THE ORIENTATION OF MAYAN CEREMONIAL CENTERS.

Numerous Maya ceremonial centers afford the geographer a rich opportunity to investigate man-land relationships in Meso-America. This study concerns the problem of site and building orientation. Most dements of the physical environment appear to play a minor role in site layout, and astronomical and cultural factors account for only some orientations. None of these reasons explains why the Maya shifted building alignments from time to time and often simultaneously at widely separated locations. The alternation of structural positioning through time indicates a moving reference point. and the tantalizing possibility that the Maya had a method for determining magnetic north is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]