[Aztlan] 13 Baktun Date

[vgray (gotsky)]

It is my honest opinion the Mayans created one of the most remarkable 
calendar's the world has ever seen, but this was nevertheless at the end of 
the day just a calendar. The cycle ends at the termination of the current 
13-baktun cycle, and I must believe this also simply heralds the start of 
the next 13-baktun-cycle.

As much as the calendar was used for other purposes, this was primarily 
limited to the short term tzolkin calendar, while the protracted 
13-baktun-cycle itself is rooted in astronomy and calendric structures of 
various kinds, and it is unlikely its primary purpose related to auguries.

In as much as a means exists for establishing the cycle's absolute alignment 
using trivial calendric arithmetic, terminating at a winter solstice event 
far into the distant future, more than ever it seems likely the calendar's 
end-date was not associated with the end of the world. A most auspicious 
event no doubt but not the end of the world.

The years surrounding the Dec 21, 2012 ending of the 13-baktun-cycle stands 
as a witness of a Milky Way heliacal rising, but whether the epi-Olmec and 
proto-Mayans expressly orchestrated such a galactic alignment is not known. 
To be sure, that alignment was established over 3 centuries before the start 
of the Mayan Classic Period, and perhaps as much as 550 years prior. The 
Mayans inherited this calendar and made only minor changes over the course 
of time.

The Mayan calendar I see as the product of rather trivial calendric 
arithmetic, which formed a well grounded and well designed calendric science 
closely associated with astronomical cycles. The Long Count eventually fell 
into disuse 600y before the Spanish Conquistadors arrived, and quite 
possibly the original calendric foundations underpinning this calendar were 
no longer well understood in later years, and so this protracted period fell 
into decline.

Cheers
Clifford Emeric

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jules Siegel" <jules at cafecancun.com>
To: "Aztlan" <aztlan at lists.famsi.org>
Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 8:30 AM
Subject: Re: [Aztlan] 13 Baktun Date


> Sid Hollander wrote:
>
>> So far I have not found the question of 1 or 2 days to be much of an
>> intellectual problem worth the extended effort to argue one way or
>> the other.  I have more interest examining the discussions of those
>> offering much different coefficients and their arguments.
>
> What do we know about how the ancient Maya and their calendar makers
> felt about 13 Baktun? Did they believe it meant the end of the world, or
> simply the end of their calendar.
>
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