Plumed Serpent: Central America Summary and Analysis

Another Viracocha-type character is a white-skinned, bearded god named Quetzalcoatl. He invents advanced formulas for mathematical and calendrical calculations to provide the basis for Mayan doomsday predictions. "Blood and Time at the End of the World" in Chapter 13, details Hancock's visit to Chichen Itza in Mexico's northern Yucatan. There are 91steps on each of four sides to the top platform of the Temple of Kukulkan that total 365 counting the top platform a step. A solar year is 365 full days. Spring and summer equinoxes cause light and shadow to create the illusion of a huge snake climbing northern steps that lasts exactly 3 hours and 22 minutes. Temple of the Warriors is nearby where indigenous people practice ritual slaughter of humans 1200 years earlier. The Olmecs at Villahermosa in Tabasco Province are the earliest Ancient Mexican civilizations and Aztecs...