Since their earliest recorded history, the ancient Maya were sincerely interested in the perception of time. Their cultural basis was formed on the comprehension and interpretation of time. They were the earliest civilizations with a recorded concept of zero and notational placement, thus forming the foundation of understanding time. To begin to identify with the Mayan peoples, one must understand the basics of their cyclical and linear time conception.
The Mayan calendar has been described as genius, with intricate forms of dating interlocking with one perception to the next. Their numbers consisted of zero, a shell-like shape, a dot for one unit, and a bar for five units. These were simple symbols used in their hieroglyphics, yet they indicate an extremely advanced mathematical system.
The first of these organized calendar parts was the elementary system of a 260 day cycle- the Sacred Almanac or Tzolkin, meaning "count of days", still used today in areas of Guatemala. This was the fundamental basis of establishing birthdates, rituals, prophecies and divine interventions. It was independent of any astrological or celestial cycle. It was divided up into twenty blocks, each given a different name and consisting of thirteen days. One could interpret this as similar to our weeks and days, only the Maya's numerical conceptions were in multiples of 20.
The next grouping in their calendar was the Solar Year. This consisted of 365 days, each with 18 "months" of days. In addition, each month there were five extra and unlucky days called Uayeb. This calendar did not stay consistent with each of our "years", there were no leap days and each year the chart would differ from the last in comparison to the seasons. One could relate this calendar with the Tzolkin as each ran simultaneously with the other. Each specific combination of dates was unique in a 52 year cycle called the Calendar Round.
