I loved geography when I was a kid. Globes were especially fascinating to me ~ all those colorful puzzle pieces uniting to create our one amazing world. Even then I sensed that all the different cultures they represented had to be extraordinary, too. Maybe some day I’d get to know them...
The concepts of latitude, longitude, and the equator were also cool to me. I saw the order to things, the consistent and proper place for everything. Could I imagine ever standing on the actual equator line, with one foot in the northern hemisphere and the other in the southern? Was it even possible? I even remember loving the name Ecuador...who knew I’d get here?
On our way back home from Quito, Jeff, too, was determined to find the exact middle of the world. It was loosely marked on our map as a tourist destination, but we weren’t sure if we’d know it when we saw it. And then there it was - a special site in a town called Cayambe designed by an Ecuadorian scientific research group called Quitsato. The big sign hailed us: LA MITAD DEL MUNDO, or, THE MIDDLE OF THE WORLD.
We pulled off and into a totally empty parking lot and got out. Following a short path, we were surprised to come upon a massive stone sundial. Standing next to an informational display in the center of it was one lone young person, apparently waiting to teach whomever came by all about it. And that he did, in English to boot, for the princely sum of $1.00. It was a fascinating presentation.
Excited, Jeff took out his GPS. We were definitely standing directly at 0 degrees longitude and 0 latitude. But the guide was telling us how, approximately 1000 years ago, the first inhabitants had actually built a monument of the middle of the world right on the top of Mount Catequilla nearby. No GPS, no technology ~ just plain astronomical and mathematical reasoning. Incredible.
Turns out, the archaeological site of Mount Catequilla is precisely located at 0 0 00 on the equinoctial line. By studying other archeological sites nearby, Catequilla is believed to have been the center of a very complex organization of other sites that correlated to each other astronomically. Intriguing. We all know how scholars have often dismissed, or at best, underestimated, the astounding knowledge of our ancestors. It makes my heart glad to see that they’ve not only been proven correct, but also clearly exceptionally intelligent.
Standing in the middle of the solar clock, we were in direct line with another mountain in the distance called Mount Cayambe. We learned that it’s actually the highest point crossed by the equator, and the only place where the equator has snow cover. The presentation got even more interesting when right in front of us we could see how the shadow of the solar cylinder fell incredibly short ~ this because we were just days away from the September equinox. We were so disappointed not to have been able to be there to see the effect when the sun bore directly down the tube!
Well, at least we can say we once stood in the middle of the world. Fascinated with the presentation, we also ended up buying a $20 CD and poster set explaining the essential, and very intimate, role astronomy has played for our ancestors. Even today celestial phenomena like the equinoxes and solstices continue to impact our spiritual, agricultural, intellectual, and possibly even, our emotional lives. Thank heavens!
More information at www.quitsato.org
1 comment:
The longitude of Cayambe is about 78 degrees west of the prime meridian, or, zero longitude line, which was arbitrarily drawn at the Greenwich observatory in England. The zero, zero spot on the Earth is in the Atlantic Ocean, south of Ghana, Africa.
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