Mayan Calendar Essay

“In the Western Hemisphere, no early culture was more remarkable than the Mayans” (Background Essay). The Mayans were an adept civilization and accomplished many exceptional things during their time. Their deeds include things such as a number system, immense cities, and a vast trade network but there is no Mayan achievement more remarkable than their calendars. The Mayans created three calendars: a sacred calendar called tzolkin, a solar calendar called haab, and a long cycle calendar.

In order to accommodate the year round calendar, there are several forms of year round education. The first form follows a single track calendar. This is the most popular type of calendar (Shields, 2000). A single track year is usually implemented to “provide a more balanced and enriched education program or to accommodate the special scheduling needs of a community” (Glines, 2002, 2699). A single track calendar takes on a 45/15 design. This is where students go to school for forty-five days in a row, and then have a fifteen day break. It is a continuous cycle. Schools usually begin in early August, and follow this pattern four times to complete the school year (Glines, 2002). The three week break in between is called an intersession. During this time, students can choose to take additional educational courses through “remedial,

| The development of the calendar was based on their observations and studies of the stars, moon, and sky. They also established a number system; a year was cut into 12 months, a month into 30 days, a day into 12 hours, an hour into 60 minutes, and a minute into 60 seconds. They also divided a circle into 360 degrees of the 60 arc minutes. Settlement patterns were based on the environment of the area and the need for a stable water supply.

Astrological calendars have been in existence since ancient times where time was measured according to the number of Moons that had passed in a certain period, or in consonance with the shadows that were cast by either the Sun or Moon. Solar years are calculated based on the sun’s motions, whereas lunar years are mutually based on the moons motions. A lunar year consists of approximately 354 days, whereas there are 365 days in solar year. By virtue of the eleven day disparity between a solar and lunar year, an additional month is added to the lunar calendar every three years, and as for the solar calendar, every fourth year, a leap day is added to the month of February. A lunar year is comprised of twelve lunar months, which corresponds to the time that elapses as the moon carries out each of its phases and proceeds to its position of origin. In contrast, a solar month is one twelfth of a solar year, given that a solar year is span of time that elapses as the Earth completes a single revolution around the sun.

The Maya were a people from Middle America, which includes modern Guatemala, Southern Mexico, and Northern Belize (Editors). The Maya civilization was considered to be “one of the most dominant indigenous societies of Mesoamerica,” (Maya). “The Maya excelled at agriculture, pottery, hieroglyph writing, calendar-making, and mathematics, and left behind an astonishing amount of impressive architecture and symbolic artwork,” (Maya). They also gave mankind the modern calendar (Jarus, Maya). The Mayans were a very advanced people, but one of the most important things in the Mayan culture was their religion/god worshipping rituals.

That need for structure is probably the reason that the Mayans developed such an amazingly accurate calendar. They also developed a complex style of hieroglyphic writing that we have not fully deciphered. Through their knowledge of astronomy and mathematics they calculated the lunar cycle, predicted eclipses, and formulated a unique calendar system was very accurate. Their calendar was only one day off every 6000 years. That makes it more accurate than our calendar today (Hooker 6). Two fundamental

The collapse of the Mayan Empire is one of history’s greatest mysteries. It was one of the most advanced and developed civilizations of its time period, reining during the Pre-Classic period and into the Classic and Post-Classic Periods (2000 B.C. – 900 A.D.). The territory stretched from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, down to modern day El Salvador in Central America. Its achievements were monumental for the era, being the first empire communicating with the use of a written language having over 800 symbols and producing the first 365 day calendar. They maintained an in-depth understanding of astrological cycles that would assist in planning harvesting cycles and predicting solar eclipses. The Mayan’s

The Mayan priests studied their measurement of time. The Maya had a calendar with 18 months each containing 20 days, plus 5 unlucky days that made up the Mayan year. They also had a religious calendar that had 260 days in it. Each day was given a name and a number. They believed that each day was a god that carried the weight of the day on its back.

Maya calendars, mythology and astrology were integrated into a single system of belief. The Maya observed the sky and calendars to predict solar and lunar eclipses, the cycles of the planet Venus, and the movements of the constellations(a group of stars forming a recognizable pattern

The Mayans were also were technologically advanced. They used their own math system. One dot stood for one, a bar symbolized five, and a shell figure was zero. The numbers were expressed vertically with the highest on top. The also created a very precise calendars. Two different calendars were calculated 260-day and a 365-day. They were able to calculate the dates because at noon time there was no shadow. This was important for them to use in predicting eclipses, scheduling religious ceremonies, and when to plant and harvest.

The Aztecs believe they felt justified in believing in this calendar because of numerous events that changed the course of history for them. Because Aztec Indians were fervent astronomers, they tracked the stars and correlated that between the days to create this sun calendar. Examples of events happening within the timeline of the calendar stone being built are these: Between 1452 and 1454, their capital city Tenochtitlan suffered from flood and famine, the following year on 4/16/1445 (Julian calendar) there was an eclipse of the sun. From 1473-1479, there were 4 more solar eclipses within a five year time frame (Aveni, Calnek). During this time the Aztec nation conquered and

The Festival of Bealtaine, also known as May Day, marks the beginning of the summer. It encompasses the sunset of April 30th, which is May Eve, to the sunset of May 1st, which is the actual May Day. The most significant time of this festival is between dawn and sunrise. It is a key element of the annual cycle and is one of four of the ‘True Quarters,’ which also includes Samhain, Saint Brigid’s Day, and Lúnasa. The cyclic nature of Bealtaine connects to both the daily cycle and the life cycle, which highlights how cycles are central elements in one’s life. The daily cycle of waking up and sleeping can be extended into the annual cycle of the seasons, which then can be further amplified into the cycle of life and death. Bealtaine is a crucial marker in the year that serves as the start of not only summer, but as a predictor of the rest of the year. It has a complex integration of ritual, superstition, and the belief in the Otherworld. Through the many customs of

When most people think of the Mayans, they think end of the world prediction in 2012. Everyone knows the movie 2012 which portrayed the end of the world predicted by the Mayan calendar. What many do not know is that the Mayans developed three separate calendars; the Long Count, the Tzolk’in, and the Haab, which were represented by glyphs or pictures that were used in their daily lives in many different ways. The Mayans kept time in a very different way than we do today. The Mayans may not have invented the calendar, but they certainly developed it further, and still use their version today.

The Mayan calendar has a starting date of 3113BC that is given the year 0. It used their base 20 numbering system to represent periods of time. There

The ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches are like any other calendar. It is used to count hours, the time of years, and months. “When counting years, people use them with the 12 Chinese Zodiac [signs] . . .” (Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches). The Yellow Emperor also known as Huangdi summand Da Rao Shi to make a calendar. Da Rao Shi created the calendar system. He studied the four seasons and the differences between earth and sky.