Could such accuracy be acquired without any training whatsoever? Astronomers need sky-watch and data-entry training, together with a strong basic knowledge of mathematics. Without such training, any star or planet could be rediscovered by each new neo-astronomer. This would lead to mass confusion of the heavens. But the skies are well-ordered and well-documented as far back as Babylonian times. There had to be a systematic training of those interested in astronomy and in astrology.
It took two years more to find the following insignificant confirmation of such training classes.
One tends to believe that the civilization in the Americas was lacking in the finer things in life, such as a university education system. Two years ago (1993), I walked into a seminar on Teotihuacán. The first thing I saw on the projection screen was a series of disciplines worthy of a first class higher education center. In the Tepantitla complex at Teotihuacán, Mexico, a wall mural, thought to portray a primitive Paradise, shows a series of "classes" that range from an orthopedic surgeon to an acrobatic troupe. Several of the drawings illustrate "classroom situations" which appeared to be serious lessons in astronomy.
One person is being taught written data about the planets in the heavens by a teacher with a pointing hand.(A) Two other sections of this Aztec mural portrays the measuring pools and sticks used by the followers of Tlaloc.(B-C) This section was partially destroyed. However, enough of the drawings are visible to enable a comparison with another primitive (pre-giant telescope) observatory.
Jaipur, India has clear skies and temperate weather, much like the University of Texas MacDonald Observatory in Arizona and other sponsored observatories in the United States. Clear skies are essential to sky watchers. The best location to build an observatory then would be where there are few stormy turbulent weather patterns. Before the giant telescopes became readily available many high stairways that went nowhere were built specifically for sky watching.
At Jaipur, there is a group of such structures. Also, there is a circular construction which duplicates Stonehenge pillars complete with stone lintels. . . but in miniature. The most prominent features of this observatory are two large depressions in a wide stone platform. Both depressions are painted with curved wide black and white stripes. If these same depressions were filled with water, they would reflect the constellations or planets on a grid which would duplicate the curvature of the heavens. With this method, accurate angular measurements could be determined.
