Analyze Information

The Maya calendar consists of three linked calendars. Which calendar is closest to the one we use today?

They also represent the Maya gods, including the creator god Itzamna (et SAHM nah), the rain god Chac (chakh), and the sun god K'inich Ajaw (keen EECH ah HOW).

Scribes Record History

The Maya also developed a hieroglyphic writing system, which scholars did not decipher until recent decades. Maya scribes carved inscriptions on stelae that include names of rulers, mentions of neighboring city-states, and dates and descriptions of events. They also wrote about astronomy, rituals, and other religious matters in books made of bark paper. Spanish conquerors later burned most of these books, considering any works that were written by non-Christians to be unacceptable. Three books, however, were taken to Europe and have survived into the present.

Astronomy and Mathematics

Maya texts reveal that priests were dedicated students of astronomy and astrology, the study of the stars and planets that assumes heavenly bodies influence human affairs. Advances in astronomy were closely linked to mathematics. Maya priests needed to measure time accurately in order to produce an accurate calendar. They developed a 365-day solar calendar as well as a 260-day religious calendar, recording the correct timing for important ceremonies.

Maya priests also invented a counting system based on three symbols: a dot to represent one, a bar for five, and a shell for zero. With these three symbols, they could keep track of events. Even peasants could use this simple form of arithmetic for trade. The Maya were one of the only early civilizations to understand the concept of zero. Along with counting, the Maya developed other, more sophisticated concepts in mathematics.

Maya Civilization Declines

About A.D. 900, the Maya abandoned many of their cities. In the Yucatán Peninsula, cities flourished for a few more centuries, but there, too, the Maya eventually stopped building them. By the time the Spanish arrived in the 1500s, the Maya mostly lived in farming villages. Archaeologists do not know for sure why Maya civilization declined, although theories abound. For example, frequent warfare may have taken its toll on society, or overpopulation could have led to over-farming and exhaustion of the soil.

Throughout the region, however, the remoteness of their jungle and mountain locations allowed many Maya to survive the encounter with the Spanish. Today, more than two million Maya people live in Guatemala and southern Mexico.

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