![]() ![]() ![]() The bar-and-dot counting system that is the base of Maya numerals was in use in Mesoamerica by 1000 BC the Maya adopted it by the Late Preclassic, and added the symbol for zero. The very concept of a vigesimal system probably stemmed from the full set of human digits: the term for “person,” winik, is indistinguishable from that for a unit of “twenty.” Unlike our modern base 10 system, the Maya used a base 20 (vigesimal) system. The earliest inscriptions in an identifiable Maya script date back to 300–200 BC. It was the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system of more than a dozen systems that developed in Mesoamerica. The Maya writing system is one of the outstanding achievements of the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas. Maya inscriptions were most often written in columns two glyphs wide, with each such column read left to right, top to bottom For generations, this confused linguists working to decipher the writing – but when it was recognized, it proved to be the key to understanding written Mayan. ![]() Phonetic glyphs could be combined into a single drawing to create a multi-syllable word. Both are pronounced b’alam and carry the same meaning. ![]()
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