Preview

Mayan Calendar

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
582 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
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

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    the calendar, dividing the year into 12 months of 30 days and renaming each month. This…

    • 1340 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mayan cultural and technological contributions built on contributions from the Olmec, including the calendar, writing systems, and mathematics. The Mayan calendar tracked the ritual cycle and the solar calendar. Mathematical developments included the concept of zero and place value. The writing system was a form of hieroglyphic inscription, and Mayans used tree bark and deer skin for paper.…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Document B shows and explains the Calendar stone that the Aztecs used to keep track of time. There was two ways this calendar was viewed. One way was the “counting of the days” known as the tonalpohualiu which was a 260-day cycle used to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge. The other way was called the xiuhppohualli, which was the 365-day solar count or “ counting of the years”. This way was used to keep track of seasonal festivals. The calendar stone was also used for offering your sacrifices to the sun god.…

    • 1711 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Mayan Code, also known as the Mayan Script and the Mayan Hieroglyphs, was the writing system of Ancient Maya. The oldest account of it being used was found inside a Mayan pyramid in 2006 and found to be from around 300 BC (“Mayan Writing”). Attempts to break the Mayan Code began in 1832 and continued until the early 1950s, when breakthroughs in the Code were made, allowing more glyphs to be figured out. The first thing to be decoded were the Mayan numbers in 1832, allowing Mayan years to be matched with writings and carvings. Later, in 1880, Ernst Förstemann decoded the Mayan Calendar and discovered the Mayan way of measuring time (“Time Line”).…

    • 1319 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Dbq 12

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Mayan civilization was the source of two great accomplishments. One of these accomplishments was the Mayan pyramid temple in Tikal. This pyramid was the tallest structure in America until the twentieth century, exceeding 200 feet in height. The Mayan calender was also an accomplishment made in this time. The calendar was developed in 3372 B.C. The calendar shows that the Mayans were civilized enough to have their own system of writing. Through writing they were able to write down and document important historical events by carving them into stelae, or stone monuments. They also inscribed their religious beliefs and mythology on pottery. These accomplishments show that the Mayans were very advanced in architecture and literature. (Docs. 1 & 2 + outside knowledge)…

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mayan, Aztec, Incan Dbq

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Mayans were the first of the three civilizations. Although they were first they had many achievements in architecture, math and astrology, and writing. The Mayans had the tallest building in the Americas until the twentieth century, which looks similar to Mesopotamian temple, as shown in document one. This building was a sign of architecture achievement in the Americas, especially without the technology of the wheel to help move the heavy rocks for construction. When all said and done, this was a sacrificial building in where sacrifices to the gods would be given. One form of sacrifice to the Mayan civilization was when kings and queens would draw blood from the bodies and give their blood as a sacrificial gift to the gods. A long with their advances in architecture the Mayans developed a complex calendar with hieroglyphics as depicted in Document Two. These glyphs were based on their writing system. Along with their architectural accomplishments and their own unique writing system the Mayans also studied mathematics. The Mayans came up with the idea of zero.…

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Aztec Calendar Stone

    • 1590 Words
    • 7 Pages

    On the Aztec Calendar, the year was divided into 13-day periods. Each group of 13 days had a different deity ruling over the unit. This is because these units were thought to have a special symbolic influence and the deities were to ensure a positive outcome (Smith 256). In the middle of the Sun Stone, is the sun god Tonatuih. His tongue protruding between his teeth resembles a sacrificial flint knife. In his claw like hands he clutches human hearts (Palfrey). ‘Many scholars have debated on the stone’s meaning and purpose.…

    • 1590 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Aztecs Sacrifices

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The stone calendar mentioned in the earlier paragraph had a great involvement throughout the traditional sacrifices done by the Aztec people of Teotihuacan. The stone was used as a table to were the sacrifices were performed…

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To the Maya this science reflected order in the universe and the gods place. David Carrasco mentions what time and space meant to the Maya people and states, “The passage of time was created by supernatural forces that emanated from the sky and the underworld and converged on the earthly level. In this manner, human time and space were filled with sacred forces” (72). In other words, to the Mayans, capturing the essence of time was of the utmost importance. In the other hand Hunbatz Men states something different about astronomy “They also understood that our galaxy had another graphic configuration, which they adopted and began to use as the mathematical symbol for the milky way. This new symbol was that of the egg, visible in the Mayan hieroglyphs they called it G” (34). What Hunbatz Men really means is that to the Mayan the letter “G” represents the milky way, sacredness, egg creator, the essence, and the beginning. As we can conclude both authors have different perspectives views and thoughtsn towards Mayan…

    • 1547 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Mayan Calendar

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the technological discovery of the Mayan Calendar; which has been in use since the 1st Century BC and is still in use today, the coding and de-coding of key dates and times from Gregorian to Mayan, or vice versa, and how theses dates are coded are all obstacles that have been faced. Although, the process does impose quite a few restrictions upon whoever is trying to decipher it. With this being said, the Mayan’s created a very technical and in-depth process for figuring out the day, month and year; something that we take for granted in this vast and ever-growing technological age.…

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mayan Accomplishments

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The cities were all made of stone, and beautifully structured. The building's design was usually pyramid like, with plazas or courtyards surrounding them. They ranged in size from single houses to palaces. The cities were also huge. For example, one of the main cities, Tikal, help over 60,000 people, with 10,000 individual buildings. The Mayans also were advanced enough in mathematics to create an accurate calendar. There were two different calendars used. One was like our own with 365 days but with 18 months. With this calendar, each month was twelve days long, with the exception of the “unlucky month” with only five days. The other was only 260 days…

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mayan Religion

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Mayans were a group of individuals deeply involved with their religious beliefs, which expresses the taboo nature of their civilization. They did not act in accordance with present day societal norms and had numerous unique aspects within their society. Socially, they were dependent on social classes that separated the kings/queens, nobles, priests, merchants, peasants, and slaves from one another. Their ritual practices make this division apparent since the priests and kings were typically given sole power to operate at the head of religious affairs. The slaves and lower subjects were often used as means of sacrificial offerings, which depicts their low stature in the Mayan society. Politically, they were strongly involved just as they…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mayan Culture

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Mayan culture is known for their rituals and ceremonies. Everything done in their culture had its place and time. This allowed the priest in the Maya community to know when to plant, harvest, as well as knowing which seasons were wet and which were dry. In Mayan belief, blood sacrifice performed by Kings was important for major calendar cycle endings. The beginning or ending of a cycle was cause for ceremony in this culture. In addition, children in are named after the day they were born and each day had a specific name for boy and girl and parents are to follow that practice. Also, Mayan healers believed that there are male and female energies associated with the calendar. The male energy cycle ended on November 11, 2011 and is celebrated…

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mayan Civilization

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages

    of California press, 1999). David focuses on the bones of the Maya people throughout the…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Horoscopes

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In Chinese culture they believe that the lunar cycle comes from the myth of Buddha. In the myth of Buddha, before Buddha dies he invites animals from all around the world to a feast. Only twelve animals arrive, a rat, an ox, a tiger, a rabbit, a dragon, a snake, a horse, a sheep, a monkey, a rooster, a dog and a pig. Buddha decides to name a year after…

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics