MYTHS OF MEXICO AND PERU
capital, the solstices were gauged by pillars called pachacta unanchac or indicators of time, which were placed in four groups (two pillars to a group) on promontories, two in the direction of sunrise and two in that of sunset, to mark the extreme points of the sun's rising and setting. By this means they were enabled to distinguish the arrival and departure of the solstices, during which the sun never went beyond the middle pair of pillars. The Inca astronomer's approximation to the year was 360 days, which were divided into twelve moons of thirty days each. These moons were not calendar months in the correct sense, but simply a succession of lunations, which commenced with the winter solstice. This method, which must ultimately have proved confusing, does not seem to have been altered to co-ordinate with the reckoning of the succession of years. The names of the twelve moons, which had some reference to the daily life of the Peruvian, were as follows:
Huchuy Pucuy Quilla (Small Growing Moon), approximately January.
Hatun Pucuy Quilla (Great Growing Moon), approximately February.
Pancar Pucuy Quilla (Flower-growing Moon), approximately March.
Ayrihua Quilla (Twin Ears Moon), approximately April.
Aymuray Quilla (Harvest Moon), approximately May.
Auray Cusqui Quilla (Breaking Soil), approximately June.
Chahua Huarqul Quilla (Irrigation Moon), approximately July.
Tarpuy Quilla (Sowing Moon), approximately August.
Ccoya Raymi Quilla (Moon of the Moon Feast), approximately September,
Uma Raymi Quilla (Moon of the Feast of the Province of Uma), approximately October.
Ayamarca Raymi Quilla (Moon of the Feast of the Province of Ayamarca), approximately November.
Ccapac Raymi Quilla (Moon of the Great Feast of the Sun), approximately December.
