Using it
Type a whole number. The numeral is drawn below, with each place's value beside it, and the output gives the places from the top as dotted digits, such as 1.1.9 for 429. The rows add the Unicode Maya numeral characters, which only show where a font has them.
Swap the boxes to read a numeral: type its places from the top, separated by dots. Set Places to Long Count for the calendar's numbers.
How it works
The Maya counted in twenties. Each digit, from 0 to 19, is built from dots worth 1 and bars worth 5, with a shell for zero: 13 is three dots over two bars. Bigger numbers are stacked, the largest place on top. The bottom place counts ones, the next twenties, then 400s, 8,000s and so on.
So 429 is one dot (one 400) over one dot (one 20) over a bar and four dots (9): 400 + 20 + 9. Without a zero, a positional system can't tell 1.0.9 from 1.9, which is why the shell matters.
The twenty digits
| Value | Written as | Unicode |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | shell | ๐ |
| 1 | 1 dot | ๐ก |
| 2 | 2 dots | ๐ข |
| 3 | 3 dots | ๐ฃ |
| 4 | 4 dots | ๐ค |
| 5 | 1 bar | ๐ฅ |
| 6 | 1 bar + 1 dot | ๐ฆ |
| 7 | 1 bar + 2 dots | ๐ง |
| 8 | 1 bar + 3 dots | ๐จ |
| 9 | 1 bar + 4 dots | ๐ฉ |
| 10 | 2 bars | ๐ช |
| 11 | 2 bars + 1 dot | ๐ซ |
| 12 | 2 bars + 2 dots | ๐ฌ |
| 13 | 2 bars + 3 dots | ๐ญ |
| 14 | 2 bars + 4 dots | ๐ฎ |
| 15 | 3 bars | ๐ฏ |
| 16 | 3 bars + 1 dot | ๐ฐ |
| 17 | 3 bars + 2 dots | ๐ฑ |
| 18 | 3 bars + 3 dots | ๐ฒ |
| 19 | 3 bars + 4 dots | ๐ณ |
The Long Count
Dates on monuments use the same digits with one change: the third place is worth 360, 18 ร 20, instead of 400, so the second place only runs to 17. The places above go on by twenties: 7,200 and 144,000. La Mojarra Stela 1 carries the Long Count 8.5.16.9.7, which is 1,193,947 days; try it with Places set to Long Count.
Questions
How do you write 20 in Mayan numerals?
A dot over a shell: one twenty and no ones.
How do you add Mayan numerals?
Combine the dots and bars in each place. Five dots make a bar, and four bars make a dot in the place above.
Why is the Long Count different?
360 days is close to a year, so the calendar's third place counts roughly years. Every known large Maya number uses this form.
Sources
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