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How Did The Mayan Base 20 Number System

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The Mayan civilization was one of the most powerful civilizations of the Americas. The Mayan civilization, known for its advanced calendar system, had a developed base 20 number system. According to Historian E.G. Richards, the reason for why they Maya had a base 20 number system was because “Originally they wore no socks or shoes and counted on their toes as well as their fingers” (Richards, 187). They also invented the concept of zero, and a way of communicating numbers by gestures, similar to how people hold up two fingers for the number two. Although the Mayans had considerable knowledge of the solar system and the planets Venus and Jupiter in particular, they rarely used their astrological insight to influence their calendars, except to …show more content…

They had two ways of specifying a date: the calendar round and the long count. The calendar round had three interlocking cycles of thirteen, twenty eight, and 365 days. The 365 day cycle is called a haab. Each haab is divided into 18 periods of time called uinals. Each uinal was again divided into 20 days. Each day had a name. The 18 uinals were were followed by 5 days called uayeb to give a total of 365 days in the cycle. To specify a specific day, one would have to give the name of the uinal and the number of day within it. The days of the uinal were numbered 0-19, or 0-4 in the case of the uayeb. The Mayans had a 20 day period called the veintena. Each day in the veintena had a name. The sequence of names repeated every 20 days for the beginning of a new cycle. The names of the veintena were based on the environment of the Maya. Some veintena were named after certain animals. The Maya had yet another form of counting days. A cycle of thirteen days is called the trecena. Each day of the trecena was was given a number in the range of 1-13 to indicate its position. In this manner, each day was given a trecena number and a veintena name. The Mayans took pride in their calendar. To them it wasn’t just a way of telling the date; it was part of their identity as a

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Over a thousand years ago in the Mesoamerica region the culture that we know as Maya thrived. They had an amazement and intrigued fascination over the technical mastery of their intellectual studies. The Mayan’s history is rich with remarkable human achievements, as well as stories. Some of their most recognizable masterpieces are the Mayan trade network, building Cities, the Mayan number system, and the Mayan calendar.

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There was two types of calendars for the aztec, one was called Xiuhpohualli and had 365 days and the other was called Tonalpohualli, this calendar had 260 days. The Xiuhpohualli represents the agricultural year or the solar year and the Tonalpohualli is the sacred calendar of the Aztec. The english translation from Tonalpohualli is day count. The Tonalpohualli was sacred to the Aztec because it acted like a divinatory tool and it divides the days and rituals between the gods. To the Aztecs it was really important and without it the world would end.

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