Uaxactun (pronounced Wash-ak-toon) is an ancient ruin of the Maya civilization, located in the Peten department of Guatemala, some 40 km (25 miles) north of Tikal. The name is sometimes spelled as Waxaktun. With recent achievements in the decipherment of the ancient Maya hieroglyphic writing system, it has been determined that the ancient name for this site was something like Siaan K’aan or "Born in Heaven". The name "Uaxactun" was given to the site by its rediscoverer, United States archeologist S ...

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• Uaxactun - External link

Read more here: » Uaxactun: Encyclopedia - Uaxactun

760 - Events. Maya civilization city of Dos Pilas is abandoned. The church of Santa Sophia in Benevento is built (approximate date) In China, Emperor Xuanzong was placed under house arrest by Li Fuguo with the support of Emperor Suzong. 760 - Births. Theodulf, bishop of Orléans (approximate date) (d. 821) Category: 760 ...

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• 760 - Events
• 760 - Births

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629 - Events. Jerusalem reconquered by Byzantine Empire from the Persian Empire (September). Emperor Jomei ascends to the throne of Japan Dagobert I becomes king of all of the Frankish territory Maya civilization military outpost of Dos Pilas is founded Battle of Fid Eoin: The king of Dalriada, Connad Cerr, is defeated. 629 - Deaths. Clotaire II, king of the Franks Connad Cerr, king of Dalriada

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• 629 - Events
• 629 - Deaths

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Chichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site in Yucatán, Mexico. The city was built by the Maya civilization. Chichen Itza - Name and orthography. The name is often represented as Chichén Itzá in Spanish and other languages to show that both parts of the name are stressed on their final syllables. In the Yucatec Maya language (still in use in the area, and written with the Roman alphabet since the 16th century) this stress follows the normal rules of the language, and so it is written ...

Including:

• Chichen Itza - Name and orthography
• Chichen Itza - The site
• Chichen Itza - Modern investigations at Chichen Itza
• Chichen Itza - Publications

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Coba (Cobá in the Spanish language) is a large ruined city of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It is located about 90 km east of the Maya site of Chichen Itza, about 40 km west of the Caribbean Sea, and 44 km northwest of the site of Tulum, with which it is connected by a modern road. Coba - The Ancient City. Coba is located around five small lagoons. A series of elevated stone and plaster roads called radiate from the central site to various ...

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• Coba - The Ancient City
• Coba - Modern Explorations of Coba

Read more here: » Coba: Encyclopedia - Coba

Chinkultic is a moderate-size archeological ruin in what is now the state of Chiapas, Mexico, some 56km from the small modern city of Comitán. The Pre-Columbian city was built by the Maya civilization. The city flourished in the Maya Classic Era, from about the 3rd through the 9th century. Most of the sculpture was produced in the last 300 years of this era, with heiroglphic inscriptions dating from 591 to 897. Post-Classic-Era occupation of the site continued until the 13th century, after which it was abandoned. The site has some step-pyramids and some 200 smaller buildings, most in undisturbed ruin. Chinkultic has ...

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Augustus le Plongeon (1825-1908) was a photographer, antiquarian and amateur archaeologist who was made the first attempted excavations and photographic records of the ruins of Chichen Itza, a site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization on the northern Yucatán peninsula, Central America. He wrote a lengthy history of Maya culture, going so far as to propose a theory that Maya had founded Ancient Egypt, a theory which has since been discredited by the scientific community. In general, his theories were considered to be somewhat outlan ...

Including:

• Augustus Le Plongeon - Early life and careers
• Augustus Le Plongeon - Travels in Peru
• Augustus Le Plongeon - Further research and development of theories
• Augustus Le Plongeon - Travels in Yucatán
• Augustus Le Plongeon - Theories and later career
• Augustus Le Plongeon - Published works

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Aktzin (alternate spellings: Aktsin, Aktsini, Aktziní) was the god of rain, thunder and lightning for the Totonac people in ancient Mexico. Variants of this deity were known as Tláloc to the Aztecs and Chaac to the Mayas. The Spanish conquerors led by Hernán Cortés encountered this civilization in 1519 after their initial contact with the Mayas of the Yucatán peninsula. The Totonac territories were located near the Gulf coast in what is today the state of Veracruz. See also Tajín (City of the Thunder God), an archaeological zone with the remains of the Toton

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A tzompantli is a type wooden rack or palisade documented in several Mesoamerican civilizations, which was used for the public display of human skulls, typically those of war captives or other sacrificial victims. Tzompantli - Distribution. Tzompantli - General. It was most commonly erected as a linearly-arranged series of vertical posts connected by a series of horizontal crossbeams. The skulls were pierced or threaded laterally along these horizontal stakes. An alternate arran ...

Including:

• Tzompantli - Distribution
• Tzompantli - General
• Tzompantli - Maya
• Tzompantli - Aztec
• Tzompantli - Association and meaning
• Tzompantli - Etymology

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Zaculeu is a Pre-Columbian archeological site in the highlands of south western Guatemala, a short distance outside of the city of Huehuetenango. Zaculeu was the capital of the Mam kingdom of Maya civilization. Zaculew is the K'iche' translation of the Mam name for the settlement: Zac Tz'otz'. The K'iche' name was applied when K'iche' men conscripted by Alvarado participated in the siege of Zac Tz'otz'. Zaculeu was first occupied in the 5th century, and the buildings from this era show the influence of Teotihuacan. The l ...

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• Zaculeu - External link

Read more here: » Zaculeu: Encyclopedia - Zaculeu

200 - Events. Jewish Eretz Yisraeli scholar Judah ha-Nasi compiles tracts of the Mishnah, beginning the creation of Talmudic law. Chinese warlord Cao Cao defeats Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu. The Classic age of Maya civilization begins. 200 - Births. Diophantus, Greek mathematician Marcus Claudius Tacitus, Roman Emperor Valerian I, Roman Emperor 200 - Deaths. Sun Ce, eld ...

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• 200 - Events
• 200 - Births
• 200 - Deaths

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300 - Events. Romano-Celtic temple-mausoleum complex is constructed in Lullingstone, and also in Anderida (approximate date). Magnetic compass for navigation is invented in China (approximate date). Maya civilization established in what is now Belize. Franks penetrate into northern Belgium (approximate date). Split is built. Peter of Alexandria becomes Patriarch of Alexandria. Wootz steel is produced in India (approximate date). ...

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• 300 - Events
• 300 - Births
• 300 - Deaths

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1441 - Events. June 24 - Eton College founded. Ouagadougou becomes the capital of the Mossi Empire. Two Ethiopians attend an ecclesiastical council at Florence, as part of the negotiations concerning a possible union of Coptic and Roman Catholic Christianity. This is the earliest recorded contact of the Ethiopian Church with Europe. Revolt in Yucatán capital Mayapan; Maya civilization falls into warring city-states. Christopher of Bavaria succeeds Karl Knutsson Borde as ...

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• 1441 - Events
• 1441 - Births
• 1441 - Deaths

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Pyramidology is a term used to refer to various pseudoscientific speculations regarding pyramids, which are alternative and run counter to the theories and evidence of archaeology, history, astronomy, and other fields of rigorous scientific enquiry. Most of these speculations deal in particular with the Egyptian pyramids, especially the Pyramid of Khufu at Giza. However, "pyramidologists" also concern themselves with the monumental structures of pre-Columbian America (such as such as Teotihuacan the Mesoamerican Maya civilization, and the Inca of the South ...

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• Pyramidology - External link

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A Short History of Progress, written by Ronald Wright, describes how four historical civilizations (Easter Island, Sumer, Maya and Rome) self-destructed due to a lack of foresight and to wrong choices. His premise is that each time history repeats itself, the price goes up. In his analysis of the four cases, he notes that two (Easter Island and Sumer) failed due to depletion of natural resources—"their ecologies were unable to regenerate." The other two failed in their heartlands, "where ecological demand was hi ...

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• A Short History of Progress - Reference
• A Short History of Progress - External link

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Since Calendar Round dates can only distinguish within 18980 days, equivalent to around 52 solar years, the cycle repeats roughly once each lifetime, and thus, a much more refined method of dating was needed if their history was to be recorded accurately. The Long Count employs the use of number series, roughly base 20 and is constructed by counting whole number of days alone. The Mayan name for a day was kin; twenty of these kins are known as a uinal; eighteen uinals make one tun; twenty tuns are known as ...

See also:

Maya calendar, Maya calendar - General overview, Maya calendar - Maya concepts of time, Maya calendar - Tzolk'in, Maya calendar - Divination, Maya calendar - Origin of the Tzolkin, Maya calendar - Haab, Maya calendar - Wayeb, Maya calendar - Calendar Round, Maya calendar - Long Count, Maya calendar - Calculating Long Count dates, Maya calendar - Calculating the Tzolkin date portion, Maya calendar - Calculating the Haab date portion, Maya calendar - End of the world?, Maya calendar - Venus cycle

Read more here: » Maya calendar: Encyclopedia II - Maya calendar - Long Count

Another important calendar for the Maya was the Venus cycle. The Maya were excellent astronomers, and could calculate the Venus cycle extremely accurately. There are six pages in the Dresden Codex (one of the Maya codices) devoted to the accurate calculation of the location of Venus. The Maya were able to achieve such accuracy by careful observation over many years. The Venus cycle was especially important because the Maya believed it was associated with war and used it to divine good times for coronations and war. Maya rulers planned for wars to begin when Venus rose. The Maya also possibly tracked other planets’ movements, i ...

See also:

Maya calendar, Maya calendar - General overview, Maya calendar - Maya concepts of time, Maya calendar - Tzolk'in, Maya calendar - Divination, Maya calendar - Origin of the Tzolkin, Maya calendar - Haab, Maya calendar - Wayeb, Maya calendar - Calendar Round, Maya calendar - Long Count, Maya calendar - Calculating Long Count dates, Maya calendar - Calculating the Tzolkin date portion, Maya calendar - Calculating the Haab date portion, Maya calendar - End of the world?, Maya calendar - Venus cycle

Read more here: » Maya calendar: Encyclopedia II - Maya calendar - Venus cycle

Neither the Tzolkin nor the Haab system numbered the years. The combination of a Tzolkin date and a Haab date was enough to identify a date to most people's satisfaction, as such a combination didn't occur again for another 52 years, well above life expectancy. Because the two calendars were based on 260 days and 365 days respectively, the whole cycle would repeat itself every 52 Haab years exactly. This period was known as a Calendar Round. The end of the Calendar Round was a period of unrest and bad luck among the Maya, as they waited in expectation to see if the ...

See also:

Maya calendar, Maya calendar - General overview, Maya calendar - Maya concepts of time, Maya calendar - Tzolk'in, Maya calendar - Divination, Maya calendar - Origin of the Tzolkin, Maya calendar - Haab, Maya calendar - Wayeb, Maya calendar - Calendar Round, Maya calendar - Long Count, Maya calendar - Calculating Long Count dates, Maya calendar - Calculating the Tzolkin date portion, Maya calendar - Calculating the Haab date portion, Maya calendar - End of the world?, Maya calendar - Venus cycle

Read more here: » Maya calendar: Encyclopedia II - Maya calendar - Calendar Round

With the development of the place-notational Long Count calendar (believed to have been inherited from other Mesoamerican cultures), the Maya had an elegant system within which events could be recorded in a linear relationship to one another, and also with respect to the calendar ("linear time") itself. In theory, this system could readily be extended to delineate any length of time desired, by simply adding to the number of higher-order place markers used (and thereby generating an ever-increasing sequence of day-multiples, each day in the ...

See also:

Maya calendar, Maya calendar - General overview, Maya calendar - Maya concepts of time, Maya calendar - Tzolk'in, Maya calendar - Divination, Maya calendar - Origin of the Tzolkin, Maya calendar - Haab, Maya calendar - Wayeb, Maya calendar - Calendar Round, Maya calendar - Long Count, Maya calendar - Calculating Long Count dates, Maya calendar - Calculating the Tzolkin date portion, Maya calendar - Calculating the Haab date portion, Maya calendar - End of the world?, Maya calendar - Venus cycle

Read more here: » Maya calendar: Encyclopedia II - Maya calendar - Maya concepts of time

Mayanists have bestowed the name tzolkin (or tzolk'in, in the revised orthography which is now preferred) on the Maya version of the Mesoamerican 260-day calendar. The word was coined based on the Yucatec language, with an intended meaning of "count of days". The actual names of this calendar as used by the pre-Columbian Maya are not known. The Aztec calendar equivalent was called by them t ...

See also:

Maya calendar, Maya calendar - General overview, Maya calendar - Maya concepts of time, Maya calendar - Tzolk'in, Maya calendar - Divination, Maya calendar - Origin of the Tzolkin, Maya calendar - Haab, Maya calendar - Wayeb, Maya calendar - Calendar Round, Maya calendar - Long Count, Maya calendar - Calculating Long Count dates, Maya calendar - Calculating the Tzolkin date portion, Maya calendar - Calculating the Haab date portion, Maya calendar - End of the world?, Maya calendar - Venus cycle

Read more here: » Maya calendar: Encyclopedia II - Maya calendar - Tzolk'in

The most important of these calendars is one with a period of 260 days. This 260-day calendar was prevalent across all Mesoamerican societies, and is of great antiquity (almost certainly the oldest of the calendars). It is still used in some regions of Oaxaca, and amongst the Maya communities of the Guatemalan highlands. The Maya version is commonly known to scholars as the Tzolkin, or Tzolk'in in the revised orthography of the Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala. The Tzolkin combined with another 365-day calendar (known as ...

See also:

Maya calendar, Maya calendar - General overview, Maya calendar - Maya concepts of time, Maya calendar - Tzolk'in, Maya calendar - Divination, Maya calendar - Origin of the Tzolkin, Maya calendar - Haab, Maya calendar - Wayeb, Maya calendar - Calendar Round, Maya calendar - Long Count, Maya calendar - Calculating Long Count dates, Maya calendar - Calculating the Tzolkin date portion, Maya calendar - Calculating the Haab date portion, Maya calendar - End of the world?, Maya calendar - Venus cycle

Read more here: » Maya calendar: Encyclopedia II - Maya calendar - General overview