ABSTRACT
Practical-minded Oceanic peoples took a fact of geography and turned it to their advantage. They employed horizon-zenith astronomy because that system possessed obvious advantages when dealing with celestial motion. The astronomically oriented buildings of Mexico are even more numerous than the pecked circles. The Caracol of Chichen Itza and the Palace of the Governor at Uxmal are both aligned with Venus horizon events. One of the more impressive astronomical alignments at Uxmal, a Classic Maya ceremonial center in the Puuc region of Yucatan, coincides with the most southern rising of Venus. One danger in formulating any generalization lies in the ultimate expression of that generalization as a die turn. The vagaries and complexities of cultural development serve as ample warning in the present case. The Maori of New Zealand, also located well out of the tropics at latitude 40°S, used a navigational system like the Polynesians', although this habit probably diffused from the tropics.
