We found a more than 100-year-old general map of Mitla in Oaxaca, Mexico, online at Maps ETC, from which we could conclude via our decipherment that Mitla represents stars of Lepus as shown in the image below.
The base map for Mitla we used and to which we have added the explanatory red circles and lines to show the star correspondences is a Maps ETC map of Mitla, University of Florida, http://etc.usf.edu/maps, a map which is a facsimile of a sketch map by Adolph Bandelier (1885) of the pre-Columbian archeological site at Mitla, Oaxaca, Mexico (sometimes Miquitlan, Mictlan).
The map is keyed to show (A) the ruins on the highest ground, with a church and curacy built into the walls, (B, C, and E) are ruins outside the village, (D) is within the modern village, (F) is beyond the river.
Source of the map originally for ETC was: Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America Vol 1 (New York, NY: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1889) 184. Map Credit: Courtesy the private collection of Roy Winkelman.
Very useful to us in understanding the architectural construction on the ground was a Baedeker map found at http://www.planetware.com/mexico/mitla-mex-oax-mtl.htm
In the 1885 map of Bandelier, we can extrapolate from the Planetware.com Baedeker map for the alphabetically marked areas above, as follows:
- A marks the location known as "Grupo de las Iglesias", Church Group, viewable at Instituto Cultural Quetzalcoatl, samaelgnosis.net, Grupo de la Iglesia. Zona Arqueológica de Mitla, Oaxaca, México, Cultura Mixteca at http://www.samaelgnosis.net/imagenes/antropologia/mixtecas/columnas.htm
- B and C mark stars of the location known as "Grupo de las Columnas", marking the horizontal "column" of stars as the "Salon de las Columnas", i.e. the Hall of Columns, viewable at Instituto Cultural Quetzalcoatl, samaelgnosis.net, Grupo de las Columnas. Zona Arqueológica de Mitla, Oaxaca, México, Cultura Mixteca. at http://www.samaelgnosis.net/imagenes/antropologia/mixtecas/columnas.htm
- D marks the location known as "Grupo del Arroyo", the Arroyo Group
- E marks the location known as "Grupo de los Adobes", the Adobe Group
- Grupo del Sur is the "South Group" below the Rio Mitla, which separates the stars of Lepus from the stars of Columba
THIS POSTING IS Posting Number 28 of
The Great Mound, Petroglyph and Painted Rock Art Journey of Native America
Mitla in Oaxaca Mexico Marks Stars of Lepus Plus Upper Stars of Columba