Katun (Maya calendar)

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A katun or k'atun-cycle is a unit of time in the Maya calendar equal to 20 tuns or 7,200 days. It is the 2nd digit on the normal Maya long count date. For example, in the Maya Long Count date 12.19.13.15.12 (December 5, 2006), the number 19 is the katun.

The end of the katun was marked by numerous ceremonies and at Tikal the construction of large twin pyramid complexes to host them.[1] The katun was also used to reckon the age of rulers. Those who lived to see four (or five) katuns would take the title 4-(or 5-)katun lord.[2] In the Postclassic period when the full Long Count was no longer in use, the Maya continued to keep a reckoning of katuns (differentiating them by the Calendar Round date on which they began). Each katun had its own set of prophecies and associations.[3]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Martin and Grube (2000, p.51).
  2. ^ Coe (1992, p.180).
  3. ^ Schele and Freidel (1990, p.400).

[edit] References

Coe, Michael D. (1992). Breaking the Maya Code. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05061-9. OCLC 26605966. 
Martin, Simon; and Nikolai Grube (2000). Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. London; New York: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05103-8. OCLC 47358325. 
Schele, Linda; and David Freidel (1990). A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya. New York: William Morrow. ISBN 0-688-07456-1. OCLC 21295769. 
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