The day on which the current baktun of the Maya Long Count will end is -- as said before -- still something of a matter of debate. Depending on the book, the current baktun will end on December 21, 2012, on December 23, 2012 or on December 22, 2012. Why don’t these books agree?
Matching up -- or correlating -- the Maya’s Long Count and Calendar Round with our calendar is a study filled with a variety of gathered clues, disagreeing factions and even a plethora of mathematical programs used to aid calculation. Various theories are still employed for correlation and lines have been drawn as people are still trying to refine the match between our calendar and those of the ancient Maya.
The Main Correlations
Currently, two main correlations exist for matching up our calendar with the ancient Mayans’ calendars. These are the Spinden Correlation (also called the 11.16 Correlation) and the Thompson Correlation (also called the 12.9 Correlation, the Goodman-Martinez-Thompson Correlation or the GMT).
The Spinden Correlation fits very well with what archaeologists have found in the northern area of the Yucatan -- but nowhere else. The Thompson Correlation however – which places dates 260 years later than the Spinden Correlation -- fits better with what archaeologists have found everywhere else. Of the two correlations, the Thompson Correlation is more accepted in Maya studies.
However, a third notable correlation exists, created by George Vaillant. It is known as the 11.3 correlation. Some people who study the Maya keep an open mind about this correlation.
Short Count Correlation Clue
So far, it is not possible to directly make a correlation of the Long Count with our calendar. Instead, direct correlation is made with the Short Count, a shorter version of the Long Count, found in such places as books written after contact with the Spanish, such as the books of Chilam Balam. One such date correlation found in these books matches the Short Count date Katun 13 Ahau with January 6, 1542 -- the day the city of Merida was founded.
This is not a perfect clue however. There is still the issue of making the Long Count match the Short Count -- and the fact that a person using the Short Count dates assumes that it is still in sync with the Long Count.
Astronomical Clue
Post-Spanish contact information isn’t the only kind of clue found in old artifacts. Lunar eclipse information in the Dresden Codex is another piece of information people use to correlate the Mayan calendars to ours. People use this information by calculating backwards when lunar eclipses would have occurred.
Correlation Clues via Carbon Dating
Archaeologists have been collecting clues for date correlation while in the field. An example of this is the carbon dating of sapodilla lintels at Tikal. The first time they did this, the Spinden Correlation seemed to be right. However, when they tested the lintels again the Thompson Correlation seemed the most right, matching with 10 of the 12 wood samples they used.
Other Considerations
When making the attempt to correlate the calendars, there are several other things that a person must consider. One of these considerations is the ancient Maya concept of a day – which is understood to have gone from sunset to sunset and not midnight to midnight like with today. Also unlike our concept of a day, the Maya did not give the day its number until it was over.
References:
"The Ancient Maya", 5th Edition; Michael C. Coe;
Dartmouth College: Izapa: Birthplace of Time: Correlation
“The Ancient Maya”; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Calendar Series 4 of 6 -- Long Count
The Long Count is a linear timekeeping method of the Maya. Unlike the Haab and Tzolkin the Long Count does not start over. Instead, it has a starting date -- the date of the current world’s creation -- and keeps increasing forever. In a way it is like how we count the years, although we do it in terms of AD and BC.
By using the Long Count, the ancient Maya were able to keep track of dates in a larger context than they could with just the Calendar Round. This makes them different from other cultures that just used the Calendar Round, such as the Aztecs.
History
The oldest Long Count dates thus far discovered in the Maya world are located in the southern area and date from the Late Preclassic period. From this time, it seems that use of the Long Count spread to the Maya lowlands by the Classic period.
Set Up of the Long Count
Parts of the Long Count include:
Kin -- this is equal to one day.
Uinal -- this is equal to 20 kin. 18 uinals made a tun.
Tun -- a 360-day period made of 18 uinals (or uinics**).
Katun -- a period of 20 tuns which equals 7,200 days.
Baktun -- a period of 20 katuns or 144,000 days.
The Maya also had larger periods time, but they were not used in the Long Count. These are:
Pictun -- a period of 20 baktuns.
Calabtun -- a period of 20 pictuns.
Cinchiltun -- a period of 20 calabtuns.
Alawtun -- a period of 20 cinchiltuns.
Most of the names are not the original names the Maya used. They are names that they were given in more recent times.
Transliterating the Long Count
The Long Count is written in our number system as a series of numbers with periods in between them For example: 8.0.0.0.0 means 8 baktuns, 0 katuns, 0 tuns, 0 uinals and 0 kin. 1.3.3.7 is 1 katuns, 3 tuns, 3 uinals and 7 kins.
Long Count in Terms of Inscriptions
The Long Count was used at the beginning of inscriptions. Dates introducing inscriptions went like this: first came an introductory glyph that was larger than the other glyphs. In the middle of this glyph was a glyph of the patron god of the Haab month in which the Long Count date took place.
Then came the Long Count date, after which came the Tzolkin date. Following the Tzolkin date was a glyph possibly depicting a Lord of the Night, then a glyph that could be a title of the Lord of the Night and 6 glyphs on the moon date in connection to the Long Count date. Finishing up this long date sequence was the Haab date.
Cultural Significance
The ancient Maya believed that the current world began on the last day of the last baktun: 13.0.0.0.0, a date on which 4 Ahau of the Tzolkin and 8 Cumku of the Haab fell. People have tried to figure out when this was, and the most commonly accepted date is 11, 12, or 13 August 3114 BC. A common projection for the finishing of the current baktun is December 21, 2012.
In the Maya culture, the completion of a baktun was a significant event -- the completion of a “great cycle”. It may have even been a time to celebrate for the people who saw it completed. In this way it is like how the year 2000 was for us.
**In Classic Mayan writings, either word was used. However, more often they used uinic. In Colonial times, writers used uinal more.
References:
“A Forest of Kings”; Linda Schele, David Friedel; 1990
Southern Polytechnic State University: Mayan Myths -- Mayan Calendar
“The Ancient Maya”; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006
By using the Long Count, the ancient Maya were able to keep track of dates in a larger context than they could with just the Calendar Round. This makes them different from other cultures that just used the Calendar Round, such as the Aztecs.
History
The oldest Long Count dates thus far discovered in the Maya world are located in the southern area and date from the Late Preclassic period. From this time, it seems that use of the Long Count spread to the Maya lowlands by the Classic period.
Set Up of the Long Count
Parts of the Long Count include:
Kin -- this is equal to one day.
Uinal -- this is equal to 20 kin. 18 uinals made a tun.
Tun -- a 360-day period made of 18 uinals (or uinics**).
Katun -- a period of 20 tuns which equals 7,200 days.
Baktun -- a period of 20 katuns or 144,000 days.
The Maya also had larger periods time, but they were not used in the Long Count. These are:
Pictun -- a period of 20 baktuns.
Calabtun -- a period of 20 pictuns.
Cinchiltun -- a period of 20 calabtuns.
Alawtun -- a period of 20 cinchiltuns.
Most of the names are not the original names the Maya used. They are names that they were given in more recent times.
Transliterating the Long Count
The Long Count is written in our number system as a series of numbers with periods in between them For example: 8.0.0.0.0 means 8 baktuns, 0 katuns, 0 tuns, 0 uinals and 0 kin. 1.3.3.7 is 1 katuns, 3 tuns, 3 uinals and 7 kins.
Long Count in Terms of Inscriptions
The Long Count was used at the beginning of inscriptions. Dates introducing inscriptions went like this: first came an introductory glyph that was larger than the other glyphs. In the middle of this glyph was a glyph of the patron god of the Haab month in which the Long Count date took place.
Then came the Long Count date, after which came the Tzolkin date. Following the Tzolkin date was a glyph possibly depicting a Lord of the Night, then a glyph that could be a title of the Lord of the Night and 6 glyphs on the moon date in connection to the Long Count date. Finishing up this long date sequence was the Haab date.
Cultural Significance
The ancient Maya believed that the current world began on the last day of the last baktun: 13.0.0.0.0, a date on which 4 Ahau of the Tzolkin and 8 Cumku of the Haab fell. People have tried to figure out when this was, and the most commonly accepted date is 11, 12, or 13 August 3114 BC. A common projection for the finishing of the current baktun is December 21, 2012.
In the Maya culture, the completion of a baktun was a significant event -- the completion of a “great cycle”. It may have even been a time to celebrate for the people who saw it completed. In this way it is like how the year 2000 was for us.
**In Classic Mayan writings, either word was used. However, more often they used uinic. In Colonial times, writers used uinal more.
References:
“A Forest of Kings”; Linda Schele, David Friedel; 1990
Southern Polytechnic State University: Mayan Myths -- Mayan Calendar
“The Ancient Maya”; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Maya Calendar Series 3 of 6 -- Calendar Round
As mentioned in the overview article, the Calendar Round is the combination of the cyclical Tzolkin and Haab calendars that starts over every 52 years. Like with the Haab and Tzolkin calendars by themselves, a common way to visually explain the Calendar Round is by representing the calendars as interlocking gears.
With other Mesoamerican cultures, the Calendar Round was the longest length of time they recorded. This was not the case with the Maya, however, who also used the non-repeating Long Count -- which could be used to count beyond the 52 years of Calendar Round.
How Calendar Round Dates are Expressed
The Haab and Tzolkin dates are written today as a pair of dates. For example, the day on which the Tzolkin date 13 Ahau and the Haab date 8 Xul both fall is simply referred to as 13 Ahau 8 Xul. And once it occurs, a pairing of dates won’t occur again until 52 years have gone by.
Repititions
Within the 52-year cycle, the calendars complete their own cycles at rates independent of each other. The Haab repeats 52 times and the Tzolkin repeats 73 times before the two calendars can meet up again to begin a new Calendar Round.
Year Bearer
The Tzolkin date that fell on 0 Pop of the Haab was called the “year bearer.” The “characteristics” of a Tzolkin date that occurred on 0 Pop were thought to influence all the days of the Haab.
With the way that the calendars were set up, only 4 named days out of the 20 named days of the Tzolkin could ever occur on 0 Pop. In the Classic period, the 4 days -- known as “year bearers” -- were Akbal, Lamat, Ben and Etz’nab*. Taking into account the 13 numbers that are part of the Tzolkin, 52 unique Tzolkin dates could occur as “year bearers” (13 x 4 = 52). After 52 years, this sequence of year bearers started over.
Here’s a sample of the pattern of year bearer dates as they occurred: 1 Akbal, 2 Lamat, 3 Ben, 4 Etz’nab, 5 Akbal, 6 Lamat, 7 Ben, 8 Etz’nab, 9 Akbal, 10 Lamat, 11 Ben, 12 Etz’nab, 13 Akbal, 1 Lamat…
*These four days sometimes varied by region, as in the center of the Maya Lowlands, the days were Ik, Manik, Eb and Caban in the Classic Period. By the time of the Conquistadors, the days had become Kan, Muluc, Ix and Cauac.
“A Forest of Kings”; Linda Schele, David Friedel; 1990
“The Ancient Maya”; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006
“Yaxchilan: The Design of an Maya Ceremonial City” Carolyn Elaine Tate; 1992
With other Mesoamerican cultures, the Calendar Round was the longest length of time they recorded. This was not the case with the Maya, however, who also used the non-repeating Long Count -- which could be used to count beyond the 52 years of Calendar Round.
How Calendar Round Dates are Expressed
The Haab and Tzolkin dates are written today as a pair of dates. For example, the day on which the Tzolkin date 13 Ahau and the Haab date 8 Xul both fall is simply referred to as 13 Ahau 8 Xul. And once it occurs, a pairing of dates won’t occur again until 52 years have gone by.
Repititions
Within the 52-year cycle, the calendars complete their own cycles at rates independent of each other. The Haab repeats 52 times and the Tzolkin repeats 73 times before the two calendars can meet up again to begin a new Calendar Round.
Year Bearer
The Tzolkin date that fell on 0 Pop of the Haab was called the “year bearer.” The “characteristics” of a Tzolkin date that occurred on 0 Pop were thought to influence all the days of the Haab.
With the way that the calendars were set up, only 4 named days out of the 20 named days of the Tzolkin could ever occur on 0 Pop. In the Classic period, the 4 days -- known as “year bearers” -- were Akbal, Lamat, Ben and Etz’nab*. Taking into account the 13 numbers that are part of the Tzolkin, 52 unique Tzolkin dates could occur as “year bearers” (13 x 4 = 52). After 52 years, this sequence of year bearers started over.
Here’s a sample of the pattern of year bearer dates as they occurred: 1 Akbal, 2 Lamat, 3 Ben, 4 Etz’nab, 5 Akbal, 6 Lamat, 7 Ben, 8 Etz’nab, 9 Akbal, 10 Lamat, 11 Ben, 12 Etz’nab, 13 Akbal, 1 Lamat…
*These four days sometimes varied by region, as in the center of the Maya Lowlands, the days were Ik, Manik, Eb and Caban in the Classic Period. By the time of the Conquistadors, the days had become Kan, Muluc, Ix and Cauac.
“A Forest of Kings”; Linda Schele, David Friedel; 1990
“The Ancient Maya”; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006
“Yaxchilan: The Design of an Maya Ceremonial City” Carolyn Elaine Tate; 1992
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Maya Calendar Series 2 of 6 -- Haab
Author’s note: I will be putting on pictures of the glyphs soon.
The word Haab (or “vague year”), is the modern name for the ancient Maya’s sun-based calendar used for knowing when to plant crops. This calendar is made of 20 “months” (uinals) of 18 days (18 times 20 is 360), plus a group -- or “month”-- of 5 days at the end of the year. Altogether, this makes the Haab a 365-day calendar.
The “Months”
Months are referred to by their names in Yucatec Mayan: Pop, Uo, Zip, Zotz’, Zec, Xul, Yaxkin, Mol, Ch’en, Yax, Zac, Ceh, Mac, Kankin, Muan, Pax, Kayab, Cumku and finally Uayeb -- the 5 day period whose name may mean “resting of the year”. Each month was ruled by a deity who was its patron.
How The Haab Worked
Unlike our calendar, instead of each month being numbered 1 through 30, 1 through 31 or 1 through 28 (or 29), the days of each Haab month were numbered 0 through 19. For example, the days of month of Uo would be written 0 Uo, 1 Uo, 2 Uo and so on through 19 Uo -- and then the next month would begin (0 Zip). The same process was used for Uayeb, in that the 5 days were numbered 0 through 4.
The first day of a month could be referred to as the “seating” of the month -- so, for example, 0 Cumku is the “seating” of Cumku. The particular influence of a month began on this day of “seating”. This also means that although 0 Pop was the beginning of Pop -- the first month of the Haab -- 1 Pop was still the Haab’s new year’s day.
Uayeb had a special consideration to the ancient Maya. It was considered an unlucky period of days.
Consideration: Drift
As is known, the year is actually about one-quarter of a day (6 hours) longer than 365 days. People working in the Maya field of archaeology have found that some ancient Maya seem to know this fact, though no one seemed to have adjusted the Haab to express this.
References:
“A Forest of Kings; Linda Schele, David Friedel; 1990
“The Ancient Maya”; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006
The word Haab (or “vague year”), is the modern name for the ancient Maya’s sun-based calendar used for knowing when to plant crops. This calendar is made of 20 “months” (uinals) of 18 days (18 times 20 is 360), plus a group -- or “month”-- of 5 days at the end of the year. Altogether, this makes the Haab a 365-day calendar.
The “Months”
Months are referred to by their names in Yucatec Mayan: Pop, Uo, Zip, Zotz’, Zec, Xul, Yaxkin, Mol, Ch’en, Yax, Zac, Ceh, Mac, Kankin, Muan, Pax, Kayab, Cumku and finally Uayeb -- the 5 day period whose name may mean “resting of the year”. Each month was ruled by a deity who was its patron.
How The Haab Worked
Unlike our calendar, instead of each month being numbered 1 through 30, 1 through 31 or 1 through 28 (or 29), the days of each Haab month were numbered 0 through 19. For example, the days of month of Uo would be written 0 Uo, 1 Uo, 2 Uo and so on through 19 Uo -- and then the next month would begin (0 Zip). The same process was used for Uayeb, in that the 5 days were numbered 0 through 4.
The first day of a month could be referred to as the “seating” of the month -- so, for example, 0 Cumku is the “seating” of Cumku. The particular influence of a month began on this day of “seating”. This also means that although 0 Pop was the beginning of Pop -- the first month of the Haab -- 1 Pop was still the Haab’s new year’s day.
Uayeb had a special consideration to the ancient Maya. It was considered an unlucky period of days.
Consideration: Drift
As is known, the year is actually about one-quarter of a day (6 hours) longer than 365 days. People working in the Maya field of archaeology have found that some ancient Maya seem to know this fact, though no one seemed to have adjusted the Haab to express this.
References:
“A Forest of Kings; Linda Schele, David Friedel; 1990
“The Ancient Maya”; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Maya Calendar Series 1 of 6 -- Tzolkin
Author’s note: I will be putting on pictures of the glyphs soon.
The sacred calendar used by the Maya -- today called the Tzolkin -- is a calendar composed of 20 days and the numbers 1 through 13. Each day had a name and was paired with a number in an interlocking cycle that repeated every 260 days (13 x 20 = 260).
So far as it is known, the Tzolkin is not based on any natural occurrences, like the sun-based Haab. Various ideas exist about it though -- there is an idea that it is the length of time it takes for a baby to form and be born.
Day Names
The 20 named days for the Tzolkin are Imix (water lily), Ik (wind), Akbal (night), Kan (corn), Chicchan (snake), Cimi (death), Manik (hand), Lamat (Venus), Muluc (water), Oc (dog), Chuen (monkey), Eb (tooth), Ben (reed), Ix (jaguar), Men (eagle), Cib (soul), Caban (earth), Etz’nab (flint), Cauac (storm cloud) and Ahau (lord).
Each day of the Tzolkin was represented by a glyph wrapped around a “cartouche”. People studying Mayan glyphs have found that the Maya would use different glyphs for the same day.
How it Works
The Tzolkin starts 1 Imix, 2 Ik, 3 Akbal, 4 Kan -- and so on until you get to 13 Ben. Then the numbers start over: 1 Ix, 2 Men and so on until 7 Ahau -- then the day names start over but the numbers keep going: 8 Imix, 9 Ik, 10 Akbal, 11 Kan, 12 Chiccan, 13 Cimi -- then the numbers start over again with 1 Manik, 2 Lamat, 3 Muluc, etc... This cycle of repeating numbers and days eventually starts over after 260 days-- beginning another Tzolkin.
Today, sometimes people explain this calendar, like the Haab and Calendar Round, with an image of inter-locking gears. The numbers 1 through 13 make one gear and the day names make up the other gear.
Use
And what was the Tzolkin used for? It was used for prophecy making and as a calendar of ceremonies. One Maya people -- the Kaqchikel Maya -- once used the Tzolkin to name their children.
References:
"The Ancient Maya"; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006
"A Forest of Kings"; Linda Schele, David Friedel; 1990
"Hands-On History World History Activities"; Garth Sundem, Kristi A, Pikiewicz; 2006
The sacred calendar used by the Maya -- today called the Tzolkin -- is a calendar composed of 20 days and the numbers 1 through 13. Each day had a name and was paired with a number in an interlocking cycle that repeated every 260 days (13 x 20 = 260).
So far as it is known, the Tzolkin is not based on any natural occurrences, like the sun-based Haab. Various ideas exist about it though -- there is an idea that it is the length of time it takes for a baby to form and be born.
Day Names
The 20 named days for the Tzolkin are Imix (water lily), Ik (wind), Akbal (night), Kan (corn), Chicchan (snake), Cimi (death), Manik (hand), Lamat (Venus), Muluc (water), Oc (dog), Chuen (monkey), Eb (tooth), Ben (reed), Ix (jaguar), Men (eagle), Cib (soul), Caban (earth), Etz’nab (flint), Cauac (storm cloud) and Ahau (lord).
Each day of the Tzolkin was represented by a glyph wrapped around a “cartouche”. People studying Mayan glyphs have found that the Maya would use different glyphs for the same day.
How it Works
The Tzolkin starts 1 Imix, 2 Ik, 3 Akbal, 4 Kan -- and so on until you get to 13 Ben. Then the numbers start over: 1 Ix, 2 Men and so on until 7 Ahau -- then the day names start over but the numbers keep going: 8 Imix, 9 Ik, 10 Akbal, 11 Kan, 12 Chiccan, 13 Cimi -- then the numbers start over again with 1 Manik, 2 Lamat, 3 Muluc, etc... This cycle of repeating numbers and days eventually starts over after 260 days-- beginning another Tzolkin.
Today, sometimes people explain this calendar, like the Haab and Calendar Round, with an image of inter-locking gears. The numbers 1 through 13 make one gear and the day names make up the other gear.
Use
And what was the Tzolkin used for? It was used for prophecy making and as a calendar of ceremonies. One Maya people -- the Kaqchikel Maya -- once used the Tzolkin to name their children.
References:
"The Ancient Maya"; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006
"A Forest of Kings"; Linda Schele, David Friedel; 1990
"Hands-On History World History Activities"; Garth Sundem, Kristi A, Pikiewicz; 2006
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Maya Calendar Series -- Overview
Author’s Note: This is part one of a series on the Maya calendars. Each section in this post will eventually have a separate post which I will hyperlink to its respective header.
In Mesoamerica -- possibly in Izapa during the 1300s BC -- two calendars developed, a sacred calendar and a calendar based on the sun. These calendars spread to peoples including the Mixtecs, Teotihuacanos and Zapotecs as well as the ancient Maya, who used the two calendars in an interlocking system.
Of the peoples that used it, the ancient Maya are believed to be the people who refined the system the most. Other than the two calendars, they also kept other “calendars”.
The Sacred Calendar: Tzolkin
The sacred calendar -- which was used for religious purposes -- is known today as the Tzolkin. This calendar has an interlocked cycle of 13 numbers and 20 days that started over after 260 days (13 x 20 = 260). Each of the 20 days had a name.
The Sun-Based Calendar: Haab
The sun-based calendar -- which was used for more everyday purposes -- is known today as the vague year or the Haab, and was like our calendar. Made up in total of 365 days, the Haab contains 18 months, each having 20 days, plus a group of 5 days (18 x 20 + 5 = 365). Each month of the Haab, like our calendar (the Gregorian calendar), has a name.
Calendar Round: The Interlocking System
The Calendar Round is the name that people who study the Maya use to describe the interlocking system of the Tzolkin and the Haab. The cycle produced by combining these two calendars repeats every 52 years.
Long Count
The Long Count is a system of units for keeping track of how many days had passed since the creation of the current world. Something only the Maya used, unlike the Haab and Tzolkin, the Long Count does not repeat, but continues to go up in number. Its smallest unit was a day from which it progressed to larger and larger units. Currently, the Long Count’s start date is thought to be sometime in 3114 BC.
Other Calendars
The ancient Maya also used some other cycles, and worked them into their timekeeping. Some of these cycles are the cycle of Venus, an 819-day count centered on the god K’awiil and the cycle of the moon as well as the cycle of the Nine Lords of Night.
Correlation
Through the years, various people tried to find a date or dates to match our calendar with the ancient Mayan Calendar Round and Long Count. So far, a match known as the Gordon-Martinez-Thompson correlation (or GMT correlation) is the most commonly accepted as the right match. However, not everyone thinks it is as accurate as it ought to be.
References:
"A Forest of Kings"; Linda Schele, David Friedel; 1990
Dartmouth College: Chapter 6 The Long Count: Astronomical Precision
"The Ancient Maya"; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006
In Mesoamerica -- possibly in Izapa during the 1300s BC -- two calendars developed, a sacred calendar and a calendar based on the sun. These calendars spread to peoples including the Mixtecs, Teotihuacanos and Zapotecs as well as the ancient Maya, who used the two calendars in an interlocking system.
Of the peoples that used it, the ancient Maya are believed to be the people who refined the system the most. Other than the two calendars, they also kept other “calendars”.
The Sacred Calendar: Tzolkin
The sacred calendar -- which was used for religious purposes -- is known today as the Tzolkin. This calendar has an interlocked cycle of 13 numbers and 20 days that started over after 260 days (13 x 20 = 260). Each of the 20 days had a name.
The Sun-Based Calendar: Haab
The sun-based calendar -- which was used for more everyday purposes -- is known today as the vague year or the Haab, and was like our calendar. Made up in total of 365 days, the Haab contains 18 months, each having 20 days, plus a group of 5 days (18 x 20 + 5 = 365). Each month of the Haab, like our calendar (the Gregorian calendar), has a name.
Calendar Round: The Interlocking System
The Calendar Round is the name that people who study the Maya use to describe the interlocking system of the Tzolkin and the Haab. The cycle produced by combining these two calendars repeats every 52 years.
Long Count
The Long Count is a system of units for keeping track of how many days had passed since the creation of the current world. Something only the Maya used, unlike the Haab and Tzolkin, the Long Count does not repeat, but continues to go up in number. Its smallest unit was a day from which it progressed to larger and larger units. Currently, the Long Count’s start date is thought to be sometime in 3114 BC.
Other Calendars
The ancient Maya also used some other cycles, and worked them into their timekeeping. Some of these cycles are the cycle of Venus, an 819-day count centered on the god K’awiil and the cycle of the moon as well as the cycle of the Nine Lords of Night.
Correlation
Through the years, various people tried to find a date or dates to match our calendar with the ancient Mayan Calendar Round and Long Count. So far, a match known as the Gordon-Martinez-Thompson correlation (or GMT correlation) is the most commonly accepted as the right match. However, not everyone thinks it is as accurate as it ought to be.
References:
"A Forest of Kings"; Linda Schele, David Friedel; 1990
Dartmouth College: Chapter 6 The Long Count: Astronomical Precision
"The Ancient Maya"; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006
Monday, January 30, 2012
Ancient Maya Farming
Author's note: This post was last updated on 11/16/17.
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| Image from the Library of Congress's Flickr page, slightly modified. |
Milpa
Milpa was a popular choice for farming across the Maya civilization. Milpa used to be understood as a process that first meant cutting down and burning all the plants on a piece of land -- the ash made the soil more nutritious for plants. Then, it was thought, the Maya farmed there as long as the soil had enough nutrition to grow a good harvest. When the soil wasn't good enough anymore, then another piece of land was turned into a field in the same way, while the first piece of land became forest again. (This kind of farming has other names, one of which is slash and burn.)
It seems now though that the ancient Maya did more than this. They didn't just leave the land to become forest. Instead, they slowly made the field into a garden. Then they gradually let this garden become actual forest, which they would then burn down to start the field again.
Terrace Fields
This kind of field was popular in hilly land in the lowlands. Using terrace fields kept soil from eroding and helped catch rain.
Archaeologists have found the Maya used more than one kind of terrace to farm. One kind that seems to have been a common choice was the cross-channel terrace. This kind of terrace, which you may see called the weir terrace, is made in a gully that has water pass through it during the rainy season. The Maya would build walls in these gullies so that the silt in the water got caught, adding to the soil's ability to grow plants.
Another common kind of terrace they liked to use was the contour terrace, which is probably what you think of when it comes to terrace fields. To make them, the ancient Maya built fields into hillsides, kept in place with walls made of stone. Contour fields were the most popular type of terrace used by the ancient Maya who decided to use terraces.
Bajos and Aguadas
The bajo and the aguada are both depressions -- that is, land that isn't as high as the rest of the land around it -- that are in the lowlands.
Bajos are also what's called a seasonal wetland or seasonal swamp, as the water in it dries during the dry season. There is a layer of dirt at bajos' edges that is great for plants. The ancient Maya may have used this dirt to grow crops.
Aguadas are ponds and lakes that are also seasonal: they dry up in the dry season -- though there are large ones don't dry up all the way -- and get filled with rain during the rainy season. The ancient Maya may have waited until an aguada dried up some, then planted some crops -- and the more the aguada dried, the more they planted. (The ancient Maya also had aguadas that were just for getting water.)
Raised Fields
The Maya area so far looks like it's the oldest part of Mesoamerica where the people used raised fields. The ancient Maya used these fields in places where there was a lot of water naturally in the soil.
To make a raised field, the ancient Maya dug channels around pieces of land they wanted to farm. They put the dirt from digging the channels onto the pieces of land, which made them higher than the channels. Water from the dirt went into the channels. Certain animals -- fish as well as turtles -- lived in the canals.
These fields had to be kept in good repair, because the dirt would go back into the channels on its own over time. However, there was something good that came from this -- the Maya would dig up the mud on the bottom of the channels, which had lots of plant nutrition in it, and put it on top of the fields.
Rejolladas
Found in the northern lowlands, a rejollada is a sinkhole that forms in limestone -- in fact, a lot used to be cenotes that got filled in somewhat because of erosion. Rejolladas have more dirt at their bottoms than the land around them, and this dirt that also has more water in it. The air inside rejolladas is different too, as it is not as warm as the land that's higher than it.
The ancient Maya used -- or may have used -- rejolladas as a source of topsoil for growing plants elsewhere. They also farmed -- or may have farmed -- in them. In fact, these sinkholes may have let the ancient Maya grow plants such as cacao, which is a plant that farmers need lots of water to grow.
Tools
A planting tool that we know the Maya civilization used to plant things was the dibber -- other names you may find include the dibble stick or even just dibble. A dibber is not complicated. It's a wooden stick that has a pointy end, kind of like a spear or a kabob skewer but a lot less sharp. The Maya used dibbers to make holes with the pointy end, and after they did that they put seeds into the holes.
Another tool known to the ancient Maya was a sort of hatchet or ax. The handle was made of wood, and could be 12 to 16 inches long. The head was a "celt" made of chert. The Maya stuck the head into the handle, near one end. This type of ax/hatchet, according to The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives, was the tool the ancient Maya used the most for farming.
Farming and Gender
As for gender, there's a theory that farming was men's work -- and women did different jobs at the house. However, it's possible that women may have done the job of weeding with men. Another farming job that women might have done with men is harvesting crops.
References:
Google Books: "The Value of Things: Prehistory to Contemporary Commodities in the Maya Region"; Jennifer P. Mathews, Thomas H. Guderjan; 2017
Google Books: "Encyclopedia of the Ancient Maya"; Walter R.T. Witschey; 2016
University of Florida: Florida Museum: "Advances in Archaeological Practice" Volume 4, No. 3: "Understanding Ancient Maya Agricultural Terrace Systems through Lidar and Hydrological Mapping"; Scott Macrae, Gyles Iannone; 2016
Google Books: "The Maya Forest Garden: Eight Millenia of Sustainable Cultivation of the Tropical Woodlands"; Anabel Ford, Ronald Nigh; 2015
Google Books: "The Great Maya Droughts in Cultural Context: Case Studies in Resilience and Vulnerability"; Gyles Iannone (editor); 2014
Google Books: "Ancient Households of the Americas: Conceptualizing What Households Do"; John G. Douglass, Nancy Gonlin (editors); 2012
University of Central Florida: STARS: Electronic Theses and Dissertations Masters Thesis (Open Access): "Geographic And Environmental Influence On Maya Settlement Patterns Of The Northwest Yucatan: An Explanation For The Sparsely Settled Western Cenote Zone"; Patrick Rohrer; 2012
Google Books: "The Ancient Maya" sixth edition; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006
Google Books: "The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives"; Heather McKillop; 2004
The Pennsylvania State University: Electronic Theses and Dissertations for Graduate School: "Chapter 2: Background and Framework"
The Free Dictionary: Encyclopedia: Shifting Agriculture
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Tatiana Proskouriakoff
What does the name Tatiana suggest to you? A third century saint, or one of the last Grand Duchesses of Russia perhaps? How about Tatiana Proskouriakoff, a Russian-American Mayanist who made a breakthrough concerning Mayan writing and history.
Tatiana Proskouriakoff was born on January 23, 1909 in the river city of Tomsk, located along the Tom River in west central Siberian Russia. Her parents were Alla (nee Nekrassova) and Avenir Proskouriakoff.
Tatiana and her family moved to Philadelphia in 1915, and became permanent residents of the United States two years later, when the Russian Revolution began. In 1930, Tatiana graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor's in architecture. However, she graduated during the Great Depression, and architects were not in great demand.
She then became an anthropology graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania. While there, she worked as a volunteer at the University Museum. In 1936, Tatiana was invited to go on an expedition to the Pedras Negras conducted by the museum. While there, her job included taking sketches reconstructing various ruins at such places as Tikal, Chiche'n-Itza and Yaxchilan. As she was making these sketches, she saw patterns in the Mayan glyphs.
After working in the field, Tatiana went to work at the Peabody Museum at Harvard University. A very methodical person, through carefully taken steps Tatiana figured out that the gylphs on stelae -- tall carved stone monuments -- were writing historical records. These records included things like war victories and coronations. One of her most important tools was an inventory she made of the different kinds of glyphs she saw on the stelae.
A leading Mayanist at the time, J. Eric Thompson, said that he didn't think Tatiana was right. In his eyes, stelae were dedicated to commemorating the passing of time. In fact, he felt it was a horrible idea to think that stelae could talk about things like kingship dates. He went so far as to say it was the same as if a tourist carved graffiti on the famous statue of David. He later changed his opinion however.
In 1971, Tatiana met with David Friedel, now another well-known Mayanist, when he was a first year graduate student. The next year, in the spring of 1972, David took a course from Tatiana -- a course described in the book "A Forest of Kings" as a "looking course". Tatiana taught David about Mayan gylphs in her basement office of the Peabody museum.
At the age of 76, Tatiana died August 30, 1985 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During her life she wrote several books including:
Jade from the Cenote of Sacrifice (1974)
An Album of Maya Architecture (1946)
An Inscription on a Jade Probably Carved at Piedras Negras (1944)
Tatiana had also started on a book on Classic Maya history, but died before she could finish it. The work done on the book was edited by Rosemary Joyce, and published as "Maya History".
Bibliography
The New York Times: Tatiana Proskouriakoff Dies; Key Figure in Mayan Studies
Tatiana Proskouriakoff; Char Solomon; 2002
Harvard University Library OASIS: Proskouriakoff, Tatiana, 1909 - 1985.
"A Forest of Kings"; Linda Schele, David Friedel; 1990
University of Texas Press: Maya History
Penn Museum: The Hand of Fate in Tatiana Proskouriakoff's Career
Tatiana Proskouriakoff was born on January 23, 1909 in the river city of Tomsk, located along the Tom River in west central Siberian Russia. Her parents were Alla (nee Nekrassova) and Avenir Proskouriakoff.
Tatiana and her family moved to Philadelphia in 1915, and became permanent residents of the United States two years later, when the Russian Revolution began. In 1930, Tatiana graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor's in architecture. However, she graduated during the Great Depression, and architects were not in great demand.
She then became an anthropology graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania. While there, she worked as a volunteer at the University Museum. In 1936, Tatiana was invited to go on an expedition to the Pedras Negras conducted by the museum. While there, her job included taking sketches reconstructing various ruins at such places as Tikal, Chiche'n-Itza and Yaxchilan. As she was making these sketches, she saw patterns in the Mayan glyphs.
After working in the field, Tatiana went to work at the Peabody Museum at Harvard University. A very methodical person, through carefully taken steps Tatiana figured out that the gylphs on stelae -- tall carved stone monuments -- were writing historical records. These records included things like war victories and coronations. One of her most important tools was an inventory she made of the different kinds of glyphs she saw on the stelae.
A leading Mayanist at the time, J. Eric Thompson, said that he didn't think Tatiana was right. In his eyes, stelae were dedicated to commemorating the passing of time. In fact, he felt it was a horrible idea to think that stelae could talk about things like kingship dates. He went so far as to say it was the same as if a tourist carved graffiti on the famous statue of David. He later changed his opinion however.
In 1971, Tatiana met with David Friedel, now another well-known Mayanist, when he was a first year graduate student. The next year, in the spring of 1972, David took a course from Tatiana -- a course described in the book "A Forest of Kings" as a "looking course". Tatiana taught David about Mayan gylphs in her basement office of the Peabody museum.
At the age of 76, Tatiana died August 30, 1985 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During her life she wrote several books including:
Jade from the Cenote of Sacrifice (1974)
An Album of Maya Architecture (1946)
An Inscription on a Jade Probably Carved at Piedras Negras (1944)
Tatiana had also started on a book on Classic Maya history, but died before she could finish it. The work done on the book was edited by Rosemary Joyce, and published as "Maya History".
Bibliography
The New York Times: Tatiana Proskouriakoff Dies; Key Figure in Mayan Studies
Tatiana Proskouriakoff; Char Solomon; 2002
Harvard University Library OASIS: Proskouriakoff, Tatiana, 1909 - 1985.
"A Forest of Kings"; Linda Schele, David Friedel; 1990
University of Texas Press: Maya History
Penn Museum: The Hand of Fate in Tatiana Proskouriakoff's Career
Friday, January 20, 2012
The Sapodilla Tree
Author's note: this post was partly modified on 11/25/17
The sapodilla (Manilkara zapota) is one of a variety of trees the ancient Maya viewed as useful. People know it by many names, including sapote, chicozapote, zapote and chico sapote. Native to South America and Central America, it grows the best in north Guatemala, north Belize and in the Yucatan Peninsula.
Description
The Sapodilla is a very drought resistant, long-living tree that grows to be 40 to 60 feet tall and has reddish, strong and long-wearing wood so dense it sinks in water. An evergreen, the sapodilla possesses leathery, dark green leaves that, unlike maples and oaks, it never looses.
The tree produces edible, egg-shaped fruit that has brown skin similar to a kiwi’s and grows to be 2 to 3.5 inches across. The fruit’s grainy-textured flesh -- not unlike a pear’s texture -- ranges from orange to brownish in color. The fruit also contains seeds that are black, smooth and shiny.
Ancient Maya Uses
The ancient Maya made good use of the sapodilla tree. They used the tree for its wood, its latex (known to us as chicle) and its fruit.
Also, archaeologists have discovered that -- at least in the Preclassic and Classic periods -- the sapodilla’s wood would sometimes be burned. Charcoal found at sites such as Albion Island, Pulltrouser Swamp, and Cuello are thought to come from sapodilla wood. Therefore it is possible that the Maya used sapodilla for firewood.
Modern Uses
People still use the sapodilla for some of the same purposes that the ancient Maya used it for. One purpose -- though not as common as it once was -- is for chicle, which is used for gum.
The second purpose that people still cultivate sapodilla trees for is the fruit, which was exported back across the Atlantic by the Spanish Conquistadors. Sapodilla cultivars are found in tropical regions around the world, from Mesoamerican countries to countries such as India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Locally grown and marketed sapodilla fruit can even be found in southern Florida.
A third way people still use the sapodilla tree like the ancient Maya did is for its timber. People turn sapodilla wood into floors, handles for tools and into furniture.
References:
"Chicle: The Chewing Gum of the Americas, From the Ancient Maya to William Wrigley"; Jennifer P. Mathews, Gillian P. Schultz; 2009
The University of Texas at Austin University of Texas Libraries: "Framing the Portrait: Towards an Understanding of Elite Late Classic Maya Representation at Palenque Mexico"; Kaleyy Rae Spencer; May 2007
Purdue University: Sapodilla: A Potential Crop For Subtropical Climates
The Free Dictionary: Encyclopedia: Sapodilla
Rainforest Alliance: Sapodilla (Manilkara zapota)
Image Credit:
USDA: National Resources Conservation Service: PLANTS Database: Image Gallery:Achras zapota L. - ACZA2
 |
| Part of a sapodilla. W.D. Brush, hosted by the USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database. |
The sapodilla (Manilkara zapota) is one of a variety of trees the ancient Maya viewed as useful. People know it by many names, including sapote, chicozapote, zapote and chico sapote. Native to South America and Central America, it grows the best in north Guatemala, north Belize and in the Yucatan Peninsula.
Description
The Sapodilla is a very drought resistant, long-living tree that grows to be 40 to 60 feet tall and has reddish, strong and long-wearing wood so dense it sinks in water. An evergreen, the sapodilla possesses leathery, dark green leaves that, unlike maples and oaks, it never looses.
The tree produces edible, egg-shaped fruit that has brown skin similar to a kiwi’s and grows to be 2 to 3.5 inches across. The fruit’s grainy-textured flesh -- not unlike a pear’s texture -- ranges from orange to brownish in color. The fruit also contains seeds that are black, smooth and shiny.
Ancient Maya Uses
The ancient Maya made good use of the sapodilla tree. They used the tree for its wood, its latex (known to us as chicle) and its fruit.
Fruit
Sapodilla fruit was a food source for the ancient Maya (as well as the Aztecs and Nicarao). In order to have a source of fruit all year round, the ancient Maya would dry sapodilla fruits.
Wood
Ancient Maya shaped the wood of the sapodilla tree into carved lintels and into roof beams for temples. Some of these ancient wooden artifacts are still with us, showing how long lasting the wood can be.Also, archaeologists have discovered that -- at least in the Preclassic and Classic periods -- the sapodilla’s wood would sometimes be burned. Charcoal found at sites such as Albion Island, Pulltrouser Swamp, and Cuello are thought to come from sapodilla wood. Therefore it is possible that the Maya used sapodilla for firewood.
Chicle
The ancient Maya used sap from the sapodilla for both their religion and their everyday lives. Chicle was their gum and was used as an ingredient in incense.
A Consideration: In the Art of Pakal's Sarcophagus
The sapodilla shows up more than once on the sarcophagus of Pakal, a ruler of Palenque. According to Chicle, the tree on his lid is a sapodilla. You can find the tree on the sides of the sarcophagus too -- Pakal's ancestor, Ix Yohl Ik'nal is next to one.
Modern Uses
People still use the sapodilla for some of the same purposes that the ancient Maya used it for. One purpose -- though not as common as it once was -- is for chicle, which is used for gum.
The second purpose that people still cultivate sapodilla trees for is the fruit, which was exported back across the Atlantic by the Spanish Conquistadors. Sapodilla cultivars are found in tropical regions around the world, from Mesoamerican countries to countries such as India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Locally grown and marketed sapodilla fruit can even be found in southern Florida.
A third way people still use the sapodilla tree like the ancient Maya did is for its timber. People turn sapodilla wood into floors, handles for tools and into furniture.
References:
"Chicle: The Chewing Gum of the Americas, From the Ancient Maya to William Wrigley"; Jennifer P. Mathews, Gillian P. Schultz; 2009
The University of Texas at Austin University of Texas Libraries: "Framing the Portrait: Towards an Understanding of Elite Late Classic Maya Representation at Palenque Mexico"; Kaleyy Rae Spencer; May 2007
Purdue University: Sapodilla: A Potential Crop For Subtropical Climates
The Free Dictionary: Encyclopedia: Sapodilla
Rainforest Alliance: Sapodilla (Manilkara zapota)
Image Credit:
USDA: National Resources Conservation Service: PLANTS Database: Image Gallery:Achras zapota L. - ACZA2
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Chicle: Chewing Gum of the Maya
Author's note: this post was slightly modified on 11/26/17.
Chicle is the often white-colored resin that comes from the sapodilla, a species of tree native to the Caribbean and to Mesoamerica. Ancient Mesoamericans such as the ancient Maya (as well as the Cocle and the Aztecs) made use of this resin in various ways.
Uses
The ancient Mayans -- who also made use of the sapodilla's wood and fruit -- chewed chicle as a gum. They believed that chewing chicle kept your breath fresh and also helped to keep you from feeling hungry or thirsty.
Archaeologists have also found pieces of copal -- a resin used for incense -- that are wrapped in chicle (samples from the Cenote of Sacrifice also had a layer of rubber). Why the copal was wrapped in chicle isn’t known for sure. Some think it is possible the ancient Mayans did this to make the copal catch on fire faster.
It is also possible that ancient Mayans burned chicle as incense in its own right. This possibility exists because the infamous bishop Diego de Landa said it is so.
Meaning
In terms of the deeper meaning of chicle to the ancient Mayans, an idea exists that they thought it was sacred, though they would also use it in a non-sacred way. They may have also thought the same way about rubber and copal.
Beginning of an Industry
Chicle later became part of a major chewing gum industry. It started when a man named Thomas Adams Sr. received some chicle from General Santa Anna (yes, the Santa Anna.) Santa Anna wanted Adams to find a way to make rubber with the chicle, but it didn't work. Instead, Adams marketed chicle as candy, the first modern chewing gum. Eventually chicle based gum became very popular and other companies got in on making it, including Wrigley Jr.
Chicle in Modern Times
Chicle-based chewing gum reached its height in the 1940s. However, over-production of chicle was destroying the sapodilla trees, which need 3 to 8 years of rest after being harvested. In response to this, a petroleum product "gum base" was created -- and it is this kind of gum that people are mostly chewing today. Due to the creation of the gum base, around the time of the 1950s, the chicle enterprise began to die.
Today, chicle is still a commodity in Mesoamerica. It is extracted via groups of "chicleros". In order to harvest chicle, they must camp out –during the rainy season -- in search of wild sapodilla trees, as there are no plantations of sapodilla today. When a chiclero finds a tree, he climbs it using rope and metal spurs, cuts slashes into it and uses bags lined with rubber to collect the resin that runs out of the cuts. Once the chicleros collect the resin, they take their filled bags back to their current campsite, and boil it down. After this, they then cut it into pieces.
Chicle gum can still be found today outside of Mesoamerica, though like tofu it has obtained "upscale" associations. One example is Chicza, which is made with sustainably produced chicle, and is sold as a fair trade item.
References:
University of Arizona: Chicle; The Chewing Gum of the Americas, From the Ancient Maya to William Wrigley; Jennifer P. Mathews; 2009
McMaster School for Advancing Humanity: Chicle, Chicleros and Community
Chicza: Deep Roots, How Chicza is Made
University of California at Santa Barbara: Mesoamerican Research Center: Chicle
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