Skywatching in the Ancient World: New Perspectives in Cultural Astronomy Studies in Honor of Anthony F. Aveni (Mesoamerican Worlds Series) - Hardcover

9780870818875: Skywatching in the Ancient World: New Perspectives in Cultural Astronomy Studies in Honor of Anthony F. Aveni (Mesoamerican Worlds Series)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0870818872 ISBN 13: 9780870818875

Publisher: Univ Pr of Colorado, 2007

Compiled in honor of Anthony F. Aveni, America's leading archaeoastronomer, Skywatching in the Ancient World offers state-of-the-art work in cultural astronomy by well-known experts in Mayan glyphic studies, cultural history, ethnohistory, and the history of science and of religions.

This collection's wide range of outstanding scholarship reveals that cultural astronomy has come into its own. The diverse topics addressed by the contributors include the correlation between Colonial Northern Zapotec and Gregorian calendars, the period of use of the Dresden Codex Venus table and the significance of the Lunar Almanacs that precede it, a new interpretation of an Inka tapestry mantle as a commemorative calendar, temple orientations in Hawai`i and church orientations in Medieval England, and the connection in cultural imagery between astronomers (science) and wizards (magic).

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Clive Ruggles is Emeritus Professor of Archaeoastronomy at the University of Leicester, U.K. Gary Urton is Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Pre-Columbian Studies at Harvard University.Contributors include Harvey M. Bricker, Victoria R. Bricker, Edward E. Calnek, Clemency Coggins, John Justeson, Edwin C. Krupp, Stephen C. McCluskey, Susan Milbrath, Clive Ruggles, David Tav�rez, Barbara Tedlock, Dennis Tedlock, Gary Urton, and R. Tom Zuidema.

Review:

"The series of papers necessarily utilize a diverse combination of methodological and interdisciplinary approaches to interpret past social practices related to astronomy. This book will be of interest not only to archaeologists working in Mesoamerica but also to anthropologists who "seek to understand how perceptions of the sky have influenced, and can influence, human thought and action" (p. 12)." --The Americas
With its stunning array of diverse approaches, from the Maya Dresden Codex to Hawaiian astronomy to the alignment of Medieval English churches . . . this volume presents a series of important articles written by eminent scholars in the field of cultural astronomy. In terms of edited volumes, it is the most important contribution to the field in recent memory. --Grant Aylesworth, University of New Brunswick

Summing up: Highly Recommened --CHOICE reviews

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.