Thursday, December 18, 2003

Astronomical Surface Decorations on Ceramics, Mesoamerica part VII (Onyx Bowl part 5) Just a further note on the Onyx Bowl, Kerr Number K4692, mentioned in Maya Astronomy Classes and cited by me the last couple of days. D. M. Urquidi explained to me that the glyphs on the side, do tell of the 18 gods (which may assume a Zodiac) and that one half is night and the other day, but there is not enough text to say who they are. Thus, we have a pot that does have information that refers to celestial events. The pot may have been used for viewing stars during divination. However, it does seems the decorations were not intended to be used as part of an astronomical tool. I may go so far as to say that the glyphs were not even being used to record observations. I'm thinking the glyphs spoke about the gods and night and day, perhaps with thin reference to other celestial events, just to identify the pot as for a certain use, or to skew the holders understanding of the pot. However, I also understand I'm way out of my area of expertise... **1/6/04 Correction** D. M. Urquidi provided me with a better understanding of the refraction that takes place within the bowls.  It is the bands on the concave surface that refract and appear on the surface of the water - allowing for proper measurement. 9:22:28 PM