Mayan books recorded celestial movements
Ancient Mayan codices, folded like screens, preserved intricate astronomical observations, showcasing a civilization's advanced understanding of celestial events without modern tools.
Ancient Maya created folded books, called codices, to meticulously record their astronomical observations and calendrical knowledge. These screen-like books, crafted from fig tree bark paper and painted with vibrant glyphs, contained complex diagrams and tables. Only four pre-Columbian codices survive, dating from the 11th to 13th centuries. The Dresden Codex, for instance, showcases detailed astronomical tables, including predictions for solar and lunar eclipses and the 584-day cycle of Venus. This demonstrates the Maya's profound astronomical expertise, achieved without telescopes, and underpinned their agricultural and ritual life. They even calculated the solar year at 365.2420 days, remarkably close to today's value.