Maya calendar

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

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Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/maya-calendar

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. How long is Maya calendar?Correlated to August 11, 3114 BC, marking a mythical creation date
2. What is the historical precursors?Calendrical systems of earlier Mesoamerican civilizations such as the Zapotec and Olmec
3. What is the associated deity?Itzamna is frequently credited with the transmission of calendrical knowledge
4. How does the Tzolk'in calendar work?The Tzolk'in mixes 20 day names with numbers 1 to 13, creating 260 unique day combinations. Some think this pattern comes from pregnancy or farming cycles.
5. What is the Haab' calendar and the Wayeb'?The Haab' has 18 months of 20 days each, plus a short 5‑day period called the Wayeb'. The Wayeb' was seen as unlucky and a time of possible danger.

Tzolk'in: A sacred 260-day Maya calendar cycle, integral to divination and ritual practices.
Haab': A 365-day Maya solar calendar, structured into 18 months of 20 days plus a 5-day Wayeb' period.
Long Count: A linear Maya calendrical system used to record historical events over vast time spans.
Cosmology: The understanding of the origin, structure, and nature of the universe.