How accurate the Mayan calender is?

Question

just curious

Answer 1

It was accurate to four decimal places.  This level of accuracy was not realized until the 1960 with "modern" computers.

Answer 2

A lot better than the one we use today

Like an atomic clock carved in stone

Answer 3

Amazingly accurate

Even more accurate than ours.

They were able to relay the exact sun and moon and stars alignment perfectly.

Answer 4

Here's what I know about the Ancient Maya civilization and its calender (including its accuracy). It's very long but I think it will give you all the information you need, and it's quite intersesting...

When it came to mathematics, time and calendars, the Maya were geniuses. Believing that time repeated itself in cycles, they devised two calendars, one ritualistic, which was used for religious celebrations and astrological predictions, and the other a solar calendar. Both calendars were based on the calculation that a year had a little more than 365 days, a more precise system than the Gregorian calendar. Following the movement of the sun, moon and stars with such accuracy, the Maya were able to predict such mystifying phenomena as eclipses and the Spring and Autumn equinoxes.

Some 2,000 years ago, the Maya culture began to emerge in Central America. The peak of this culture - its Classic period - was between 300 and 900. The Maya were a sophisticated people and had skilled astronomers and mathematicians. They developed a writing system, and built spectacular cities, such as Palenque and Tikal, whose ruins still tower over the rainforest today. The Maya traded with the Mesoamericans of central Mexico, worshipped a large group of gods, and performed religious rituals based on their calendar. They survived in the region until the Spaniards arrived in the 1500's.

Rituals...

The Maya conducted special rituals on particular dates on their calendar, and many of these involved the king. Blood-letting, or human and animal sacrifice, were common in the rituals because the Maya believed that sacrificed blood nourished their gods. The victims were often prisoners of war, or orphans.

Glyphs...

The Maya developed a system of writing using signs, called glyphs. Glyphs were used for recording the many dates and festivals of the complex Maya Calendar, which was based on the movement of the sun. Glyphs were also used to write the names and dates of the Mayan rulers. Many of these glyphs were pictorial - they were pictures used to represent ideas. For example, a glyph of a shield and a club together meant 'war.' These Mayan glyphs were written between AD 300 and 1500, and produced thousands of carved stone inscriptions. Many of the Mayan glyphs represent animals and objects, but others represent abstract symbols. Very little Mayan writing was deciphered until the 1960's.

Temples...

Mayan cities always had a ceremonial centre, where the people built stepped pyramids, and placed sacred temples on the top of them. This was a way of getting closer to the gods, who were often connected with the sky. At the same time, it moved the rituals away from the eyes of ordinary people.

Phew. Okay, based on what I've read and studied., I can say the Maya Calendar is very accurate, but it ends in 2012... so who knows what's going to happen. I guess some people might go a little crazy... because that's what happened on the eve of the year 2000 eight years ago and on the 06/06/2006. Nothing will happen, in my opinion. After reviewing the Ancient Mayans, Olmecs, Aztecs, Incas etc, I found that although they were all different people's, they were nearly the same... I say this in the terms that the regions these civilizations inhabited were very close to eachother (all of them were in South America, based in countries such as Mexico and Peru), and that they upheld and practised similar beliefs and ceremonies.  

The Ancient Maya calendar is accurate, however I think this can be based on astronomy... not astrology.

Hope this helps!

-Tim :]