Am. Philosophical Society
Astronomy in the Maya codices.
Harvey M. Bricker and Victoria R. Bricker are both emeritus professors of anthropology at Tulane U. and are also affiliated with the Florida Museum of Natural History at the U. of Florida. They have spent several decades studying the Maya codices and here provide an authoritative reference (it's hefty — measuring 19.5x12.5 inches) fully detailing what is known. They cover astronomical concepts and terminology, calendrical cycles and their notations, the correlation of Maya and western calendars, deities and ceremonies, the natural environment and agriculture, Venus and Mercury, eclipses, Mars, seasons, and stars. The appendices offer discussion of the question of Jupiter and Saturn, and a concordance between the terminology used in this book for instruments in the Dresden Codex and the Gates-Thompson terminology. This is an indispensable reference for scholars of the Precolumbian Maya and related fields. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
