The literally fantastic accuracy of the Antikythera mechanism, indicating a very advanced astronomical knowledge, has an analogue on the other side of the planet. True, here this knowledge is not embodied in any concrete and tangible devices and mechanisms. In this case, we are talking about the astronomical knowledge of the Indians of Mesoamerica, equally fantastic in accuracy, which is reflected both in the inscriptions on the steles and in the famous Mayan codes, and which have long come to the attention of researchers.
“… the Maya were extremely concerned about the fact that the period of the moon was not an integer. In the inscriptions referring to the "introductory series", the date is usually followed by the so-called "lunar sequences", which contain up to 8 hieroglyphs associated with the cycles of this celestial body. One of these records indicates that the lunar month was considered to be equal to 29 or 30 days, while another record speaks of the age of the moon, the appearance of which in the heavens was associated with a certain date of the "long count".
Maya … tried to find a way to bring their lunar calendar in accordance with the solar calendar … In 682 AD, the priests of Copan began to calculate according to the formula: 149 lunar months = 4400 days. Some time later, this system began to be used in all Mayan cultural centers …
Of great interest to both Mayan specialists and astronomers are the eclipse tables, which can be found on several pages of the Dresden Codex. They indicate that the Maya had a cycle of 405 lunar months, or 11960 days, which approximately corresponds to 46x260 days. This formula was extremely important to the Maya, because, using such an equation, it was possible to coordinate the movement of this celestial body with the time of their most frightening rituals. Already by the middle of the VIII century AD, and possibly even earlier, the ancient Maya knew that lunar and solar eclipses can occur only in an interval starting 18 days in advance, continuing 18 more days from the so-called nodal point, that is, a point, in which the Moon, in its apparent motion across the sky, crosses the line of the Sun's apparent motion. Eclipse tables provide indications of such nodal moments - periods when there was a possibility of eclipses. Apparently, the Maya knew that the period of the nodal points was gradually shifting, or at least over time there were changes in it”(Michael Ko,“Maya. A Lost Civilization: Legends and Facts”).
A small correction: either M. Co was mistaken, or the translator was careless, but 11960 days does not "correspond approximately", but is exactly 46x260 days …
According to modern astronomical measurements, the so-called synodic month, that is, the period of the complete change of the phases of the moon, is equal to 29.5305882 days (or "days"). From the ratio recorded on the stele in Copan, the length of the synodic month is 4400/149 = 29.5302013 days, which differs from the currently accepted value by only 0.00131 percent. The error is just over a second!.. The accuracy is really fantastic!..
However, the data of the "Dresden Code" turns out to be even more accurate, since they give a value of 11960/405 = 29.5308642. Here the error is already less than a second and is only 0.00093 percent!.. There is simply nowhere more fantastic and more precise!..
The length of the synodic month is especially interesting in that it sets the frequency of lunar and solar eclipses, which not only made a strong impression on ancient people, but continue to attract close attention to themselves today. So it is not surprising that a lot of space is devoted to tables of the motion of the moon in the "Dresden Code" - pages 30-37.
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It is believed that the Indians knew the reasons for the eclipses.
“That which covers the Sun is the Moon, which comes, attracted by the Sun, towards it and covers it with itself. It moves along a line to the north, increasing, and then they merge into a single whole - both the Sun and the Moon close each other. All this is described in this way so that the Mayan people could understand what happens to the Sun and the Moon … It is not true that it is "bitten". This is due to the fact that the Moon rises between the Sun and the Earth "(" The Book of Genesis, Books of Chilam Balam ").
Curiously, why did it need to point out that no one bites the Sun? Of the Dresden Code , dedicated to the Moon, serpentine images are not at all uncommon …
But back to Michael Ko.
“Speaking about the section of Mayan astronomy related to the observation and calculation of the motion of the planets, we can only say with full confidence that the Maya were calculating the motion of the planet Venus. Unlike the Greeks of the Homeric era, they knew that the evening and morning stars were the same celestial body. The synodic cycle of Venus was considered by the Mayans to be 584 days. According to modern calculations, it is 583.92 days, that is, the Mayan astronomers calculated this figure quite accurately. This Mayan cycle was divided into four periods: the period when Venus appeared in the sky as the morning star, the disappearance of the planet in the upper conjunction, the appearance of Venus as the evening star and its disappearance in the lower conjunction. Five cycles of the synodic motion of Venus corresponded to 8 years of the solar cycle of the "fuzzy year" 5x584 = 8x365 = 2920 days. Table of the motion of Venus,calculated in 8-year cycles can be found in the "Dresden Code" "(Michael Ko," Maya. A Lost Civilization: Legends and Facts ").
Several pages are devoted to Venus in the "Dresden Codex" - from 24th to 29th. And here the accuracy of the ratio for calculations is also fantastic: the error is 0.0137% - less than one and a half hundredths of a percent!..
The text about Venus is the Codex Dresden (pages 27-28).
Where did such amazing accuracy come from?..
The first and quite logical thought: such accurate astronomical data is the result of long-term astronomical observations. Yes, it cannot be otherwise, because by chance you cannot guess like that and you cannot measure it at once.
Naturally, historians do not doubt that the Indians of Mesoamerica watched the sky for a very long time, as a result of which they achieved such fantastic results. Historians are echoed by many "alternatives" …
However, any activity must leave traces behind. Especially long-term activities. And if so, if the Indians were engaged in astronomical observations, then there must be some evidence of these observations.
One often encounters such an "argument": they say, astronomical knowledge itself is already evidence and even proof of astronomical observations. In general, I am ready to agree - yes, of course. But whose observations ?!
After all, many do not even ask such a question, by default implying that the Indians of Mesoamerica are the authors of astronomical knowledge. Is it possible that only some people use the knowledge, while the authors of this knowledge are completely different?.. Not at all. For example, gunpowder became widespread in Europe, and was invented in China. For the mass of Russians, potatoes are one of the staple foods, but their homeland is in America … So knowledge itself is no longer an “argument”. Other evidence of astronomical observations and measurements of the Indians is needed.
The Pyramids of Mesoamerica are often referred to as such "evidence". Say, they served the Mayan priests in order to observe the sky.
From a point raised above the surrounding terrain, of course, it is more convenient to observe the sky - the jungle around does not interfere. However, for this it is not at all necessary to pile up the pyramid. And following a similar logic, one could say that all artificial structures in the world, rising above the surrounding area, for example, Scythian burial mounds or the Great Wall of China, served for astronomical observations …
In fact, it is quite obvious that the very fact of the existence of the pyramids in no way indicates their any functional connection with astronomical observations. What, however, is evidenced by the fact that none of the Egyptologists even tries to assert that the Egyptian priests allegedly climbed the pyramids to keep track of the stars and planets …
Sometimes, as an additional "argument", historians dealing with Mesoamerica cite a statement about some connection between the pyramids themselves and their details with astronomical knowledge. For example, at the famous pyramid in Chichen Itza, the stairs on the four sides have ninety-one steps, which in total with the upper platform gives 91x4 + 1 = 365 the number of full days a year.
The pyramid at Chichen Itza.
Similar relationships with calendar cycles seem to be traced in some other structures of Mesoamerica. There was even a popular expression - they say, "Mayan architecture is a calendar frozen in stone" …
There is no doubt: a beautiful and poetic metaphor …
But what does astronomical observations have to do with it ?!
There is only a fixation in the stone of some astronomical knowledge - that's all. The process of observing the sky itself is not recorded!..
And if the Maya somehow managed to add another 0.242 steps to the pyramid in Chichen Itza to the exact value of the length of the year (in accordance with their knowledge of this value), and this would not change anything - after all, I repeat, the presence of knowledge in itself is still says nothing about its source …
In Chichen Itza there is a structure called Caracol, which almost all authors of books on the history of Mesoamerica associate with astronomical observations and which is often even called the Observatory accordingly. It is a low round tower located on a rectangular dais and once, possibly, had a hemispherical top. In terms of its external forms, this structure really strongly resembles a modern observatory, so the overwhelming majority of ordinary tourists and even rather meticulous researchers easily accept the version of the observatory, in which the Mayan priests allegedly conducted their observations of the sky.
What is not the sought-after "proof"?..
Karakol.
However, appearance is sometimes very deceiving. If you get closer, you can see the details of the structure of the "dome" of Karakol, more precisely: the hemispherical part of the structure - where it collapsed, as a result of which it became possible to see it as if "in section". In the gap, one can see the pointed Maya vaults over narrow passages with an absolutely blank outer wall!..
I think hardly anyone, including the Maya, would be able to watch the stars through blank walls.
The spherical dome of the modern observatory is also impenetrable. But after all, he has the ability to move apart if necessary, opening up access to the desired part of the firmament for review. Could the stone masonry of Karakol be moved apart in the same way?.. Obviously not.
In the upper tier of Karakol there are either windows or openings for access to an open area. But they don't change much. There were obviously only a few of them. And they obviously do not possess any sighting features necessary for any accurate observations …
In general, it can be stated that Karakol is a structure that only in its form vaguely resembles a real observatory. In reality, it is simply impossible to observe anything from this "Observatory" (especially in the firmament). And it is quite obvious that it has nothing to do with astronomical measurements. The name only misleads the uninitiated and is given by the closest association.
And if you look closely at Karakol, then much more similarity can be found with some Christian temple or even just a chapel. In them, too, an almost hemispherical dome is often crowned with a round (more precisely, cylindrical) "turret". But no one would think of calling a Christian temple an observatory …
Dome of Karakol.
In other ancient structures of Mesoamerica the same picture - there are absolutely no architectural structures that would be intended for any advanced astronomical observations, or at least indirectly indicate the conduct of such observations.
Furthermore. There is nothing in Mesoamerica that resembles a chronometer or a clock, which is indispensable in astronomy - after all, a simple glance into the sky does nothing. Even in order to record any astronomical phenomena by the number of whole days, and not by their fractional values, you need to be sure that measurements or observations are carried out exactly at the right moment of the day, and not, say, an hour earlier or half an hour later. And how can this be ensured in the absence of any devices for recording the course of time?!.. It is simply impossible.
There are no instruments in Mesoamerica for astronomical observations. Even the simplest. No plumb lines, no corners, no sights …
And I think this is not at all because such items just did not accidentally hit the shelves of museums and in the available descriptions of archaeological finds. With the long-established developed astronomical knowledge, archaeologists and historians would clearly not have hesitated to trumpet all over the world about the discovery of instruments for astronomical observations. But nothing like that happens. And this suggests that such tools have not been found in principle!..
And how can you fix any phenomena in the firmament without instruments?.. Not at all.
And finally, in Mesoamerica there are absolutely no records or mentions of astronomical observations and measurements as such. As there are no written texts not with the final results in the form of tables, but with an intermediate fixation of astronomical phenomena. How, then, could the current results of observations be transmitted not only from generation to generation, but from one day to the next?.. How was it possible to obtain the final result in general without fixing the initial and final data on the motion of any celestial body anywhere?!.. It's basically impossible!..
And we get a very serious paradox: there are no astronomical observations, but astronomical knowledge itself is. There is a result, but there are no traces or even the possibility of obtaining this result independently. There are all the signs of knowledge given from the outside and immediately ready-made.
However, the Indians never denied this. They did not try to appropriate the merit of developing this knowledge - the calendar, writing, and astronomical knowledge, according to the testimony of the Indians themselves, were given to them by some gods …
But what is the general use of astronomical tables for Indians who are far from the tasks of practical exploration of outer space?.. After all, the tables of the "Dresden Code" make it possible to calculate the motion of planets located hundreds of thousands and millions of kilometers from the Earth …
The point is that they make it possible to know future (!) Astronomical events. This was exactly what was of interest to the Indians - the opportunity to know the future!..
Over time, the initial meaning of knowledge received from someone from outside was lost, “the future for the planets” became “the future of man himself,” and astronomical knowledge turned into astrological …
But here we have already gone somewhat away from the main line of the book. Let's go back to more material things than just knowledge …
A. Sklyarov