Key learning points

1. The Maya believed the sky was where the gods lived; watching it carefully they tracked the movement of celestial bodies.
2. The Maya had lots of different calendars, some were based on these movements, others on the time it took maize to grow.
3. The Maya used these calendars to make sure they carried out religious ceremonies at the right times and to measure time.
4. The Maya used cycles to measure time, so their calendars were circular and relied on great mathematical understanding.
5. Using these calendars, the Maya recorded the dates of when important things happened, using their hieroglyphic writing.

Keywords

• Celestial body - a celestial body is an object in space, like a star, planet, moon, or comet

• Calendar - a calendar is a chart that's used to keep track of days, weeks, months and years

• Cycle - a cycle is a sequence of events that occur repeatedly and follow the same pattern each time

Common misconception