Maya Civilization in Central America

There are still nearly 30 Mayan languages spoken today, by more than 6 million speakers in Maya communities.

Evidence of early settlements have been found from about 1800BC at Soconusco, on the border between Mexico and Guatemala. They probably arrived from Asia some time after the flood via Alaska and Canada. The Olmec Civilization, another group, started about 1400-1200BC and ended about 400-350BC.

Mayan Calendar

The Mayan calendar dates back to (at least) the 1st century BC and it is still in use in some Mayan communities today.

The Mayan Calendar consists of three separate corresponding calendars: the Long Count, the Tzolkin (divine calendar), and the Haab (civil calendar). Each of them is cyclical, meaning that a certain number of days must occur before a new cycle can begin.

The three calendars are used simultaneously. The Tzolkin and the Haab identify the days, but not the years. The Long Count date comes first, then the Tzolkin date, and last the Haab date.

Using Arabic numerals, a typical Mayan date would read: 13.0.0.0.0   4 Ahau   8 Kumku, where 13.0.0.0.0 is the Long Count date, 4 Ahau is the Tzolkin date, and 8 Kumku is the Haab date.

Most historians think that 4 Ahau 8 Cumku (most likely August 11, 3114 BCE) was the base date used by the Maya for the start of the “Long Count” and the first “Great Cycle.”

A Long Count consisting of
13 baktuns, at exactly 144,000 days per baktun, is 1,872,000 days
(or 5,125¼ calendar years approximately) since August 11 3114BC, when the long count started.
12 baktuns were reached on September 18th, 1618.
13 baktuns were reached on December 21st 2012. Many thought the world might end. 
We are now inside the 14th baktun.
See further details below

A reset, not doomsday, how Mayans measured time

Note, in Mayan numerals, a horizontal bar=5, a dot=1, and a shell glyph=0.

HAAB is a 365-day solar calendar which is divided into 18 months of 20 days each and one month which is only 5 days long (Uayeb).

TZOLKIN meaning “the distribution of the days” is also called the Divine Calendar and the Sacred Round. It is a 260-day calendar with 20 periods of 13 days, and it is used to determine the time of religious and ceremonial events. The days in each period are numbered from 1 to 13. Each day is also given a name (glyph) from a sequence of 20 day names.
LONG COUNT 13.0.8.17.2=October 17 2021

13 baktuns x 144,000 suns
0 katuns x 7,200 suns
8 tuns x 360 suns
17 uinals (yoo-i-nals) x 20 suns
2 k'in (suns)

Other Civilizations

Early ancestors of Apache and Navajo North American tribes arrived some time between 1000BC - 500BC

Inca Civilization ca 1200 - 1572 Peru

Aztec Civilization ca 1345 - 1521 Mexico

** End of Page

Go Top