Mayan Calendar Dbq

The majority of us have always wondered how this time we often talk about became what it is now. Different cultures created calendars to reflect time within their cultures. Whether it is Egyptian, Gregorian or Mayan, they are all similar in the same way that these all made time according to their culture. They all contributed an idea of what our calendar is now. These cultures helped to improve by adding the significant symbol in which they believed in, and what the cultures thought were important. The sun, the moon, and the stars were all sources that Ancient Civilizations used to determine seasons, months and years. They used all these methods because it was the only resources they had at hand to use. “Ice age hunters scratched lines and holes in the ground.” (Source 1) An example from the text how different hunters used different techniques. Most would rely on the moon to tell the time of the year. Since the moon is always out, this was especially very helpful. “It's alignment shows its purposes, such as lunar eclipses, solstices and so on.” (Source 1) The early Egyptians realized that the “Dog Star” rose next to the sun every 365 days. Based on this they devised a 365-day calendar. Our society has adopted this calendar with a leap year every four years. …show more content…
There was a workshop found for scribes and calendar priests more than one thousand years ago. There was many paintings and writing along the walls. “Xultun sprawls over the 16 square miles in Guatemala's Peten Rainforest. (Source 3) Looters robbed and exposed their treasures. Thanks to that it was looters trench that led to the best finds in the history Mayan Archeology. The discoveries were shown in National Geographic. Murals and paintings were 56 square feet in size. One of the much famous found labeled was an “Older Brother Obsidian”. “ This was a calculator, so to speak, for calendar priest or a Maya astronomer to calculate moon ages,” (source