The Mayans were famous for their astronomical beliefs and their strong reliance on the sky. The Mayans originated in Mesoamerica, located south of Mexico, and extended further into Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and many countries in South America. They were great astronomers, as they made extensive use of the movement of the Sun, Moon and stars. With this, it is easy to assume that the Mayans were very intelligent since they were able to interpret these ideas without using telescopes or compasses. Instead, they used a fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as architectures, mathematics, and naked sight. Interestingly, today we use their interpretations to calculate the time and days of the year. The Mayans developed calendars based on the chronology of constellations and careful observations of the sun, moon and planets. The most popular calendar known as the Tzolkin had 260 days. This calendar was combined with a year of 365 days known as Haab'. These two calendars met every 52 years, making it possible to predict rains, droughts and epidemics. The planet Venus was also a very important part of Mayan cosmology. The Mayans kept detailed records of Venus' position throughout the year, as it was associated with warfare. Wars were organized based on the position of the Moon, and warriors and leaders were sacrificed during the darkness of night. By recording these details, they believed that a year had approximately 584 days, compared to the sun. The Mayans honored many gods, as many elements of the sky were important to Mayan astronomy and, ultimately, to their lives. First, the Sun God was Kinich Ahau, one of the most powerful gods. They followed ...... middle of paper ...... the functions of the universe, the strict structure of life and architecture as well as religious beliefs are remarkable. The Mayans are undoubtedly a wonderful group of people. The fact that we are following their discoveries today shows how intelligent they were. It's difficult to extract details from an illustration with the naked eye, but somehow their ability to make accurate projections of celestial events without modern technology is astonishing. I'm not sure that without the discoveries of the Mayans, scientists today would be able to discover and study as much information.Works CitedAveni, Anthony. “The Power of the Sky: Ancient Mayan Astronomy and the Cult of Venus.” Stairs to the stars: observing the sky in three great ancient cultures. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997. 93-133. http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/ancientlatinamerica/p/Ancient-Maya-Astronomy.htm