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Basic Information
The Mayan Calendar
Architecture
Venus
The Moon and Sun
100
Where was the ancient Mayan civilization located in present-day terms?
South-Eastern Mexico and Central America
100
What is the Mayan calendar?
The Mayan Calendar is an intricate system of interlocking cycles used to accurately keep time
100
What were certain Mayan buildings built to correspond with?
Astronomy, including special and important occurrences
100
What was the most valued planet in Mayan culture?
Venus
100
What did the Mayans believe regarding the orbit of the planets and sun?
The believed everything revolved around the Earth
200
What are the Mayans widely noted for?
Mathematics and Astronomy
200
When was the Mayan calendar created?
It dates back to around 5BCE
200
What are some of the structures built to correlate with astronomical happenings?
Some structures include palaces, ball courts, temples, and what is suspected to be observatories
200
What was the planet Venus associated with?
War
200
What did the Mayans determine from ecliptic observations?
Zenial passages
300
What were the two most prominent time periods of the Mayan civilization?
Pre-Classic and Classic
300
How does the Mayan calendar work?
It functions by moving in detailed, complex cycles
300
What were the primary buildings designed to fit the specific astronomical purposes?
Temples
300
What was pre-arranged to correspond with Venus's movement in the sky?
Battles and wars
300
What did the Mayans notice about the path of the sun?
They eventually traced it along the ecliptic path and horizon
400
How long was the pre-classic period to classic?
2000BC to 950AD
400
What are the three different forms of the Mayan calendar?
The Tzolsk’in, the Haab, and the Long Term
400
What are some important events that these building were designed specially for?
Some important events include solstices, eclipses, and equinoxes.
400
What did the Mayans predict Venus's length of year was relative to Earth?
584 days
400
What did the Mayans portray the ecliptic in artwork as?
A double-headed serpent
500
How was Maya ruled?
Ancient Maya was never unified, thus instead being ruled under numerous kings in different states centered around cities
500
How long is the Haab?
365 days (One solar year)
500
Why did the Mayans want to correlate the structures with the sky?
To mark important times of the year through events such as solstices and eclipses so they'd know when to plant crops, harvest, and many other things.
500
What is the Venus's actual length of year relative to Earth?
583.2 days
500
What did the Mayans observe about the moon?
The Mayans observed that the moon had phases, that repeated themselves in a cycle every 29-30 days