The Mayan Long Count Calendar

Thomas Chanier (1)

1 L2MP - Laboratoire matériaux et microélectronique de Provence

The Maya had a very elaborate and accurate calendar. First, the Mayan Long Count Calendar (LCC) was used to point historical events from a selected "beginning of time". It is also characterized by the existence of a religious month Tzolk'in of 260 days and a civic year Haab' of 365 days. The LCC is supposed to begin on 11 August -3114 BC known as the Goodman-Martinez-Thompson (GMT) correlation to the Gregorian calendar based on historical facts and end on 21 December 2012 corresponding to a period of approximately 5125 years or 13 Baktun. We explain here the origin the Long Count Periods and the 13 Baktun cycle. Mars is proposed to have an importance in Mayan religion along with Venus.

Mots clés: Maya calendar long count

Domaines: Histoire et perspectives sur les mathématiques [math.HO]

Thomas Chanier. The Mayan Long Count Calendar. 2013. ⟨hal-00750006v3⟩