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The " Pyramid of the Moon " at Teotihuacán , the situation of an ancient city near modern - solar day Mexico City , is aligned with the sun on the summertime and winter solstices , a research team in Mexico say . However , not all expert check with the assessment .
Teotihuacánflourished between roughly 100 B.C. to A.D. 800 and had a population of around 100,000 people . The " Pyramid of the Moon " was built in stage between around A.D. 1 and 350 and is locate at the close of the " Causeway of the Dead , " a long street that runs through the center of the urban center .
The Pyramid of the Moon with the El Xihuingo volcano in the distance on the summer solstice.
The squad took a large number of measurements , including data from trailer flights , to break that the northeast corner of the Pyramid of the Moon aligns with the sun when it rises over the El Xihuingo vent on thesummer solstice , which occurs between June 20 and 21 each year in the Northern Hemisphere , Mexico ’s National Institute of Anthropology and History ( INAH ) tell in a Spanish - languagestatement . The researchers also found that the southwest street corner of the Great Pyramid aligns with the sun as it coiffure behind a hill during thewinter solstice , which take place between Dec. 21 and 22 each year .
The summer - solstice alliance involve the vent is in particular interesting , the squad say , as there is evidence that the people of Teotihuacán used the volcano as an astronomic lookout of sorts .
" On the slopes of the El Xihuingo volcano is the Xihuingo archeological site , a situation where petroglyphs known as specked crosses were created [ and ] whose affair has been proposed as astronomic markers , " Aarón González Benítez , an archaeoastronomer at the National School of Anthropology and History in Mexico and a phallus of the enquiry team , evidence Live Science in an electronic mail .
The Pyramid of the Moon was built between A.D. 1 and 350.(Image credit: Mauricio Marat, INAH)
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The pyramid ’s coalition with the solstice sun appear to have affected the orientation of the entire urban center . " The urban center of Teotihuacan tolerate out among other things for its magnificent reticular design , and if the solar orientation of the Pyramid of the Moon determined the orientation of the city , the other monuments that are parallel to this slap-up building would be following and repeat the same canonical orientation , " González Benítez said .
Sun or moon?
It may sound unusual that a structure called the " Pyramid of the Moon " would instead follow the solstice sun . But González Benítez mention that the name was given by the Mexica people , who founded theAztec Empire , and they did n’t name the pyramid until sometime after the city was vacate . We do n’t actually know what the inhabitants of Teotihuacán would have called the body structure , he said .
Interestingly , there is another pyramid at Teotihuacán called the " Pyramid of the Sun , " but the team ’s research suggests that the northeasterly and southwest corners of that pyramid really align with the " lunistices " ( also know aslunar standstills ) , a fourth dimension when the moon appears at its highest or lowest points in the sky .
Some of the team ’s event also turn up in previous enquiry , Steven Gullberg , a prof of cultural uranology at the University of Oklahoma , told Live Science . " I do n’t discord with the orientations that they found , and this will make for an interesting debate among those who specialize in the uranology of this area . I look forward to see their opinions . "
The city of Teotihuacán existed from roughly 100 B.C. to A.D. 800.(Image credit: Enrique Aguilar and Arturo Montero)
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A bird’s-eye view of Teotihuacán and its central avenue, known as the Causeway of the Dead.(Image credit: Arturo Montero)
Ivan Sprajc , head of the Institute of Anthropological and Spatial Studies at the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts , said it is hard to trust that the city was build with a solstice alignment involve the Pyramid of the Moon in mind . He noted that the Pyramid of the Moon was modified during its building and its earliest phase had a dissimilar orientation than it does today .
The team , which include project coordinator and principal researcherIsmael Arturo Montero García , is writing a volume that will include the resultant role of their research . Additionally , they have release adocumentary on their findings .
An overhead view of the Pyramid of the Moon. The red line indicates the directions in which the sun rises and sets for each solstice.(Image credit: INAH)
When the the Aztecs came across the ancient city, they named its different structures, including the Pyramid of the Moon.(Image credit: Mauricio Marat, INAH)
