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More on Mesoamerican Cosmology and City Plans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Ivan Šprajc
Ivan Šprajc*
Affiliation:
Scientific Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Novi trg 2, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia (sprajc@zrc-sazu.si)
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Abstract

In a recent comment Michael Smith argues that the cosmological interpretations of Maya urban layouts proposed in an article by Ashmore and Sabloff are vague and unconvincing. He also summarizes some other comparable studies in order to show that arguments for the cosmological significance of archaeologically recovered urban patterns are, in general, subjective and lack methodological rigor. I argue that his view is an unwarranted generalization and that his references to some archaeoastronomical interpretations do not adequately reflect the advances in this field of research and its relevance for the understanding of ancient city plans. I summarize the results of several studies in Mesoamerica, focusing on Teotihuacan and the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan discussed by Smith, to show that rigorous methods not only have been applied in archaeoastronomical research but also have resulted in explicit conclusions about specific aspects of worldview and political ideology underlying Mesoamerican architecture and urbanism.

En un comentario reciente Michael Smith argumenta que las interpretaciones cosmológicas de las trazas urbanas mayas, propuestas en un artículo publicado anteriormente por Ashmore y Sabloff, son vagas y poco convincentes. También resume otros estudios comparables, para mostrar que los argumentos respecto al significado cosmológico de los patrones urbanos arqueológicamente recuperados son, en general, subjetivos y carecen de rigor metodológico. Trato de demostrar que la opinión de Smith es una generalización infundada y que sus referencias a algunas interpretaciones arqueoastronómicas no reflejan de manera adecuada los avances en este campo de investigación y su relevancia para la comprensión de las trazas urbanas antiguas. Al resumir los resultados de varios estudios en Mesoamérica, y enfocándome en Teotihuacan y el Templo Mayor de Tenochtitlan discutidos por Smith, hago patente que los métodos rigurosos no sólo han sido aplicados en la investigación arqueoastronómica sino que han resultado en conclusiones explícitas acerca de aspectos específicos de cosmovisión e ideología política involucrados en la arquitectura y el urbanismo mesoamericanos.

Type
Comments
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , June 2005 , pp. 209 - 216
Copyright
Copyright © 2005 by the Society for American Archaeology.

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References

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