Mayan Calendar

24 inCrediBle Calendars where did they come from The Maya used a bewildering number of different cycles in their calendar, the reasons for which will become clear later. In the reference table opposite these are given with their daycounts and algebraic relationships. As a daycount, the Maya system can compute many millions of days into the past or future, but is not linked to the seasons like the Gregorian calendar, since there is no intercalation. The Maya tracked various cycles, including the solar year, but uniquely, they didnt try to combine them into one calendarthey crossreferenced their calendars instead. Scholars are still unsure as to the exact origins of this complex system, particularly the central TzolkinHaab device. The history of the ancestors of the Maya stretches back to the PalaeoIndian period 20,000 8,000 BC when Siberian huntergatherers colonised the New World, slowly settling during the Archaic period 8,000 2,000 BC, domesticating maize and building permanent settlements. In the PreClassic Formative period 2,000 BC 250 AD civilization began, with small towns and fertility cults. Elements of the calendar may date back to the earliest civilizations of Mesoamerica the socalled Olmec, as early as 1500 BC, or the Zapotec 600 BC onwards before being perfected by the Maya themselves 200 BC onwards. The oldest Long Count date is from an Olmec site but Tzolkin dates from 600 BC and 650 BC have been found at Zapotec and recently Olmec sites respectively. There is fascinating evidence that the Berber peoples of northwest Africa also used a cycle of 520 days twice a Tzolkin on the Atlantic islands of Tenerife and Grand Canary. 25 Name LeNgth CompositioN a b c d e f g h i j k l m n p q r s t u v 7 days 9 days 13 days 20 days 29 alt 30 days 59 days 260 days 360 days 364 days 365 days 584 days 780 days 819 days 1040 days 18,980 days 2 Calendar Rounds 6 Calendar Rounds 7,200 days 144,000 days 5,125 years 25,626 years Earth God Cycle Lords of the Night Heaven God Cycle Uinal Lunar cycle Two moon cycle Tzolkin Tun Computing Year Haab Venus cycle Mars cycle JupiterSaturn cycle 3 Eclipse Year cycle Calendar Round Venus Round Mars Round Katun Baktun Sun Precessional 2e cd 2bd 4ac 2bd 5 73 x 8 3 tzolkins g abc 4 tzolkins g 52 haabs j, 73 tzolkins g 65k, 104j, 146g 146l, 195k, 312j, 438g 20 tun h 20 katun s, 400h 13 baktun t, 260s, 5200h 5 suns u, 26000h, 36000g Basic units Planet Cycles Rounds Long Count Years