The three main categories of calendars are solar, lunar, and lunisolar/solilunar calendars. There are many distinct types of calendars in use around the world. A solar calendar, as its name suggests, is based on the Sun or, more specifically, the Earth’s rotation around the Sun. While lunisolar or solilunar calendars mix the two and are essentially solar calendars with dates that indicate the moon phase, lunar calendars are based on the rotation of the Moon around Earth and are mostly used for religious purposes.
Let’s examine the most important and popular calendars in the globe, as well as their relevance for the many cultures and populations they represent. We shall start with the Mayans since their measurement of a year is the oldest one still in existence. The Mayans were masters of early astronomy and mathematics.The Aztecs and Toltecs utilized it, and it is said to have been founded in the fifth century BC.
It is a system of three calendars or dating systems: the Haab (civil calendar), which has a duration of 365 days, 18 months of 20 days, plus 5 extra days, and 52 cycles; and the Long Count, which has 20 days. The Tzolkin (divine calendar) has 260 days with good and bad luck. According to legend, a stone tablet found in Tabasco in the 1960s held prophecies of the end of the world on December 21, 2012. It was effectively the conclusion of a cycle in the Mayan calendar that was converted into a Doomsday phobia much like that which everyone was preoccupied with when the year 1999 was coming to an end.
