The Mayan calendar is a complex system of smaller calendars developed centuries ago in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The calendar consists of four blocks of 819 days, each corresponding to one of the four colors. Originally, it was believed that red corresponds to the east, white to the north, black to the west, and yellow to the south. Only later did the researchers realize that this assumption was wrong.

How everything was arranged in reality

White and yellow are now associated with bedside and rare, respectively, consistent with astronomical observations. The Maya were able to accurately calculate the synodic periods of the visible planets, including:

• Mercury,
• Venus,
• Anthem,
• Jupiter,
• Saturn.

Mercury has a synodic period of 117 days, which repeats exactly seven times in an 819-day cycle. However, even counting on other planets did not work.

The breakthrough occurred when scientists extended the calendar’s duration to 20 periods of 819 days, or 45 years. This longer period allowed for a scheme in which the synodic periods of the visible planets were proportional to the cycles of the 819-day calendar. Mercury has 140 periods of 117 days, Venus has 28 periods of 585 days and Mars has 21 periods of 780 days. Jupiter and Saturn are also associated with the calendar, but not with its full version. Jupiter has 39 synodic periods of 399 days in 19 cycles, and Saturn has 13 periods of 378 days in 6 cycles.

The scientists also found a convincing link with another Mayan Tsolkin calendar of 260 days. The smallest common multiple of 260 and 819, the sum of the twenty 819 days is 16,380 days. This suggests that the two calendars may be related.

What have we learned about the Mayan calendar?

The Mayan astronomers who created the 819-day calendar saw it as a larger calendar system that could be used to predict the synodic periods of all visible planets. Also, the 819-day calendar made it possible to quickly compare dates and times with Tsolkin’s other sacred calendar.

The new understanding of the Mayan calendar is a major breakthrough that sheds light on the astronomical knowledge of this ancient civilization. It also shows that the Mayan people were able to make extremely accurate calculations by simply observing the night sky and simple tools. This achievement is a testament to the creativity and intelligence of the Mayan people and is an important contribution to our understanding of their culture and history.