In the early days of Maya astronomy, the people constructed temples as places of worship and a place to observe the cosmos. They aligned these sacred places with celestial bodies such as the sun, Venus and the moon. These structures helped track the movement of the stars with respect to the temples.
The pyramid of Kukulcán at Chichén Itzá, for example, marks the passage of the equinoxes- the event in which the sun crosses the celestial equator. Famed for a light and shadow effect associated with a serpent and the cycle of the seasons, the pyramid was supposedly a temple of worship and astronomical observation.
The equinoxes marked a time of agricultural change. A change in season meant a change in crop and thus, the equinoxes were vital to predict.
Though very few from before the Spanish Conquest still survive today, documentation such as the Dresden Codex was kept of these ancient observations and helped mold predictions for future astronomical events.
The Codex tracked Venus as it appeared and disappeared from view in recurring patterns. Venus, having a religious and cultural significance, made understanding its recurring appearances necessary to relate celestial events to their beliefs and timekeeping.
Perhaps one of the most famed Maya predictions was a supposed end of times. The end of the Mayan Long Count Calendar, December 21, 2012 was in fact not a doomsday prediction and instead, simply an end of a calendar cycle and beginning of the next. The doomsday, was instead a modern interpretation for the end of the calendar and not a foreseement.
Of these constructed calendars included the Tzolk’in- a 260 day ritual calendar and the Haab’- which is closer to our modern year calendar containing 18 months of 20-day cycles and a separate five-day period which tracked the solar year. The Haab’ and Tzolk’in ran simultaneously, repeating every 365 and 260 days respectively. The combination, denoted as the Calendar Round repeated every 52 solar years. The Long Count recorded dates across much longer spans of time, which is the associated system to the 2012 doomsday.
The Maya used their astronomical and religious observatories to foster life. After repeatedly observing celestial bodies, they’d constructed a series of calendars. The passing of predicted seasons marked a time to switch crop, the appearance of Venus marked spiritual time.
Sources
https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/informational/maya-skies
https://www.miragenews.com/astronomy-in-ancient-cultures-early-star-1031456/
https://santafe.edu/news-center/news/mayan-astronomy-working-group
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