How to explain ...

the acuracy of the Mayan calender ?
i was asked how do we know it's accurate ?
..er...it's to do with the orbit of the earth around the sun..... ...can somebody please help me out ??
in simple terms ?

Um...
GOOD MORNING! ROXANNA ! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.].

Do I look! (sound, etc) to be a version of Carl Sagan? [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Good grief!
(That is what I have wanted to know forever!)

THEN...
I decided it doesn't matter. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] It works.

Oh... YOOO-HOOO, Tater...! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Roxanna needs your help.... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I dunno.

Hi, Tater!
Bless your heart! (I don't beeelieeeve you, but)
Bless your heart! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Bree? Sneaky?
ANYONE?

WELL?
... Oh crap...
Does this mean we've been sold a load ? [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Roxanna, [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

My favorite part is "in simple terms".... rotflmao! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

This is the best I can do right now....

The Mayans had an elaborate calendrical system, no longer in use, which obviously evolved in complete isolation from those of the old world. This system ended with the fall of the Mayan civilization. Most of the remaining knowledge of it was destroyed by the Spanish during the conquest. It was not until very recently, during the 1990s, that archeologists have finally been able to fill in many of the gaps in our knowledge of Mayan civilization, including the calendrical system.

The Mayans were skilled mathematicians, and this shows in their calendar; besides having a concept of zero, they also had a firm grasp of modular arithmetic; they also worked extensively in base 20. However, despite their great skill at observing the heavens, their calendar has no relationship to lunar or seasonal cycles, and is only synchronized with the solar cycle year approximately. The Mayans were aware of this discrepancy; they simply didn't feel the compelling need to synchronize their calendar with the sun that Old World civilizations did.

The Mayans used three separate calendars. The Long Count was pricipally used for historical purposes, since it can define any date for millenia in the past and future. The Haab was a civil calendar based on a year of 360 days consisting of 18 periods of 20 days. Five days were added at the end of the Haab year to approximately synchronize it with the solar year. The Tzolkin calendar was used for ceremonial purposes, which had 20 periods of 13 days. The Tzolkin calendar went through a complete cycle every 260 days. The signficance of this cycle is unknown; it may be connected with the orbit of Venus, which has a period of 263 days. The Haab and Tzolkin dates did not have a year component; however, a combined Haab and Tzolkin date specify a unique day within a 52 year cycle.
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oh dear ....
no such thing as simple terms ??
i must explain, i told my grand daughter the Mayas had a very accurate calendar that spanned thousands of years (maybe i got that arse up ?) she asked"how can they tell it's accurate?" this is the girl who at age 4 wanted to know where the first people came from before there were any people !! she always THOUGHT before asking or answering a question ,ever since she could talk ! i should know by now ! she's almost 19 and some things haven't changed .
thank you breezey, I'll just show her your reply, not that i totally understand it
well, she's certainly got us thinking !!

... Oh crap...
Does this mean we've been sold a load ? [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][/quote]

..who knows ....

Ja'aj wrote:Roxanna, [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

My favorite part is "in simple terms".... rotflmao! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

jaaj, it NEEDS to be simple terms for me to understan it !!...if i do.....

Not as simple as you thought? lol

breezey, not much is ever simple with this girl !!..she THINKS.....

I saw her today, and with so many other things on her mind ,she never mentioned the Mayan Calender ....hopefully it has just simply sliped away..... ......

You only wish!!!

Hi, guys... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

"Simple"... like "A Brief History Of The World"...?
Can't be done. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]