402 
Magician is 9°17’ north of west ac- 
cording to readings I made in 1947 
with the assistance of Lorenzo Salas 
Canto and Antonio Canto Lopez, 
respectively astronomer of the Univer- 
sity of the Southeast and director of 
the Museum of the State of Yucatan. 
The Astronomical Base Line at Copan 
was read as 9°14’ by George Byron 
Gordon on an expedition sent out by 
Harvard University 50 years ago. That 
Maya year dial was intended to fix 
the ceremonial beginning of the Maya 
agricultural year as the “reciprocal” 
of Maya zero: that is, the line points 
to sunset on April 13 and to sunrise 
on October 15. Two other dates are 
also reached by the two-way observa- 
tions, namely, August 30 and Febru- 
ary 28, more or less. The August 
date presumably fixed the planting of 
a second maize crop. 
The year-dial method of the Maya 
has many advantages over the Euro- 
pean method of intercalating extra 
days in the calendar: it can be applied 
from any doorstep or fixed place of 
observation simply by marking the 
point of sunrise or sunset, as the case 
may be. With minor adjustments 
two-way observations give four dates 
with sunrise or sunset approximately 
the same angular distance north or 
south of the east and west line of the 
equinoxes. 
Solar conditions in A. D. 1208 when 
the Maya year began on the anni- 
versary of Maya zero were checked 
for me by Charles A. Muses. The 
death of Quetzalcoatl, or his ritual 
suicide, occurred as Venus disap- 
peared on April 5 (really the evening 
of April 4 since the Maya day begins 
at sunset) and his apotheosis as God 
of Venus 8 days later when the planet 
made its first appearance as the 
Morningstar on April 13. 
The Temple of the Magician virtu- 
ally buries an original temple of the 
twelfth century under memorial struc- 
tures. The so-called Annex at the 
head of a fine stairway has an ornate 
ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1948 
facade rich with symbolic designs and 
emphasis on the 8-day visit of the cul- 
ture hero to the underworld. The 
apotheosized ruler is supported over 
two naked figures who have the typical 
ear ornaments of Quetzalcoatl as 
identifying adornment. This tableau 
is in the center of a Venus mask. 
At Chichen Itza the eastern facade 
of the Nunnery again pictures this 
ruler raised to the skies. A band of 
zodiacal symbols shows Venus in con- 
junction with star groups. 
The Snail at Chichen Itza is an 
architectual conventionalization of a 
sea snail shell. One deciphered date 
on this facade is April 4, 1280, the 
seventy-second anniversary of Quet- 
zalcoatl’s death. An inscribed stela in 
the stairway has Venus calculations 
which reach back to the First Empire. 
Baktun 10 is recorded when Venus 
and the Sun were in conjunction, and 
other dates which Morley has deci- 
phered and I have transcribed. 
Quetzalcoatl established the Toltec 
era on August 6, 1168, exact restate- 
ment of Baktun 7, the Maya Era of 
History. It seems he reconstructed 
the Maya plan for the duration of the 
universe, reducing baktun to 52-year 
calendar rounds. An inscribed tablet 
found by Edward H. Thompson at 
Chichen Itza concerns the New Year 
at the time of Quetzalcoatl’s death. 
This New Year is the anniversary of 
Maya zero. A_ second _ statement 
appears on the rings of the Ball Court 
at Uxmal. Perhaps Quetzalcoatl’s 
estimate of the length of the tropical 
year was a bit too long. It agrees, 
however, with dates inscribed at 
Copan on monuments associated with 
the Base Line. 
The data on Quetzalcoatl in Mixtec 
codices covers more than 90 dates 
which connect Quetzalcoatl with 
Venus phenomena. In closing I ap- 
pend a statement of important dates 
in the life of this great American 
astronomer who brought to life the 
art and science of the early Maya. 
