The Mayan calendar was a complex system used by the ancient Maya civilization for various purposes such as astronomy, religious rituals, and record-keeping. It consisted of several interconnected cycles of different lengths, with the most important being the Tzolk'in and the Haab'.
The Tzolk'in was a 260-day calendar made up of two smaller cycles: the 20-day week called "Weeks" or "Suns", represented by a dot, and the 13-day month called "Days", represented by a bar. These two cycles aligned approximately every 52 years, creating what the Maya called a Calendar Round.
The Haab' was a 365-day solar calendar divided into 18 months of 20 days each, plus an additional period of 5 days called the "Wayeb" at the end of the year. The Haab' months were named after various activities or aspects of life.
In addition to these calendars, the Maya also used a long-count calendar that recorded the passage of time in relation to a starting point called the "0 Date". This calendar was composed of three parts: the Bak'tun (a period of approximately 394 years), the B'akab'tun (a period of approximately 7,882 years), and the Piktun (a period of approximately 52,000 years).
The Mayan numeral system was one of the most advanced of its time, using just three symbols - dots for 1, bars for 5, and a shell symbol for zero. This allowed them to record dates accurately and make complex calculations for their calendar systems.
In summary, the Mayan calendar was a sophisticated system with various cycles that intertwined with religious, astronomical, and cultural aspects of Maya society.