 19. Of thousands of Maya books of genealogies,
  biographies, collections of songs, science texts,
  histories, prophecies, ritual, and astrology,
  only 4 remain today.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 20. The Maya, however, also carved much of their
  science and literature into the soft limestone of
  the area.
• 21. Much of this carving occurs on stelae, or
  posts used at the entrances to temples,
  neighborhoods, and other sites.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 22. Mathematical computations were also carved
  into some of the stele.

37
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 23. Although we know little of Maya medicine and
  other sciences, through the stele archaeologists
  and others have been able to reconstruct much of
  their mathematics and astronomy.

38
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 24. Venus
• Maya calculated its revolution at 584 days.
• Modern astronomy estimates it at 583.92.

39
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 25. The Moon
• Maya gave the lunar month as 29.5302 days.
  Modern astronomy says 29.53059.

40
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 26. Lunar Eclipses
• The Maya knew that the lunar eclipse occurs
  every 173.31 days.

41
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 27. The Sun
• Maya calculated a solar year at 365.242.
• Modern astronomy gives it as 365.242198.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 28. The Equinoxes
• The Maya designed the temple at Chichén Itzá to
  illuminate a giant serpent on the risers of the
  stairs at the solar equinoxes.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Kukulkan Temple in Chichén Itzá

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke
45
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 29. The Stars
• Maya knew of the North Star (xamann ek), Ursa
  Minor, the Pleiades (tzab), the Gemini (ak ek),
  Scorpio (zinaan ek), and other heavenly bodies.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 30. Some sources
• Hagen, Victor W. Von. 1960. World of the Maya.
  New York Mentor Books.
• Joseph, George Gheverghese 1991. The Crest of
  the Peacock Non-European Roots of Mathematics.
  London I. B. Tauris and Co. Ltd.
• Henderson, John S. 1997. The World of the
  Ancient Maya. Ithaca Cornell University Press.
  Second Edition.

48
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 31. Maya Mathematics
• See the next two slides for examples

49
Montclair State University
Department of AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western
Contributions to the Western World Dr. Richard
W. Franke
50

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 31. One of the most spectacular finds has been
  the sarcophagus of the Mayan King Pacal, who
  lived from 603 to 683 AD. His tomb was
  rediscovered intact in 1952. The next slide shows
  the building in which the burial was found.

52
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• Pacals Tomb

53
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• 32. The lid would originally have been
  colorfully painted.

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Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 33. Pacals sarcophagus
• (his coffin --- especially the lid) from the
  outer border scholars can read dates and other
  information about Pacal.

55
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• 34. Based on a technical drawing of the
  sarcophagus lid scholars have been able to learn
  much about Pacal and about Maya hieroglyphs
  their writing system.

56
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• 35. Pacals Sarcophagus

57
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 36. Maya architecture achieved great heights,
  however the Maya did not quite invent the true
  arch.
• 37. Like the Inca who favored the trapezoidal
  shape, the Maya invented the corbeled vault, a
  near-arch structure.

58
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 38. The corbeled vault holds up more weight than
  a flat ceiling but not as much as the true arch.

59
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• 38. The vault allowed the Maya to build large
  structures with entrances but nothing on the
  scale of the European Gothic cathedrals that were
  based on the true arch.

60
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• The true arch was probably invented in ancient
  Sumar (Babylon) and became a major feature of
  Roman architecture.
• From there it was passed through the European
  Middle Ages and the great cathedrals to the
  modern world.

61
Montclair State University Department of
AnthropologyAnth 140 Non Western Contributions
to the Western WorldDr. Richard W. Franke

• The Maya
• End of Slides for Week 06 Lecture 03 on
• Maya Astronomy and Mathematics