Astronomical History of the Mayan Indians of Ancient Mexico

Dr. Anthony F. Aveni is a Professor of Astronomy and Anthropology at Colgate University and editor/author of over two dozen books on ancient astronomy. He is considered one of the founders of Mesoamerican archaeoastronomy, in particular for his research in the astronomical history of the Maya Indians of ancient Mexico.

Anthony F. Aveni is the Russell B. Colgate Professor of Astronomy and Anthropology, serving appointments in both Departments of Physics and Astronomy and Sociology and Anthropology at Colgate University, where he has taught since 1963. Dr. Aveni helped develop the field of archaeoastronomy and now is considered one of the founders of Mesoamerican archaeoastronomy, in particular for his research in the astronomical history of the Maya Indians of ancient Mexico. Dr. Aveni is a lecturer, speaker, and editor/author of over two dozen books on ancient astronomy.

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[Heather Warren, hrw1@geneseo.edu, 10/5]

This lecture was just so amazing I barely know where to begin!!  I thought that Dr. Aveni was just awesome!  He was funny, attentive, instructive, and presented his information honestly and understandably.  I liked how he started his lecture by showing how the Europeans first viewed the Maya by using images from an old book of the time period.  It was very interesting and intuitive.  I also like how he gave a bit of the history of the Maya as a background to those who may not have known anything about the Maya.  I also liked how he chose one particular astronomical aspect of the Maya to follow and show us how it was viewed and used in the Maya culture, Venus.  The information he gave on this subject was amazing and detailed.  He even gave a brief description of how symbols are used in Maya hieroglyphs which I feel will be very useful in my Maya Hieroglyphs directed study.  He also described the hand-in-hand relationship between astronomy and divination as the Maya saw astronomy and described some of the means of which the Maya viewed the stars (monuments and crossed sticks to name a few).  I was especially excited when he showed some pictures of monuments and sites that I have actually been too.  Overall I think that this lecture is one of the best and most enjoyable that I have been to! 

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