Originally Posted by indigo
Or (since the article spoke of Mayan constellations) did the Mayans build the cities first, then study the sky and map out only those stars which seemed to correspond to the earthly map of their cities?
For the reasons you gave before (water, natural resources etc.), I think this is more likely.

Originally Posted by indigo
this is a a wondrous, ponderous amount of mathematical calculation and measurement... then and now.
and perseverance!