:: A.A.S. R.A. Picture Gallery - Central America (1 - 10) Click on the Picture to get more information! Images:  [1-10] [11-20] [21-30] [31-40] [41-50] [51-56] 'The rise of a sungod' For the Ancient Mayas the sun is very important, because it gave them light and heat! They had a sungod named: Ahaw K'in, which they adorated. In the morning Ahaw K'in was a young god but while he travelled to the west,during one day, he became old. The Mayas believed that the sun at night transformed into a jaguar with supernatural powers. The jaguar had to fight at night against the lords of death. The jaguar wins each time, so that each morning, the sun can rise again. The rising of the sun is the daily affirmation of the dynamic and spiritual forces in the lives of the people. This general concept is universal among the Maya [of today]. Photographer: P.D.Troost Location: Guatemala Altar de la virgen Piramide - nombre: Altar de la Virgen Photographer: damaso Dominguez Location: Cuba Aztec Calendar The Aztec calendar was the calendar of the Aztec people of Pre-Columbian Mexico. It is one of the Mesoamerican calendars, sharing the basic structure of calendars from throughout ancient Mesoamerica. The calendar consisted of a 365 day calendar cycle and a 260 day ritual cycle. These two cycles together formed a 52 year "century", sometimes called the "Calendar Round". Each month had its name, and the days of the month were numbered from one to twenty. The days of the last month, Nemontemi, were numbered from one to five. Photographer: Tatjana Ingold Location: Mexico Chichčn Itzá - el caracol The Observatory for 'astronomical events'..The name, meaning snail in Spanish, referring to the spiral stairway within the building... Photographer: P.D.Troost Location: Mexico Chichčn Itzá - The Pyramid of Kukulkán The Pyramid of Kukulkán Photographer: P.D.Troost Location: Mexico Chichčn Itzá - The Pyramid of Kukulkán The Pyramid of Kukulkán Photographer: P.D.Troost Location: Mexico Compilation Copan Ruinas The ruins of Copan considered the Athens of the new world by the famous maya archaelogist Sylvanus Morley, represent one of the most spectacular cultural achievements of antiquity! It has the privilege of being home to the longest inscribed text in the new world, the Hieroglyphic Stairway of structure, where the surface of this stairway is filled with thousands of fragments of architectural sculpture, which orginally formed striking decoraive mosaic designs on the facades of the temples... Photographer: P.D.Troost Location: Honduras Copan, Ceremonial Court Panoramic view to the ceremonial Court in Copan, Honduras Photographer: Pascal Troxler Location: Honduras Dragon Monolith The Dragon Monolith inside the La Venta - Park in Villahermosa: a man wearing somekind of a helmet is sitting in something like a dragon - misunderstood technique? Photographer: Tatjana Ingold Location: Mexico Dragon Monolith (detail) The Dragon Monolith inside the La Venta - Park in Villahermosa: a man wearing somekind of a helmet is sitting in something like a dragon - misunderstood technique? Photographer: Tatjana Ingold Location: Mexico Images:  [1-10] [11-20] [21-30] [31-40] [41-50] [51-56]