Describe briefly the Maya Calendar
The Maya calendar, in its final form, probably dates back to the 1st century B.C., and may have originated with the Olmec civilization. It is extremely accurate and the calculations of Mayan priests were so precise that their calendar correction is 10,000th of a day more exact than the standard calendar the world uses today. They used 20-day months, and had two calendar years; the 260-day Sacred Round, or tzolkin, and the 365-day Vague Year, or haab. These two calendars coincided every 52 years. The 52-year period of time was called a "bundle" and meant the same to the Mayans as our century does to us. The Sacred Round of 260 days is composed of two smaller cycles: the numbers one through thirteen, coupled with twenty different day names. Each of the day names is represented by a god.
The 260-day calendar was used to determine important activities related to the gods and humans. It was used to name individuals, predict the future, decide the auspicious dates for battles, marriages, and so on.
