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Katun Quarters in the 12 Lamat Eclipse Correlation. (01/08/2001)
When Maya astronomers
set the zero base-day (13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumku) for the Long
Count notation at some particular point in time in their own mytho-historical
past, they also necessarily chose the temporal locations of every
subsequent quarter-Katun position in their calendrical structure.
This is true, and inescapable, because 4 Ahau 8 Cumku is a Katun-ending
position itself, where every subsequent quarter-Katun marker after
it falls 1,800 days later in an unbroken sequence through the
entire length of the LC notation. Most scholars view this structure
as being chronological, as opposed to astronomical, because 1,800
days does not seem to reflect any apparent interval of time that
is, or might be, consistent with an astronomical periodicity.
One reason this view of quarter-Katun positions has persisted
for so many years in Eurocentric scholarship about Maya calendrical
astronomy concerns the fact that no single explanation for the
astronomical intent of 1,800 days can be expressed. In other words,
no single astronomical interval known to European astronomers
can be said to account for the fact that Maya astronomers during
the Classic period chose to fashion a calendar based on the use
of this interval as a means of counting the passage of time with
respect to any known conceptualization of celestial motion.
As Anthony F. Aveni has
pointed out, certain kinds of directional orientations built into
the architecture of Maya ceremonial centers (at Copan, Honduras,
for instance) make it impossible to "ignore the fact that
the Venus and solar orientations in the architecture fit together
in a way that evokes not only the most vital period of the agricultural
season but also the very type of calendar (counting by twenties
relative to solar zenith passage) that we know the ancient Maya
once practiced and that their descendants continue to employ"
("The Real Venus-Kulkulkan in the Maya Inscriptions and Alignments,"
The Sixth Palenque Round Table, 1986, ed. M. G. Robertson
[Norman, 1991], p. 320). The orientations Aveni refers to here
were marked at Copan along the western horizon of the ceremonial
center to target exactly the setting position of the sun (and
planets as well) when it (and they) reached an azimuth of +278*25'00".
This particular orientation was created by the placement of a
window in the western-facing wall of Temple 22 in the central
acropolis of the ceremonial center, where the mid-line of that
window exactly measures that azimuth line. Hence, when the sun
sets at that orientation, it is visible in the middle of the window
of Temple 22. This only happens twice in every solar year: once
20 days after vernal equinox and 20 days before solar zenith passage
in the Spring; and again 20 days after solar zenith passage and
20 days before autumnal equinox in the Fall (See Anthony F. Aveni,
"Concepts of Positional Astronomy Employed in Ancient Mesoamerican
Architecture," in Native American Astronomy, ed. Anthony
F. Aveni [Austin, 1977], 3-19, pp. 9-14). A secondary orientation
was also established from this same vantage point relative to
the placement of Stela 10 on the western ridge of the Copan valley
at an azimuth of 276*45'00". The sun reached this position
four days before it crossed the central axis line of the window
in the Spring and four days after that same position in the Fall.
A second Stela (#12) was positioned on the eastern ridge of the
valley at the ceremonial center and marked a baseline consistent
with the sun's setting azimuth as it crossed the central axis
of the window in Temple 22. What this means is that two astronomers,
one positioned at Stela 12 looking west at Stela 10 and the other
at the window inside Temple 22, would be able to observe simultaneously
the sun's setting orientation as it disappeared behind Stela 10
on the western horizon. Given the complexity of the architectural
structure at Copan, where two independent but simultaneous observations
of the same event were always possible, one can argue that the
astronomers at Copan were absolutely determined to fix the exact
days, year to year, on which the sun reached its setting azimuth
at +278*25'00", a position that always occurred 20 days after
vernal equinox in the Spring and 20 days before autumnal equinox
in the Fall, and the same number of days before and after solar
zenith passage, respectively, as well.
Since it is also true,
by virtue of cause and effect relationships, as Anthony Aveni
suggests, that the calendrical system used by the Maya came into
existence in order to count the 20-day intervals between equinoxes,
setting orientation azimuths, and solar zenith passages, one must
assume that those orientations were observed and known by the
astronomers prior to the earliest contemporaneous use of the day-name
system that counted and preserved those intervals and orientations.
This is true simply because the effect, counting the intervals
in a calendrical system, cannot come before the cause, observing
the intervals that separate the solar events being counted. Some
Maya dates, ones that were recorded on stone monuments during
the Classic period, were clearly perceived in retrospect and were
not recorded as contemporaneous events. The zero base-day, for
instance, occurred so early in Maya mytho-history that there is
no chance at all that anyone who could be called Maya observed
any event that might be associated with 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumku.
Recognition of this fact
does not mean, however, that Classic period astronomers were not
able to say precisely what kinds of events occurred on, and in
proximity to, the zero base-day they established for their calendrical
system. This assertion can be sustained by taking note of the
fact that the 260-day almanac, whose essential structure maintains
a system of counting day-names in intervals of twenty, where 13
x 20 = 260, expresses an interval exactly equal to the true length
of the solar year (at 365.2422 days each) every time 59 turns
of its cycle (at 15,340 days exactly) are counted, where 42 x
365.2422 = 15,340.172 days. Since the setting azimuths of the
sun marked by the architectural orientations at Copan are determined
by the true length of the solar year, at 365.2422 days of separation
between them, those events must occur on the same almanac day-name
every time 42 years and 59 almanacs have passed. True also is
the fact that the differential between one thing and the other
is so brief (at 0.172 days) that this system of calendrical counting
can be used for a total of 252 years (6 x 42 = 252 and 6 x 0.172
= 1.032) before a single whole day of regression occurs in the
day-name that marks the solar event. While other reasons for the
adoption of the 260-day interval in the Maya calendrical system
can be cited (its natural propensity to predict eclipses at 46
turns of its cycle, after 11,960 days have passed, in the Dresden
Codex eclipse table, for instance), its expression of the true
length of the solar year and its capacity to name the day of the
sun's setting azimuth as it crosses the mid-line of the window
in Temple 22 at Copan, which also establishes the days of equinox
and solar zenith passage simultaneously, probably reflects the
primary cause for its choice as the foundation of the Maya calendrical
system.
What makes this even
more probable is the fact that, over the course of the duration
of the Long Count notation itself, from 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumku
to 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 3 Kankin 1,872,000 days later, exactly 20
days of regression occur in the day-names marking these solar
events from the beginning to the end of the Maya calendrical interval.
In the 12 Lamat Eclipse correlation, for instance, vernal equinox
fell 12 days prior to the zero base-day at 12.19.19.17.8 5 Lamat
16 Kayab (April 17, 3171 B. C.-Julian Day #563322) when the sun
reached a declination of +00*00'01" at 10:21:00 AM. Eight
days after the zero base-day, and hence 20 days after vernal equinox,
at 0.0.0.0.8 12 Lamat 16 Cumku (May 7, 3171 B. C.-Julian Day #563342),
the sun reached a setting azimuth of 278*15'15" and was just
nine minutes and forty-five seconds of circular arc from the orientation
of the mid-line of the window in Temple 22 at Copan. Since there
are 122 intervals of 15,340 days each, with an additional 520
days as a remainder, in the interval of the Long Count notation,
vernal equinox 512 days prior to 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 3 Kankin (August
14, 1955-Julian Day #2435334) should occur at 12.19.18.10.8 12
Lamat 16 Xul, which fell on March 20, 1954 (Julian Day #2434822),
where, in fact, the sun reached a declination of -00*03'32"
at sunset and would have crossed the celestial equator 3.5 hours
later 21:50:00 PM on that day. The regression here, of course,
shifts the solar event from the orientation of the sun's setting
azimuth at the mid-line of the window in Copan in the ancient
sequence (12 Lamat 16 Cumku) to the actual day of vernal equinox
(12 Lamat 16 Xul) in the modern one at the end of the LC notational
interval. This is clearly the way in which the calendrical structure
was designed to function and explains why the LC notation was
designed to count exactly 1,872,000 days. The terminal point itself
at 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 3 Kankin marks the day of solar zenith passage
40 days prior to autumnal equinox at 0.0.0.2.0 5 Ahau 3 Pax on
September 23, 1955 A. D. (Julian Day #2435374) when the sun reached
its equatorial passage into the southern sky with a declination
of -00*00'01" at 13:41:00 PM on that day.
Any effort undertaken to prove that the astronomy marked by quarter-Katun positions in this, or any other correlation proposal, must necessarily fall short of achieving a high level of certainty by virtue of the fact that the Maya during the Classic period never expressed in any way understood now what those positions were intended to designate from an astronomical point of view. Since there are 1,040 quarter-Katun positions in the duration of the LC notation itself, it is reasonable to suppose that some, even many, of them must have designated recognizable astronomical configurations as a matter of course with respect to any fixed position one might choose for the zero base-day in the Julian Day List. With that obvious logical constriction in mind, however, it is still worth the effort to evaluate a few quarter-Katun positions as they fall out over the course of their use during the Classic period in the 12 Lamat eclipse correlation. In the following table, those positions from 8.12.0.0.0 11 Ahau 3 Pax (November 17, 220 A. D.-Julian Day #1801734) to 10.1.0.0.0 5 Ahau 3 Kayab (July 17, 792 A. D.-Julian Day #2010534) are listed. While there are a few recorded dates prior to 11 Ahau 3 Pax, which probably are contemporaneous, and a few more after 5 Ahau 3 Kayab, which fall under the same category, the vast majority of Classic period notations recorded in monumental inscriptions fall between these two Katun-ending designations. The numbers preceding each group of four dates records the position of the quarter following it from the first position at the zero base-day in a continuous sequence.
| #1 | ||
| 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumku | ||
| #688 | ||
| 8.12.0.0.0 11 Ahau 3 Pax | ||
| 8.12.5.0.0 4 Ahau 18 Kankin | ||
| 8.12.10.0.0 10 Ahau 13 Mac | ||
| 8.12.15.0.0 3 Ahau 8 Ceh | ||
| #692 | ||
| 8.13.0.0.0 9 Ahau 3 Zac | ||
| 8.13.5.0.0 2 Ahau 18 Ch'en | ||
| 8.13.10.0.0 8 Ahau 13 Mol | ||
| 8.13.15.0.0 1 Ahau 8 Yaxkin | ||
| #696 | ||
| 8.14.0.0.0 7 Ahau 3 Xul | ||
| 8.14.5.0.0 13 Ahau 18 Zotz | ||
| 8.14.10.0.0 6 Ahau 13 Zip | ||
| 8.14.15.0.0 12 Ahau 8 Uo | ||
| #700 | ||
| 8.15.0.0.0 5 Ahau 3 Pop | ||
| 8.15.5.0.0 11 Ahau 3 Cumku | ||
| 8.15.10.0.0 4 Ahau 18 Pax | ||
| 8.15.15.0.0 10 Ahau 13 Muan | ||
| #704 | ||
| 8.16.0.0.0 3 Ahau 8 Kankin | ||
| 8.16.5.0.0 9 Ahau 3 Mac | ||
| 8.16.10.0.0 2 Ahau 18 Zac | ||
| 8.16.15.0.0 8 Ahau 13 Yax | ||
| #708 | ||
| 8.17.0.0.0 1 Ahau 8 Ch'en | ||
| 8.17.5.0.0 7 Ahau 3 Mol | ||
| 8.17.10.0.0 13 Ahau 18 Xul | ||
| 8.17.15.0.0 6 Ahau 13 Zec | ||
| #712 | ||
| 8.18.0.0.0 12 Ahau 8 Zotz | ||
| 8.18.5.0.0 5 Ahau 3 Zip | ||
| 8.18.10.0.0 11 Ahau 18 Pop | ||
| 8.18.15.0.0 4 Ahau 18 Cumku | ||
| #716 | ||
| 8.19.0.0.0 10 Ahau 13 Kayab | ||
| 8.19.5.0.0 3 Ahau 8 Pax | ||
| 8.19.10.0.0 9 Ahau 3 Muan | ||
| 8.19.15.0.0 2 Ahau 18 Mac | ||
| #720 | ||
| 9.0.0.0.0 8 Ahau 13 Ceh | ||
| 9.0.5.0.0 1 Ahau 8 Zac | ||
| 9.0.10.0.0 7 Ahau 3 Yax | ||
| 9.0.15.0.0 13 Ahau 18 Mol | ||
| #724 | ||
| 9.1.0.0.0 6 Ahau 13 Yaxkin | ||
| 9.1.5.0.0 12 Ahau 8 Xul | ||
| 9.1.10.0.0 5 Ahau 3 Zec | ||
| 9.1.15.0.0 11 Ahau 18 Zip | ||
| #728 | ||
| 9.2.0.0.0 4 Ahau 13 Uo | ||
| 9.2.5.0.0 10 Ahau 8 Pop | ||
| 9.2.10.0.0 3 Ahau 8 Cumku | ||
| 9.2.15.0.0 9 Ahau 3 Kayab | ||
| #732 | ||
| 9.3.0.0.0 2 Ahau 18 Muan | ||
| 9.3.5.0.0 8 Ahau 13 Kankin | ||
| 9.3.10.0.0 1 Ahau 8 Mac | ||
| 9.3.15.0.0 7 Ahau 3 Ceh | ||
| #736 | ||
| 9.4.0.0.0 13 Ahau 18 Yax | ||
| 9.4.5.0.0 6 Ahau 13 Ch'en | ||
| 9.4.10.0.0 12 Ahau 8 Mol | ||
| 9.4.15.0.0 5 Ahau 3 Yaxkin | ||
| #740 | ||
| 9.5.0.0.0 11 Ahau 18 Zec | ||
| 9.5.5.0.0 4 Ahau 13 Zotz | ||
| 9.5.10.0.0 10 Ahau 8 Zip | ||
| 9.5.15.0.0 3 Ahau 3 Uo | ||
| #744 | ||
| 9.6.0.0.0 9 Ahau 3 Uayeb | ||
| 9.6.5.0.0 2 Ahau 18 Kayab | ||
| 9.6.10.0.0 8 Ahau 13 Pax | ||
| 9.6.15.0.0 1 Ahau 8 Muan | ||
| #748 | ||
| 9.7.0.0.0 7 Ahau 3 Kankin | ||
| 9.7.5.0.0 13 Ahau 18 Ceh | ||
| 9.7.10.0.0 6 Ahau 13 Zac | ||
| 9.7.15.0.0 12 Ahau 8 Yax | ||
| #752 | ||
| 9.8.0.0.0 5 Ahau 3 Ch'en | ||
| 9.8.5.0.0 11 Ahau 18 Yaxkin | ||
| 9.8.10.0.0 4 Ahau 13 Xul | ||
| 9.8.15.0.0 10 Ahau 8 Zec | ||
| #756 | ||
| 9.9.0.0.0 3 Ahau 3 Zotz | ||
| 9.9.5.0.0 9 Ahau 18 Uo | ||
| 9.9.10.0.0 2 Ahau 13 Pop | ||
| 9.9.15.0.0 8 Ahau 13 Cumku | ||
| #760 | ||
| 9.10.0.0.0 1 Ahau 8 Kayab | ||
| 9.10.5.0.0 7 Ahau 3 Pax | ||
| 9.10.10.0.0 13 Ahau 18 Kankin | ||
| 9.10.15.0.0 6 Ahau 13 Mac | ||
| #764 | ||
| 9.11.0.0.0 12 Ahau 8 Ceh | ||
| 9.11.5.0.0 5 Ahau 3 Zac | ||
| 9.11.10.0.0 11 Ahau 18 Ch'en | ||
| 9.11.15.0.0 4 Ahau 13 Mol | ||
| #768 | ||
| 9.12.0.0.0 10 Ahau 8 Yaxkin | ||
| 9.12.5.0.0 3 Ahau 3 Xul | ||
| 9.12.10.0.0 9 Ahau 18 Zotz | ||
| 9.12.15.0.0 2 Ahau 13 Zip | ||
| #772 | ||
| 9.13.0.0.0 8 Ahau 8 Uo | ||
| 9.13.5.0.0 1 Ahau 3 Pop | ||
| 9.13.10.0.0 7 Ahau 3 Cumku | ||
| 9.13.15.0.0 13 Ahau 18 Pax | ||
| #776 | ||
| 9.14.0.0.0 6 Ahau 13 Muan | ||
| 9.14.5.0.0 12 Ahau 8 Kankin | ||
| 9.14.10.0.0 5 Ahau 3 Mac | ||
| 9.14.15.0.0 11 Ahau 18 Zac | ||
| #780 | ||
| 9.15.0.0.0 4 Ahau 13 Yax | ||
| 9.15.5.0.0 10 Ahau 8 Ch'en | ||
| 9.15.10.0.0 3 Ahau 3 Mol | ||
| 9.15.15.0.0 9 Ahau 18 Xul | ||
| #784 | ||
| 9.16.0.0.0 2 Ahau 13 Zec | ||
| 9.16.5.0.0 8 Ahau 8 Zotz | ||
| 9.16.10.0.0 1 Ahau 3 Zip | ||
| 9.16.15.0.0 7 Ahau 18 Pop | ||
| #788 | ||
| 9.17.0.0.0 13 Ahau 18 Cumku | ||
| 9.17.5.0.0 6 Ahau 13 Kayab | ||
| 9.17.10.0.0 12 Ahau 8 Pax | ||
| 9.17.15.0.0 5 Ahau 3 Muan | ||
| #792 | ||
| 9.18.0.0.0 11 Ahau 18 Mac | ||
| 9.18.5.0.0 4 Ahau 13 Ceh | ||
| 9.18.10.0.0 10 Ahau 8 Zac | ||
| 9.18.15.0.0 3 Ahau 3 Yax | ||
| #796 | ||
| 9.19.0.0.0 9 Ahau 18 Mol | ||
| 9.19.5.0.0 2 Ahau 13 Yaxkin | ||
| 9.19.10.0.0 8 Ahau 8 Xul | ||
| 9.19.15.0.0 1 Ahau 3 Zec | ||
| #800 | ||
| 10.0.0.0.0 7 Ahau 18 Zip | ||
| 10.0.5.0.0 13 Ahau 13 Uo | ||
| 10.0.10.0.0 6 Ahau 8 Pop | ||
| 10.0.15.0.0 12 Ahau 8 Cumku | ||
| #804 | ||
| 10.1.0.0.0 5 Ahau 3 Kayab | ||
| #1040 | ||
| 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 3 Kankin |
An obvious point to begin this discussion
appears at the 794th quarter after the zero base-day
at 9.18.10.0.0 10 Ahau 8 Zac on April 6, 743 A. D. (Julian Day
#1992534). On the day in question, the sun reached a setting azimuth
equivalent to +278*17'39" which placed it well within the
necessary limits to qualify as the orientation of the mid-line
of the window in Temple 22 at Copan. Also significant here is
the fact that vernal equinox, 20 days earlier, fell at 3 Ahau
8 Yax on March 17, 743 A. D. (Julian Day #1992514), a position
in the Maya calendar that fell exactly midway between two formal
positions in the Dresden Codex Venus table. The first came at
12 Cib 4 Yax on March 13, 743 A. D. (Julian Day #1992510) after
the addition of the 250-day interval in that Maya table in the
46th synodic period of the planet after the base-day
at 9.14.15.6.0 1 Ahau 18 Kayab (September 1, 669 A. D.). The second
position occurred 8 days later at 7 Kan 12 Yax on March 21, 743
A. D. (Julian Day #1992518). Since the Maya would have been aware
of this convergence between the Venus table, solar orientations,
and the half-Katun marker at 9.18.10.0.0, it seems reasonable
to suppose that these various aspects of their calendrical astronomy
were integrated with one another in the way Classic period astronomers
watched and recorded celestial motion. Also true here is the fact
that after every 3.5 Katuns have been counted the quarter position
falls in close proximity to the orientation markers built into
the architectural alignments at Copan. Hence, at 9.15.0.0.0 4
Ahau 13 Yax on April 8, 674 A. D. (Julian Day #1967334), the sun
reached its orientation at the window in Temple 22 at Copan two
days before the Katun-ending date at 2 Etz'nab 11 Yax on April
6, 674 A. D. with an azimuth of +278*14'06". At 9.11.10.0.0
11 Ahau 18 Ch'en (April 10, 605 A. D.-Julian Day #1942134), the
sun's orientation at the mid-line of the window in Temple 22 at
Copan occurred three days earlier at 8 Caban 15 Ch'en on April
7, 605 A. D., which clearly establishes a pattern susceptible
to prediction in the relationship between Katun quarters and solar
orientations in the Maya calendrical system. With the more precise
methodology for determining their day-names explicitly expressed
in the 15,340-day interval of the almanac, actual temporal locations
relative to the quarter-Katun markers would have been obvious.
Two other quarter-Katun positions are
directly relevant to this discussion because they were inscribed
on Stela 12 at Copan and were the only dates recorded on that
monument. The first fell at 9.10.15.0.0 6 Ahau 13 Mac on June
28, 590 A. D. (Julian Day #1936734). The second date was recorded
at 9.11.0.0.0 12 Ahau 8 Ceh on June 2, 595 A. D. (Julian Day #1938534).
This date sequence is somewhat unusual, since sequential Katun-quarters,
with no other dates before, after, or between, them, do not occur
on any other monument in the Maya area. There is a third date
associated with the Copan baseline, recorded at 9.10.19.13.0 3
Ahau 8 Yaxkin on February 22, 595 A. D. (Julian Day #1938434),
which was inscribed on Stela 10. In a general context, quarter-Katun
markers were used by the Maya to specify the day on which various
kinds of dated monuments were dedicated. Again, generally speaking,
the day of a public ritual commemorated by a monument, say the
birth, accession, or death, of a ceremonial center's ruler, was
listed in the text and was then followed by the quarter-Katun
position that comes in closest proximity to it, where that second
date specifies when the monument was dedicated. In the case of
Stela 12, 9.10.15.0.0 6 Ahau 13 Mac would have been the date of
the public ritual and 9.11.0.0.0 12 Ahau 8 Ceh would have functioned
as the date the monument was dedicated. The problem with that
interpretation, however, is that no indication exists in the text
to suggest that 6 Ahau 13 Mac was meant to mark a public ritual
associated with the ruling dynasty at Copan. The date on Stela
10, 3 Ahau 8 Yaxkin, does not seem to be the day of a public ritual
either and there is no period ending date at a quarter-Katun position
recorded on it at the same time, which might suggest that the
period ending date for Stela 10 was the same as the one for Stela
12 at 9.11.0.0.0 12 Ahau 8 Ceh. Since these two stelae mark the
setting orientation of the sun when it also crosses the central
axis line of the window in Temple 22, it seems reasonable to suppose
that these dates somehow commemorate an important solar passage
in the history of Copan. Another observation that must be made
here is that these dates cannot specify the first time in Maya
history that these orientations were employed to mark the 20-day
intervals associated with vernal and autumnal equinoxes, window
orientations, and solar zenith passages, because the orientations
themselves had to be known prior to the establishment of the architectural
monuments that mark them.
Given the fact that these two quarter-Katun dates may mark the dedication dates of Stelae 10 and 12 at Copan, on the one hand, it is also important to note that both position fall in close proximity to summer solstice, on the other, where the first one (6 Ahau 13 Mac) occurs eight days after it on June 28, 590 A. D., while the second one (12 Ahau 8 Ceh) falls 18 days before it on June 2, 595 A. D. This may be significant because summer solstice always marks the mid-point in the sun's transition between vernal and autumnal equinox, where the baseline between the two stelae always mark the 20-day intervals that form the ground on which Maya calendrical conceptualizations were based. This rather benign observation can be said to conceal a much more significant reality in the short-term history of Maya calendrical science in as much as the Katun-ending position at 9.11.0.0.0 foreshadows its own third quarter marker, at 9.11.15.0.0 4 Ahau 13 Mol on March 15, 610 A. D. (Julian Day #1943934), which also designates a position exactly 1 Katun (20 x 360 = 7,200 days) after the other date on Stela 12 at 9.10.15.0.0 6 Ahau 13 Mac. The reason this matters is that the LC notation for 4 Ahau 13 Mol (9.11.15.0.0) counts exactly 1,380,600 days after the zero base-day at 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumku. This interval, of course, is a multiple of 260 days because both positions are marked by 4 Ahau in the almanac's day-name sequence. In fact, this interval is equivalent to 90 x 59 x 260 days exactly. Since 90 is also a multiple of 6 (6 x 15 = 90), the day of vernal equinox in closest proximity to 9.11.15.0.0 must necessarily fall exactly 15 days after the almanac day-name that marked that same position in closest proximity to the zero base-day itself. In fact, vernal equinox in 610 A. D. fell on March 18, when the sun reached +00*00'01" of declination one minute and thirty-nine seconds after sunrise (06:12:00) on that day. In Maya notation that day was designated at 9.11.15.0.3 7 Akbal 16 Mol. Fifteen days earlier, the count reached 9.11.14.17.8 5 Lamat 1 Mol on March 3, 610 A. D. (Julian Day #1943922). This position, of course, is 12 days prior to the Katun-quarter at 9.11.15.0.0 4 Ahau 13 Mol. As noted earlier, vernal equinox, 12 days prior to the zero base-day, fell at 12.19.19.17.8 5 Lamat 16 Kayab on April 17, 3171 B. C. (Julian Day #563322). The point to be taken here is not that Maya prediction technology is more or less accurate over long periods of time but rather that certain kinds of calendrical structures inherent in their system are as close to absolutely precise as anything can possibly be. Given the fact that the sun crossed the celestial equator one minute and thirty-nine seconds after it rose across the eastern horizon at Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico, on March 18, 610 A. D., 1,380,600 days after the zero base-day of their calendar, certainly suggests, if not absolutely confirms, precisely how they were able to fix the position, relative to the Julian Day List, that initiated the Classic period Long Count notation so that this configuration would appear in the due course of the count of the days. Palenque matters in this context because 9.11.14.17.8 5 Lamat 1 Mol is the Calendar Round anniversary of the accession of its most notable ruler-Pacal II, who acceded to Palenque's throne at 9.9.2.4.8 5 Lamat 1 Mol on March 16, 558 A. D. (Julian Day #1924942), exactly 18,980 + 12 days prior to the Katun-quarter at 9.11.15.0.0 4 Ahau 13 Mol. To say that Pacal II anticipated this astronomical structure in his choice of the day for his accession ritual is to say simply that Maya astronomers were aware of the full implications of their own calendrical system. We, on the other hand, at the start of the 21st Century, mere children in comparison to any Maya astronomer, are just beginning to comprehend what that system envisions and what it is able to express over the long course of its use during the Classic period.