An Unexplored Realm in the Heartland of the Southern Gulf ... - Famsi

north) and is designated Alignment A. This alignment corresponds to the sunrise azimuth
on May 22, 1000 BC, the day of the Sun’s zenith passage over El Marquesillo. At noon
on this date, the Sun would have been at 90 degrees 12 minutes above the southern
horizon and 89 degrees 48 minutes above the northern horizon (12 minutes away from
vertical) and momentarily would cast no shadow (see Isbell 1982). Because El
Marquesillo lies within the Tropic of Cancer, a second zenith passage occurred as the
sun’s path returns to the south following the Summer Solstice. This second zenith
passage occurred about 82 days later around August 13. Alignment A appears to coincide
with zenith passage at El Marquesillo. It may be possible that these solar events held a
practical and possibly an ideological purpose for inhabitants of the Southern Gulf
Lowlands.
The May zenith passage signals the coming of the rainy season and expectations
of annual inundations of the alluvial river levees and flood plains. Ethnographic accounts
from the Maya region indicate the zenith passage not only signals the beginning of their
Haab, or 365 day solar calendar, but it was instrumental in the origin of the Mesoamerica
calendar (Aveni 1980:144). The second event, in August, could have signaled a second
phase of rains along with winds. Ethnographic accounts indicate that throughout
Mesoamerica the zenith passage held celestial and cosmological significance for
numerous social groups (see Aveni 1980: 40-47). In addition to the ancient and
contemporary observance of the zenith passage, Krupp (1983: 181, 275-276) illustrates
that, “[t]he zenith is one of the organizing principles of the Andean world, and it
establishes the character of sacred space.” It could have served a similar purpose for the
inhabitants of El Marquesillo as well. “Many Mesoamerican peoples saw in the ball game
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