Mesoamerican calendars are the calendrical systems devised and used by the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica. Besides keeping time, Mesoamerican calendars were also used in religious observances and social rituals, such as for divination.
The existence of Mesoamerican calendars is known as early as ca. 500 BCE, with the essentials already appearing fully defined and functional. These calendars are still used today in the Guatemalan highlands,Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico.
Types of calendars
Among the various calendar systems in use, two were particularly central and widespread across Mesoamerica. Common to all recorded Mesoamerican cultures, and the most important, was the 260-day calendar, a ritual calendar with no confirmed correlation to astronomical or agricultural cycles. Apparently the earliest Mesoamerican calendar to be developed, it was known by a variety of local terms, and its named components and the glyphs used to depict them were similarly culture-specific. However, it is clear that this calendar functioned in essentially the same way across cultures, and down through the chronological periods it was maintained.
According to INAH...Structure 1 is aligned with the February appearance of Canopus, signaling the start of the Mesoamerican calendar, while Structure 2 was part of a complex designed for solar observation. HeaderImageCredit . INAH. Sources . INAH.
It shakes up the routine ... Each of the works is a pleasant surprise to encounter ... These works in this show are inspired by the Zapotec calendar, developed by the Mesoamerican civilization that flourished before the Spanish conquest of Latin America ... ....
... to the Zodiac calendar, a pterodactyl-like species called a Quetzalcoatl references the feathered-serpent god of Mesoamerican mythos and folklore, and a Manticore dragon draws on Persian legends.
The game was played on a mat with a cross-shaped board consisting of 52 squares, aligning with the 260-day Mesoamerican calendar year ... The ancient Mesoamerican board game ‘Patolli’ board from AncientOrigins.
MesoamericanMother... Moreover, evidence suggests that the Olmecs may have laid the foundation for the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, which later civilizations, like the Maya, refined and utilized.
The "FuegoNuevo" (New Fire) ceremony takes place on the night of February 1 to mark the turn of the year based on the Purepecha's variant of the Mesoamerican calendar ... "We realized that our ancestors held this celebration before the conquest ... ....
A pair of anthropologists at Tulane University has solved the mystery of the Mayan 819-day count, a type of ancient Mesoamerican calendar system ... appeared to be in reference to a calendar of some sort.
Astronomy and timekeeping were two of the AncientMaya’s biggest loves, and new research may have finally revealed the intricate system that once connected these two pillars of Mesoamerican life.
The crystal skulls have been the subject of much controversy and speculation, claimed to be the work of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Aztec and Maya... In Mesoamerican artwork, skulls ...
... examples of Mesoamerican structures aligned for use as a 260-day calendar, built thousands of years ago along Mexico's gulf coast ... Ivan Šprajc et al, Origins of Mesoamerican astronomy and calendar.
Renowned for their precision, vision, and place in time, Mesoamerican calendars have long been held up as an example of the early advancement of the civilizations of the indigenous people of North, South, and Central America.
Scientists have found new evidence of early use of the Mesoamerican calendar hundreds of years before written evidence suggests, shedding new light on the astronomical studies and practices of the ancient Olmecs and Mayans, a new study shows.
Victoria Advocate
02 Feb 2024
Victoria Advocate
02 Feb 2024