The Mesoamerican Calendar

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  • čas přidán 25. 06. 2024
  • Ancient Mesoamerica had one of the most incredible calendars ever devised. Discover how they created and used this calendar to track their history and the cosmos.
    Patreon: / ancientamericas
    Facebook: / ancientamericas​
    Bibliography, Sources and Credits at:
    drive.google.com/open?id=12uy...

Komentáře • 490

  • @jjt1881
    @jjt1881 Před 3 lety +163

    1:50 It is the "Vigesimal system" not "Vegesimal system"

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 3 lety +90

      Yup. You are correct. I really need to hire an editor that is smarter than me.

    • @ericktellez7632
      @ericktellez7632 Před 3 lety +1

      @Jill Atherton
      Si.

    • @bonefetcherbrimley7740
      @bonefetcherbrimley7740 Před 3 lety +8

      @@AncientAmericas Cool vid. Ya done good!

    • @timetraveller6643
      @timetraveller6643 Před 2 lety +29

      A vegesimal system is based on 20 potatoes. It was abandoned in favour of the vigesimal system based on 20 pedantic comments.

    • @Yentzie
      @Yentzie Před 2 lety +1

      @MichaelKingsfordGray That assumes the editor is a person and not a machine

  • @Gr95dc
    @Gr95dc Před 3 lety +328

    I'm from Mexico and even tho I like learning history, I kinda have always left the history of my own country and ancestors aside. Finding this channel is the highlight of my week, even tho it doesn't centers only in Mexico, I'm very excited to learn more about the cultures that flourished in this territory

    • @MrSilz-jb4ik
      @MrSilz-jb4ik Před 3 lety +4

      I can highly recomend this podcast regarding the rise and fall of the Aztecs (or more correctly of course, the Mēxihcah) on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/0b4bQQv1DdmPufeecBZU1E?si=FgT9AJvgR5GN1bZQuPYkuA&dl_branch=1

    • @mekkler
      @mekkler Před 3 lety +6

      A fascinating and ancient culture. I hope you are very proud.

    • @hiera1917
      @hiera1917 Před 2 lety +22

      For me coming across this channel has helped me realise that I have some decolonising work to do in myself. I’m half K’iché Mayan, but I’m pretty disconnected from that culture because I grew up in the US (with a white family). Learning about all this makes me emotional and makes my heart feel warm because I’m being re-connected with something I didn’t recognise was there. It’s like a hug reaching out to me from the distant past

    • @MrSilz-jb4ik
      @MrSilz-jb4ik Před 2 lety +11

      @@hiera1917 although i am from a white middleclass background, i have two Bolivian adopted sisters and i have such a profound attachment to all native american cultures, art and peoples. It is such a crime against history that we don't teach more about all of these cultures and peoples in a pre-colombian context. I am a university history student in denmark and we have no courses at all that revolves around pre-colombian civilizations. It is a crime that people need to educate themselves in the subject.

    • @NwordOutward
      @NwordOutward Před 2 lety

      Forsure man, I'm glad to see other people with these interests. Do you live in Mexico?

  • @andreaaa978
    @andreaaa978 Před 3 lety +136

    My parents are from Yucatán, Mexico so i have grown up seeing the Mayan calendar but never actually understood how it worked. This is really impressive.

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 3 lety +3

      Thank you!

    • @JuanMartinez-mw5rc
      @JuanMartinez-mw5rc Před 3 lety

      Do you speak and understand spanish?

    • @slavenarkaimovski3897
      @slavenarkaimovski3897 Před 2 lety +1

      Try using slavic aryan calendar,it have 9 months,365 days,and 7 days in week.For yours home project i recommend,that you take pensil,paper,and ruler,and make calendar with following pattern.Pattern of the days in months goes,41,40,41,40,41,40,41,40,41.Pattern of the days goes Monday to Sunday.And ending day in 9th month will be monday,and 1st day in first month of the second year will be tuesday.That means that with 365 days calendar,it will take 7 years to make full circle.The leap year just like daylight savings,is pointless fradulant creation,so stick with this calendar instede.

    • @HVLLOWS1999
      @HVLLOWS1999 Před rokem +1

      @@slavenarkaimovski3897
      The Slavic calendar is the Julian Calendar right, the one the Orthodox use rather than the Catholic Gregorian Calendar.
      Or is the calendar you are referring to pre-christian?

    • @malcomx-snowden-assange9673
      @malcomx-snowden-assange9673 Před 5 měsíci

      Listening to a European tell you about your culture on a CZcams video is Not "Understanding", that's the opposite of research let alone Understanding.
      Listening to and ready to repeat Gossip is more like what you're doing.
      🇲🇽

  • @bluebird5173
    @bluebird5173 Před 3 lety +110

    3:17 "Pretty simple, right? Not too difficult to learn!"
    If that was simple then I must be slow because I'm still trying to process it all.

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 3 lety +19

      You and me both.

    • @JuanRamirez-fx3tf
      @JuanRamirez-fx3tf Před 3 lety +11

      I got lost here. I am not a mathematician.

    • @boredcoke
      @boredcoke Před 3 lety +34

      I think I got it?! Basically multiply by x20 to jump numeral places instead of x10.
      So 1307 written in math for us is
      1’s place = 1x7 = 7
      10’s place = 10x0 = 0
      100’s place = 100x3 = 300
      1,000’s place = 1000x1 = 1000. Added up is 7+0+300+1000=1307
      For them it’s
      1’s place = 1x7 = 7
      20’s place (our 10’s) = 20x5 = 100
      400’s place (our 100’s) = 400x3 = 1200
      then added up, you get
      7+100+1200 = 1307
      Hopefully it makes sense. I’m no math teacher lol

    • @akatosh2795
      @akatosh2795 Před 3 lety +6

      @@boredcoke This was so helpful!

    • @BanneroftheSun
      @BanneroftheSun Před rokem

      ..it does take take tedious and laborious work to make something simple though 😅

  • @wooddad100stuff
    @wooddad100stuff Před 2 lety +55

    Spent time in Guatemala in the highlands with the K'iche (or Quiche, as I knew them). The base-20 system was fun to learn, and the number 20 was called "juwinak," which was a contraction for "jun winak," or "one person." So the supposition that 20 was based on 10 fingers and 10 toes is not unreasonable.

  • @selatoski
    @selatoski Před 3 lety +84

    As a lay student of Mesoamerican history, I really appreciate the information in your videos and how it is explained. I'm glad to have come across your channel and look forward to seeing more!

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 3 lety +10

      Thank you! There will be more!

    • @tloquenahuaque3910
      @tloquenahuaque3910 Před 3 lety +5

      I recommend you stop referring to mesoamerican history that is a Eurocetric term and offensive to our culture and history of Anahuac! It is known as ancient Anahuac. NOT MESOAMERICA

    • @BardChords
      @BardChords Před 3 lety +4

      @@tloquenahuaque3910 Hahahahaha, why are you writing in english? That's pretty anglo-centric of you.

    • @tloquenahuaque3910
      @tloquenahuaque3910 Před 3 lety +1

      @@BardChords Titlahtoa nahuatlahtolli? Axqueniuhqui pitzo!

    • @BardChords
      @BardChords Před 2 lety +2

      @@tloquenahuaque3910 Que?

  • @jdmccaffrey
    @jdmccaffrey Před 3 lety +30

    wow this calendar is actually really cool, love the cyclical nature of it versus our linear calendar

  • @Yeszur
    @Yeszur Před 2 lety +71

    The 20 days represent our fingers and toes and the 13 months represent our joints: ankles, knees, hips, wrist, elbow, shoulder, and neck. This represents the 260 day calendar. Xichen itza has 91 steps on each side with one platform on the top to make 365 steps. So much interesting and intelligent findings with the maya people!

    • @alangivre2474
      @alangivre2474 Před 2 lety +3

      Wowwww. Thank you!!!!

    • @k_tess
      @k_tess Před 2 lety

      Um 91x4=364 where the fifth step?

    • @pachucotirili
      @pachucotirili Před 2 lety +8

      @@k_tess the platform on top

    • @NCRonrad
      @NCRonrad Před rokem

      @@pachucotirili 👏🏾

    • @Mockingbird_Taloa
      @Mockingbird_Taloa Před rokem +4

      It should be noted that terrapins (turtles) have 13 major plates on their shell--many (though not all) Indigenous nations of Turtle Island (north, south, and central) associate 13 months with at least one of their sacred cycles and relate that back to the landmass of N & S "America" being founded on Turtle's back.
      I'd never heard of the 13 month cycle being associated with 13 non-digit joints, but it does make sense. It's always nice when important numbers have multiple instances of being 'significant' throughout the created order!

  • @fmulder6564
    @fmulder6564 Před 3 lety +70

    I feel like for base 20 counting system it's more likely they used both sides of their hands versus hands and feet. Count to ten with your palms up, them flip them over and keep going up to 20.

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 3 lety +21

      A very neat idea!

    • @freealter
      @freealter Před 3 lety +2

      Yeah definitely this

    • @johnyarbrough502
      @johnyarbrough502 Před 3 lety +2

      I just always assumed it was because we have toes 😄

    • @jaybyday2381
      @jaybyday2381 Před 3 lety +5

      Thats so obvious it Makes anthropologists look Silly.

    • @RufoTamales
      @RufoTamales Před 2 lety +3

      That is a very very interesting idea, specially when you think about the concept of Ometeotl and how this religion/spirituality was closely related with their math, by doing so (the flipping hands technique) you add color(palms and counter palms contrasting colours) as a category of sorts into counting/math! That's another linearly indepent variable of sorts! Me emociono mucho con descubrir la matematica "prehispánica" , saludos!

  • @HVLLOWS1999
    @HVLLOWS1999 Před rokem +104

    I can only imagine what was recorded in the Mayan books and codexes that Diego De Landa burned in the mid sixteen century. With as accurate as the Maya were with dates and how much they loved to write about themselves, they must have inscribed an amazing amount of information
    It’s no wonder De Landa wrote that while he burned the Mayan historical texts the native people wailed in agony over their books which made him curious. After all the Maya were kind of huge nerds.
    They were loosing their meticulous accounts of history and religion/mythology. So sad. De Landa I wish you were never born.

    • @boardcertifiable
      @boardcertifiable Před rokem

      I hope he's burning in the deepest, pustule filled pit of Xibalba and the Lords of Death send jaguars and caimen to chew on his roasted leg and arm stumps while he wails in agony, as his flesh blisters and festers and his eyes fall out.
      And yes, as a descendant of the Maya people and as a huge book nerd, I feel my ancestors pain and indignity. I thank this channel for doing its part to rectifying that great injustice.

    • @huascar66
      @huascar66 Před 11 měsíci +7

      A curse on Diego De Landa and the Catholic priests that labelled the Mayan books as "of the devil". A curse on them forever. What knowledge did we lose? The loss is unfathomable.

    • @theamazingfuzzlord
      @theamazingfuzzlord Před 9 měsíci +2

      May he burn in Hell forever. Him and the rest of the colonizers

    • @MrDrProfessorPurple
      @MrDrProfessorPurple Před 9 měsíci

      @@theamazingfuzzlord a damnation to hell is what got us in this mess in the first place, Don't be like the catholics of the past. Do better than those jabronis!

    • @malcomx-snowden-assange9673
      @malcomx-snowden-assange9673 Před 5 měsíci

      You are lost in Gossip my child.
      Highest achievement of our people were far removed from simple writings, written accounts is the weakest form of sharing information, they knew that you clearly don't.

  • @philipptomic6310
    @philipptomic6310 Před 3 lety +74

    These dudes where really smart like holy moly ;-;

    • @HVLLOWS1999
      @HVLLOWS1999 Před 3 lety +15

      It's all that good corn. Eat ur veggies kids

    • @sittingstill3578
      @sittingstill3578 Před 2 lety +4

      There are bright people everywhere. It all depends on what are the problems a culture is facing as to where that intellect is applied. Then it is important that ideas or concepts are tools used by intellectuals to make abstractions and implications.

    • @fredriks5090
      @fredriks5090 Před 2 lety +3

      @@sittingstill3578 Which is why "degeneration" through culture is a thing that should be taken seriously and not just brushed away as criticism of change.
      A wolf can turn into a Chihuahua if a stupid ape is allowed to breed it.

    • @bleachno9
      @bleachno9 Před 2 lety +5

      @@fredriks5090 shut up fascist

    • @fredriks5090
      @fredriks5090 Před 2 lety +1

      @@bleachno9 Go drink your mandated coolaid, your Tics are starting again.

  • @xyldkefyi
    @xyldkefyi Před 2 lety +10

    After this I'm both in awe of the mesoamerican calendar and thankful for the simplicity of the calendar I use.
    Although I guess if you dig deep into things like leap years or the julian/gregorian shift, that calendar can also get quite complicated.

  • @Lord1001
    @Lord1001 Před 2 lety +11

    The Wayeb for Mayans or Nemontemi for Mexicas was not an unlucky time as the video suggests. According to the teacher Ocelocoatl Ramírez these were days of fasting, meditation, and self-care. Similar to how you take a car in to get a tune up, our bodies are also in need of some care. Other than that I appreciate learning about the count in English. Thanks

    • @twilight6779
      @twilight6779 Před 9 měsíci

      That explains Emmett Till July 25th💔

  • @someguy8732
    @someguy8732 Před 3 lety +3

    Good video, looking forward to the rest!

  • @quitethesoph3558
    @quitethesoph3558 Před 3 lety +1

    Found your channel by happy accident. Thank you for this wealth of information! You've definitely earned a new subscriber after watching three of your videos back to back. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

  • @partiellementecreme
    @partiellementecreme Před rokem +2

    There's a remarkable dearth of intelligent videos on CZcams explaining the Mesoamerican calendar, and intelligent content about Mesoamerica more broadly. This is excellent.

  • @debbralehrman5957
    @debbralehrman5957 Před 2 lety +3

    I have to say both. Amazed at their calendar and glad I have the one I do.
    Thank you for going over this with us.
    Now I know I can count to Twenty. I think the most interesting part is that so many of shared the same basic calendar.

  • @johnyarbrough502
    @johnyarbrough502 Před 3 lety

    Good summary. Impressed you provide a list of sources and credits.

  • @larrybrown1124
    @larrybrown1124 Před rokem

    WOW - I had heard bits and pieces about their calendars... but this really is impressive and amazing. Thank you for going through the details in this way! I really appreciate your methods of explanation and presentation - Keep up the Great Content!!

  • @PaulRoberts61877
    @PaulRoberts61877 Před 2 lety +2

    I have followed the haab for 12+ years and think you did a great job on the piece.

  • @daviddeltoro1808
    @daviddeltoro1808 Před 3 lety +15

    There really needs to be a mobile app or a website with virtual Maya calendars that you can play around with like you did in the video. I'm legitimately stupid with numbers, but you made it a little easier to understand

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 3 lety +7

      There are! I actually use one called Katun. It's free to download.

  • @kalrandom7387
    @kalrandom7387 Před rokem

    I am both amazed and thankful

  • @JumpForMeBlue
    @JumpForMeBlue Před 3 lety +3

    Thank you I love these!

  • @howardstrauss5166
    @howardstrauss5166 Před 3 lety +4

    Thank you my teacher

  • @k-rloz2999
    @k-rloz2999 Před 3 lety +5

    very helpful video, thanks

  • @ricardoarce1037
    @ricardoarce1037 Před 3 lety +6

    Excellent video, really interesting

  • @jimmytovar2844
    @jimmytovar2844 Před 2 lety

    Wow! Thank you for making this information accessible

  • @ulisesromo7347
    @ulisesromo7347 Před 2 lety +1

    Thank you for your work on these peoples.

  • @JCO2002
    @JCO2002 Před 2 lety

    Both in awe and thankful.

  • @user-ye4dp9bp5y
    @user-ye4dp9bp5y Před 11 měsíci

    Absolutely interesting how such calendars were created! Excellent program.

  • @Santu7220
    @Santu7220 Před 10 měsíci

    Great visualization. The specific day quality is intersting to feel.

  • @lynnmitzy1643
    @lynnmitzy1643 Před 3 lety

    I am really enjoying your videos, thank you.

  • @jammrock9436
    @jammrock9436 Před 2 lety

    That was amazing! Thank you so much

  • @pentelegomenon1175
    @pentelegomenon1175 Před 2 lety +6

    Random theory: if you make a lunar calendar where you only count 21 days after every full moon (for some reason), a year would be almost exactly 260 days (really 259.7333), so maybe they had a calendar like that once. I can't help but notice that 260 is almost exactly the amount of weekdays in a year, which makes me imagine a strange scenario where an ancient insane Meso-American dictator effectively bans their culture's equivalent of weekends.

    • @weepingbones_2
      @weepingbones_2 Před rokem

      From memory they did have a 260 day calendar for events or ceremonies but I could be wrong

  • @stuarthdoblin
    @stuarthdoblin Před 3 lety

    Really wonderful! Quite the education, thank you for taking the time.

  • @believeinpeace
    @believeinpeace Před 6 měsíci

    Absolutely fascinating. Thank you!

  • @urielantoniobarcelosavenda780

    Thanks for sharing this, Im mexican and really intersted in the ancient cultures, however, because education is mostly focus on the last 200 years, I really have only learned about it recently, half youtube and half from indigenous teachers that my mom knew

  • @ronydio9590
    @ronydio9590 Před 3 lety +3

    Excellent video!

  • @luedog8385
    @luedog8385 Před 7 měsíci

    Thank you for these videos I recently found your Channel and I have a lot of videos to watch now😅

  • @pro5alfa0
    @pro5alfa0 Před 4 lety +3

    Great stuff!

  • @Flurdaman
    @Flurdaman Před 2 měsíci

    My search was “how do we reconcile ancient Mayan dates with modern dates” you nailed it! thank you for the awesome video.

  • @heven729
    @heven729 Před 3 lety +1

    Thank you for this!

  • @Dreamspan
    @Dreamspan Před 7 měsíci

    I have an assignment on this due in 2 days, this streamlined most of the important information into very a understandable video. thank you

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 7 měsíci

      Happy to help! It's not an easy thing to understand on the first try.

  • @jaysonparkhurst7422
    @jaysonparkhurst7422 Před 4 měsíci

    This really opens my mind

  • @mark2406
    @mark2406 Před 2 lety

    Been watching all your vids, keep up the great work, it's hard to find alot of in depth content on ancient Americas, can't wait for your El Mirador vid to drop, any hints to what you are working on now?

  • @pine1780
    @pine1780 Před 3 lety +1

    I love this channel so much, please keep making more!!

  • @andreaskallstrom9031
    @andreaskallstrom9031 Před rokem

    Super interesting, thank you!

  • @allones3078
    @allones3078 Před 3 lety +3

    Great video

  • @raider_reaper_4194
    @raider_reaper_4194 Před 5 měsíci

    This was freaking amazing

  • @luyzqint3760
    @luyzqint3760 Před 3 lety +1

    Just, wow!. Thanks for another great video.✌️

  • @per4mexbagger541
    @per4mexbagger541 Před 3 lety +4

    Outstanding

  • @aserher215
    @aserher215 Před 2 lety

    I love your channel!

  • @davidmontemayor4383
    @davidmontemayor4383 Před 2 lety

    Amazing! Thank you so much!!!!

  • @jonnygonzales3875
    @jonnygonzales3875 Před rokem

    Thank you so much for this great channel and information! My roots are Mexican and English though growing up in ENgland all my life I have longed to connect with my Mexican roots. This channel really deepens that connection so thank you!

  • @danielmartinez5505
    @danielmartinez5505 Před rokem +1

    This is so cool. I would love to replicate something similar for my DnD homebrew setting

  • @8roomsofelixir
    @8roomsofelixir Před rokem +2

    The way the Sacred Calendar counts days looks quite similar to how the Chinese Sexagenary Cycle counts days. The Sexagenary Cycle employs a 10/12 combination of naming days (compared to Sacred Calendar's 13/20) which forms a 60-day cyrcle that intertwined with the normal 30-day months. It could also be used to name years as well, thus creates a 60-year cyrcle.

  • @BeYeSeparate
    @BeYeSeparate Před 3 lety

    Very informative videos friend thank you! (btw, I would love to know what font that is, big fan.)

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 3 lety +1

      Thank you! And to answer your question, the font is IM Fell.

  • @BeyondEcstasy
    @BeyondEcstasy Před 3 lety +12

    The Aztec Sun Stone (the first image used in the video) is not a calendar although historically thought to be one. It's now believed to be a platform for gladiatorial combat.

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 3 lety +6

      Yes. I didn't fully understand that when I made the video. I'm learning more everyday.

    • @tloquenahuaque3910
      @tloquenahuaque3910 Před 3 lety +3

      It's not the aztec either. It's the Anahuac sun stone! Made by the Anahuacas.

    • @diansc7322
      @diansc7322 Před rokem +2

      @@tloquenahuaque3910 but it was discovered in the Aztec templo mayor

    • @helmar_rudolph
      @helmar_rudolph Před 5 měsíci

      ​@@tloquenahuaque3910 Annunaki? Just wondering...

  • @jesserichards5582
    @jesserichards5582 Před rokem

    Very fascinating, I'm not one for math but this is a interesting topic to learn more & understand fully. Especially if it corresponds with our every day life cycle

  • @markthomas8766
    @markthomas8766 Před 8 měsíci

    That was great. Enjoyed it immensely. The only other utube video I saw on the "Mayan" calender that really good was where it was proposed the reason for some of the longer cycles was related to multiples of the orbit lengths of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. This sort of gives the idea that the cyclic nature of our solar system effects the cyclic nature of life on earth and again promotes the idea that time is a cycle or orbital in nature, and not linear. I was trying to find that utube video when I came across yours! Many thanks.

  • @samurachi420
    @samurachi420 Před rokem

    Love the channel. Would love to see a breakdown of yaqui

  • @TimL1980
    @TimL1980 Před rokem +3

    Very interesting video and good explanation! It is easy to get lost with a language that doesn't resemble any of the ones one knows - and the crammed, stylized weird symbols don't help either, but you're doing a great job! (And honestly: a story about Kyle, Kevin, Ken and Kaleb get's confusing enough.... especially if it goes on for a hundred years and they all start naming their sons after their best buddies!

  • @JoeKThePotter
    @JoeKThePotter Před 3 lety +1

    I was saving watching this episode until last, until I saw the others first. I was not disappointed. Thank you for the respect , sensitivity and attention to detail you give to these topics. It is heart warming. Thank you . 🙏🙏👏👏🤘🤘

  • @amphibiousone7972
    @amphibiousone7972 Před 2 lety

    Outstanding 💪 THANKS 🙏

  • @simritnam612
    @simritnam612 Před rokem

    Amazing.
    Ty!

  • @henrikkrusty8065
    @henrikkrusty8065 Před 3 lety

    i hope this channel blows up

  • @igor-yp1xv
    @igor-yp1xv Před 3 lety +4

    This video is awesome.
    Lord Of The Night sounds like something from Game of Thrones.

  • @epicweedskrrtswag7872

    Didn’t really understand the calender, but love your enthusiasm

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před rokem +1

      It's ok. I didn't get it the first time around either and had to reread the same stuff over and over again to understand it. It's not easy.

  • @joeygarza9550
    @joeygarza9550 Před 11 měsíci

    I remember there was a cool bar in the meatpacking district in NYC back in the 90s -- the 1990s -- called Baktun, and it was smooth, adobe, sandstone interior, almost similar in style to the Mos Eisley bar in SW, but it was definitely based on the Mayan calander, and the only cheap beer they sold, and only in cans, was Tecate -- no Bud, Coors, or Miller. It was definitely a scene! Alas, the bar, as well as the scene, ended up like the ancient Mayan civilization and it is long gone.

  • @habitualforeigner
    @habitualforeigner Před 3 lety +6

    In several Mayan languages, the word for "twenty" is either the same as, or very similar to, the word for "man" or "person." In Guatemala there are some differences between language groups about when to observe the completion of the 260-count but, I believe, the names may have in some cases changed as Mayan languages diverged. Many communities have a "day counter" ( "aj q'ij") who keeps track of the names of the days, important for remembering auspicious days, etc. An anthropologist colleague of mine discovered that hand signs that women used to indicate the phase of the moon (when calculating gestation), matched hand signs in calendar inscriptions from the classical period that apparently denoted lunar phases. I hope you address in future videos something about Mesoamerican astronomy. Several classical Maya sites are oriented toward Venus and other heavenly bodies besides "just" the sun and moon.

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 3 lety +1

      That is really interesting! Yes, I do want to do an episode on Maya astronomy someday but that's a long ways in the future.

    • @JuanRodriguez-qk2eq
      @JuanRodriguez-qk2eq Před 2 lety +3

      In the Yaqui language (a Uto-Aztecan Native language from Sonora, Mexico) the word for 20 is the same as body. The number 5 is similar to hand, the number 10 is 2 hands, 15 is 10+5, and finally, 20 is a body. Then you go all the way counting 40 as 2 bodies, 60 as 3 bodies, until mixing Spanish numbers for larger amounts. I don't think in Northern Mexico there were calendars at all, but makes me wonder how extended is the vigesimal system and how many languages express this unit as a person, body or so. Within and outside of Mesoamerica.

  • @philipptomic6310
    @philipptomic6310 Před 3 lety +11

    i think we dont know enugh of the history of the pre columbian Americas

  • @OmnipotentO
    @OmnipotentO Před rokem

    Mind blowing how clever they were

  • @birgaripadam7112
    @birgaripadam7112 Před 3 lety +1

    My god that was complex and I love it

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 3 lety +1

      Thank you!

    • @birgaripadam7112
      @birgaripadam7112 Před 3 lety

      @@AncientAmericas a was interested in pre-colonisation history af America and currently I loving it
      One can only wonder what would there civilization (if left alone) evolve to

  • @hallowacko
    @hallowacko Před 3 lety +11

    This and your Olmec video really drives home that, if we are going to refer to the myriad north-afro-euro-near-asian cultures that used the 7-day-week as a single "Western Civilization", then we must do the same with Meso-America (plus the north american and south american cultures influenced by them).
    Tin Foil Hat Time: were the Mississippians influenced by Meso-America? And do we know anything about their own calendar? I look at stuff from Cahokia on wikipedia, ,and it feels like theres a similar art style happening there to some Meso-American stuff.
    Love your channel, so glad I found it. Episode Request: Effigy Mounds? (I'm a Wisconsinite, so... a little selfish there :P)

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 3 lety +8

      If you're from Wisconsin, you'll be very pleased with the next episode that's coming.

    • @hallowacko
      @hallowacko Před 3 lety +5

      @@AncientAmericas AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH EXCITED SCREAMS

    • @NCRonrad
      @NCRonrad Před 2 lety +2

      Jurucan - Hurucan; a shared deity between Maya, Atlantic islands, and tribes/nations of the Mississippi/florida

  • @lolaojeda1206
    @lolaojeda1206 Před rokem

    This is how my Grandfather 91.6%Mesoamerican Jose Lino Sandate Morales was named!! Born September 23, 1940!! Family from San Luis Potosi born Brewster TEXUS!!

  • @salvadoralvarez1248
    @salvadoralvarez1248 Před 2 lety

    Congratulation.
    Thank you for so interesting facts,about my mayan culture.

  • @anam2996
    @anam2996 Před rokem +1

    MUCHÍSIMAS GRACIAS! estoy haciendo mi tesis de licenciatura y ha sido muy difícil para mí entender las explicaciones sobre los calendarios en la bibliografía especializada, gracias por tan buena explicación! Saludos desde México!

  • @Ottmar555
    @Ottmar555 Před 3 lety +11

    Cipactli is pronouned /sipaktli/. C in classical nahuatl is used the same way as in spanish, remember. /s/ before e and i and /k/ before a and o. Atlcahualo means "The water(s) leave".

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 3 lety +1

      I wish I'd had your expertise a year ago. I don't speak nahuatl or spanish. Definitely good to know!

    • @gleann_cuilinn
      @gleann_cuilinn Před 3 lety +2

      The reason why the /s/ sound is spelled c/z in Nahuatl is kinda interesting.
      In late medieval Spanish, the letter was pronounced “retracted”, almost like “sh”, while and were pronounced like an “s” but with the very tip of the tongue on the teeth.
      Early Spanish colonists thought that the Nahuatl sound was more like their than their (at the time).
      Also, unlike in Modern Spanish, was pronounced like “sh” back then, so that was used to write the Nahuatl “sh” sound in words like xitomatl and nixtamalli.

    • @Ottmar555
      @Ottmar555 Před 3 lety +1

      @@gleann_cuilinn I'd argue that the modern peninsular spanish still sounds quite like an "sh". The distiction between two "s" sounds is still retained in Euskera, their "s" is like the spanish sound and their "z" like english "s". Even the nahuatl speakers themselves thought the sounded like "sh", as they transcribed spanish loanwords with an , such as Xinola for Señora.

  • @nicktohzyu
    @nicktohzyu Před 3 lety +1

    could you please create a playlist with all your videos? because youtube "watch all" doesn't allow us to reverse it!

  • @harpman476
    @harpman476 Před 8 měsíci

    For context:
    18,890 days = 51 years and 9 months in the Gregorian calendar.
    7,200 days or one K’atun = 19 years 8 months and 3 weeks
    144,000 days or one B’aktun = 394 years 6 months and 1 week

  • @vortiz3509
    @vortiz3509 Před 3 lety +29

    Sir, the "calendar" graphic is not a calendar. It is thought by many that it is but it is not. It is an Aztec sun stone and it depicts the five consecutive worlds of the sun from Aztec cosmology. Please, do not confuse them.

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 3 lety +18

      You are 100% correct. I was ignorant at the time. That's my mistake.

  • @GMnoMon
    @GMnoMon Před rokem +2

    That lunation calculation does not maths. My calculator says 4400 days is 149 lunations. That might look like crazy talk, but if You've watched 'till the end it should make sens

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před rokem

      It's ok, I didn't get it the first time either.

    • @a-world-view
      @a-world-view Před 2 měsíci

      @@AncientAmericas sorry, but 4400:165=26.666. So how did this number come about?

  • @darlenequezada908
    @darlenequezada908 Před rokem

    What is the calendar round date that follow 4 Ajaw 8 Kumku ?

  • @bumbleguppy
    @bumbleguppy Před 3 lety +8

    I bet your birthday translated to the long count would make a pretty strong password.

    • @habitualforeigner
      @habitualforeigner Před 3 lety

      Great idea, but the day name of my birth date is "skull/death" and I'm not very goth. LOL.

  • @greatskytrollantidrama4473

    Pretty sure I've binge watched everything.
    Thank you

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 3 lety +2

      Thanks! Better get some sleep so you can watch tomorrow's episode.

  • @anthonylezama1645
    @anthonylezama1645 Před 3 lety

    4:13 and that tradition continues to this day! Although the days pertain to specific saints, it can be yet another way these people kept their customs alive

  • @nhenhe2214
    @nhenhe2214 Před 2 lety +1

    ¿DÓNDE ESTÁN LOS SUBTÍTULOS EN ESPAÑOL Y PORTUGUÉS?

  • @exitolaboral
    @exitolaboral Před 2 lety

    Y like these calendars, after a while I get dizzy and do time travell !!

  • @conradnelson5283
    @conradnelson5283 Před 4 měsíci

    Their calendar is pretty amazing. I’d never know what day it was. I just barely know as it is.

  • @DocZom
    @DocZom Před 3 lety

    I think I will have to watch this twenty times before I understand it all.

  • @JamesFenczik
    @JamesFenczik Před 2 lety

    @13:20 did I understand correctly that they dated/anchored their Calendar to ~3500 bc (5000 yr ago) and they said that the previous world ended ~5000 yr before that? (14 baktun) for a total of ~10,000 years ago?

  • @TheSuzberry
    @TheSuzberry Před 3 lety +2

    Thankfully in awe.

  • @kovacskovacs3465
    @kovacskovacs3465 Před 3 měsíci

    *_Maybe_* the Mayan long calendar's cycle began in the year 3114 BC, because the Thuban star (which was the north star at the time) was at its discernibly and relatively closest point to true north in that year. Today we know that Thuban was at its absolute closest to true north in 2830 BC, when it was within ≈ 0.1667°; however, it remained within about 1° of this for almost 200 years following (≈ 2630 BC), and was within 5° from truth north for 900 years afterwards (≈ 1930 BC). A 1° change may not have been discernible to the naked eye, and thus may be indiscernible to the Mayans. Given that Thuban doesn't follow a perfectly circular path across the sky and is rather very slow in its change relative to true north, for 284 years before and nearly 200 years following Thuban's _actual_ closest proximity to true north, Thuban may have been calculated by the Mayans to be an unchanging north star for about 484 years starting in the year 3114 BC. That would imply that the Mayans' discernible accuracy limit would be within at least ±1° of a given celestial body to true north.
    For comparison, Polaris is about 0.7° off from true north today, and will reach its closest on 24 March 2100 when it'll be 0.4526° off. The Maya may have calculated that Polaris would reach its _discernibly_ closest proximity to true north on 21 December 2012, which we know today to be at 0.736° from true north. That's a deviation of 0.2834° in 88 years, or an ≈0.00322° average change per year. If the hypothesized discernible accuracy limit of < ±1° is correct with respect to a given north star, then we can refine the Maya's discernibility limit further with Polaris. For Thuban, it was only _assumed_ that beginning in the year 3114 BC, there was a 2° change that went unrecognized (1° before and after 1° its nearest point to true north). To the Maya, Polaris' peak proximity may have been calculated to be at 0.736° of true north, and they may believe that Polaris would remain that way for many decades following its actual peak in 2100. That gives us a discernibility limit of at least 0.5668° (2 x 0.2834°).
    This calculation could be done for each of the 12 north stars at the start and end of the Mayan long year. I haven't checked if all of those north stars align with the Mayan long calendar, or what the proximity of those north stars are at its nearest proximity to true north. But that would be prudent to check to validate this hypothesis. One may also have to consider if the Mayan calendar meshed together the duration of all 12 north stars across Earth's precessional cycle, in a way that made sense for the Maya's cultural purposes.

  • @felipeandrusco6478
    @felipeandrusco6478 Před 7 měsíci

    just to add to the why of the 260 days of tzolkin, its 20*13, which are both sacred numbers to the mayas for a *number* of reasons

  • @davidwartski7213
    @davidwartski7213 Před 9 měsíci

    It's Fibonacci based. 144 is significant, because it is the 12 number in the Fibonacci sequence, and the only number whose square root is the same as its position in the sequence. So, from that, we get 1 x 12 x 12 x 1,000 = 144,000. However, if you start with an intended end date, and work backwards, you can begin it wherever it ends up, and do it how ever many times you want. This is why the date of completion was 12/21/2012. The zero represents the so-called jumping off point in the Fibonacci sequence, although it is not actually part of the sequence. The end date represents the so-called end of the old paradigm, and the beginning of the global consciousness shift and universal enlightenment. It's just taken us a few years to get our act together and remember who we really are. But there were a lot of events that needed to take place before this could occur.

  • @reginajohnson188
    @reginajohnson188 Před 3 měsíci +1

    I actually have a app and I put together my own Mayan calendar 📆 🎉🎉 that is because the Mayan calendar was not meant to be a doomsday calendar 📆 it only marks the end of a cycle and starts anew cycle ❤❤

  • @Ewilds
    @Ewilds Před 2 lety +1

    So the Calendar Round completes one cycle every 52 years, and this calendar is a combination of the 260 day calendar and the 365 day solar calendar. The Long Count Calendar counts the numbers of days but it does try to approximate a solar year because it multiples 20 days by 18, and not the normal 20, to get 360. (I assume the Maya wanted to avoid fractions and not multiply 20 by 18.2621 to get 365.242 days in a solar year). One Baktun is 144,000 days and one great cycle completes in 13 Baktuns, which is 1,872,000 million days. 1,872,000 days is about ~5125 solar years if you use 365.242 as the number of days in a solar year. But the Long Count uses a 360 day solar year. So if you divide 1,872,000 by 360 you get exactly 5200 solar years, again using 360 days as a year. The Calendar Round completes in 52 years, and Long Count in 5200 years. Is this a coincidence or is it by design?

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 2 lety +1

      Never noticed that. No clue if that's happy coincidence or not. Very interesting though!

    • @carlborg8023
      @carlborg8023 Před rokem +1

      52 and 5200 are base 10 numbers though. In base 20, 52 would be written 2(12) (the twelve in () is a single digit) whereas 5200 would be (13)00. So I think it mere coincidence. The way, and how tidily, numerals play together varies quite a bit by number base used, and base 10 is decidedly inferior to the likes of 6, 12, 16, 60... or so I've heard, I've only played with 12, 16 and 20 myself, and can say 12 and 16 are good 20 is nothing special, about the same as 10.

    • @Ewilds
      @Ewilds Před rokem +2

      @@carlborg8023 The Long Count isn't base 20, either, in the sense that a tun has 360 days (20*18). The Calendar Round completes after 52.00 years because that is how long it takes for the ritual calendar of 260 days and the civil calendar of 365.00 to repeat. 52 is 13*4. The Long Count is 13*400, starting with the base of 360.

  • @nmarbletoe8210
    @nmarbletoe8210 Před 2 lety

    i think 260 is also the number of days between the two yearly zeniths at a certain latitude in the Maya area

  • @Yentzie
    @Yentzie Před 2 lety

    9:53 where do you get that number? 52 years, excluding leap years, is 18,980 days so I wanted to check if it's a typo or I missed something

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 2 lety

      GAAAHHH!!! That's a typo. Totally dropped the ball on that one. 18,980 days is what it should be. You are correct.

    • @Yentzie
      @Yentzie Před 2 lety

      Ancient Americas, No worries you’re a history channel not a math one, still a wonderful video

    • @CultureTripGuide-HilmarHWerner
      @CultureTripGuide-HilmarHWerner Před 2 lety

      next big oddity (not to say blunder) - if i'm not wrong (i always hated math...): you say the maya said: 165 lunations = 4,400 days; then: 1 lunation = 29.53020 days. ok. but 165 times 29.53020 - according to my calculator - equals 4,872.483 days... so some explanation needed please - or deletion and a new fire ceremony for a new start (without the human sacrifice if you may)...

    • @AncientAmericas
      @AncientAmericas  Před 2 lety

      @@CultureTripGuide-HilmarHWerner ugh, I'm gonna have to check my sources and confirm. I didn't do any of the math myself and just uses what was in the books.

  • @voidgeometry794
    @voidgeometry794 Před 2 lety

    Mine and my friends achievements will ecco thru time~!