page_title: History of mathematics
section_title: Maya
hierarchical_section_title: History of mathematics / Maya
caption_attribution_description: English: Normal forms of numerals 1 to 19, inclusive, in the inscriptions (see Wikisource usage for further information).
context_page_description: The area of study known as the history of mathematics is primarily an investigation into the origin of discoveries in mathematics and, to a lesser extent, an investigation into the mathematical methods and notation of the past. Before the modern age and the worldwide spread of knowledge, written examples of new mathematical developments have come to light only in a few locales. From 3000 BC the Mesopotamian states of Sumer, Akkad and Assyria, together with Ancient Egypt and Ebla began using arithmetic, algebra and geometry for purposes of taxation, commerce, trade and also in the patterns in nature, the field of astronomy and to record time/formulate calendars.
  The most ancient mathematical texts available are from Mesopotamia and Egypt – Plimpton 322, the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus and the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus. All of these texts mention the so-called Pythagorean triples and so, by inference, the Pythagorean theorem, seems to be the most ancient and widespread mathematical development after basic arithmetic and geometry.
context_section_description: In the Pre-Columbian Americas, the Maya civilization that flourished in Mexico and Central America during the 1st millennium AD developed a unique tradition of mathematics that, due to its geographic isolation, was entirely independent of existing European, Egyptian, and Asian mathematics. Maya numerals utilized a base of 20, the vigesimal system, instead of a base of ten that forms the basis of the decimal system used by most modern cultures. The Mayas used mathematics to create the Maya calendar as well as to predict astronomical phenomena in their native Maya astronomy. While the concept of zero had to be inferred in the mathematics of many contemporary cultures, the Mayas developed a standard symbol for it.
caption: The Maya numerals for numbers 1 through 19, written in the Maya script
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