Join us in the Samuel C. Johnson Family Star Theater for the 15th annual Roderick S. Webster Memorial Lecture. Dr. Susan Milbrath of the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida will present “Decoding the Astronomical Narrative in the Codex Borgia.” The lecture is free and open to the public, but seating is limited and is first come, first serve. 

One of the great masterpieces of ancient Mexico, the Codex Borgia contains a unique section that has been studied for more than a century. Its colorful images link the cycle of ceremonies of the Central Mexican calendar to specific astronomical observations, including Venus events, lunar cycles, and the only total eclipse of the sun witnessed in Central Mexico during the Late Postclassic period (AD 1325–1520). Using computer simulations, Milbrath proposes a definitive reading of the narrative related to these observations. 

Dr. Milbrath holds her degree from Columbia University. Her research interests include the Mesoamerican worldview and connections between seasonal festivals and astronomy, the Codex Borgia, and the archaeology and ethnohistory of Mayapán. Her most recent publication is Heaven and Earth in Ancient Mexico: Astronomy and Seasonal Cycles in the Codex Borgia (University of Texas Press, 2013). 

Created in 1998, the Webster Memorial Lecture is hosted each year in memory of Roderick Webster, former Adler Curator and Chairman of the Board. The lecture is sponsored in part by the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA). The AIA Lecture Program provides unique opportunities for interested non-professionals to meet practicing archaeologists and to learn of new discoveries. 

Please register to confirm your attendance and to receive information about future events.

Click here for complete details and registration information.