In the Mesoamerican calendars, Calendar Round dates are composed by interlacing the dates of the Tzolkin 260 day period (eg the Tzolkin) with that of the 365 day period (known in the Maya language as the Haab). In all, there are 18980 unique dates which arises as a consequence of this interlacing. A Calendar Round cycle thus approximates to around 52 solar years.
A typical Calendar Round date such as 8 Cauac 13 Zip shows the day 8 Cauac of the Tzolkin cycle with 13 Zip month date of the Haab.
Although the Mesoamerican calendar did not originate with the Maya, their subsequent extensions and refinements to it were the most sophisticated.
A different form of calendar was used to track longer periods of time, and for the inscription of calendar dates (i.e., identifying when one event occurred in relation to others).
Since CalendarRound dates can only distinguish within 18980 days, equivalent to around 52 solar years, the cycle repeats roughly once each lifetime, and thus, a much more refined method of dating was needed if their history was to be recorded accurately.
The Maya calendar is a system of complex and highly developed calendars created by the Maya Civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.
This series of calendars, includes a sacred 260-day calendar, called the Tzolkin or Tzolk'in, a 365-day calendar called the Haab, and a 52-Haab cycle called the CalendarRound, which synchronised the Tzolkin and Haab cycles.
The Maya Long Count Calendar is a subset of the Maya calendar used by the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization.
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