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Tyrone Turner / National Geographic
Boston University archaeologist William Saturno carefully uncovers art and writings left by the Maya some 1,200 years ago. The art and other symbols on the walls may have been records kept by a scribe, Saturno theorizes. Saturno's excavation and documentation of the house were supported by the National Geographic Society.
Archaeologists have found a stunning array of 1,200-year-old Maya paintings in a room that appears to have been a workshop for calendar scribes and priests, with numerical markings on the wall that denote intervals of time well beyond the controversial cycle that runs out this December.
For years, prophets of doom have been saying that we're in for an apocalypse on Dec. 21, 2012, because that marks the end of the Maya "Long Count" calendar, which was based on a cycle of 13 intervals known as "baktuns," each lasting 144,000 days. But the researchers behind the latest find, detailed in the journal Science and an upcoming issue of National Geographic, say the writing on the wall runs counter to that bogus belief.
"It's very clear that the 2012 date, this end of 13 baktuns, while important, was turning the page," David Stuart, an expert on Maya hieroglyphs at the University of Texas at Austin, told reporters today. "Baktun 14 was going to be coming, and Baktun 15 and Baktun 16. ... The Maya calendar is going to keep going, and keep going for billions, trillions, octillions of years into the future."
The current focus of the research project, led by Boston University's William Saturno, is a 6-by-6-foot room situated beneath a mound at the Xultun archaeological site in Guatemala's Peten region. Maxwell Chamberlain, a BU student participating in the excavations there, happened to notice a poorly preserved wall protruding from a trench that was previously dug by looters, with the hints of a painting on the plaster.
Saturno said he didn't think there'd be much to the wall, but "I felt we had a responsibility to find out at the very least how large this room was."
When archaeologists worked their way into the mound, they were amazed to find that it was a richly decorated room from the Classic Maya period, dating back to roughly the year 800. One niche was adorned with the faded picture of a Maya king, wearing a blue-feathered headdress and holding a white scepter. The picture of a scribe holding a stylus, perhaps the son or brother of the king, was painted nearby with the label "Younger Brother Obsidian." Another wall showed a row of three stylized black figures, with one bearing the hieroglyphic name "Older Brother Obsidian."
Tyrone Turner / National Geographic
The painted figure of a man — possibly a scribe who once lived in the house built by the ancient Maya — is illuminated through a doorway to the dwelling, in northeastern Guatemala. The structure represents the first Maya house found to contain artwork on its walls. The research is supported by the National Geographic Society.
Tyrone Turner / National Geographic
Never-before-seen artwork — the first to be found on walls of a Maya house — adorn the dwelling in the ruined city of Xultún. The figure at left is one of three men on the house's west wall who are painted in black and wear identical costumes. One of the black figures is named "Older Brother Obsidian." The figure in the center appears to be a scribe, labeled "Younger Brother Obsidian." A Maya king is portrayed at far right. Heather Hurst rendered the paintings in clearer detail below.
Heather Hurst / National Geographic
A vibrant orange figure, kneeling in front of the king on the ruined house's north wall, is labeled "Younger Brother Obsidian," a curious title seldom seen in Maya text. The man is holding a writing instrument, which may indicate he was a scribe. The painting re-creates the design and colors of the figure in the original Maya mural.
Heather Hurst / National Geographic
Three male figures, seated and painted in black, appear in a painting that re-creates the design and colors of a Mural found on the ruined house's west wall. The men wear only white loincloths and medallions around their necks, plus a headdress bearing another medallion and a single feather. One of the figures is particularly burly and is labeled "Older Brother Obsidian." Another is labeled as a youth.
Heather Hurst / National Geographic
A Maya king, seated and wearing an elaborate headdress of blue feathers, adorns the north wall of the ruined house discovered at the Maya site of Xultun. An attendant, at right, leans out from behind the king's headdress. The painting by artist Heather Hurst re-creates the design and colors of the original Maya artwork at the site.
Rows of numbers and hieroglyphs were painted on yet another wall. In fact, it appeared that the wall had been plastered over repeatedly and covered with new sets of figures. "What these are giving us are time spans," Stuart said. "Not so much dates, but Maya notations of elapsed time."
Stuart said some sets of numbers denoted lunar cycles of 177 or 178 days, along with the sign for a patron god that was associated with each cycle. "This was, we think, a calculator for a Maya priest, an astronomer, to figure out lunar ages," he said.
In a news release, Saturno said this represents the first look at "what may be actual records kept by a scribe, whose job was to be official record keeper of a Maya community."
"It's like an episode of TV's 'Big Bang Theory,' a geek math problem and they're painting it on the wall," Saturno said. "They seem to be using it like a blackboard."
In addition to lunar cycles, the calculations on the wall could relate to the periods of Venus, Mercury and Mars, the researchers reported. Stuart said such calculations could have come into play for predicting eclipses. He imagined that there might be "one or more, maybe two or three of these astronomers or calendar priests working, sitting there on a workbench and writing these notations on the wall."
One array of numbers would be particularly intriguing to doomsday debunkers: lists that appear to denote wide ranges of accumulated time, including a 17-baktun period. "There was a lot more to the Maya calendar than just 13 baktuns," Stuart observed. Seventeen baktuns would stand for about 6,700 years, which is much longer than the 13-baktun cycle of 5,125 years. However, Stuart cautioned that the time notation shouldn't be read as specifying a date that's farther in the future than Dec. 21.
"It may just be that this is a mathematical number that they find interesting, kind of floating in time," he told me. "But it certainly is expressing a capacity of time. If they were calculating something from their time period, around 800 A.D., yeah, this would have gone way beyond 2012. But again, we're not sure exactly what the base of the calculation is."
William Saturno and David Stuart / National Geographic
Four long numbers on the north wall of the ruined house relate to the Maya calendar and computations about the moon, sun and possibly Venus and Mars; the dates may stretch some 7,000 years into the future. These are the first calculations Maya archaeologists have found that seem to tabulate all of these cycles in this way. Although they all involve common multiples of key calendrical and astronomical cycles, the exact significance of these spans of time is not known.
Saturno said archaeologists have been trying to get out the word that the end of the Maya culture's 13-baktun "Long Count" calendar didn't signify the end of the world, but merely a turnover to the next cycle in a potentially infinite series — like going from Dec. 31 to Jan. 1 on a modern calendar, or turning the odometer on a car over from 99999.9 to 00000.0.
"If someone is a hard-core believer that the world is going to end in 2012, no painting is going to convince them otherwise," he said. "The only thing that can convince them otherwise is waiting until Dec. 22, 2012 — which fortunately for all of us isn't that far away."
Saturno and his colleagues plan to be studying the Xultun site long after that time. He said the workshop was apparently part of a residential compound that had been razed over the ages; the workshop was preserved because it was filled in with material rather than smashed down from above. That could suggest that the room was recognized as a special place even when it was abandoned. Research into the room and its purpose is continuing, Saturno said.
In its day, Xultun apparently served as one of the major ceremonial cities for the Classic Maya civilization — and yet it's just barely been explored, in part because the area is so remote.
"We have probably 99.9 percent of Xultun left to explore," Saturno said. "We're going to be working on it probably for many decades to come. ... Four or five years in to the research project, we have yet to determine its actual boundaries — so my estimate may be off. We may have 99.99 percent left to excavate."
More Maya mysteries:
- How the Maya lived
- Maya myth revealed in stucco
- Maya doom teaches climate lesson
- Even the Maya are sick of 2012 hype
- Gallery: Seven archaeological mysteries
In addition to Saturno and Stuart, authors of the Science paper, "Ancient Maya Astronomical Tables from Xultun, Guatemala," include Anthony Aveni and Franco Rossi. The Xultun excavations between 2008 and 2012 were supported by Boston University and the National Geographic Society.
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Leave a Comment:
For sale: Doomsday bunker.
Yikes ! I have been spending all my money partying with Secret Servicemen and South American hookers for the last year,...and NOW you tell me this !!
Guess that means I gotta buy Christmas presents.
Well, the main lesson you learned is: Always pay the asking price.
Oh, goodie! My darling husband promised to take me to Hawaii in 2013!
Guess this means I don't have to stockpile toilet paper anymore.
No more TP forts for me. :(
Looks like they are portraying the African and South American connection.
Hey, it made for a great movie!!:)
I'm still throwing an apocalypse party on the the 21st.
And the surprise is???
Don't give up people. There still is a chance 2012 is it. Lets hope so. We can't afford to have the GOP driving the bus anymore.
This guy is full of @!$%#. He is crafting the found evidence so far to debunk something that has been studied for decades. He said it himself, they have 99.9% more left to explore. How can he make this determination this early?
guessing games, i Like; i (j/c), will come to U, Like a thief by the night better..everybody's time is Limited & or on borrowed time anyway..so do wotcha gotta do in the meantime..U have a hundred years or Less, a mere nanosecond in this existence..
420 - take your delusional self for a walk - The dem's have been driving for some time now.
sooo....you admit that the republicans will win but are corrupt, or what? get your story straight!!!
back to the article, so, what hes saying is just listen to the other hundred archieologists out there?
wooo woo Koch brothers. Instead you support the destroyer of nations and nazi tool George Soros
Shouldn't have spent all my retirement money on vacations, drinks and hoochies. Darn...
The idea of the 13th baktun coming to an end has not been debunked. It is ending. The question is will it be the end of the world as we know it. And the answer is of course. Every moment in time thing s change and everything changes. Even what appears to be static or solid is changing.
Illusions is what it all is. The Mayans were outstanding in tying the Cycles of the Universe to planting cycles used by their society. The calender is so precise there is no LEAP year.
The Myan Calendar does not end! It is cycles. Like a circle has no end point. The 14th baktun has been known about before this guy found these paintings. It means the next step in the evolution of man. and 12-21-2012 marks the day when that starts.
It was not a great movie, I don't know what the hell you're talking about.
They are all Corrupt, Republicans and Democrats?
Of course the Mayans didn't understand that the solar cycle is actually 365.25 days, not 365, (ie they forgot leap year) so actually the end it the 13th baktun was a few months ago.. sorry, world didn't end..
Evolution, eh? That's great news. I've been waiting for something to end media coverage of OWS.
Since leap year came after the Mayans, their doomsday date already happened. Unfortunately, you are all still here.
CRAP! I'm disappointed. I was looking forward to not having to pay my mortgage anymore!
<sad> ;-)
Mayans - so smart they are still among us.
LOLOL, DaveK and Montanaman, you're both wrong.
1) Mayan calendar had the year at 365.2420 days. Actual accepted solar year is 365.2422 days. (For comparison, Gregorian calendar is 365.2425 days) It's not that they 'forgot' leap year, its that their calendar was already accurate enough so it didn't need it.
2) Leap Year actually came about in 1582; the Spanish conquest of the Maya was still taking place. So it didn't come 'after' them. Plus, it was made to correct an error in the Julian Calendar by adding Leap Years and correcting dates. So actually, their doomsday date still is this December. Sorry.
The mayan calander is a hoax. The mayans has a symbol for every day, and reset it for simplistic reasons. It means nothing. The main inferance to doom stems from the belief that maybe the mayans reset their calander, because maybe they knew something we didn't. Yeah, it's called the beginning of a new year.
Of course some sorry moron had to turn this into politics. Not only that, but assert all of human kind going extinct was better than RepubliBloods taking power from DemoCrips...as if either war criminal Party is any better than the other.
Domestic drone surveillance w/o probable cause, assassination os U.S. citizens w/o judicial review, and drug wars..oh my! (Wizard of Oz reference...nevermind.)
Dave you're ignorance is showing. The Mayan calender was perfect.. it didn't revolve in yearly cycles but instead it counted days. If you were to say how old you were you gave the age in how many days since you were born. Everything was exact and accurate. In this system of telling time, leap years meant nothing. BTW - the only reason WE use a leap year is because OUR calender is out of whack and needs a correction every 4 years. I see you fell for the leap-year hoax about the Mayan calendar being out which by the way- is never wrong.
g0ne4n0w
Mayans - so smart they are still among us.
Are you saying that they are not? Because they do still exist you know. Just because they abandoned the Ruins does not mean they vanished. Or were wiped out. At present four to five million Maya live in Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico.
With Obama and his czars in power we will not last till 2013 anyway.
Blood thirsty baboons why would I listen.
"No one knows the number of days," nor"when the end will come". All this talk about the end of the world, no one has mentioned that there are multiple Mayan cultures. As of the 2010 census taken in Guatemala, there are 2 cultures that consist of only 4 and 6 people. Sounds pretty close to the "end" if you ask me!
So much for my kiss our azzes goodbye party....Damn!!
It is a sad statement of how little you bloggers actually know about the culture of the Maya Peoples. The Mayan Calendar cannot be compared to the Gregorian Calendar (approved by the Vatican and how time has been calculated in accordance with the existence of Jesus the Christ.) The age of the Fifth Sun has already passed. It is not about a single defining event which is how the Western World inteprets everything that is not of Western Culture. This is merely the combined arrogance and ignorance of a superficial intepretation. Anyone who has knowledge of the Maya Culture, knows that there never has been any prediction of the end of the world by 12/21/12 or 12/12/12 as some would interpret. No one listens to ancient Wisdom Keepers of ancient cultures who carry the knowledge of the People who have been in existence for over 2000 years. A Mayan Traditional Leader and 13th generation Medicine Man has been preparing for the new cycle of Human Evolution in conjunction with Dine People for the past fifteen years. Use your intelligence and look it up. That's what the internet is for.
Logic says when you set out to make a calendar - you take it out as far as you possibly can, it has nothing to do with; are people still going to be here or not.
Who came up with the link that people and calendars are connected? Well, lets see, who today still practises such ideology and for what purpose... That should tell you that it was mans/womans mind that determined this - not the stars and natural events. The two are separate - natural events don't have an alarm - they have cycles, which have a margin far beyond our ability to pinpoint. At some point in the next day, I'll have to poop - can I determine when that will be, nope.
Without question, some cycle is due to mess with people sooner or later, should we make it that far - but I'm sure people will determine their own fate long before the next cycle comes. We are what we are today because of natural resources - deplete them and you won't have to worry about any calendar.
Hi dumb@!$%#s I have news for you all. Just because the calendar keeps going does NOT mean there wont be an apocalypse. An apocalypse doesnt mean the world is ending either. If you check back in history every end of a full cycle was a catacalismic event. The great flood, the beginning of the ice age, the last huge asteroid. people should really learn their history, all of it, from all over the world. This is the end of a cycle. I would bet dollars to donuts we see something crazy and a lot of people die and the world becomes a good place again. I bet it will happen because thats what history tells us. Every so many thousand years we are decimated and we rebuild from scratch with help from "god" or the "gods". Even the bible most people claim to believe in says so.
It is obvious the original calendar had some pages missing and the archologists found them. No big deal.
Damm it..and I did believe it ends on 12/21/2012 like others..sold everything I had..even divorced my wife to enjoy the last few months..now they tell me its the wrong date! Oh well life goes on I guess.
@ 420.... 4:20 FRIES the mind, not frees it, and if you think the GOP is the end of of all, then you should see what the other nations think of BOTH parties.
Cheers Mate :)
Lies! All fraggin' lies! Dont sell your bunkers, canned goods and beans n rice just yet peeples. This is a hoax cooked up by the governments of the world, and the money changers. They want everyone to breathe easy and not go further ape@!$%# as the date gets closer. :)
Opps , What the Myans really meant was..............
Nice try about George Soros, ObamaMarxist.
Soros was all of 15 years old when the Nazis were defeated in 1945. Soros was 13 when he was selected to work for the Jewish Council, after the Nazis invaded Hungary, to hand out deportation notices, a job children were often selected for.
When Soros made his fortune, he spent millions funding anti-communist groups in the former east bloc.
My wife and I visited one of the popular Mayan ruins several years ago before all the doomsday BS was popular. Our guide, a Mayan himself, told us about the theories that had been concocted about the Mayan calendar predicting the end. He told us that those telling that tale we people who were trying to make money by selling books or just trying to perpetuate fear.
He told us then that it was simply the end of the cycle and the calendar started over when that period ended.
It appears he was right, and now that the end is near (for the fear mongers, publishing industry and survivalist outfitters) on this scheme, a new day is dawning to be exploited by profiteers with different perspectives.
They can say whatever they like, I still believe the world is going to end on December 21!
So, the world goes past 2012. Proof that Obama does'nt get re-elected. HA!
I was curious about how long it would take before someone made a partisan political comment. How will someone connect the ancient Mayans to modern American politics? It only took 12 posts. Some people see validation for their opinions in everything that comes along. Sadly, they seem to consider it insight.
Mr. Boyle writes a great article and you guys have to turn the discussion political? Give the politics a rest. Enough already.
As for the Myans, looks like we have alot to learn about them still. Again, great article.
I CALL BS! The world is totally going to end because of some dummy writing it somewhere!
Dayum, now I'll have to continue paying taxes and my bills.
Wutta-bummer!
Proof that smoking too much reefer can affect the brain. :)
Maybe it was 2013 the unlucky year. Those that believe in superstition knows that 13 is an unlucky number.
I guess they will have to redo the film 2012 as well. I guess since the world is not coming to an end, we all should be asking these producers for a full refund of our tickets.
I am more interested in the second coming of Christ. I have wine prepared - you know - water - for Jesus to perform the magic
Dick Clark died on the same year that we are supposed to end, thus no Rockin New Years Eve. Coincidence? I think not. Well played Mayans.
You just know there are a bunch of dead Mayans laughing their asses off they people actually fell for this.
Wow. I am so relieved.
Sawyer, that's IF you believe this government cover up..
:)
How convenient, just when the world idiots thought that we reached the end of the rope there comes a new discovery about one minute to 12, so to say. Sounds like a bunch of garbage and manufactured stuff to me until proven relevant.
"Dick Clark died on the same year we are suppose to end, thus no Rockin' New Years Eve."
Damn.
Now I am afraid.
Brandon - you don't have to censor your self - we have the option to un-filter comments if we want. Do you have a time line link that shows the end of each cycle and a natural disaster occurred at the same time? I had a great history time line site once - I think I found it while trying to find info to help the step son get his GED.
My money is on self destruction - in which case there might not be any of us to carry on. I have no doubt we can over come natural events.
So if you smoke pot, you can't have an opinion? Chris; check this site any Friday or Saturday night and tell me booze isn't affecting the brains of posters here ;) We glorify booze, brag about the wines we drink, toast out accomplishments and celebrate our anniversaries with it - and not a peep about how destructive it is - we don't need drugs to be dumbed down, in fact drugs will more likely free you from the dumbing down process.
The first time I took acid - it became crystal clear that after the love of family and the need for food and shelter - everything else in our lives is just made up crap.
So many seem to be so worried about whether the day is correct. It is tied to the winter solstice.
The calendar is not a prophecy, it is a calendar. And an amazing one as they knew things regarding astronomy that we are just now starting to understand in this day/age and did it without any sophisticated instrumentation.
It might be interesting to note that this same calendar also predicted a significant event in April, 1519. They knew visitors were coming. Sadly for them, the idea that these visitors did not have their best interests @ heart never occurred to them. They were waiting on the shore with welcoming gifts when Cortez and the first of many Conquistadores landed. It seems that they were right on target with the date, but horrifically mistaken about the intention of the "fair haired men."
History is good, it can give perspective on much.
Oh great! And I already sold everything off, to be ready for the end, this sucks!
Gort, Klattu Barota Nikto.
Is that Klingon?
JQ,
No, It is from the movie 'The Day the Earth Stood Still'! I saw the original movie when it first came out, when I was a little boy... I liked it better then the remake.
Sorry to be the SciFi police but it is: "Klaatu barada nikto"
Which some scholars think means: 'There's hope for earth, if the scientists can be reached.'
I take my Fantasies seriously.... now where did I put my tin hat.... humm, has to be 'round here somewhere ;-)
Gort was the name of the robot....the rest was the command so it did start with Gort.......Loved Michael Rennee
"Klaatu barada nikto"... ("Klaatu... verata... n... Necktie. Nectar. Nickel. Noodle."). Shop Smart. Shop S-Mart!
That's where I remember it from...Army of Darkness. Ash...housewares.
Watch the original for the 50's, the Command is, "Gort, Klaatu, Verada nickto" Gort being the robot, Klaatu the alien, verada nickto, a stand down command.
It was definitely an N word.. necktie.. nectar.. noodle... <cough cough>.. there I said it
Maybe this was the first Science Fiction. It's a post-apocalyptic tale.
Nice avatar BTW, I haven't read 2000AD stuff in forever.
I guess the GOP will be selling newspapers on street corners in 2013 and ALL the Christians will die!
go away you delusional gasbag!
AGREE.............
Nah, the newspapers will ALWAYS be written and sold by the liberals.. Easier to sell their fictions that way.
Yeah, and Faux News will be there to add their "version" of events....
For anyone paying attention this is nothing new, the end of the Long Count was never the end of the world just the end of a cycle. Just as the end of the millennium was not the end of the world (heck most people didn’t even realize that 2000 was the last year of the last millennium and not 1999). But nowadays people will do anything so they can run around screaming that the sky is falling.
The fun thing is that the calender cycles do mark significant changes in social and political realms. The end of one cycle (I can't remember which one) came about with the end of the reign of Yax K'uk Mo's legacy, which was accompanied by massive amounts of violence, looting, and political unrest.
The Long Count calendar began I believe with the era of the "People of the Corn", so it will be ushering in a new era.
If the Mayan calendar does track social and political eras, it's not the end of the world, but I would suspect massive global political reform, or at least a lot of stuff happening in Mexico.
outstanding facts you have stated, realize most people are not very smart and drift through life dumb as rocks. the majority of the population don't even know what thier citizen status is, or what the constitution means. i have become very wealthy seperating fools from thier money.
WOW, Thanks for debunking the debunker. Bloggers like you gets on others' nerves. You come here to knock down exactly what the writer is knocking down. That don't make sense. Or do you just assume that you are the only soul that has heard or even given thought to the fact that the "end is near" was just hog wash? No one and I believe NO ONE can predict the end of times. Anybody with a shred of common sense would understand that. It dont take some 5,000 year old writing on the wall to make an intelligent person know that one can predict the end of time as much as they can predict how long they will live.
But you could do this in just about any time. Make a prediction that "something" is going to happen, and then look for the most newsworthy event you can find, and say that fits the prediction. People have done the same thing with Nostradamus's predictions.
Just who is the fool, when the end comes? Not saying it will happen in 2012, or 2022, but it could happen today for you, wealthy, arrogant, godless Tea Partier Floridian.
So says you.
The world today looks very much like what Jesus described as the Beginning of Sorrows in Matthew 24. You have to understand, that the whole world moans for His Second Coming. This world is nothing to what He had planned originally for us. In a word, this world sucks compared to the Glory that will be revealed.
There will be no more wars, no more greed, no more Tpartiers, no more Neo Nazis, no more apostate (fake) Evangelical Christians saying they are superior because their military is stronger, and they are richer than any other nation.
I think the lesson for today; is be ready for your day, when you meet the Lord. And everyone is going to be held accountable for their own thoughts, and deeds. There is an Almighty God, who rules this Universe, and has made Himself known. And Mike, Jesus said himself, that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter His Kingdom. In other words, the rich T party Corporate Elites can enjoy their ill gotten gains and refusal to pay their equal share of taxes, and continue to wage wars in the name of power and gaining resources, and mistreat the earth, and oppress the weak, but they will not enter His Kingdom, which is forever. And His Kingdom is going to be awesome, forever, and ever!
To God be the Glory Forever!
This article is about an ancient civilization, so don't bring Cristianity into this. And for all you know, Mike is atheist or just believes in another religion, so don't go on and on about how some god from a religion that could have just been made up by a bored child for all we know will forever condemn this man. I really can't stand it when people bring up religion to settle an arguement.
Wow, isnt it great when stupid people try to communicate?
@"mike in fla" + "a. commentator"
yes the comment was arrogant, but to try and argue it with politics (which did not even make sense with what he had said) and then to go off on a psycho-religious rant... to me youre both idiots.
Your not 1 until you have been here for a year
Your teen years stop at 19
Your 20's start at.........well 20
The first millennium started at 0 and ended at 999
The next millennium started at 1000
ya know
0 to 999
1000 to 1999
2000 to 2999
and so on
it's real easy
to easy
"You have to understand, that the whole world moans for His Second Coming"
It's never been a matter of understanding. People understand what youre saying, they just dont believe it.
Its real easy... except there is was no "year 0"
mikeinfla,
Sure Mike, you are very wealthy, yet you are on this blog! You Lie! You Lie!
We've laughed about all this dozens of times around the kitchen table. Duhhh, just like most people pull out the new wall calendar, the Mayans would have a nice big heavy-weight new calendar to roll out.
RE: TexasZ
You realize that 0-999 is only 999, right? 0-1000 makes a millennium, not 0-999.
0-1000 = 1st millennium.
1001-2000 = 2nd millennium.
Yeah, it's easy, real easy, too easy, which makes me wonder why you don't understand it.
WHAT?!?!?!?!? The world is not ending on the 21st? They have proof of this now? Damn, without this proof I would have gone on believing that an ancient tribe in the Yucatan determined that I should spend my life savings before this year ends and live with wild abandon. I think the number of people who actually buy into this @!$%# is actually much smaller than we assume. I know there are many stupid people in this world but despite the evidence I am still hoping that they are a minority.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Habakkuk+1&version=NIV
This ancient prophet of Israel could be describing the state of America today and its war mongering, and Wall Street, and the corporate elite, and government leaders...
Re: TexasZ
Read what people above have said. There was no Year 0. We started at Year 1. That means Year 1000 is the last year of the 1st millennium, 2000 was the last year of the 2nd millennium, etc.
Technically speaking, any given decade doesn't end until the beginning of the next. IE, the 1920s started in 1921 and ended in 1930, etc. The same with centuries. The 1900s (20th century) started with 1901 and ended with 2000.
Re: Mikee-0913787:
You're actually incorrect. 0-1000 = 1001 years, because 0 would count as a year, if it was actually a year. 0-10, for example, is actually 11 numbers. If you don't believe me, count them, starting from 0.
Re: A. Commentator:
That ancient prophet of Israel could have been describing the state of Rome in HIS day with its war mongering, corporate (think: nobility and/or the rich merchant class) elite, and government leaders...
Thank you TexasZ for soundly proving my point and showing george-3973351 just what i was taking about.
There was no year "0" (as others have pointed out) and I defy you to show it to me on an established version of the calender Gregorian calender--good luck because it's not there.
Travis,
Actually, Habaka came centuries before Rome ruled in Jerusalem. It is believed Habaka one of the minor prophets was around c 732-540, while, around 63 B.C. the Romans invaded, violated Temple; Judea becomes a Roman province.
http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/bible/timebce.stm
The point that God is making, is that He is going to judge all nations, and frankly, this nation of America is not looking so Godly, even though they insist that they are far superior to other nations.
Give me a break. America is just the hub for the New World Order that is coming. America is paving the way for the One World Leader to launch the Tribulation.
Bottom line, find your faith in God Almighty. All this New World Order will ever give you is this earth, which is decaying. God promises you life eternal. Trust me, it will make more sense as more of your freedoms and this country's wealth and resources are depleted by the greedy corporations. The very corporations that are going to bow to the antichrist.
Like, wow, ya know, I totally believe that the new baktun thingy will, like, bring a new era of, like, world peace and stuff, and, like, you know, universal consciousness, and if all you haters would totally, like, stop arguing and stuff and you would all just tune in to the cosmic consciousness, you'd be able to raise yourselves to, like, the next level, and all, so...
/ sarcasm off ;)
Finally the Dooms Day believers can now come out of the caves and lead normal lives. This proves that on he 22nd of December, we will still be here.
Yes we will still be here, but will we like the country that is being created by Obama.
The problems this country is facing and the path that led us to this place are so large that Obama's short presidency is almost insignificant to our destination. Unortunately, right wing, zealot, robots like yourself are far too narrow minded to te be able to tell their own butts from a hole in the ground much less anything else.
if you create enough problems they will add up to be one big problem. to say "obamas short presidency is ALMOST insignificant" is a bit narrow minded is it not? you should open your eyes and see the big picture. this country made a mistake and allowed obama into office and that mistake is allowing many other problems to grow. lets hope we dont make the same mistake twice. and maybe "dogma bites" will pull his head out of his hole in the ground and see that our actions today will effect tomorrow.
I think I saw something on TV about a year ago where supposedly Newton had calculated the End of The World to be in 2062. It was on the History Channel I believe, around the time that Brother Harold Camping was predicting the end. So there's still hope if you're young to be around for The End. The only evidence that was shown was a number written in Newton's hand, and it could have been the balance of his checkbook.
"Yes we will still be here, but will we like the country that is being created by
ObamaCongress."There, I fixed it for you.
Actually the Myans were democrats and they are predicting the end of the Republican party.
See jaybyrd I can sound CRAZY too. The truth is both parties are corrupt and the office of the President is more of a lame duck office when the Republicans control Congress with a Dem in the oval office. Nothing gets done. So inaction leads to automatic failure. And that falls directly on the republican congress. Who is doing nothing for the Middle class in America
But hey vote a Morman child molester supporter into the oval office. Since the LDS behind closed doors thinks when you get to Heaven you can have 10 and 12 year old girls as wives (plural) Yeah Mittens Romney for Pres (NOT)
I think most people are just looking forward to using it as an excuse to take the day off.
My calendar ends on 12/31/12, does that mean the world will end. I don't know but I am taking that day off. You know just in case.
digs-3748471
No, people are using Dec 22 as an excuse to be stupid, which is the only thing the public never fails to do
O.K.
So-o-o-o-o, what about the International Dateline???? Will some cultures experience Doomsday before some others???
Just saying where does it begin???? We think we all know when it ends.
As has already been pointed out, it is a cycle, which tend to repeat themselves. Then again, it seems we're doing our level best to try and make the doomsday part come true.
I had such a scare last year on December 31st. I walked up to my wall and found that my calendar was ending. For sure I thought it was the end of the world. Boy was I relieved when my girlfriend pulled out another booklet with the numbers "2012" written across the front. She pinned it up on the wall and showed me that there was a January 1st coming. This allowed me to crawl out of the fetal position and reluctantly face the rest of the night.
I am again terrified though as I have looked at this "2012" booklet and I see that it runs out of pages on December 31st. For sure the world will end then. PREPARE OR BE DOOMED! I'm already gathering provisions like guns, ammunition, and gold because after the earth is completely and utterly destroyed I plan on trading the gold for things necessary for my survival like water and food. I advise you to do the same. The more gold you are able to collect the longer you will be able to survive after the world ceases to exist.
Well, we can still party like it's December 20th.
prepare or be doomed? if its going to be the end of the world, then we all are already doomed! There is nothing one can do, if the world is coming to an end. Not like someone has a master plan to fly a ship to another habitable planet... not going to happen. So, those who are buying bunkers and storing food, water, etc. are just idiots. THE END IS THE END.
very funny but, what do you mean about buyin gold and guns? there has been an increase of purchasing gold and guns because 1. when the economy goes bad the gold prices go up. 2. since obama was elected there has been a fear in the country based on gun control and increased crime that has led people to feel the need to purchase a weapon.
it was not related to 2012, its common sense and youre overthinking things...
Great stuff! You should be a comedian.
jaybyrd-5851362 you forgot to mention that Loons are also buying guns, gold, silver. Due to increased FEAR that the Mexicans are coming the Mexicans are coming and the inevitable Race war the White supremacist's keep mouthing off about. How they are losing the country to them people (insert hated group here) Not saying all white folk just the ones feeding into that insane idea.
Militias preparing for the end days as well. Its all over the news. In allot of states. These folks are just as nuts and could be laughed at if they were not so dangerous to society.
I understood that the end of the Long Count was not merely another calendar date, like counting to 999 and being terrified by 1000. Or 1001. I thought it marked a cycle of the solar system; a completed tour of the zodiac. Precession. So the end of the Long Count (Great Year or Yuga Cycle) is NOT a fear of counting, but fear related to an actual astrological event. Astrological events include sunrise, the full moon, winter, etc. From this point of view, perhaps the completion of the Precession (that's the old term) of the Equinoxes will mark the end (and beginning) of something important. Something real, just as morning and winter are real. There are stories in practically every culture about the end of "worlds". Moo, Atlantis and the 3rd world. Right now, in the observable world, world-wide revolution of the common man is occurring. Is this related? The USA wobbles on the edge of reason and a tumble into fascistic madness. It is just too easy to scoff at everything from the disassociated left brain without referring to the right brain which holds the other half of the key.
Don't rush right out and sell that doomsday vault.
It is also too easy to make a very vague prediction, and use any kind of strife or calamity (which has been going in some form somewhere all the time since the beginning of time) and say that fits the prediction.
we complete a tour of the zodiac once a year... there are 12 signs for each monthly period of Earth's revolution around the sun. That revolution takes us through the imaginary circle of the Zodiac. boy, you people are stupid!
ummm, ummm, the great depresion, was that related to your zodiac in any way? no, then the long count has nothing to do with this...
Alan,
I will reserve judgement on what this site means, until after teams of experts have gone over it for, oh lets say, decades.
I don't for once believe the world will end anytime soon, However, this just sounds too coincidental. And to be sure that the room says what it says, I will wait till more than 1 experts look it over.
Also, Archaeologist should not go looking for finds for the purpose of debunking stupid notions.
Instead Archaeologist should investigate all ruins etc, to add to the knowledge of all People on this world. From the description in the article it sounds like this dude was looking for something to debunk the stupid end of the world bunch.
Nice find, however,
And thats my opinion.
If you rub the ancient wall findings with Chromium laced webbing it allows for the phosphers in the stone to come forth and bring out the color in the ancient ink.
That's pretty cool info, Doc....(Is that why the paint looks so fresh?) For an antiquity...it looks almost new.
wow..12/21/12 is not the end of the world? And the sky is not falling?
Your sarcasm is noted - and I agree with you. Always thought the whole doom-and-gloom thing was over-rated. Like the Y2K "disaster." Sheesh. When will people learn not to believe such hoo-ha?
Oh, my GOODNESS! Now all of my plans for the end of the world lie in tatters. What do the idiots who believed the Mayan end of the world crap think of this news?
I think it sucks, i was ready to go!
I was making my peace with the gods of the underworld for my return to Xibalba. They can't cancel now.
Hey, don't take away my false hopes of dooms day zombie apocalypse, I would rather be crushed on the 22nd of December. Good news is my food lasts for 5 years, I hope I like powdered bacon..
Really?!?!?!?!? You mean I have to pay my bills AFTER ALL??????
Lol!
I guess we'll have to see if Santa makes the rounds this year!!!
Did anyone TRULY believe the world was going to end in 2012? I thought it was entertaining, but factual, not.
OH NO !!!! I sold everthing I have to live large the rest of the year !
The world is not ending this December? Well it's Bush's fault.
umm, it was a politicle joke, based on the fact that President Obama seems to blame bush for everything
That's because Bush and the Congress who helped him are responsible for most of our current problems.
You forgot it was the Democratic controled Congress that passed all those bank loan laws forceing banks to loan money to people who could not afford them, to buy homes. So while Bush was President, Congress started their spending spree in 06, and it only took them 1.5 years to cause all the current problems. Read up on your Constitution. At least now with only 1/3 control the Republicans are doing someting to turn this thing around. We just need the Senate to start doing someting (26 house bills are still waiting to be voted on, no Senate budget, House passed theirs months ago). And get Obama to quite his 4 year campaining job for president. (he never stopped).
Cool stuff...
Wonder how many people killed themselves in the last year thinking the end was coming anyway.....
Or this could be all b\/llsh!t to calm the people of the earth down untill the final days...... hmmmmmm
yeah, right! you must be one of those stupid believers.... because you definitely sound like a doubter of the truth.
Whew, there's a sigh of relief! I was like totally scared.
Funny how Latino gang bangers try to look like these guys.
ok, now, here comes the freakin' racists. Guess Americans just can't have a hate-free blog topic. How does one fit bashing other races into a topic about the Mayan calendar and the end times? if the end times were really happening, noone would be spared. Just to show you how one we really are.
I don't think so... they're not dark anough.
And you look like what Intrepid, PeeWee Herman?
They Mayans didn't use or have leap years. That was added much later. Taking that into account, by their calender we are well into 2013 already.
Guido1973, you have one of the most fascinating points I've read all day.
You are so right. add on the leap days through the time passed since their design of this calendar and it would be well past 2012. If the world were to have ended on 12/21/2012 then, it should have been long gone now.
The Mayans also didn't have a month system that was set up like the current ones. The number of the days in their months (if they even had any, been a long time since I researched the Mayans) did not go 31, 30, 28 or 29, 30,31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31. Taking this into account along with them not having leap years, the December 21, 2012 thing is completely ridiculous.
Actually, this has been debunked. The two calendars actually line up quite well. It's not that the Mayans didn't use or have leap-years, it's that their calendar had no need of it due to its accuracy. The Gregorian calendar was created, remember, to fix a problem in the old Julian calendar, thus adjusting all dates to match the real solar year, with Leap Years added in to keep time where it should be.
Therefore, both calendars line up properly as far as Dec 21, 2012 is concerned.
Crap...now i have to go to work in 2013, thought we might get out of it.