Mayan Number System Research Paper

432 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Mayan numeral system

The Mayan number system dates back to the fourth century and was approximately 1,000 years more advanced than the Europeans of that time. The Mayan used a vigesimal number system based on base 20. It is believed to have started and developed from counting their fingers and toes. The Mayan wrote their numbers from top to bottom, unlike the usual left to right system. It has been suggested that counters may have been used, such as grain or pebbles, to represent the units and a short stick or bean pod to represent the fives. The mayan showed increasing place value by writing the numbers from bottom to top. The Mayan only needed three symbols to express any quantity. The symbols are a shell shape, dots, and bars. The shell shape represented zero, a dot which represented one, and a bar line which represented five. …show more content…

Six is a line and a dot, and seven is a line and two dots, and thirteen is two lines and three dots. This works up to nineteen, however the symbol changes a little when it reaches twenty. Twenty is represented by a single dot above a shell. The Mayans also use five as a base rather than the more common ten that is used in other numbers systems. Their system was set up so that the first five place values were based on the multiples of 20. They were 1 (200), 20 (201), 400 (202), 8,000 (203), and 160,000 (204). When counting the twenties and powers of twenty, is positional, and even has a zero, to show that you have no digit in this row.The fact that the Mayan had invented a symbol for zero might be the most important aspects of their mathematical system. The number zero is very important to the mathematical system because place value can not exist without it. The Mayan used the place value along with the vigesimal system for base twenty. The vigesimal systems means each place is equal to a power of twenty. To calculate a Mayan number, you need to divide the number into powers of

Show More
Related

  • Dbq Mayan Achievements

    636 Words  | 2 Pages

    The mark for zero was a football like shape, the icon for one was a dot, and the one for five was written as a bar. This fits under the umbrella of genius because it was a very advanced intellectual achievement for the time period. Lastly, is their achievement of architecture. Which was highly advanced. In the article it states that, “...archeologists have catalogued more than 2,500 Maya locations of varying size and date…Masonry architecture required central organization.” (Document B, Paragraph 2-3) This means that they had to be able to effectively command large forces to make such gigantic cities. Many of their ancient buildings are still standing today. This fits in the category of effort and genius. This is because it would have taken a lot of work both physically and mentally to complete these massive cities. Overall, the achievements of the Maya are extensive and most certainly

    Read More

  • What Achievement of the Maya Was Their Most Remarkable?

    854 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Europe, there were several advances being made that would affect our society today. However, simultaneously, societies across the world in the Americas would too be making these types of advances as well. One society in particular were the Maya. These people made technological strides that the Europeans themselves could not even fathom. But, what was their most remarkable achievement? One will find that their achievements of their trade network, a convenient method of transporting goods and messages; architecture, intricate buildings built in large cities on a massive scale; and number system, which takes into consideration some of our key principles in today’s math, have a momentous buildup to the Maya’s most remarkable achievement—their complex calendar, an astonishing nearly accurate calendar that governed Mayan society and is still seen in our own society today.

    Read More

  • The Mayan and Aztec Calendars

    2364 Words  | 5 Pages

    This book focuses on different types of calendars from a number of different places all around the world. This specific chapter, even more specifically this section, focuses on the Mayan calendar. These calendars were written by honored members of their aristocracy and were held to be of great value. The Spanish invaders believed them to be instruments of the devil and burnt great quantities of them. E. G. Richards explains that only four Mayan books are survive in the libraries of Europe, and one of those—The Dresden codex—suffered severe damage in another fire, one which was inflicted on that city in the Second World War. Richards says that the earliest record of a calendar survives from about 500 BC in Monte Alban near Oaxaca. This calendar employs a 260-day cycle, which was commonly used by several societies and is still in use among the present-day inhabitants of the region. The Maya used the calendar partly to anticipate propitious days to embark on wars and other activities. It was also used to record on stone pillars, or stelae, important events in the lives of their kings and to relate these to more mythical events of the past. The Mayan calendar system involved two major methods of specifying a specific date—the calendar round and the long count. The calendar round was used to specify a date within a period of about 52 years, while the long count served to relate such dates within a longer period named a great cycle. The calendar round involved three interlocking cycles of 13, 20, and 365 days respectively. The 365-day cycle was called a haab and was similar to the Egyptian wandering year. Each haab was divided into 18 periods called uinals; each uinal had 20 days and a name. The 18 uinal were followed by five epagomen...

    Read More

  • Dbq Mayans Vs Aztecs

    385 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Mayans were more of a remarkable civilization than the Aztecs. The first reason is that in the Mayan civilization their architecture was way more advanced than the Aztec’s architecture. In Document D it explains how the architecture in the Mayan civilization their architecture ranks as one of the great pre-industrial cultures of the world. They built many different types of building such as palaces, civic buildings, ball courts, steam baths, canals, reservoirs, and a domed observatory. The second reason is that the used a 3 calendar system throughout their civilization as mentioned in Document F. They used one as a sacred or ritual calendar with a cycle of 260 days. The second calendar they used was the civil calendar that consisted of

    Read More

  • Mayans

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    In math, the Maya developed a system based on three symbols: a dot, a bar, and a shell. The dot represented 1, the bar 5, and the shell 0. The Maya used the concept of 0, 1200 years before anyone in the Old World. Their number system was based on 20 and the value increased from bottom to top.

    Read More

  • Early Maya Civilization

    1389 Words  | 3 Pages

    The very roots of Maya civilization are obscure at best. However as our understanding of new and old discoveries increases, we're more able to paint a vague picture of their early beginnings. By around 2000 BC, the southern Maya area had already been occupied by early speakers of Mayan languages. We know that this area was occupied by archaic Maya groups prior

    Read More

  • Essay On Mayan Mayans

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the early centuries A.D., the Mayan peoples began building their civilization in the center of Mesoamerica. This location allowed the Maya to conduct trade and exchange their local products. They also participated in the slash and burn method, however, evidence shows that they may have developed other methods such as planting on raised beds above swamps and on hillside terraces. Not only did location have an influence on agricultural life, it also had an influence on all other aspects of life. The Maya drew influence from a neighboring society, the Olmec. The Maya blended their customs with the Olmec to create a culturally diverse society. These Olmec customs had quite an influence on other aspects of the Maya society. The Maya had a polytheistic religion with gods of corn, death, rain, and war. These religious beliefs led to the development of calendars, astronomy, and mathematics. The Maya developed two types of calendars: religious and solar. The religious calendar was based on the belief that “time was a burden carried on the back of a God.” The solar calendar was based on the observations of the sun, planets, and moon. Unlike our calendar today, it was consisted of twenty-five da...

    Read More

  • Mayan Religion

    1535 Words  | 4 Pages

    BYU Studies 38.4 (1999): 43-64. Print. The. Sharer, Robert. A. The Ancient Maya.

    Read More

  • The Mayan Calendar

    1375 Words  | 3 Pages

    In a Long Count calendar date there are five numbers which are separated by four periods (for example, 13.0.0.0.0). 13.0.0.0.0 is thought to have been the Mayan’s theory as to the world’s creation date. The Mayans used hieroglyphs, such as those in the image,

    Read More

  • The Decline Of The Mayan Civilization

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Mayan civilization was located in southeastern Mexico on the Yucatan Peninsula. One of the first American civilizations, it lasted from about 1000 B.C.-1542 A.D. Their civilization flourished during the Sixth Century. They built many temples and over forty cities. The Mayan population consisted of almost fifteen million people who were all living in one of the many cities. The Mayan people were extremely religious and believed in multiple gods which meant they were polytheistic. Their most commonly worshiped god was the Maize God, or god of corn, as corn was the most grown and most relied on crop. The Mayans grew all of their own food so they needed to have useful farming methods. The one they used most often was the slash and burn method, which involved cutting down trees and burning them to make the soil fertil which was necessary to grow crops. This method worked for many years, but soon started to backfire. The Mayans were ahead of their time, but that did not prevent their mysterious decline which occurred between the years 800 A.D.-900 A.D. Although it is not known exactly why the powerful empire fell, but there are various probable theories. The mysterious decline of the Mayans may have been caused by

    Read More

  • Mayan Society During The Dark Ages

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    The European and Mayan civilizations had inverse experiences during the Classical era, but they were similar in some aspects. While the Mayans were basking in their glorious success as a civilization, the Europeans stood in their shadow. However, after the Renaissance Era, it was as if the Mayans stood in the shadow of the European revival. These two societies have a definite inverse relationship, in that while one was succeeding, the other was squandering. For example, the forward thinking of the Mayans and their knowledge of arithmetic and science was overshadowed by the revolutionary ideas created by European scientists, the fact that the Mayans had created a complex, and accurate calendar wasn’t nearly as celebrated as a European man who got hit by an apple.

    Read More

  • Essay On Mayan Number System

    868 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Maya was an ancient culture that flourished on the Yucatan Peninsula in Americanism. They inherited this land from the Olmec, another ancient culture, who lived on the peninsula before them. As well as land, the Maya took on other Olmec customs, such as religion, architecture, and hieroglyphic writing. The Maya used these skills and built more complex versions, as well as inventing a few ideas on their own. These “ideas” included Calendars, Number system, trading throughout large regions, and the architecture of great temples and buildings. However, which of these achievements were the most remarkable? I believe that the Mayan number system is the most remarkable achievement. It consists of all the numbers we use today, and a very simple way of showing the place values. I will explain to you why I think this, as well as measure the achievement it three

    Read More

  • The Maya Civilization

    1075 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Maya culture has a long history that started in about 1000 BC. The history of the Maya is divided up into four different time periods: The Middle Preclassic Period, Late Preclassic Period, Classic Period, and Postclassic Period. The Middle Preclassic Period was when the small areas started to become city-like in the way that they started to build larger temples. The Late Preclassic Period was when the cities began to expand with paved roads and massive pyramids. The Classic Period was the time the Maya civilization hit it’s peak. Populations were growing rapidly and the structure of politics was formed. The Postclassic Period was when warfare was on the rise and cities were being abandoned(Coe 2005). This paper will focus on the Classic Period due to the fact that that is the greatest time period in Maya history.

    Read More

  • The History of Mathematics in Africa

    1439 Words  | 3 Pages

    Due to archeological evidence we know that the African people were the first people in the world to use counting to keep track of their things, or time. Around 35,000 BC, in South Africa the earliest known tally stick was made, and was left in Lebombo Cave. 29 notches were cut into the stick. We don't know exactly what they were counting. Some people think they were counting the days from one moon phase to the next, but it could have been something else. Just as well. Now, what we do see is that by 35,000 BC people in South Africa had the idea of keeping records by making marks. “The Lebombo bone is a baboon fibula with a set of 29 notches carved in it. Archeologists believe these marks are evidence of a primitive calendar, measuring either the lunar or the menstrual calendar. This artifact is incredibly important for unders...

    Read More

  • The History of the Number Zero

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the Roman civilization there was no symbol for zero. Romans used the word “nulla” for an empty space. The word nulla meant “nothing”; what our common day zero means. Romans had a very unorganized number system. It was full of flaws. With no use of zero, there was absolutely no way for counting above several thousand units. When the Roman Empire fell in 300 A.D., the introduction and adaptation of Arabic numerals, today's decimal numbers, took place. Thus, the invention of zero, nothing, was a huge leap forward in Roman history.

    Read More

More about Mayan Number System Research Paper

Open Document