Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Maya Counting System
The Maya counting system's most important use - and the one you will encounter during
your travels - was in writing dates. It's an elegantly simple system: dots are used to count
from one to four; a horizontal bar signifies five; a bar with one dot above it is six, a bar
with two dots is seven, and so forth. Two bars signifies 10, three bars 15. Nineteen, the
highest common number, is three bars stacked up and topped by four dots.
To signify larger numbers the Maya stack numbers from zero to 19 on top of each other.
Thus the lowest number in the stack shows values from one to 19, the next position up sig-
nifies 20 times its face value, the third position up signifies 20 times 20 times its face
value. The three positions together can signify numbers up to 7999. By adding more posi-
tions one can count as high as needed. Zero is represented by a stylized picture of a shell or
some other object.
The Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerica Studies website (
www.famsi.org
) is incredibly de-
tailed, with information ranging from current and past research to studies on writing, educational re-
sources, linguistic maps and more.
