Dartmouth Events

ICE Special Seminar: Ancient Maya Numbers and the Measure of Time

Presented by Anthony Aveni, Colgate University, Fellow at the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement at Dartmouth (ICE).

Tuesday, October 24, 2017
3:00pm – 4:00pm
Wilder Hall, Room 111
Intended Audience(s): Public
Categories: Lectures & Seminars

Now that their books have finally been largely deciphered, we know that elites in this high culture, which flourished in Mexico and Central America during the first millennium, were obsessed with numeration and astronomy. Though the fruits of their labor were largely motivated by religious concerns, scientific attitudes, such as the quest for predictability and precision, are evident in the written record. And their way of quantitatively expressing celestial order bears a startling likeness to what we find in the Western tradition coming out of the Classical world.

Anthony F. Aveni is the Russell Colgate Distinguished University Professor of Astronomy, Anthropology and Native American Studies, serving appointments in both the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Colgate University, where he has taught since 1963. He 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. He is a lecturer, speaker, and editor/author of three dozen books on ancient astronomy. He has also lectured on astronomy related subjects on the Cunard & Crystal cruise lines.

http://ice.dartmouth.edu/fellows-program/anthony-aveni.

For more information, contact:
Amy Flockton

Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.