The Mayas evolved from a nomadic group into a complete civilization including an advanced comprehension in the fields of architecture, agriculture, commerce, and astronomy. These fields required some form of a numeric system in order to measure and regulate the trades. This numeric system was the foundation for their calendar system and their exploration of the cosmos. The Mayas had many inventions and creative aspects to the realms of mathematics, writing, astronomy, and architecture.
A basic piece of Maya technology is its writing system. Modern scholars agree that Mayan glyphs are one of only three writing systems in the ancient world to be invented independently. The Mayas evolved the only true written system native to the Americas. It is referred to as hieroglyphics, and although not related to the Egyptian written system, it is a similar combination of phonetic symbols and ideograms. It is the only writing system of the Pre-Columbian New World that can completely represent spoken language to the same degree as the written language of the Old World.
The Mayas were much revered for their advances in mathematics. The Mayas used a system that was different from most ancient numeric systems in that they did not depend on many different symbols. Their version was streamlined into only three symbols: the dot, the bar, and the zero. Using only three symbols seems challenging, but the ever clever Mayas devised a system of positioning the three symbols to portray all numbers and perform all the usual mathematic operations. The dot represents a unity (one), the bar represents the number five, and another symbol (usually clam-like) represents the zero. Similar to a present day tally system, you cannot use more than four dots in a row, as the next digit and corresponding symbol is five, or the bar. For numbers beyond the basic numbers in the Mayan system of one to nineteen, a positional system is used. The difference between the Mayan system and our own is that the Mayan system reads from top to bottom instead of left to right. It is also considered vigesimal, using a base number of twenty, instead of ten. The Mayan system of mathematics was well ahead of the curve. The zero was quite the feat for the progress of mathematics and was discovered by the Mayas at least six hundred years prior to its discovery in India.
The basis of the mathematical system helped the Mayas derive a calendar of remarkable accuracy and complexity. It is heralded as one of their greatest accomplishments. The precision of the calendar is derived from the fact that it is based on an uninterrupted, continuous count of days from a point of zero, which is set in 3114 BCE. The Mayan calendar uses three different dating systems in parallel: the Long Count, the Tzolkin, and the Haab; the Haab being the only system that has a relationship to the length of the year as we now know it, of 365 days. The Tzolkin calendar consists of 260 days and was most used by the people of the Maya world. It was used to regulate things such as agriculture, religious ceremonies, and family affairs. This calendar had good or bad luck associated with each day, and thus eventually became known as the “divinatory year” or the “divine calendar.” The Tzolkin day that corresponded to one’s birthday was believed to predestine the life of the Maya. It consisted of a combination of the numbers one through thirteen and had twenty names for the days, which were represented by glyphs. The cycle ended at thirteen and would start again at zero, with the day names recycling at twenty, creating a unique combination of names and numbers for 260 days. The Haab calendar was based on the revolution of the Earth around the Sun and is thus 365 days as we know it. However, the year was divided into eighteen Winal of twenty days each. Dates were written numerically one through nineteen with a corresponding Winal. The combination of the two calendars, the Tzolkin and Haab, created what was called the Calendar Round, which was 18,980 days or 52 years exactly, calculated by the lowest common multiple of both 260 and 365. The Long Count is rather simple, with each Kin being worth one day. When the kin reaches twenty, you start the count again from zero and add one to the Winal, and same for the Winal, Tun, Katun, and finally Baktun. When the Baktun reaches twenty, it is believed to be the start of a new era. The Long Count calendar is championed as more precise than the Julian calendar, revised in Europe in 1582.
With the foundation of a solid mathematical system and an accurate calendar, the Mayas were also well renowned for their astronomical studies. All of their observations were done with the human eye, since they never constructed any sort of a telescope. Even without the aid of telescopes, their predictions were alarmingly precise. A good example is that of their prediction of the Venus year. They calculated that it took 584 days, when in reality it takes 593.92, which is pretty close for roughing it. The Mayas took much interest in the sun and focused on the Zenial Passages, which were when the Sun crossed over the Mayan latitudes. The Maya even had a god to represent this position of the Sun, called the Diving God. One of the more astounding feats within Maya astronomy is its knowledge of Venus. It was the object of greatest interest for the Maya, and they knew it better than any civilization outside Mesoamerica. In Maya myth, Venus is the companion of the sun. Using their incredibly accurate calendar and mathematical calculation system, they were able to predict the coming revolutions and eclipses of Venus to an error of one day in 6,000 years. In addition to Venus, the Milky Way was much revered by the Mayas. Dubbing it the “World Tree,” they viewed it as the fountain of life itself and a mystic road along which souls walk into the Underworld.
One of the more amazing accomplishments of the Mayas is the combination of astronomy with architecture. Most of Maya architecture was rather unimpressive without the use of the basic technologies such as metal and the wheel, simply using manpower as a replacement. However, the design of the structures and their correspondence with their advanced calendar were impressive to say the least. A good example of their impressive integration of astronomy and architecture is one such building that created shadows that resembled large spiraling serpents during the equinoxes. This building is El Castillo, the step pyramid in Chichen Itza. Residing in the current Mexican state of Yucatán, El Castillo served as a temple to the god Kukulkan. Each of the pyramid’s four sides incorporate a broad, steep staircase consisting of ninety-one steps that ascend to the top platform. Four sides multiplied by ninety-one gives us 364 and when adding the top platform as the final step, the pyramid has one step for each of the 365 days of the year. It also has nine main platforms that are thought to represent the eighteen months of the Haab calendar, and fifty-two panels that represent the number of years for the Calendar Round to occur. Another notable characteristic of El Castillo is that when viewing the western face during the winter solstice, the sun appears to climb up the edge of the staircase until it arrives directly above the temple, momentarily pauses, and then begins its descent down the other side.
The Mayas were very reliant on their system of mathematics as a basis for advancement in these other fields of technology. The Mayas will forever be renowned for their advances in the calendar and their supreme accuracy, and will always be recognized for their achievements in writing, astronomy, and architectural feats.
Sources:
http://www.crystalinks.com/maya.html
http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-mayan.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/10098/mayan.htm
http://www.authenticmaya.com/index.htm
http://www.mayacalendar.com/f-undrstndng.html
http://www.world-mysteries.com/chichen_kukulcan.htm
All accessed April 2nd, 2011
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