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M. Nicolás Caretta and Achim Lelgemann Cross Circles A case of Northern Mexico Ironically, this volume serves more to commemorate our ignorance of “Native American Astronomy” than it does to provide any substantive additions to our knowledge of it…”. (Anthony Aveni, Native American Astronomy, 1977: xvii). The archeology of northern Mexico has 2010) in Michoacán, Teotihuacán, Uaxactún revealed several peculiarities of the prehis- (Smith 1950), among others. However, the panic societies that occupied that region most famous pecked cross-circles in the are- for a long time. As compared to groups chaeoastronomical literature are the ones in Nuclear Mesoamerica, these are very in Teotihuacán, Uaxactún and Alta Vista, significant differences. It has been proven Zacatecas (Kelley and Kelley 2000). that the northern region was, by no means, In most of the cases they were carved an insurmountable desert, and that the into rock and only very few crosses were societies dwelling there were part of a very engraved on floors or buildings.2 Aveni and complex interaction system from very early Hartung (1985:6) have reported 14 crosses times in their Pre-Columbian History (Foster carved into floors; three of them in Uax- and Gorestein 2000). actún, Group A, and 11 in Teotihuacán (Ser- One of the identified characteristics of gio Gómez, personal communication, 2009). the region is its “rock art” (petroglyphs and The pecked cross-circles usually consist paintings), which was usually attributed of two concentric circles with a radiating (not exclusively though) to bands of hunter- cross dividing the circle into four quadrants. gatherers; their interaction with other However, there are pecked cross circles groups is clearly seen in the archeological formed by one, two or even three concen- evidence through the pecked cross circles1. tric circles. Sometimes circles and squares These representations owe their name can be part of the same design; and at least to their cruciform design that is traced in one case the cross can be a Maltese cross through a series of dots drilled or pecked (Aveni, Hartung and Buckingham 1978; on rocks or stucco. They are about 2 cen- Aveni, Hartung and Kelley 1982; Aveni y timeters in diameter and they are placed at Hartung 1985; Kelley and Kelley 2000). Con- 3-4 centimeters intervals, measured at the sidering all occurrences we can say it is not center of each point; however, this is not a common that the pecked cross circles have standard measure. more than two circles; and it is even less The pecked cross-circles are found in common that the circles are substituted by several sites, from northern Mexico to squares (Aveni 1980: 228).3 Guatemala, such as: Cerro Chapín (Aveni Aveni and Hartung (1985: 5) have classi- et. al. 1982: 326-335; Gamio 1910: 477), fied the pointed crosses into three catego- Tuitlan near Durango (Aveni et. al. 1982: ries and their respective differences. These 329), Purépero (Aveni and Hartung 1985) categories are based on the number and and Chiringüicharo (Nicolau and Cárdenas shape of the pointed lines, as well as the 60 Adoranten 2012 place where they are found. They proposed out. Aveni and Hartung have given some the following classification: examples and have also studied in-depth the calendar hypothesis (1985:6), the expla- • Category 1(a): a simple, double or triple nation as architectural reference points and circle with a cross, pecked on the floor the possibilities of astronomical orientation of a building. (1985: 8) as well as the board game theory • Category 1(b): a simple, double or triple (1985:11). circle with a cross, pecked on a rock. The most important interpretations and • Category 1(c): a triple and dotted Malta explanations stated by Aveni and Kelley cross on the floor of a building (excep- and their supporters see the cross-circle tion). as an element of calendric usage, because • Category 2(b): a simple or double square numerical values manifest in the motifs are with or without diagonals, pecked on apparently similar to the various calendar a rock. periods; moreover, its design might indicate • Category 3(b): dotted lines that are mantic functions. However, in addition to crossed straightly or pecked on the rock. these explanations, we believe there are other interpretive possibilities. It has not been possible to count the It should be considered that the crosses number of points of a complete line to mentioned by Aveni, Hartung, Kelly, among calculate the total number of points in all others, in Teotihuacán, Uaxactún and Chal- the pecked cross figures. However, a copy chihuites are located on rocks on the high- was traced so that the segments were est point of the mountains and hills, and completed by placing the missing points at they are found outdoors, it is important similar intervals to the ones of the existing to mention that the surface of such rocks, points; this process permitted to get a reli- on the design section, is tilted (in some able estimate. It is interesting to point out cases the surface is totally vertical though). that the hypothetic restitution resulted in However, the circles that were made on the 365 points/dots; this restitution may not be structure floors were found in closed spaces, correct but the addition or subtraction of so the astronomical observations are not some points would result in a very similar feasible from these points; besides, they are number. horizontal surfaces which allows different According to Grazioso (1985), the applications. There are other crosses in the pointed crosses design was actually found caves (Sergio Gómez personal communica- during the Terminal Preclassic in Teoti- tion 2009), which is another important in- huacán; thus, the diffusion and develop- formation to locate such crosses. ment of all other pointed crosses are attrib- Pecked cross-circles as usable devices may uted to that culture. have served different functions. They could The explanations for those designs have been used to count time and demar- that have been discussed in the literature cate ritual or urban space (Aveni 1989: 113), include astronomical observation points, but they might have been integrated also points of reference for the layout of ur- in different types of activities with practical ban development, devices to determine purposes or in rituals. astronomical orientations, calendars for It is not easy to attribute a specific func- divinatory purposes, or even board games. tion to these pecked cross-circle motifs. Due It is true that these explanations can work to their frequency of appearance, their simi- for some of the pointed crosses but given lar characteristics and their wide distribu- that they are located in different contexts tion, it may be assumed that across diverse and that their shapes and sizes differ much Mesoamerican cultures they reflect a set of from one another, it is not possible to at- shared knowledge and probably are associ- tribute a unique function to all of them. A ated to a very peculiar trait of how Mesoa- cross might have had one or more functions mericans viewed their world: According to apart from the ones that have been pointed Aveni (1978), the cross symbol in the pecked Adoranten 2012 61 cross-circles evokes a quadripartite division of the universe, which is a fundamental as- pect of Mesoamerican cosmology, still pre- served among several indigenous groups in Mexico and Central America. On the other hand, the circle can have several symbolic meanings as a territorial framework and confinement of recurrence and seasonality; as well as the image of a mandala (Aveni 1989: 73; Kelley 2000: 190). The designs on rocks that are located on the hills are almost certainly related to as- tronomical orientations; however, there are doubts about this when they appear in en- closed spaces because according to Grazioso (1985) in that case, the location, type and inclination of some surfaces must be taken into account. There are several reasons to believe that the Mesoamerican pointed crosses could have worked as a counting device. In fact, a proposal was made to count days in the calendar outline (Aveni 1989: 103). Some holes are big enough to contain a moveable marker. In some of the crosses, the holes are so close that it seems they were closed try- ing to compensate some lost elements that Fig. 1. Pecked cross-circle, Quiringüivharo, Michoacán. should have been included in a previous specific element. The numbers of pecks in some of the crosses are related to the Mesoamerican rit- ual calendar and in others to the solar year (Aveni, Hartung y Buckingham 1978: 276; Fig. 2. Pecked cross-circle in Teotihuacán, Uaxactún and Aveni 1989: 104). Among Mesoamerican El Chapin. societies, the cross is essentially a symbol of celestial and earthly geometry, the cosmic cycles as well as the axis mundi of the cos- mos itself. The representations where quadripartite shapes appear are plentiful in diverse me- dia throughout Mesoamerica in all periods. Prominent examples are the first page of the Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, a very similar depiction in the Maya Codex Madrid, as well as in major sculpture, wall and vase painting, etc. Indeed, the quadripartite division of the universe is an essential part of Native American cosmology and was ex- tensively recreated in calendars, rites, belief systems, and some hieroglyphic expressions. 62 Adoranten 2012 Fig. 3. Altavista (Chal- chihuies), Zacatecas, Mexico. The north of Mexico: The case of Alta Vista Alta Vista is an archaeological site (Medina ably Teotihuacán, searching for the place and García 2010), located in northwestern where there was only one zenith passage of Zacatecas, Mexico, at 23º 28.8’ north lati- the sun, at the Tropic of Cancer. tude and 103º 56.7’ west longitude, only A prominent mountain range on the 0º2.3’ north of the present Tropic of Cancer Eastern horizon, in clear view from Alta (Aveni et.