Mayan ritual calendar found: scientists told why the ancients used it

Researchers from the Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the University of Arizona and Colgate University

have found examples of Mesoamerican structures that ancient people used as a 260-day calendar. They were built thousands of years ago along the Gulf Coast.

Scientists used lidar (LIDAR or LiDAR).Light Detection and Ranging “detection and ranging using light”). It is a technology for measuring distances by emitting light (laser) and measuring the time it takes for that reflected light to return to a receiver. Researchers not only figured out the location of ancient structures, but also understood how ancient cultures used these structures.

Photo:  Takeshi Inomata

Previous studies have shown that ancientpeople who lived in Mesoamerica developed and used a 260-day calendar as early as 300 to 200 BC. Previously, archaeologists found written evidence on fragments of plaster paintings.

But following this discovery, the authors of the new study suspected that ancient people had “developed” such a calendar long before the means to record it existed.

According to the study, the calendar allowed the ancientspeople to plan rituals, and coordinate agricultural activities. Some modern Mayan communities still use a 260-day calendar.

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