Skywatchers: A Revised and Updated Version of Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico

By Anthony F. Aveni

Book Overview

Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico helped establish the field of archaeoastronomy, and it remains the standard introduction to this subject. Combining basic astronomy with archaeological and ethnological data, it presented a readable and entertaining synthesis of all that was known of ancient astronomy in the western hemisphere as of 1980.

In this revised edition, Anthony Aveni draws on his own and others' discoveries of the past twenty years to bring the Skywatchers story up to the present. He offers new data and interpretations in many areas, including:

The study of Mesoamerican time and calendrical systems and their unprecedented continuity in contemporary Mesoamerican culture The connections between Precolumbian religion, astrology, and scientific, quantitative astronomy The relationship between Highland Mexico and the world of the Maya and the state of Pan-American scientific practices The use of personal computer software for computing astronomical data

With this updated information, Skywatchers will serve a new generation of general and scholarly readers and will be useful in courses on archaeoastronomy, astronomy, history of astronomy, history of science, anthropology, archaeology, and world religions.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0292705026
• ISBN13: 9780292705029
• Release Date: August 2001
• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Length: 423 Pages
• Weight: 2.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.1" x 9.9"

Customer Reviews

Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico

Great book for Astronomy history buffs. The Mayans were some of the great astronomers of the past and this book details the methods and briefs. While the book leans to the textbook side, thus the 4 rating rather than a 5 star, it is very readable. I liked the decoding of the Mayan Gliffs. The book shows numerous gliffs and provides written intreputations. A Mayan astronomer, for example, is shown sitting with his eye reaching out and grasping a star. The book also details the Mayan calendar and how they determined rather precisely the orbital period of Venus and other heavenly bodies.The book is great for anyone wanting a better understanding of anicent astronomical methods and a further understanding of the Mayan people.