Leaves from the Dresden Codex depicting eclipses, multiplication tables and the flood.
In the heart of the Yucatan, more than a thousand years ago, a group of Mayan astronomers, known as “guardians of the days”, followed the movements of the Moon with such precision that they were able to predict solar eclipses centuries in advance. Now, scientists have finally decoded the methods they used.
The Mayan Civilization of Central America was one of the most advanced ancient civilizations, known for its significant achievements in astronomy and mathematics.
Their knowledge included precise calendars and detailed celestial records, recalls. And for centuries, scientists were unable to fully understand the details of the calculations the Mayans used.
In a new one, published last week in the magazine Science Advancesa team of researchers analyzed the , the most famous record of Mayan astronomy that has survived to this day, and shed light on how the Mayans were able to predict future eclipses with remarkable accuracy.
In particular, researchers focused on the eclipse prediction table, which covers 405 lunar months.
Previous studies have failed to fully explain the underlying structure of the table or the mechanism that the Mayans used to keep it updated for centuries. The new study now fills in these missing details.
The investigation contradicts a long-established assumption in the scientific community that the table’s 405-month duration meant that it was created exclusively to predict eclipses.
Instead, the paper’s authors assert that it was first conceived as a lunar calendar to align with the astrological calendar Mayan, 260 days.
In their study, the researchers cataloged 145 solar eclipses visible throughout the world Mayan over eight centuriesand discovered that eclipses separated by 669 lunar months(about 54 years), tended to occur again near the same longitude and time of day. The Mayans were therefore able to recognize these cycles and incorporate them into your forecasts.
The results of the study show that the duration of 405 month cycle (about 11,960 days) aligns with the 260-day calendar (46 x 260 = 11,960) very more closely than aligns with the cycles of solar and lunar eclipses.
According to the study authors, “Mayan astronomers anticipated solar eclipses correlating your occurrences with dates on your calendar 260-day divination.
“The 405-month eclipse table had emerged from a lunar calendar in which the 260-day divinatory calendar harmonized the lunar cycle”, write the researchers in their article.
In other words, the Mayan model for accurately predicting solar eclipses Born directly from your model to follow the moon and harmonize your calendars.
Researchers also solved the mystery of how the Mayans managed to be so accurate in their predictions. Previously, it was thought that when a table ended, a new one began.
But the new study shows that to keep predictions correct for more than 700 years, the Mayans used a system of overlapping tables.
Instead of starting a new table, restart the next table at precise intervals of 223 or 358 months before the previous table ends, to correct small astronomical errors that accumulate over time.
The study thus dismantles a wrong interpretation that has existed for centuries and brings us closer to understanding the true genius of Mayan astronomerswhose fascination with the dark sky turned into one of the most enduring and accurate predictive systems of the ancient world, researchers conclude
