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Science 7 September 1973:
Vol. 181. no. 4103, pp. 939 - 941
DOI: 10.1126/science.181.4103.939
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Articles

Origin of the Mesoamerican 260-Day Calendar

Vincent H. Malmstrom 1

1 Department of Geography, Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont 05753

The sacred 260-day Mesoamerican calendar probably originated near a latitude of 15 °N, where there is a 260-day interval between transits of the zenithal sun. Archeological and faunal evidence favors an origin in the Pacific lowlands rather than in the highlands near Copán, Honduras, although Copán, which is located at the 15th parallel of latitude, later became the principal Mayan astronomical center.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Pecked Cross Symbol in Ancient Mesoamerica.
A. F. Aveni, H. Hartung, and B. Buckingham (1978)
Science 202, 267-286
   Abstract »    PDF »
Mesoamerican Calendar.
V. H. Malmstrom (1973)
Science 182, 1198
   PDF »


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