Quote:
Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek
They have, but they're all "supposedly" lining up with the center of the Milky Way. According to various New Age reinterpretations and speculation about the Mayans, as well as those looking to make a quick buck, that's going to cause a disaster. We shall see.  |
Fixed it for you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by epchick
I still think the reason the Mayan Calendar ended in 2012 was cause they were lazy! lmao. Or it was one of those where they thought 2012 was a good number, cause shoot that was a loooong time away for them.
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The Mayans weren't aware of the Gregorian Calendar when they developed their own calendars, so they didn't know the year 2012 from Columbus.
FWIW, the Mayans traditionally used two calendars -- the Calendar Round (which is still used by some) and the Long Count Calendar (which hasn't been used in a
long time). The Long Count calendar divided time into a variety of units -- 20 days made a
uinal, 18
uinals made a
tun, 20
tuns made a
k'atun, and 20
k'atuns made up a
b'ak'tun. Counting from the supposed date of creation, we are now in the 13th
b'ak'tun, which will end in December 2012.
It is not at all clear what significance, if any, the Mayans attached to the end of the 13th
b'ak'tun. Only a few old Mayan writings seem to associate it with major change of some sort.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek
Here's a pretty cool history channel documentary about it. It's kinda silly and I don't agree with it, but it's still pretty cool to watch, even though it's just man wanting to be God.
I love the History Channel and this was the same documentary I watched. |
The History Channel can be entertaining, but it's definitely not a source I'd rely on when it comes to something like this. The sensationalism and science fiction angles are going to win out over actual history and scholarship every time, I'm afraid.