Mesoamerican Long Count calendar and Maya zero
Calendario de cuenta larga y cero maya
- Date
- 36 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Chiapa de Corzo (Chiapas) and Tres Zapotes (Veracruz), Mexico
- Credited to
- Epi-Olmecs / Preclassic Maya
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A modified vigesimal count of days from an origin date (13 August 3114 BCE) with positional notation and a sign for zero, combined with the 260- and 365-day cycles. The most precise absolute chronological system of pre-Columbian America.
Stela 2 at Chiapa de Corzo (36 BCE) and Stela C at Tres Zapotes (32 BCE) carry the earliest dates; whether the invention is Olmec, Epi-Olmec or Maya is debated.
What it led to
- Dynastic history dated to the day on stelae at Tikal, Copán and Palenque
- Predictive astronomy of Venus and eclipses (the Dresden Codex)
- Legitimation of kings through genealogies and founding dates
- A positional zero independent of the Eurasian one
Built on
- Maize domesticationc. 6700 BCE
- E-Group astronomical complexesc. 950 BCE
- 260-day ritual calendarc. 600 BCE
- Maya hieroglyphic scriptc. 300 BCE
- Vigesimal dot-and-bar numeration
- Olmec astronomical observation