New
New
Year 6

The calendars of the Maya

I can explain why calendars were so important to the Maya.

New
New
Year 6

The calendars of the Maya

I can explain why calendars were so important to the Maya.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The Maya believed the sky was where the gods lived; watching it carefully they tracked the movement of celestial bodies.
  2. The Maya had lots of different calendars, some were based on these movements, others on the time it took maize to grow.
  3. The Maya used these calendars to make sure they carried out religious ceremonies at the right times and to measure time.
  4. The Maya used cycles to measure time, so their calendars were circular and relied on great mathematical understanding.
  5. Using these calendars, the Maya recorded the dates of when important things happened, using their hieroglyphic writing.

Keywords

  • Celestial body - a celestial body is an object in space, like a star, planet, moon, or comet

  • Calendar - a calendar is a chart that's used to keep track of days, weeks, months and years

  • Cycle - a cycle is a sequence of events that occur repeatedly and follow the same pattern each time

Common misconception

The Maya had just one calendar.

They actually used several interconnected calendars. The most notable ones are the Tzolk'in (a 260-day ceremonial calendar), the Haab' (a 365-day solar calendar), and the Long Count calendar, which tracked longer periods of time.

Use https://maya.nmai.si.edu/calendar/maya-calendar-converter to convert a date from the Maya calendar to a Gregorian date.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the word to its meaning.
Correct Answer:Maya,indigenous people of Mesoamerica

indigenous people of Mesoamerica

Correct Answer:Mesoamerica,a region encompassing parts of Central America

a region encompassing parts of Central America

Correct Answer:Honduras,a country in Central America

a country in Central America

Q2.
Maya cities typically had a ceremonial centre. What other features were also found in most cities?
Correct answer: ball court
Correct answer: temple-pyramids
car parks
Correct answer: palaces
Q3.
What is a stela?
a form of traditional clothing worn by Maya priests during ceremonies
Correct answer: a standing stone or column typically with carvings, or hieroglyphs
a type of ancient musical instrument used by the Maya
a type of ancient writing tool made from reeds
Q4.
Why did the Maya practice bloodletting?
Correct answer: to speak to the gods
to punish criminals
to donate blood to sick people
Correct answer: to give thanks to the gods
Q5.
The Maya used seeds from the plant to make hot chocolate.
Correct Answer: cacao, Cacao
Q6.
The Maya thought that maize was a sacred crop; it was used to make flat pancakes called ...
Correct Answer: tortillas, tortilla, Tortilla, Tortillas

6 Questions

Q1.
The Maya believed that the gods lived in the sky. That is why they tracked the movements of ...
clouds
birds
Correct answer: celestial bodies
aeroplanes
Q2.
A chart that we use to keep track of days, weeks, months and years is called a ...
Correct Answer: calendar, Calendar
Q3.
A is a sequence of events that occur repeatedly and follow the same pattern each time.
Correct Answer: cycle, Cycle
Q4.
What purpose did calendars NOT have for the Maya?
to plan when to hold special ceremonies
to plan when to plant and harvest maize
Correct answer: to track the migration patterns of birds
to predict the future
to record historical events
Q5.
was essentially the written language of the Maya, made up of symbols that represented sounds, words and concepts.
alphabetics
Correct answer: hieroglyphics
calligraphy
cuneiform
Q6.
Match the Maya calendar to its function.
Correct Answer:Haab,a solar calendar

a solar calendar

Correct Answer:Tzolk'in,a sacred calendar

a sacred calendar

Correct Answer:Long Calendar,a linear calendar

a linear calendar

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