Editing Maya calendar (section)

==Long Count==<!-- This section is linked from [[Chiapas]] -->
[[File:East side of stela C, Quirigua.svg|thumb|200px|right|East side of Stela C, Quirigua with the mythical creation date of 13&nbsp;baktuns, 0&nbsp;katuns, 0&nbsp;tuns, 0&nbsp;uinals, 0&nbsp;kins, 4&nbsp;Ahau, 8&nbsp;Cumku – August 11, 3114&nbsp;BC in the [[proleptic Gregorian calendar]] ]]

{{Main|Mesoamerican Long Count calendar}}
Since Calendar Round dates repeat every 18,980 days, approximately 52 solar years, the cycle repeats roughly once each lifetime, so a more refined method of dating was needed if history was to be recorded accurately. To specify dates over periods longer than 52 years, Mesoamericans used the Long Count calendar.

The Maya name for a day was ''kʼin''. Twenty of these kʼins are known as a ''winal'' or ''uinal''. Eighteen winals make one ''tun''. Twenty tuns are known as a ''kʼatun''. Twenty kʼatuns make a ''bʼakʼtun''.

The Long Count calendar identifies a date by counting the number of days from the Mayan creation date 4 Ahaw, 8 Kumkʼu (August 11, 3114 BC in the [[proleptic Gregorian calendar]] or September 6 in the [[Julian calendar]] -3113 astronomical dating). But instead of using a base-10 ([[decimal]]) scheme, the Long Count days were tallied in a modified base-20 scheme. Thus 0.0.0.1.5 is equal to 25 and 0.0.0.2.0 is equal to 40. As the winal unit resets after only counting to 18, the Long Count consistently uses base-20 only if the tun is considered the primary unit of measurement, not the kʼin; with the kʼin and winal units being the number of days in the tun. The Long Count 0.0.1.0.0 represents 360 days, rather than the 400 in a purely base-20 ([[vigesimal]]) count.

There are also four rarely used higher-order cycles: [[piktun]], [[Piktun|kalabtun]], [[Piktun|kʼinchiltun]], and [[Piktun|alautun]].

Since the Long Count dates are unambiguous, the Long Count was particularly well suited to use on monuments. The monumental inscriptions would not only include the 5 digits of the Long Count, but would also include the two tzolkʼin characters followed by the two haabʼ characters.

Misinterpretation of the [[Mesoamerican Long Count calendar]] was the basis for a popular belief that a [[2012 phenomenon|cataclysm would take place on December 21, 2012]]. December 21, 2012 was simply the day that the calendar went to the next [[baktun|bʼakʼtun]], at Long Count 13.0.0.0.0. The date of the start of the next b'ak'tun (Long Count 14.0.0.0.0) is March 26, 2407. The date of the start of the next [[piktun]] (a complete series of 20 bʼakʼtuns), at Long Count 1.0.0.0.0.0, is October 13, 4772.

{|class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;"
|+ '''Table of Long Count units'''
! Long Count <br/> unit !! Long Count <br/> period !! Days !! Approximate <br/> [[Tropical year|Solar Years]]
|-
|1 Kʼin        ||&nbsp;         ||style="text-align:right;"|         1 ||style="text-align:right;"|&nbsp;
|-
|1 Winal       ||20 Kʼin        ||style="text-align:right;"|        20 ||style="text-align:right;"|&nbsp;
|-
|1 Tun         ||18 Winal       ||style="text-align:right;"|       360 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|360/365.2422|0}}}}
|-
|1 Kʼatun      ||20 Tun         ||style="text-align:right;"|     7,200 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|7200/365.2422|0}}}}
|-
|1 Bʼakʼtun    ||20 Kʼatun      ||style="text-align:right;"|   144,000 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|144000/365.2422|0}}}}
|-
|1 Piktun      ||20 Bʼakʼtun    ||style="text-align:right;"| 2,880,000 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|2880000/365.2422|0}}}}
|-
|1 Kalabtun    ||20 Piktun      ||style="text-align:right;"|57,600,000 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|57600000/365.2422|0}}}}
|-
|1 Kʼinchiltun ||20 Kalabtun    ||style="text-align:right;"|1,152,000,000 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|1152000000/365.2422|0}}}}
|-
|1 Alautun     ||20 Kʼinchiltun ||style="text-align:right;"|23,040,000,000 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|23040000000/365.2422|0}}}}
|-
|1 Hablatun
|20 Alautun
|460,800,000,000
|1,261,628,585
|}