Some new discoveries respecting the dates on the great calendar stone of the ancient Mexicans, with observations on the Mexican cycle of fifty-two years / [E.G. Squier].

  • Squier, E. G. (Ephraim George), 1821-1888
Date:
[1849]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Some new discoveries respecting the dates on the great calendar stone of the ancient Mexicans, with observations on the Mexican cycle of fifty-two years / [E.G. Squier]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    transits on the 22d of May and the 26th of July, and the equi¬ noxes on the 22d of March and the 22d of September. This arrangement, it will be seen, gives 184 days from the vernal to the autumnal, and 181. from the autumnal to the vernal equinox, which, as observed by Mr. Gallatin, “although not strictly cor¬ rect, shows that the Aztecs had ascertained by observation that the Sun remained longer North than South of the Equator, which is true, since its apparent motion is not uniform, but is accelera¬ ted during the time it appears south of the equator.55* The transits of the sun, by the zenith of Mexico, were calculated by Gama and found to coincide with the dates engraved on the stone,—demonstrating that the observations which led to the original discovery of the true date were made in Mexico, and in¬ dicating that the astronomical knowledge of the Mexicans was of American origin. These authorities also, from analogy and a consideration of a variety of circumstances which it is unnecessary to recapitulate, arrived at the conclusion that “ the winter solstice corresponded with our 22d of December or very near it.55 None of them were however, able to detect the date of this solstice upon the stone. The supposed deficiency was accounted for, hypotheti¬ cally, upon the assumption that the dates on the Calendar were calculated only for half of the year, viz: from the vernal to the autumnal equinox. There is nothing however, on which to ground this assumption, but the very deficiency, for which it was intended to account. The difficulty, in the way of the satisfactory elucidation of the matter, has been the imperfect character of the engraved copy of the stone upon which the investigations of these schol¬ ars were founded. Until recently there has been but one draw¬ ing in existence, viz : the one which accompanies Gama’s work upon the Mexican Calendar. This was reproduced by Hum¬ boldt in his “Researches,” and is the same which was consulted by himself and Mr. Gallatin in their enquiries. Within a few years, a larger and very beautiful drawing has been made from the original, by M. Nebel, which is inserted in his splendid work on Mexico. This drawing, while it attests the general accuracy of that published by Gama, has enabled me to detect a most im¬ portant error in the latter, and to clear up the doubt which has heretofore existed as to the date assigned by the Aztecs to the winter solstice. The central figure upon the Calendar Stone is a symbolical representation of the sun, with protruding tongue, indicating life,—to talk among the Aztecs conveying the same idea of * “ Notes on the semi-civilizerl Nations of America,” Trans. Am. Ethnological Society, vol. i, p. 101 ; Humboldt’s Researches, vol. i, p. 293.