Scientists Unlock Secret of Ancient Maya Eclipse Predictions
▼ Summary
– The Maya placed great importance on astronomical events like eclipses and maintained accurate calendars for celestial predictions.
– The Dresden Codex, one of only four surviving Maya books, contains eclipse tables and dates back to the 11th or 12th century near Chichen Itza.
– Researchers determined that the eclipse table in the Dresden Codex was adapted from earlier lunar month tables, not created exclusively for eclipse prediction.
– The Maya used a system of three primary calendars: the Long Count, the Tzolk’in, and the Haab’, to track time and events.
– The eclipse table in the Dresden Codex is highly accurate, covering solar and most lunar eclipses from the 8th to the 18th century.
For centuries, the advanced astronomical knowledge of the ancient Maya civilization has fascinated researchers, particularly their ability to predict solar and lunar eclipses with remarkable precision. Eclipses held profound cultural and religious significance for the Maya, who developed sophisticated calendar systems to track celestial cycles. A recent study published in Science Advances provides new insights into how the famous Dresden Codex, one of only four surviving Maya books, was used for eclipse prediction. The research reveals that the Maya did not create a unique table solely for eclipses but ingeniously repurposed existing lunar month tables, adapting them for long-term astronomical forecasting.
The Maya employed a complex system of interlocking calendars to organize time and celestial events. These included the Long Count, a continuous tally of days; the Tzolk’in, a 260-day sacred calendar; and the Haab’, a 365-day solar year. While earlier scholars marveled at how the Maya perceived dramatic events like eclipses, our comprehension of their full astronomical expertise remains incomplete. This gap in knowledge stems largely from the systematic destruction of Maya literature. During the Spanish conquest, countless codices were burned by conquistadors and missionaries, leaving only four known examples: the Dresden, Madrid, Paris, and Grolier Codices.
The Dresden Codex, believed to originate from the 11th or 12th century near Chichen Itza, is a particularly vital artifact. This 12-foot-long document is designed in an accordion fold format, allowing it to be compactly stored yet fully expanded for study. After its decipherment in the early 1900s, scholars recognized it as a comprehensive record containing local historical accounts alongside detailed astronomical data, including tables tracking the cycles of the Moon and the planet Venus.
In their groundbreaking analysis, researchers John Justeson from the University at Albany and Justin Lowry from SUNY-Plattsburgh concentrated on pages 51 and 58 of the Dresden Codex. These pages house an extensive eclipse table that catalogues virtually all solar eclipses and the majority of lunar eclipses visible from the Maya region. This table proved astonishingly accurate, capable of predicting eclipses from its 8th-century starting point all the way through the 18th century. The scholars identified the mathematical mechanism the Maya used to maintain this accuracy over such an extended duration. While the Madrid Codex also includes an eclipse almanac, its primary focus lies in correlating eclipses with agricultural rhythms, contrasting with the Dresden Codex’s emphasis on pure astronomical prediction.
(Source: Ars Technica)