By Natalie Taylor
The first thing that captivates you when you meet Dr. Rossana Quiroz Ennis is her smile—it is charming and welcoming. The second is her passion and love for the work she does—the study of pre-Hispanic astronomy, in particular at the Cañada de la Virgen archaeological site, outside San Miguel de Allende.
She received a degree in archeology from the National School of Anthropology and History in Mexico City, then continued with a masters in visual anthropology, followed by a PhD in cultural astronomy, both at UNAM in Mexico City.
I asked Rossana: What exactly is cultural astronomy? She explained that Western science has a bias for telling the story of humanity in a linear manner, with the progress of ideas moving from the ancient Near East, through Greek and Roman civilizations, then Europe, and finally ending in American technology. This perspective ignores scientific developments elsewhere in the world such as those in the Far East, but particularly Mesoamerican contributions.
Rossana’s studies at the pyramids tell an astounding story. While Europe fumbled through the Middle-Ages, the builders of the Cañada de la Virgen—right here outside our city—were thriving in a society dedicated to the stars.
After years photographing the alignment of the moon, sun, and other celestial bodies in relation to the structures at the Cañada de la Virgen, she discovered some striking facts about those societies. Using the alignment of the main pyramid with the paths of the sun and moon, and charting those celestial courses, they could accurately predict solar and lunar eclipses.
Almost nine centuries later, days before the April 22, 1715 eclipse, British astronomer Edmund Halley published his prediction of the event using scientific calculations he had established. But Mesoamericans had been making such predictions much longer, a testament to the observational achievements of the cultures on the American continent.
On March 25, 2024, a very particular moon appeared in the sky: an eclipse moon. As Rossana observed this, her thoughts turned back to a moment almost twenty years before when she “stopped looking at the ground and looked up.” She was standing at the entrance of the sunken patio of the Cañada de la Virgen site when she spotted the full moon in alignment with the pyramidal base. Above the moon there was a brilliant celestial body, Jupiter. “The scene was so special that I took my camera and made the shot,” Rossana recounts. That moment also made her aware that “the monumental architecture of Mesoamerica made all the sense in the world.”
This was the hook that has kept her in San Miguel ever since. The previous year she had begun taking part in excavations on the site and did so for many years. She loves the visual part of archeology; how archaeologists record everything they excavate, reading the relationships between things that “rest in space.” She especially loves to “go out into the field and be the character of my own adventures.” Then she adds: “My boss is archaeology and my boss is heritage.”
What Rossana uncovered as she studied the ancient civilizations, melding astronomy and archeology, was that the calendar of pre-Hispanic peoples was very sophisticated. It functioned differently from a Western-European model. Instead of the 12 month calendar of 30 days, the pre-Hispanic calendar was composed of 18 months of 20 days.
The time was not defined by “seasons” as it is in the European model, but of periods marked by rainy and dry times, and many subtle times in between, indicating tasks to be done: hunting, planting, gathering, and so on. She described it as: “How nature expresses itself as a living creature.”
Rossana was fascinated by the structures at the Cañada, but had a differed approach to their significance. Most characterize these buildings as ceremonial, but she questions this interpretation because it appears to her that there must have been another motivation for creating such massive constructs. Perhaps there was another function to these buildings, a function that has not yet been uncovered.
How do you find the evidence? I asked. She said she approaches all archeological excavation the same way: “You start with knowledge, and many questions,” she says. And the questioning continues throughout.
To highlight all these findings, Rossana founded the Museum of Pre-Hispanic Astronomy. The museum contained related photos and materials, and offered a wonderful visual path for understanding the pyramids and the cultures that created it. Unfortunately because of Covid, the museum had to be closed, and is now only available online where information continues to be collected and promulgated. Rossana is hopeful that the museum may eventually reopen in physical form as it was in the past.
If you want more information, visit: www.lunativa.com.mx
Comments