Chichen Itza (One of the wonders of the world!)

Michael is giving the kids a lesson on astronomy!

Chichen Itza is one of the wonders of the world, but because of its high traffic they no longer let you climb the ruins - this was a real disappointment for us.  This site reached their peak about 600a.d.  The Mayans are known for their calendar and study of astronomy.  They created highly accurate calendars based on astronomical observation. Recently much has been made about the Mayan long calendar because it presumably ends on Dec 21st 2012. The truth is that these calendars were designed in such a way that they could be extended either into the future or the past. A variety of new age religions (and hollywood) are using this end-date as just another way to predict the end of the world or some other significant event. 

Significant astronomical observations and understanding by the Mayans and their predecessors, however, is obvious. In the first picture above the kids are standing in front of a famous pyramid called El Castillo. This pyramid is built in such a way that twice a year - on the summer and winter equinoxes (when the sun is highest and lowest in the sky) the sun shines through the corners of the pyramid on to the walls of the protruding staircase and creates 7 isosceles triangles (triangles where the two legs are the same size) leading down to the snake heads at the bottom of the staircase. The intended illusion is to create from a mixture of light, shadow and physical rock an undulating snake body coming down the stairs and ending with the carven rock head.

Can you even imagine - not just the understanding of astronomy and the regular (short and long term) movements of the heavens - but also the architectural competency to build a pyramid a thousand years ago that produced such exact lighting - only twice a year! This is a feat that I think would be difficult today. What a neat place to see and share with our kids.