Mayan Calendar

The Mayan Calendar is a manifold system of time-tracking developed by the Mayan civilization of Mesoamerica. The calendar was developed using several different mechanisms of tracking time according to the astronomic or mythic events. The Mayans had many different “calendars” by the time of the ancient civilizations of Central and South America, however, the Mayan Calendar was to be considered the most accelerate. It is known as a clear indication of the educated significance in Mayan culture. There are three different types of dating systems used in conjunction with the Mayan Calendar.

The Long Count, The Tzolkin, and the Haab. The Long Count calendar identifies a date by counting the number of days from the Mayan creation date. Long count days were tallied in a modified 20-base scheme. For periods that are meant to be longer than 52 years the Long Count Calendar was used. There is no evidence that the Long Count Calendar is meant to be repeating. This type of calendar can be found carved on Mayan Monuments. The Tzolkin calendar is the sacred moon calendar for the Mayans. The calendar consists of 20 day signs combined with 13 numbers.

The 13 numbers tell how many days it takes for the moon to go from new to full and another 13 from full to new. The 260 day calendar is believed to be tied to the woman’s birth cycle. The Tzolkin calendar has also been used for agricultural planning in determining the length of time between planting crops and harvesting. Tzolkin calendar was considered to be the most important of the calendar systems. The Haab calendar is comprised of 18 months of 20 days each. It is preceded by five extra days known as Uayeb thus giving the years length of 365 days.

Uayeb was considered to be “the unlucky period”. The persons born on these days were “doomed to a miserable life”. The days in of the month used in Haab were numbered 0 to 19 rather than 1 to 20. The use of the 0th day has significance due to the fact that it is believed Mayan’s discovered the number zero centuries before it was discovered in Europe or Asia. The years of the Haab calendar are not counted. The system of the Mayan calendar ended with the fall of the Mayan civilization. The majority of the remaining knowledge of it was destroyed by he Spanish during the overthrow. It wasn’t until the 1990’s that archeologists discovered more extensive knowledge of the Mayan civilization regarding the calendrical system. The Mayans were believed to be skilled mathematicians and astronomers far beyond their time. They had a firm understanding of modular arithmetic. In conclusion, for us the Mayan calendar is a glimpse into the ancient world and how they viewed astronomy, time and dates. The ramification of the Mayan calendar tells experts a substantial amount about their culture or way of life.

Due to the Long Count calendar the Mayans believed they would be around for many years. Though pre-Columbian Mesoamerica remains concealed in conundrum, we continuously unveil discoveries and artifacts throughout the years. The discoveries lead us to more knowledgeable understanding of the Mayan calendar. It is considered to be a precious piece of information. Many archeologists and anthropologists proclaim that it is worth the study and pursuit. It is viewed as an open door into a buried history that experts still valiantly try to understand. www. webexhibits. org www. mayancountdown. net