Mayan Calendar description:
From the superior Pre-Classic period (400 BC) the priests of time (in Maya ajk’inoob) Mayan civilization used subtle and sophisticated themselves to register temporal evolution,
What we now: call the Mayan calendar is actually a series of astronomical cycles , intimately interconnected rituals, which sometimes involve mathematical calculations whose precision still moves to amazement.
This cyclical idea of time contrasts with our linear idea of Western conception, although both cultures established a crucial milestone to mark the point of reference forced to relate any other event:
The Gregorian calendar
is defined by the birth of Christ in the Mayan this is called Date-Era, when the last of the successive creations of the world, happened in 13.0.0.0.0 it took place 4 Ajaw 8 Kumk’u (August 13, 3,114 BC)
The different calendar cycles used by the Maya served different purposes. on the Long Account or tzíkhaab (Time Account); The Tzolk’in or ritual calendar; the haab or astronomical calendar and other additional cycles that account for the Involved complexity, such as the so-called “Nine Lords of the Night”, that of the Lunar Series and that of the 819 days, as well as the synodic cycles of Venus and Mars, among others.
The Olmec civilization
had its apogee during the Middle Preclassic period in the Gulf and the Pacíñco Mexicans (ca. 1200-400 a.c.
Previously considered the “mother culture” of Mesoamerica, today we know that it was contemporary with others that flourished in the region. The basins of Mexico, the valley of Oaxaca and the Pacific coast were originally settled by the Olmecs in early coastal sites, later adapting to a coastal lowland environment where they established their main centers, San Lorenzo, La Venta and Tres Zapotes.
Its influence also reached regions such as Guerrero, Morelos and the central Mexican highlands, viable in places such as Teopantecuanitlán, Gsakatzingo and Tlatilco.The Olmec impact on the precláska Maya culture is appreciable in sites ranging from Chalchuapa in El Salvador to San Bartolo in the Petén Guatemalan.
Currently, certain Mayan communities preserve the use of the 260-day ritual calendar, Tzilkin as in northern Guatemala, and the use of the 365-day Haab in the Chamula community of Milpoleta Chiapas Mexico. In Yucatan there are still communities with religious uses of the calendar.
The Mayan Calendar Wheel:
