Appendix III: Method for Calculating Tzolkin Dates - John M...

http://edj.net/mc2012/AppIII_Method for Calculating.html

Appendix III: Method for Calculating Tzolkin Dates

With this simple table, one can easily calculate the tzolkin designation for any Julian or
Gregorian date for some 8000 years, 3114 B.C to 4800 A.D.
1) Add up the century year, year and month numbers for the date you wish to convert to the
tzolkin, using tables a, b and c. Then add the day of your birth. *Notes: 1) In table c, the months
marked (B) should be used if your year is a leap year (see The Julian and Gregorian Calendars
in Chapter Two for an explanation). 2) Negative years should be divided in such a way that the last
two figures are positive (e.g., -464 becomes -500 and +36. Table a is consulted for -500 and Table
b is consulted for 36). 3) In Table a, two values are given for 1500, one for the Julian calendar (J)
and one for the Gregorian (G). You now have a number that indicates the number of days elapsed
since August 11th, 3114 B.C. Long Count 0.0.0.0.0. This number is called the Mayan Day
Number, or M.D.N.
2) To find the number coefficient of your tzolkin date, divide your M.D.N. by 13. Multiply the
decimal remainder by 13 to arrive at a whole number remainder. Take this remainder and count
forward beginning with the number 5, using base 13 (13 is followed by 1). For example, if your
remainder was 12: 4 + 12 = 16; 16 - 13 = 3. 3 is the number coefficient of your date. Next, to find
your day-sign, divide that same M.D.N. by 20 and figure the whole number remainder (this can be
easily done since the multiples of 20 are obvious). Take that remainder and count off the
consecutive day-signs, beginning with Imix. Here is a day-sign list:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Imix
Ik
Akbal
Kan
Chicchan

6) Cimi
7) Manik
8) Lamat
9) Muluc
10) Oc

11)
12)
13)
14)
15)

Chuen
Eb
Ben
Ix
Men

16)
17)
18)
19)
20)

Cib
Caban
Eznab
Cauac
Ahau

Together with the number coefficient previously arrived at, this is the universal Sacred
Calendar Day for your date. Considering the potential difficulties in calculating tzolkin
conversions for western dates, this is an extremely simple method.
3) To find the haab date, divide the same M.D.N by 365. Multiply the decimal remainder by 365
to arrive at a whole number remainder. Count of haab days with this number, beginning with 9
Cumhu. Since we are figuring from the base date 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu, and 0 counting was used in
designating the first haab day as 8 Cumhu in the Tikal system, you will need to count the haab
month days from 0 - 19. Consult the haab month-name list in Chapter Two if necessary. Consult
Chapter Four to convert any Tikal haab date to the Quich haab.
4) Long Count dates can also be calculated, using the same M.D.N. arrived at in Step 1. The
process is almost self-explanatory. Divide accordingly:
1st Long Count place value = Baktuns of 144,000 days
2nd Long Count place value = Katuns of 7200 days
3rd Long Count place value = Tuns of 360 days
4th Long Count place value = Uinals of 20 days
5th Long Count place value = Kin (days remaining)

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Example: M.D.N. = 1,803,296 (5 Cib):

1,803,296 = 12 baktuns, 10 katuns, 9 tuns, 2 uinals and 16 kin or days. Thus: 12.10.9.2.16.
In the event that you are converting archeological Long Count dates to Western dates, the
process is reversed. First, add up the place values of your Long Count date to arrive at a M.D.N.
Then, add 584283 to this number to find the Julian Day Number of your date. You will need to
consult some kind of table to discover which Gregorian or Julian date corresponds with that J.D.N.

Converting tzolkin/haab dates to Western dates is a bit more tricky, since any tzolkin/haab
date repeats every 52 haab. You would need to know the general time frame of your date.
Table a: Century Year
_______________________________
Year
number
Year
number
--------------------------------3200
-32025
0 1136775
-3100
4500
+100 1173300
-3000
41025
200 1209825
-2900
77550
300 1246350
-2800
114075
400 1282875
-2700
150600
500 1319400
-2600
187125
600 1355925
-2500
223650
700 1392450
-2400
260175
800 1428975
-2300
296700
900 1465500
-2200
333225
1000 1502025
-2100
369750
1100 1538550
-2000
406275
1200 1575075
-1900
442800
1300 1611600
-1800
479325
1400 1648125
-1700
515850(J)1500 1684650
-1600
552375(G)1500 1684640
-1500
588900
1600 1721165
-1400
625425
1700 1757689
-1300
661950
1800 1794213
-1200
698475
1900 1830737
-1100
735000
2000 1867262
-1000
771525
2100 1903786
-900
808050
2200 1940310
-800
844575
2300 1976834
-700
881100
2400 2013359
-600
917625
2500 2049883
-500
954150
2600 2086407
-400
990675
2700 2122931
-300 1027200
2800 2159456
-200 1063725
2900 2195980
-100 1100250
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-------------------------------Table b: Additional Year

__________________________________________
Year number Year number Year number
-----------------------------------------0
0
34
12418
68
24837
1
365
35
12783
69
25202
2
730
36
13149
70
25567
3
1095
37
13514
71
25932
4
1461
38
13879
72
26298
5
1826
39
14244
73
26663
6
2191
40
14610
74
27028
7
2556
41
14975
75
27393
8
2922
42
15340
76
27759
9
3287
43
15705
77
28124
10
3652
44
16071
78
28489
11
4017
45
16436
79
28854
12
4383
46
16801
80
29220
13
4748
47
17166
81
29585
14
5113
48
17532
82
29950
15
5478
49
17897
83
30315
16
5844
50
18262
84
30681
17
6209
51
18627
85
31046
18
6574
52
18993
86
31411
19
6939
53
19358
87
31776
20
7305
54
19723
88
32142
21
7670
55
20088
89
32507
22
8035
56
20454
90
32872
23
8400
57
20819
91
33237
24
8766
58
21184
92
33603
25
9131
59
21549
93
33968
26
9496
60
21915
94
34333
27
9861
61
22280
95
34698
28
10227
62
22645
96
35064
29
10592
63
23010
97
35429
30
10957
64
23376
98
35794
31
11322
65
23741
99
36159
32
11688
66
24106
33
12053
67
24471
------------------------------------------

Table c: Month
----------------month
number
----------------Jan
0
Jan (B)
-1
Feb
31
Feb (B)
30
Mar
59
Apr
90
May
120
Jun
151
Jul
181
Aug
212
Sep
243
Oct
273
Nov
304
Dec
334
-----------------

Table d. Additional Century Years for 3000 to 4800 A.D., effectively extending the Tzolkin
Calendar to a full 20 baktun cycle:
Table d:
----------------------------------Year
number
Year
number
----------------------------------3000
2232504
4000
2597747
3100
2269028
4100
2634271
3200
2305553
4200
2670795
3300
2342077
4300
2707319
3400
2378601
4400
2743844
3500
2415125
4500
2780368
3600
2451650
4600
2816892
3700
2488174
4700
2853416
3800
2524698
4800
2889941
3900
2561222
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Table e: Century numbers to use if Gregorian dates are used for the years -3200 to 1500
(supplement to Table a).

Year
number
Year
number
----------------------------------------------------------3200
-31999
-800
844583
-3100
4525
-700
881107
-3000
41049
-600
917631
-2900
77573
-500
954155
-2800
114098
-400
990680
-2700
150622
-300
1027204
-2600
187146
-200
1063728
-2500
223670
-100
1100252
-2400
260195
0
1136777
-2300
296719
100
1173301
-2200
333243
200
1209825
-2100
369767
300
1246349
-2000
406292
400
1282874
-1900
442816
500
1319398
-1800
479340
600
1355922
-1700
515864
700
1392446
-1600
552389
800
1428971
-1500
588913
900
1465494
-1400
625437
1000
1502019
-1300
661961
1100
1538543
-1200
698486
1200
1575068
-1100
735010
1300
1611592
-1000
771534
1400
1648116
-900
808058
1500
1684640

------------------------------------------------------------------Note. June 2007. These tables were laboriously collated, figured out, and distilled in 1991, at the
stat lab at the University of Colorado. It was a room with early computers for engineering students
and, although I was not a student, I often snuck in to run my astronomy software. The engineering
library had encyclopedic books with Julian day numbers and Gregorian dates. I realized that tables
could be compiled to allow for a calculation method of tzolkin dates. By 1991, Peter Meyer had
come out with his ingenius Mayan Calendrics computer software that could calculated Maya
calendar dates, and a lot more. But I wanted to have something for my book Tzolkin, which I was
writing at the time, that could be done by hand. Charts on a page that could be consulted. (Tzolkin
was published privately in the summer of 1992 and with Borderland Sciences Research
Foundation in 1994, in an edition of 1000 copies.) The tables above became an appendix in
Tzolkin. I distilled the tables into an even more concise method, so that it would fit on one side of
a half-piece of standard paper. I sent these out in my Four Ahau Press catalog mailings from 1991
up to 1996 or so.
The career of these charts is rather interesting. In 1998 I was contacted by Ian Lungold, who
devised a calculation method that he wanted to install on restaurant placemats. It was a marketing
plan, designed to make money, some of which would be filtered back to Maya communities. He

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sent me a copy and I noted that they used an approach similar to mine in converting Julian day
numbers to the tzolkin calendar, but had collapsed or reduced some of the numbers by common
factors (this was a simplification by reducing the extraneous factors). He said he had reached the
method in a flash of insight, in a vision. Later, Erick Gonzalez told me that Ian had stayed with
him in his house in California in 1996, and was there introduced to my book Tzolkin. He revised
my tables at that time and derived his placemat version. Ian's simplified version of my charts have
spawned many products in the marketplace. Most notably, Carl Calleman used them in his books,
which he admitted in our debate of 2001, and Barbara Clow repeated them in her 2007 book.
Various Maya calendar books and charts can be found in New Age bookstores that adopted Ian's
derivation, which were sold as placemats or wall charts through his Mayan Majix website. These
things take on a life of their own and if you are at the very inception of something, and it passes
through one or more derivations, it is unlikely that your original work in this case, laborious
number crunching by hand late at night in CUs stat lab in 1991 will be credited. It's the way
that an initial lightning strike of inspiration disperses as the thunder rolls through the air and over
the land, being absorbed by all it encounters. By the final rumble the lightning has been forgotten.
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