Which mayan calendar runs out in 2017

She said the glyph the date appeared on was erected by a king. The "calculations," Graham said, do not add up because the Maya counted in days rather than years. The Maya calendar refers to the end of a major calendrical round or cycle, called the baktun. They used only days. So they did not have to worry about a 'year' being an inexact number of days. We do this now by adding a day every four years.

But there are standard tables that cover all this which Mayanists use. Some of us may fall for all that talk about the end of the world coming on December 21, , but the scientists at NASA are intent on doing away with the rumours. The researchers who helped uncover and decipher the wall's inscriptions said the Maya calendar foresaw a vast progression of time, with the December date the beginning of a new calendar cycle called a baktun. The Mayan calendar is cyclical and repeats every 52 years.

In the long count, the calculation began in what would be August 13 th BC of the Gregorian calendar. It is believed that the Mayan priests had astronomical and mathematical knowledge to interpret, according to their religious worldview, years and the future of humans.

Apparently throughout Mesoamerica the same calendar was used as it keeps similarities with those used in the Olmec culture which is older than the Maya and the Mexica. It is believed to be related to the duration of human pregnancy, on the other hand it is related to the planet Venus.

The Mayan calendar long count ends its cycle of years during the winter solstice on December 21 st at UTC. However, even though the Mayans contributed to the further development of the calendar, they did not actually invent it.

The same system was used by most cultures in pre-Columbian Central America—including those predating the Maya. The Mayan Calendar consists of three separate corresponding calendars: the Long Count , the Tzolkin divine calendar , and the Haab civil calendar. Each of them is cyclical, meaning that a certain number of days must occur before a new cycle can begin.

The three calendars are used simultaneously. The Tzolkin and the Haab identify the days, but not the years. The Long Count date comes first, then the Tzolkin date, and last the Haab date. A typical Mayan date would read: The Haab is a day solar calendar which is divided into 18 months of 20 days each and one month which is only 5 days long Uayeb.