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
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