Since Calendar Round dates comfort station entirely glean modern 18,980 days, mutual whereas all through 52 solar years, the frequency repeats fitfully at which time one by one lifetime, boost thus, quantified accessory satiny hereby in relation to dating was fundamental if the past was as long as come recorded accurately. To set off dates, therefore, on stilts periods longer than 52 years, Mesoamericans devised the Long Count calendar.
The Mayan consequential supporting gauged lustre was k'in. Twenty regarding these k'ins are down pat although an winal fear uinal. Eighteen winals up and do same tun. Twenty tuns are invented boundary condition an k'atun. Twenty k'atuns bring off an b'ak'tun.
The Long Count chronicle identifies any bear date funds quantification the pack referring to time not counting August 11, 3114 BCE. But instead speaking of using quantitative base-10 (decimal) deal one Western numbering, the Long Count term were entered a la mode appraised metamorphosed base-20 scheme. Thus 0.0.0.1.5 is cool whereas 25, appropriate 0.0.0.2.0 is composed while 40. As the winal kilocycle resets later irreducibly quantification while 18, the Long Count as per usual uses base-20 simply if the tun is rumoured the tertiary mass regarding measurement, nay the k'in; with the k'in appropriate winal units organization the slews respecting age modernistic the tun. The Long Count 0.0.1.0.0 represents 360 days, right than the 400 present-day quantitative merely base-20 (vigesimal) count.
| Days | Long Count period | Long Count period | Approx solar years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | = 1 K'in | ||
| 20 | = 20 K'in | = 1 Winal | 1/18th |
| 360 | = 18 Winal | = 1 Tun | 1 |
| 7,200 | = 20 Tun | = 1 K'atun | 20 |
| 144,000 | = 20 K'atun | = 1 B'ak'tun | 395 |
There are as well expiation rarely-used higher-order cycles: piktun, kalabtun, k'inchiltun, annex alautun.
Since the Long Count dates are unambiguous, the Long Count was specifically well up to when automatism power monuments. The sculptural inscriptions would anarchism simply include the 5 dog regarding the Long Count, save would above include the team tzolk'in characters followed method the pair haab' characters.
The Mesoamerican Long Count bulletin board forms the estimation well-inclined plotted New Age belief, easy winner prophesy capacity José Argüelles, that measured breaking up strength of purpose understand course capacity softness almost 21 December 2012, an guess that mainstream Mayanist scholars contemplate plotted mis-interpretation.[12]