The Mesoamerican Calendar

[@jjt1881]

1:50 It is the "Vigesimal system" not "Vegesimal system"

[@AncientAmericas]

Yup. You are correct. I really need to hire an editor that is smarter than me.

[@ericktellez7632]

@Jill Atherton Si.

[@bonefetcherbrimley7740]

@@AncientAmericas Cool vid. Ya done good!

[@timetraveller6643]

A vegesimal system is based on 20 potatoes. It was abandoned in favour of the vigesimal system based on 20 pedantic comments.

[@Yentzie]

@MichaelKingsfordGray That assumes the editor is a person and not a machine

[@Gr95dc]

I'm from Mexico and even tho I like learning history, I kinda have always left the history of my own country and ancestors aside. Finding this channel is the highlight of my week, even tho it doesn't centers only in Mexico, I'm very excited to learn more about the cultures that flourished in this territory

[@Druller-y9p]

I can highly recomend this podcast regarding the rise and fall of the Aztecs (or more correctly of course, the Mēxihcah) on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/0b4bQQv1DdmPufeecBZU1E?si=FgT9AJvgR5GN1bZQuPYkuA&dl_branch=1

[@mekkler]

A fascinating and ancient culture. I hope you are very proud.

[@hiera1917]

For me coming across this channel has helped me realise that I have some decolonising work to do in myself. I’m half K’iché Mayan, but I’m pretty disconnected from that culture because I grew up in the US (with a white family). Learning about all this makes me emotional and makes my heart feel warm because I’m being re-connected with something I didn’t recognise was there. It’s like a hug reaching out to me from the distant past

[@Druller-y9p]

@@hiera1917 although i am from a white middleclass background, i have two Bolivian adopted sisters and i have such a profound attachment to all native american cultures, art and peoples. It is such a crime against history that we don't teach more about all of these cultures and peoples in a pre-colombian context. I am a university history student in denmark and we have no courses at all that revolves around pre-colombian civilizations. It is a crime that people need to educate themselves in the subject.

[@Crazymexicano214]

Forsure man, I'm glad to see other people with these interests. Do you live in Mexico?

[@andreaaa978]

My parents are from Yucatán, Mexico so i have grown up seeing the Mayan calendar but never actually understood how it worked. This is really impressive.

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@JuanMartinez-mw5rc]

Do you speak and understand spanish?

[@slavenarkaimovski3897]

Try using slavic aryan calendar,it have 9 months,365 days,and 7 days in week.For yours home project i recommend,that you take pensil,paper,and ruler,and make calendar with following pattern.Pattern of the days in months goes,41,40,41,40,41,40,41,40,41.Pattern of the days goes Monday to Sunday.And ending day in 9th month will be monday,and 1st day in first month of the second year will be tuesday.That means that with 365 days calendar,it will take 7 years to make full circle.The leap year just like daylight savings,is pointless fradulant creation,so stick with this calendar instede.

[@HVLLOW99]

@@slavenarkaimovski3897 The Slavic calendar is the Julian Calendar right, the one the Orthodox use rather than the Catholic Gregorian Calendar. Or is the calendar you are referring to pre-christian?

[@malcomx-snowden-assange9673]

Listening to a European tell you about your culture on a KZbin video is Not "Understanding", that's the opposite of research let alone Understanding. Listening to and ready to repeat Gossip is more like what you're doing. 🇲🇽

[@bluebird5173]

3:17 "Pretty simple, right? Not too difficult to learn!" If that was simple then I must be slow because I'm still trying to process it all.

[@AncientAmericas]

You and me both.

[@JuanRamirez-fx3tf]

I got lost here. I am not a mathematician.

[@boredcoke]

I think I got it?! Basically multiply by x20 to jump numeral places instead of x10. So 1307 written in math for us is 1’s place = 1x7 = 7 10’s place = 10x0 = 0 100’s place = 100x3 = 300 1,000’s place = 1000x1 = 1000. Added up is 7+0+300+1000=1307 For them it’s 1’s place = 1x7 = 7 20’s place (our 10’s) = 20x5 = 100 400’s place (our 100’s) = 400x3 = 1200 then added up, you get 7+100+1200 = 1307 Hopefully it makes sense. I’m no math teacher lol

[@akatosh2795]

@@boredcoke This was so helpful!

[@iLL_Eaglez]

..it does take take tedious and laborious work to make something simple though 😅

[@wooddad100stuff]

Spent time in Guatemala in the highlands with the K'iche (or Quiche, as I knew them). The base-20 system was fun to learn, and the number 20 was called "juwinak," which was a contraction for "jun winak," or "one person." So the supposition that 20 was based on 10 fingers and 10 toes is not unreasonable.

[@HVLLOW99]

I can only imagine what was recorded in the Mayan books and codexes that Diego De Landa burned in the mid sixteen century. With as accurate as the Maya were with dates and how much they loved to write about themselves, they must have inscribed an amazing amount of information It’s no wonder De Landa wrote that while he burned the Mayan historical texts the native people wailed in agony over their books which made him curious. After all the Maya were kind of huge nerds. They were loosing their meticulous accounts of history and religion/mythology. So sad. De Landa I wish you were never born.

[@boardcertifiable]

I hope he's burning in the deepest, pustule filled pit of Xibalba and the Lords of Death send jaguars and caimen to chew on his roasted leg and arm stumps while he wails in agony, as his flesh blisters and festers and his eyes fall out. And yes, as a descendant of the Maya people and as a huge book nerd, I feel my ancestors pain and indignity. I thank this channel for doing its part to rectifying that great injustice.

[@huascar66]

A curse on Diego De Landa and the Catholic priests that labelled the Mayan books as "of the devil". A curse on them forever. What knowledge did we lose? The loss is unfathomable.

[@theamazingfuzzlord]

May he burn in Hell forever. Him and the rest of the colonizers

[@MrDrProfessorPurple]

@@theamazingfuzzlord a damnation to hell is what got us in this mess in the first place, Don't be like the catholics of the past. Do better than those jabronis!

[@malcomx-snowden-assange9673]

You are lost in Gossip my child. Highest achievement of our people were far removed from simple writings, written accounts is the weakest form of sharing information, they knew that you clearly don't.

[@selatoski]

As a lay student of Mesoamerican history, I really appreciate the information in your videos and how it is explained. I'm glad to have come across your channel and look forward to seeing more!

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you! There will be more!

[@tloquenahuaque3910]

I recommend you stop referring to mesoamerican history that is a Eurocetric term and offensive to our culture and history of Anahuac! It is known as ancient Anahuac. NOT MESOAMERICA

[@BardChords]

@@tloquenahuaque3910 Hahahahaha, why are you writing in english? That's pretty anglo-centric of you.

[@tloquenahuaque3910]

@@BardChords Titlahtoa nahuatlahtolli? Axqueniuhqui pitzo!

[@BardChords]

@@tloquenahuaque3910 Que?

[@Flurdaman]

My search was “how do we reconcile ancient Mayan dates with modern dates” you nailed it! thank you for the awesome video.

[@AncientAmericas]

Happy to help!

[@Yeszur]

The 20 days represent our fingers and toes and the 13 months represent our joints: ankles, knees, hips, wrist, elbow, shoulder, and neck. This represents the 260 day calendar. Xichen itza has 91 steps on each side with one platform on the top to make 365 steps. So much interesting and intelligent findings with the maya people!

[@alangivre2474]

Wowwww. Thank you!!!!

[@k_tess]

Um 91x4=364 where the fifth step?

[@pachucotirili]

@@k_tess the platform on top

[@NCRonrad]

@@pachucotirili 👏🏾

[@Strider_Bvlbaha]

It should be noted that terrapins (turtles) have 13 major plates on their shell--many (though not all) Indigenous nations of Turtle Island (north, south, and central) associate 13 months with at least one of their sacred cycles and relate that back to the landmass of N & S "America" being founded on Turtle's back. I'd never heard of the 13 month cycle being associated with 13 non-digit joints, but it does make sense. It's always nice when important numbers have multiple instances of being 'significant' throughout the created order!

[@fmulder6564]

I feel like for base 20 counting system it's more likely they used both sides of their hands versus hands and feet. Count to ten with your palms up, them flip them over and keep going up to 20.

[@AncientAmericas]

A very neat idea!

[@freealter]

Yeah definitely this

[@johnyarbrough502]

I just always assumed it was because we have toes 😄

[@jaybyday2381]

Thats so obvious it Makes anthropologists look Silly.

[@RufoTamales]

That is a very very interesting idea, specially when you think about the concept of Ometeotl and how this religion/spirituality was closely related with their math, by doing so (the flipping hands technique) you add color(palms and counter palms contrasting colours) as a category of sorts into counting/math! That's another linearly indepent variable of sorts! Me emociono mucho con descubrir la matematica "prehispánica" , saludos!

[@jdmccaffrey]

wow this calendar is actually really cool, love the cyclical nature of it versus our linear calendar

[@xyldkefyi]

After this I'm both in awe of the mesoamerican calendar and thankful for the simplicity of the calendar I use. Although I guess if you dig deep into things like leap years or the julian/gregorian shift, that calendar can also get quite complicated.

[@abcdeshole]

There's a remarkable dearth of intelligent videos on KZbin explaining the Mesoamerican calendar, and intelligent content about Mesoamerica more broadly. This is excellent.

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@Riggsradar69]

These dudes where really smart like holy moly ;-;

[@HVLLOW99]

It's all that good corn. Eat ur veggies kids

[@sittingstill3578]

There are bright people everywhere. It all depends on what are the problems a culture is facing as to where that intellect is applied. Then it is important that ideas or concepts are tools used by intellectuals to make abstractions and implications.

[@fredriks5090]

@@sittingstill3578 Which is why "degeneration" through culture is a thing that should be taken seriously and not just brushed away as criticism of change. A wolf can turn into a Chihuahua if a stupid ape is allowed to breed it.

[@bleachno9]

@@fredriks5090 shut up fascist

[@fredriks5090]

@@bleachno9 Go drink your mandated coolaid, your Tics are starting again.

[@Lord1001]

The Wayeb for Mayans or Nemontemi for Mexicas was not an unlucky time as the video suggests. According to the teacher Ocelocoatl Ramírez these were days of fasting, meditation, and self-care. Similar to how you take a car in to get a tune up, our bodies are also in need of some care. Other than that I appreciate learning about the count in English. Thanks

[@twilight6779]

That explains Emmett Till July 25th💔

[@SpiderEnjoyer]

Showing up here after the interview with Veritas et Caritas to say that your videos are great, man. And also, the whole 2012 end-of-the-world thing being essentially mayan Y2K is profoundly funny to me for some reason!

[@AncientAmericas]

@@SpiderEnjoyer thank you!

[@debbralehrman5957]

I have to say both. Amazed at their calendar and glad I have the one I do. Thank you for going over this with us. Now I know I can count to Twenty. I think the most interesting part is that so many of shared the same basic calendar.

[@AncientAmericas]

People in Mesoamerica really liked their calendar.

[@PaulRoberts61877]

I have followed the haab for 12+ years and think you did a great job on the piece.

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@urielantoniobarcelosavenda780]

Thanks for sharing this, Im mexican and really intersted in the ancient cultures, however, because education is mostly focus on the last 200 years, I really have only learned about it recently, half youtube and half from indigenous teachers that my mom knew

[@AncientAmericas]

You're welcome!

[@kalrandom7387]

I am both amazed and thankful

[@someguy8732]

Good video, looking forward to the rest!

[@QuiteTheSoph]

Found your channel by happy accident. Thank you for this wealth of information! You've definitely earned a new subscriber after watching three of your videos back to back. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@daviddeltoro1808]

There really needs to be a mobile app or a website with virtual Maya calendars that you can play around with like you did in the video. I'm legitimately stupid with numbers, but you made it a little easier to understand

[@AncientAmericas]

There are! I actually use one called Katun. It's free to download.

[@Santu7220]

Great visualization. The specific day quality is intersting to feel.

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@pentelegomenon1175]

Random theory: if you make a lunar calendar where you only count 21 days after every full moon (for some reason), a year would be almost exactly 260 days (really 259.7333), so maybe they had a calendar like that once. I can't help but notice that 260 is almost exactly the amount of weekdays in a year, which makes me imagine a strange scenario where an ancient insane Meso-American dictator effectively bans their culture's equivalent of weekends.

[@2spicyleaf6334]

From memory they did have a 260 day calendar for events or ceremonies but I could be wrong

[@8roomsofelixir]

The way the Sacred Calendar counts days looks quite similar to how the Chinese Sexagenary Cycle counts days. The Sexagenary Cycle employs a 10/12 combination of naming days (compared to Sacred Calendar's 13/20) which forms a 60-day cyrcle that intertwined with the normal 30-day months. It could also be used to name years as well, thus creates a 60-year cyrcle.

[@jonnygonzales3875]

Thank you so much for this great channel and information! My roots are Mexican and English though growing up in ENgland all my life I have longed to connect with my Mexican roots. This channel really deepens that connection so thank you!

[@AncientAmericas]

You're welcome!

[@AndreaSotomayor-p3k]

Absolutely interesting how such calendars were created! Excellent program.

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@ricardoarce1037]

Excellent video, really interesting

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@larrybrown1124]

WOW - I had heard bits and pieces about their calendars... but this really is impressive and amazing. Thank you for going through the details in this way! I really appreciate your methods of explanation and presentation - Keep up the Great Content!!

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@TimL1980]

Very interesting video and good explanation! It is easy to get lost with a language that doesn't resemble any of the ones one knows - and the crammed, stylized weird symbols don't help either, but you're doing a great job! (And honestly: a story about Kyle, Kevin, Ken and Kaleb get's confusing enough.... especially if it goes on for a hundred years and they all start naming their sons after their best buddies!

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@howardstrauss5166]

Thank you my teacher

[@AncientAmericas]

You're welcome my apprentice.

[@johnyarbrough502]

Good summary. Impressed you provide a list of sources and credits.

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@ulisesromo7347]

Thank you for your work on these peoples.

[@AncientAmericas]

You're welcome!

[@JumpForMeBlue]

Thank you I love these!

[@AncientAmericas]

Awesome! There's more coming!

[@k-rloz2999]

very helpful video, thanks

[@AncientAmericas]

You're welcome!

[@BeyondEcstasy]

The Aztec Sun Stone (the first image used in the video) is not a calendar although historically thought to be one. It's now believed to be a platform for gladiatorial combat.

[@AncientAmericas]

Yes. I didn't fully understand that when I made the video. I'm learning more everyday.

[@tloquenahuaque3910]

It's not the aztec either. It's the Anahuac sun stone! Made by the Anahuacas.

[@diansc7322]

@@tloquenahuaque3910 but it was discovered in the Aztec templo mayor

[@helmar_rudolph]

​@@tloquenahuaque3910 Annunaki? Just wondering...

[@ronydio9590]

Excellent video!

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@JCO2002]

Both in awe and thankful.

[@zaiphu]

Absolutely incredible, wish I learned about this in school

[@Dreamspan]

I have an assignment on this due in 2 days, this streamlined most of the important information into very a understandable video. thank you

[@AncientAmericas]

Happy to help! It's not an easy thing to understand on the first try.

[@danielmartinez5505]

This is so cool. I would love to replicate something similar for my DnD homebrew setting

[@joeygarza9550]

I remember there was a cool bar in the meatpacking district in NYC back in the 90s -- the 1990s -- called Baktun, and it was smooth, adobe, sandstone interior, almost similar in style to the Mos Eisley bar in SW, but it was definitely based on the Mayan calander, and the only cheap beer they sold, and only in cans, was Tecate -- no Bud, Coors, or Miller. It was definitely a scene! Alas, the bar, as well as the scene, ended up like the ancient Mayan civilization and it is long gone.

[@markthomas8766]

That was great. Enjoyed it immensely. The only other utube video I saw on the "Mayan" calender that really good was where it was proposed the reason for some of the longer cycles was related to multiples of the orbit lengths of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. This sort of gives the idea that the cyclic nature of our solar system effects the cyclic nature of life on earth and again promotes the idea that time is a cycle or orbital in nature, and not linear. I was trying to find that utube video when I came across yours! Many thanks.

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@igor-yp1xv]

This video is awesome. Lord Of The Night sounds like something from Game of Thrones.

[@AncientAmericas]

Right!?

[@per4mexbagger541]

Outstanding

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@pine1780]

I love this channel so much, please keep making more!!

[@jimmytovar2844]

Wow! Thank you for making this information accessible

[@AncientAmericas]

You're welcome!

[@holdingpattern245]

Possible significance of the 260 days: the lunar intercalary period is about 2 years plus 261 days. Possible slight miscalculation. Reckoning it as 260 days produces a year of 365.2565 days, which is maybe close enough. Maybe they wanted to reconcile it with their 13 day week, similar to how the second temple Jews defined a year as 364 days to reconcile it with their 7 day week.

[@pro5alfa0]

Great stuff!

[@habitualforeigner]

In several Mayan languages, the word for "twenty" is either the same as, or very similar to, the word for "man" or "person." In Guatemala there are some differences between language groups about when to observe the completion of the 260-count but, I believe, the names may have in some cases changed as Mayan languages diverged. Many communities have a "day counter" ( "aj q'ij") who keeps track of the names of the days, important for remembering auspicious days, etc. An anthropologist colleague of mine discovered that hand signs that women used to indicate the phase of the moon (when calculating gestation), matched hand signs in calendar inscriptions from the classical period that apparently denoted lunar phases. I hope you address in future videos something about Mesoamerican astronomy. Several classical Maya sites are oriented toward Venus and other heavenly bodies besides "just" the sun and moon.

[@AncientAmericas]

That is really interesting! Yes, I do want to do an episode on Maya astronomy someday but that's a long ways in the future.

[@JuanRodriguez-qk2eq]

In the Yaqui language (a Uto-Aztecan Native language from Sonora, Mexico) the word for 20 is the same as body. The number 5 is similar to hand, the number 10 is 2 hands, 15 is 10+5, and finally, 20 is a body. Then you go all the way counting 40 as 2 bodies, 60 as 3 bodies, until mixing Spanish numbers for larger amounts. I don't think in Northern Mexico there were calendars at all, but makes me wonder how extended is the vigesimal system and how many languages express this unit as a person, body or so. Within and outside of Mesoamerica.

[@luedog8385]

Thank you for these videos I recently found your Channel and I have a lot of videos to watch now😅

[@dominictarrsailing]

isn't it 17 K'atuns in the inscription? (at 16:25) I can see 2 dots and three bars. Although it's possible that the dots are actually part of the previous glyph? I also notice on the other glyphs they fit in the numbers were it flows nicely, for example on the 3rd lunation the 3 dots are above the glyphs elbow (?)

[@allones3078]

Great video

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@believeinpeace]

Absolutely fascinating. Thank you!

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@jaysonparkhurst7422]

This really opens my mind

[@koyotekola6916]

I'm taking an Anthropology class this summer, and toward the end, it starts focusing on the Maya culture. My teacher tried to explain the Maya calendar but failed miserably. She may be a DEI appointed professor. This is a much better explanation!

[@AncientAmericas]

In her defense, it's not easy to get it the first time around. I had to have it explained to me multiple times.

[@koyotekola6916]

@@AncientAmericas Good point.

[@vortiz3509]

Sir, the "calendar" graphic is not a calendar. It is thought by many that it is but it is not. It is an Aztec sun stone and it depicts the five consecutive worlds of the sun from Aztec cosmology. Please, do not confuse them.

[@AncientAmericas]

You are 100% correct. I was ignorant at the time. That's my mistake.

[@pizzadesushi0000]

i hope this channel blows up

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@heven729]

Thank you for this!

[@AncientAmericas]

You're welcome!

[@luyzqint3760]

Just, wow!. Thanks for another great video.✌️

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@epicweedskrrtswag7872]

Didn’t really understand the calender, but love your enthusiasm

[@AncientAmericas]

It's ok. I didn't get it the first time around either and had to reread the same stuff over and over again to understand it. It's not easy.

[@JamesFenczik]

@13:20 did I understand correctly that they dated/anchored their Calendar to ~3500 bc (5000 yr ago) and they said that the previous world ended ~5000 yr before that? (14 baktun) for a total of ~10,000 years ago?

[@lolaojeda1206]

This is how my Grandfather 91.6%Mesoamerican Jose Lino Sandate Morales was named!! Born September 23, 1940!! Family from San Luis Potosi born Brewster TEXUS!!

[@stuarthdoblin]

Really wonderful! Quite the education, thank you for taking the time.

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@raider_reaper_4194]

This was freaking amazing

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@lynnmitzy1643]

I am really enjoying your videos, thank you.

[@jesserichards5582]

Very fascinating, I'm not one for math but this is a interesting topic to learn more & understand fully. Especially if it corresponds with our every day life cycle

[@jammrock9436]

That was amazing! Thank you so much

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@hallowacko]

This and your Olmec video really drives home that, if we are going to refer to the myriad north-afro-euro-near-asian cultures that used the 7-day-week as a single "Western Civilization", then we must do the same with Meso-America (plus the north american and south american cultures influenced by them). Tin Foil Hat Time: were the Mississippians influenced by Meso-America? And do we know anything about their own calendar? I look at stuff from Cahokia on wikipedia, ,and it feels like theres a similar art style happening there to some Meso-American stuff. Love your channel, so glad I found it. Episode Request: Effigy Mounds? (I'm a Wisconsinite, so... a little selfish there :P)

[@AncientAmericas]

If you're from Wisconsin, you'll be very pleased with the next episode that's coming.

[@hallowacko]

@@AncientAmericas AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH EXCITED SCREAMS

[@NCRonrad]

Jurucan - Hurucan; a shared deity between Maya, Atlantic islands, and tribes/nations of the Mississippi/florida

[@Ottmar555]

Cipactli is pronouned /sipaktli/. C in classical nahuatl is used the same way as in spanish, remember. /s/ before e and i and /k/ before a and o. Atlcahualo means "The water(s) leave".

[@AncientAmericas]

I wish I'd had your expertise a year ago. I don't speak nahuatl or spanish. Definitely good to know!

[@gleann_cuilinn]

The reason why the /s/ sound is spelled c/z in Nahuatl is kinda interesting. In late medieval Spanish, the letter was pronounced “retracted”, almost like “sh”, while and were pronounced like an “s” but with the very tip of the tongue on the teeth. Early Spanish colonists thought that the Nahuatl sound was more like their than their (at the time). Also, unlike in Modern Spanish, was pronounced like “sh” back then, so that was used to write the Nahuatl “sh” sound in words like xitomatl and nixtamalli.

[@Ottmar555]

@@gleann_cuilinn I'd argue that the modern peninsular spanish still sounds quite like an "sh". The distiction between two "s" sounds is still retained in Euskera, their "s" is like the spanish sound and their "z" like english "s". Even the nahuatl speakers themselves thought the sounded like "sh", as they transcribed spanish loanwords with an , such as Xinola for Señora.

[@aserher215]

I love your channel!

[@AncientAmericas]

I love your comment Pizza Cat!

[@andreaskallstrom9031]

Super interesting, thank you!

[@AncientAmericas]

You're welcome!

[@samurachi420]

Love the channel. Would love to see a breakdown of yaqui

[@AncientAmericas]

So would I!

[@shibolinemress8913]

The vigesimal system reminds me of the counting systen in France. Being dyscalculic, having to learn that in French class was nightmarish for me!

[@TheMylittletony]

This is making my head spin

[@OmnipotentO]

Mind blowing how clever they were

[@anam2996]

MUCHÍSIMAS GRACIAS! estoy haciendo mi tesis de licenciatura y ha sido muy difícil para mí entender las explicaciones sobre los calendarios en la bibliografía especializada, gracias por tan buena explicación! Saludos desde México!

[@AncientAmericas]

Muchas gracias!

[@Ewilds]

So the Calendar Round completes one cycle every 52 years, and this calendar is a combination of the 260 day calendar and the 365 day solar calendar. The Long Count Calendar counts the numbers of days but it does try to approximate a solar year because it multiples 20 days by 18, and not the normal 20, to get 360. (I assume the Maya wanted to avoid fractions and not multiply 20 by 18.2621 to get 365.242 days in a solar year). One Baktun is 144,000 days and one great cycle completes in 13 Baktuns, which is 1,872,000 million days. 1,872,000 days is about ~5125 solar years if you use 365.242 as the number of days in a solar year. But the Long Count uses a 360 day solar year. So if you divide 1,872,000 by 360 you get exactly 5200 solar years, again using 360 days as a year. The Calendar Round completes in 52 years, and Long Count in 5200 years. Is this a coincidence or is it by design?

[@AncientAmericas]

Never noticed that. No clue if that's happy coincidence or not. Very interesting though!

[@carlborg8023]

52 and 5200 are base 10 numbers though. In base 20, 52 would be written 2(12) (the twelve in () is a single digit) whereas 5200 would be (13)00. So I think it mere coincidence. The way, and how tidily, numerals play together varies quite a bit by number base used, and base 10 is decidedly inferior to the likes of 6, 12, 16, 60... or so I've heard, I've only played with 12, 16 and 20 myself, and can say 12 and 16 are good 20 is nothing special, about the same as 10.

[@Ewilds]

@@carlborg8023 The Long Count isn't base 20, either, in the sense that a tun has 360 days (20*18). The Calendar Round completes after 52.00 years because that is how long it takes for the ritual calendar of 260 days and the civil calendar of 365.00 to repeat. 52 is 13*4. The Long Count is 13*400, starting with the base of 360.

[@HeritageCraftsKnowledgeReposit]

I was saving watching this episode until last, until I saw the others first. I was not disappointed. Thank you for the respect , sensitivity and attention to detail you give to these topics. It is heart warming. Thank you . 🙏🙏👏👏🤘🤘

[@AncientAmericas]

You're welcome! Thank you for your kind words.

[@anthonylezama1645]

4:13 and that tradition continues to this day! Although the days pertain to specific saints, it can be yet another way these people kept their customs alive

[@priscilajaneth4695]

That and christianity appropriating "pagan" traditions.

[@Yentzie]

9:53 where do you get that number? 52 years, excluding leap years, is 18,980 days so I wanted to check if it's a typo or I missed something

[@AncientAmericas]

GAAAHHH!!! That's a typo. Totally dropped the ball on that one. 18,980 days is what it should be. You are correct.

[@Yentzie]

Ancient Americas, No worries you’re a history channel not a math one, still a wonderful video

[@CultureTripGuide-HilmarHWerner]

next big oddity (not to say blunder) - if i'm not wrong (i always hated math...): you say the maya said: 165 lunations = 4,400 days; then: 1 lunation = 29.53020 days. ok. but 165 times 29.53020 - according to my calculator - equals 4,872.483 days... so some explanation needed please - or deletion and a new fire ceremony for a new start (without the human sacrifice if you may)...

[@AncientAmericas]

@@CultureTripGuide-HilmarHWerner ugh, I'm gonna have to check my sources and confirm. I didn't do any of the math myself and just uses what was in the books.

[@davidwartski7213]

It's Fibonacci based. 144 is significant, because it is the 12 number in the Fibonacci sequence, and the only number whose square root is the same as its position in the sequence. So, from that, we get 1 x 12 x 12 x 1,000 = 144,000. However, if you start with an intended end date, and work backwards, you can begin it wherever it ends up, and do it how ever many times you want. This is why the date of completion was 12/21/2012. The zero represents the so-called jumping off point in the Fibonacci sequence, although it is not actually part of the sequence. The end date represents the so-called end of the old paradigm, and the beginning of the global consciousness shift and universal enlightenment. It's just taken us a few years to get our act together and remember who we really are. But there were a lot of events that needed to take place before this could occur.

[@felipeandrusco6478]

just to add to the why of the 260 days of tzolkin, its 20*13, which are both sacred numbers to the mayas for a *number* of reasons

[@debbralehrman5957]

Thank you👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@greatskytrollantidrama4473]

Pretty sure I've binge watched everything. Thank you

[@AncientAmericas]

Thanks! Better get some sleep so you can watch tomorrow's episode.

[@BeYeSeparate]

Very informative videos friend thank you! (btw, I would love to know what font that is, big fan.)

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you! And to answer your question, the font is IM Fell.

[@birgaripadam7112]

My god that was complex and I love it

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@birgaripadam7112]

@@AncientAmericas a was interested in pre-colonisation history af America and currently I loving it One can only wonder what would there civilization (if left alone) evolve to

[@kovko69]

*_Maybe_* the Mayan long calendar's cycle began in the year 3114 BC, because the Thuban star (which was the north star at the time) was at its discernibly and relatively closest point to true north in that year. Today we know that Thuban was at its absolute closest to true north in 2830 BC, when it was within ≈ 0.1667°; however, it remained within about 1° of this for almost 200 years following (≈ 2630 BC), and was within 5° from truth north for 900 years afterwards (≈ 1930 BC). A 1° change may not have been discernible to the naked eye, and thus may be indiscernible to the Mayans. Given that Thuban doesn't follow a perfectly circular path across the sky and is rather very slow in its change relative to true north, for 284 years before and nearly 200 years following Thuban's _actual_ closest proximity to true north, Thuban may have been calculated by the Mayans to be an unchanging north star for about 484 years starting in the year 3114 BC. That would imply that the Mayans' discernible accuracy limit would be within at least ±1° of a given celestial body to true north. For comparison, Polaris is about 0.7° off from true north today, and will reach its closest on 24 March 2100 when it'll be 0.4526° off. The Maya may have calculated that Polaris would reach its _discernibly_ closest proximity to true north on 21 December 2012, which we know today to be at 0.736° from true north. That's a deviation of 0.2834° in 88 years, or an ≈0.00322° average change per year. If the hypothesized discernible accuracy limit of < ±1° is correct with respect to a given north star, then we can refine the Maya's discernibility limit further with Polaris. For Thuban, it was only _assumed_ that beginning in the year 3114 BC, there was a 2° change that went unrecognized (1° before and after 1° its nearest point to true north). To the Maya, Polaris' peak proximity may have been calculated to be at 0.736° of true north, and they may believe that Polaris would remain that way for many decades following its actual peak in 2100. That gives us a discernibility limit of at least 0.5668° (2 x 0.2834°). This calculation could be done for each of the 12 north stars at the start and end of the Mayan long year. I haven't checked if all of those north stars align with the Mayan long calendar, or what the proximity of those north stars are at its nearest proximity to true north. But that would be prudent to check to validate this hypothesis. One may also have to consider if the Mayan calendar meshed together the duration of all 12 north stars across Earth's precessional cycle, in a way that made sense for the Maya's cultural purposes.

[@michaelanthony4750]

This will be the first youtube video to win an Oscar.

[@AncientAmericas]

You flatter me good sir.

[@nhenhe2214]

¿DÓNDE ESTÁN LOS SUBTÍTULOS EN ESPAÑOL Y PORTUGUÉS?

[@darlenequezada908]

What is the calendar round date that follow 4 Ajaw 8 Kumku ?

[@mark2406]

Been watching all your vids, keep up the great work, it's hard to find alot of in depth content on ancient Americas, can't wait for your El Mirador vid to drop, any hints to what you are working on now?

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@harpman476]

For context: 18,890 days = 51 years and 9 months in the Gregorian calendar. 7,200 days or one K’atun = 19 years 8 months and 3 weeks 144,000 days or one B’aktun = 394 years 6 months and 1 week

[@davidmontemayor4383]

Amazing! Thank you so much!!!!

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you sir!

[@reginajohnson188]

I actually have a app and I put together my own Mayan calendar 📆 🎉🎉 that is because the Mayan calendar was not meant to be a doomsday calendar 📆 it only marks the end of a cycle and starts anew cycle ❤❤

[@RonJohn63]

2:51 When did they develop this positional number system?

[@amphibiousone7972]

Outstanding 💪 THANKS 🙏

[@AncientAmericas]

Thank you!

[@NicholasHara]

Quick question, how did the meso American calendar handle the slow drift of the calendar without leap years?

[@AncientAmericas]

Good question. They didn't adjust for it using the sacred calendar although they knew perfectly well that a solar year was slightly more than 365 days. (For that reason, the ha'ab cycle is often called the vague year.) However, using the long count, they could account for it there.

[@jacquesmesrine3244]

These people were geniuses. Without all the technology us Westerners had and their calendar was still so accurate! Incredible.