Mayan Numeric System Research Paper

The period of the Mayans occurred around 250-900 A.D., although many believed that their civilization started well before this. Among all the agriculture, impressive architecture and symbolic art, the maya also excelled in their calender-making and mathematics. The mayan numeral system is one of a kind and long before it’s empire disappeared, the numeric system accounted for their calendar and became a significant representation of what may be coming. While the numeric system we use today runs by the base of 10, mayan numeric systems run by the base of 20. The system only accounts from numbers 1 to 19; however, are represented in even larger numbers using dots, bars and shells. With these 3 symbols, numbers larger than 19 are written vertically so it becomes a vertical place value system. In order to read these symbols, one must add
Time was a way of being to the mayans, establishing their world from which life could prosper and the spirit could harmonize with the cosmos. The tracking of time with cosmos promised abundance, guidance and insurance. In mayan cosmology the importance of space and time provided a connection between their world and the gods. Astronomical figures and its position in the skies were relative to communication with their gods. Overall mayan cosmology allowed mayans to understand the way of life and lead a life to success.
Upon the assignment given to us of the Dresden Codex, much of what was written on it dealt with numbers. There were only a few picture glyphs found on this written piece in which we are yet to understand how it intertwined with the numbers. From previous knowledge about interpreting mayan numbers, we read the pictures from bottom up. We noticed horizontally some of the symbols were similar to one another and hold similar patterns. Each black bar was equivalent to 5, while each dot in addition was considered as one. Knowing that the number