The astonishing achievements of the ancient Mayan astronomers

The Mayan civilization, one of the most advanced pre-Columbian societies, thrived for centuries in the rainforests of Mesoamerica.

Occupying a vast geographical area that encompassed present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador, the Maya built flourishing cities, each boasting intricate architecture, sophisticated artwork, and well-planned civic centers.

Beginning around 2000 BCE, the Mayan civilization developed through several stages.

In the Preclassic or Formative Period (2000 BCE - 250 CE), the Maya laid the foundations for their culture, developing agricultural practices, pottery, and their unique system of writing.

Their society grew in complexity during this period, with the establishment of the first major urban centers like El Mirador and Nakbe.

The Classic Period (250 CE - 900 CE) marked the peak of the Mayan civilization. During this time, the Maya built monumental architectural structures like the grand step pyramids, palaces, and observatories, many decorated with intricate relief sculptures and hieroglyphic inscriptions.

The cities of Tikal, Palenque, Copán, and Calakmul emerged as major political, economic, and cultural hubs. They developed intricate systems of mathematics and a vigesimal (base-20) numeral system, enabling them to conduct complex calculations that would underpin their understanding of astronomy.

The Postclassic Period (900 CE - 1539 CE) witnessed the decline of the major Classic cities, likely due to a combination of overpopulation, warfare, environmental degradation, and social upheaval.

However, Mayan civilization continued to thrive in the northern Yucatan Peninsula. Cities like Chichen Itza, Uxmal, and Mayapán became the new cultural centers.

Despite the challenges, the Maya maintained their complex calendar systems, continued their astronomical observations, and produced codices that documented their historical and astronomical knowledge.

The Mayan understanding of astronomy was deeply complex, shaped by a unique blend of scientific curiosity and spiritual significance.

Celestial bodies, their cycles and alignments, held a prominent place in Mayan cosmology and worldview, directly influencing their daily lives, ceremonial rites, and long-term predictions.

From an observational perspective, the Maya were skilled sky-watchers. They closely observed and recorded the movements of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars.

They tracked the Sun's solstice and equinox positions, the lunar phases, Venus's cycles, and the movements of other celestial bodies with remarkable precision.

The ecliptic—the apparent path of the Sun, Moon, and planets across the sky—was a key element of their astronomical observations.

They understood that the ecliptic was inclined to the celestial equator and used this knowledge to predict solar and lunar eclipses.

Venus held a special place in Mayan astronomy. The Maya accurately calculated the synodic period of Venus as 584 days—the time it takes for Venus to return to the same position in the sky relative to the Sun as viewed from Earth.

They recognized that five Venus cycles roughly equated to eight solar years, an observation that led to the development of the Venus calendar, which was used for ceremonial and possibly military planning.

They also observed and recorded the movements of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. While less is known about their understanding of these planets compared to Venus, their records demonstrate a clear interest in and knowledge of the longer planetary cycles.

Further evidence of the Mayans' profound astronomical understanding is found in their concept of the "Zenith Passage", the time when the Sun passes directly overhead. They knew that the zenith passage of the Sun occurred twice a year and carefully noted these dates.

Some Mayan cities, including Edzna and Chichen Itza, appear to have been constructed with buildings aligned to commemorate these events.

While the Maya did not have access to telescopic technology, their ingenuity in crafting observational tools and structures was impressive.

They used a variety of rudimentary tools for observing the celestial bodies, such as sticks, cords, and viewing tubes, allowing them to measure angles and track the movement of the sun, moon, and stars across the sky.

One instrument believed to be used by the Maya is the "cross-stick," or gnomon, a simple device consisting of a long stick placed vertically in the ground and used to observe the sun's movement.

By tracking the stick's shadow throughout the day, the Maya could determine the solar noon and the times of the equinoxes and solstices.

Another tool was a "meridian device," a straight line or plane oriented north-south, used to track the transit of celestial bodies across the sky's meridian—the line passing through the zenith from north to south.

Additionally, the Maya made use of horizon-based observations, where changes in the positions of celestial bodies at rise and set were tracked over time.

Special viewing platforms and aligned structures facilitated these types of observations.

When it came to observatories, the Maya showcased their architectural prowess and deep understanding of celestial movements.

They constructed impressive buildings and complexes specifically designed for astronomical observations.

These observatories often incorporated special viewing windows or openings that aligned with certain celestial events.

The Caracol at Chichen Itza is one of the most famous Mayan observatories. Its structure resembles a modern observatory, with a round tower and doors and windows aligned to observe Venus and other celestial bodies.

El Caracol appears to have been designed to align with the northernmost and southernmost settings of Venus.

The alignments incorporated into the building's design would have allowed the Mayan astronomers to make precise observations of Venus's rise and set, contributing to their Venus calendar.

Similarly, at Uxmal, the Governor's Palace has a doorway that aligns with Venus's setting point at its southernmost extreme.

And at Edzna, a large mask of the sun god situated atop a platform aligns perfectly with the sun's zenith passage, providing another example of how architectural structures were designed with astronomical phenomena in mind.

The Maya developed an intricate system of calendars that intertwined their understanding of time, astronomy, and spirituality.

Three distinct but interconnected calendars were used: the Tzolk'in, the Haab', and the Long Count.

The Tzolk'in, or the Sacred Calendar, was a 260-day cycle composed of a combination of 20 named days and 13 numbered days.

Each day was named and numbered, with the two cycles of names and numbers meshing in such a way that 260 unique combinations were possible before the calendar would repeat.

The Tzolk'in is believed to have originated from the agricultural cycle or possibly from the period of human gestation.

This calendar played a critical role in Mayan ritual life, determining the dates of religious ceremonies, divinations, and other important events.

The Haab', often referred to as the Vague Year, was a 365-day solar calendar that approximated the solar year.

It was divided into 18 'months' of 20 days each, followed by a five-day period known as the 'Uayeb,' often regarded as an unlucky time. Unlike the Tzolk'in, the Haab' did not account for the leap year, hence its approximation of the solar year was not precise.

The interlocking of the Tzolk'in and Haab' cycles formed what is known as the Calendar Round.

Any given combination of Tzolk'in and Haab' dates would not repeat for 52 Haab' years, a period considered a full life cycle in Mayan society.

The Long Count was a linear count of days from a mythological starting point. It was based on the number 20, reflecting the vigesimal system used by the Mayans, except for the second unit from the right (the 'tun'), which was based on 18 to approximate the solar year.

The Long Count was used to calculate dates far into the past and future, allowing the Maya to date historical events, predict celestial phenomena, and forecast significant religious and social occurrences.

The starting date of the Long Count calendar is equivalent to August 11, 3114 BCE in the Gregorian calendar and is believed to mark the creation of the world in Mayan mythology.

Dates in the Long Count are often accompanied by corresponding Tzolk'in and Haab' dates.

Cosmology and mythology were fundamental to the Mayan civilization, shaping their understanding of the universe and deeply influencing their astronomical observations.

In the Mayan worldview, the cosmos was intricately organized, embodying various spiritual, symbolic, and practical elements.

The Mayan cosmos was typically envisioned as a three-tiered universe: the heavens above, the earth in the middle, and the underworld below.

The sky was often represented as a caiman or a celestial dragon, whose body formed the Milky Way.

The movement of celestial bodies across the sky was interpreted as these divine entities journeying through the heavens.

One of the key celestial bodies in Mayan cosmology was the Sun, identified as the Kinich Ahau, or the Sun God.

The daily journey of the Sun was seen as a symbolic representation of life, death, and rebirth.

In the morning, the Sun was born from the Underworld, reached the zenith at noon, began its descent in the afternoon, and finally died in the evening as it disappeared below the horizon, only to be reborn the following day.

The Moon, often personified as a goddess, was another crucial celestial body. Lunar cycles were meticulously observed and associated with the life cycles of women, especially fertility and childbirth.

The changing phases of the Moon were seen as different stages in the life of the Moon Goddess.

Venus also held special importance in the Mayan cosmology. Associated with the god Kukulkán (also known as Quetzalcoatl in other Mesoamerican cultures), Venus was seen as a powerful force.

The periods when Venus appeared as the morning and evening star were especially significant and were associated with different symbolic meanings.

Moreover, the Maya held a strong belief in the spiritual power of eclipses, viewing them as times when the natural order was disrupted.

Solar and lunar eclipses were seen as significant celestial events that could bring change or herald important occurrences.

On the more mythological side, the Popol Vuh, the Mayan creation myth, narrates the adventures of the Hero Twins Hunahpú and Xbalanqué.

These twins had to traverse the sky and the underworld, encountering various celestial bodies along the way, embodying the interaction between the earthly realm and the cosmos.

The achievements of the Maya in the field of astronomy are particularly remarkable given the time and context in which they were made.

While we've discussed their calendar systems, architectural alignments, and the general depth of their astronomical knowledge, there are a few additional accomplishments worth highlighting.

The Maya's comprehension of the concept of time, for instance, was incredibly sophisticated.

They understood that time was cyclical and linear, allowing them to document both the cyclical phenomena of the cosmos and the linear progression of historical events.

This understanding led to the development of a complex system of calendars that accurately tracked and predicted celestial cycles over extended periods.

One notable accomplishment was their prediction of solar and lunar eclipses. The Maya observed that eclipses followed a pattern over time, with five to six eclipses occurring within a six-month period every 18.03 years, a period known as the "eclipse half-year" or the "eclipse season."

This understanding is evident in the Dresden Codex, one of the few surviving pre-Columbian Mayan manuscripts. The codex contains tables that track the cycles of the Moon and Venus, as well as eclipse prediction tables.

Also noteworthy is the Mayan's precise estimation of the length of the lunar month.

They calculated it to be 29.5308 days, which is incredibly close to the modern value of 29.53059 days.

This demonstrates their sophisticated observational skills and calculation abilities, even without the advanced technology we have today.

Lastly, their understanding of the Venus cycle was exceptional. They determined the synodic period of Venus - the cycle of Venus as observed from Earth - to be 583.92 days.

This is astonishingly accurate compared to the modern value of 583.92 days. They incorporated this understanding into their calendar systems and even aligned some of their architectural structures to the movements of Venus.

The remarkable achievements of the Maya in astronomy were inextricably linked with their sophisticated understanding of mathematics.

The two disciplines were interconnected in Mayan society, with their numerical computations playing an essential role in tracking celestial movements, developing calendar systems, and predicting astronomical events.

The Maya had a unique mathematical system, which was vigesimal or base-20. It is believed that this system may have been chosen due to the simple fact that humans have 20 fingers and toes.

A unique aspect of Mayan mathematics was the use of zero as a placeholder, a concept that was understood and utilized by the Maya centuries before its acceptance in Europe.

The Mayan numeral system was composed of three main symbols: a dot representing one, a bar representing five, and a shell symbol representing zero.

This system allowed the Maya to perform calculations necessary for their astronomical observations and to record large numbers, such as the Long Count dates, which extended into the millions.

Their vigesimal system, with its ability to handle large numbers, was crucial in the creation and maintenance of the Long Count calendar, which allowed them to track and predict celestial events over long periods.

It was this ability to accurately calculate large cycles of time that enabled them to precisely track planetary movements and forecast eclipses.

Mayan mathematicians were also adept at manipulating fractions, which was critical for their lunar observations. In the Dresden Codex, the Maya demonstrated their ability to use fractions to adjust their calculations of the Moon's phases.

For example, they knew that a lunation (the period from one new moon to the next) was approximately 29.5 days, but this is not a whole number.

To account for this, they calculated the lunation as 29 days plus "half" a day, demonstrating their understanding of fractions.

One of the most remarkable testaments to Mayan astronomical knowledge and mathematical prowess is the Dresden Codex.

Named after the city of Dresden in Germany, where it resides today, the codex is one of only four surviving pre-Columbian Mayan books, providing an invaluable glimpse into the sophisticated intellectual traditions of this ancient civilization.

The Dresden Codex is written on a long strip of amate (fig-bark paper), folded accordion-style into 39 leaves.

Both sides of these leaves are covered in intricate Mayan hieroglyphics and detailed illustrations, amounting to 78 pages of rich content.

The manuscript is believed to have been written by Mayan scribes in the Yucatán region, possibly in Chichén Itzá, around the 11th or 12th century CE, although it likely copies much older texts and knowledge.

As an astronomical and calendrical treatise, the Dresden Codex features elaborate tables tracking the cycles of celestial bodies such as the Moon, Venus, and Mars.

The codex demonstrates a keen understanding of these celestial cycles, including intricate eclipse tables and information about the heliacal risings of planets.

These tables allowed Mayan timekeepers to predict lunar and solar eclipses, planetary cycles, and other celestial phenomena with impressive precision.

One particularly famous section of the Dresden Codex is the Venus Table, which tracks the apparent cycle of Venus with exceptional accuracy.

The table correlates the planet's phases as the morning star, evening star, and periods of invisibility with specific dates in the Tzolk'in and Haab' calendars, illustrating the sophisticated interplay of astronomy and calendar systems in the Mayan intellectual tradition.

Also notable are the codex's lunar series, which offer some of the most accurate ancient calculations of the Moon's synodic period—the time it takes for the Moon to return to the same phase.

Through a complex system of calculations, the Maya adjusted their lunar predictions to reconcile their lunar month's length of 29.5308 days with the actual lunar cycle.

Finally, the Dresden Codex is renowned for its almanacs and prognostications, which tied astronomical phenomena to specific outcomes or actions, reflecting the integration of astronomy and mythology in Mayan culture.

The codex also includes information on agriculture, medicinal plants, and rituals, further underscoring the holistic approach of the Mayan civilization, in which astronomy was just one part of a larger, interconnected cosmos.