The Maya are famous for their complex, intertwined calendric
systems, and now one calendar, the Maya Long Count, is empirically calibrated
to the modern European calendar, according to an international team of
researchers.
"The Long Count calendar fell into disuse before
European contact in the Maya area," said Douglas J. Kennett, professor of
environmental archaeology, Penn State. "Methods of tying the Long Count to
the modern European calendar used known historical and astronomical events, but
when looking at how climate affects the rise and fall of the Maya, I began to
question how accurately the two calendars correlated using those methods."