Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Long ago, the Maya people were great astronomers. They watched the sky and made calendars.
Scientists found writing on a wall at a place called Xultun, in Guatemala. The writing is about 1,200 years old.
The writing gives the name of a Maya astronomer for the first time. His name was Sak Tahn Waax, which means White-Chested Fox.
Sak Tahn Waax made a special math formula. It connects the calendar, the sun, and the planets Venus and Mars.
- astronomer
- A person who studies stars, planets, and space
- calendar
- A system for organizing days, months, and years
- wall writing (inscription)
- Words or symbols carved or painted onto a wall
- formula
- A rule or method written using numbers or symbols
- planet
- A large round object that moves around a star like the sun
- ancient
- Very old, from a long time ago
- civilization
- A large, organized society with cities and culture
- discover
- To find something for the first time
Level 2 — Elementary
The ancient Maya civilization was known for its skilled astronomers, who tracked the movements of the sun, moon, and planets to build detailed calendars.
Researchers studying mathematical wall writings at Xultun, an archaeological site in northern Guatemala, have now identified the name of a Classic Maya astronomer for the first time.
The writings, part of a chamber originally excavated in 2011, are roughly 1,200 years old and name the scholar Sak Tahn Waax, meaning White-Chested Fox.
The text credited to him presents a unique mathematical formula connecting the 260-day ritual calendar, the solar year, and the movements of Venus and Mars, suggesting he was personally recognized for an original astronomical calculation.
- track (movements)
- To follow and record how something moves over time
- archaeological site
- A place where objects or structures from past human activity are studied
- chamber
- An enclosed room, especially inside a larger structure
- excavate
- To carefully dig up and uncover something buried
- scholar
- A person with great knowledge, especially through study
- ritual calendar
- A calendar used for religious or ceremonial purposes
- solar year
- The time it takes Earth to complete one orbit around the sun
- credit (recognition)
- Acknowledgment given to someone for their work or achievement
Level 3 — Intermediate
The Classic Maya civilization is well known for its sophisticated astronomical observation and calendrical systems, but until now no individual astronomer's name had ever been identified in the surviving textual record.
That has changed with new research into mathematical microtexts painted on the walls of a chamber at Xultun, a Maya site in northern Guatemala originally excavated in 2011, which has revealed the name of a scholar credited with an original calculation.
The roughly 1,200-year-old inscriptions name the astronomer Sak Tahn Waax, or White-Chested Fox, identified through a phrase in one of the microtexts meaning 'so says,' followed by his name, a formulation researchers interpret as an attribution of authorship or credit.
The formula itself is unlike any other known Maya mathematical text, weaving together the 260-day ritual day-count, the solar year, and the observed cycles of Venus and Mars into a single set of interlocking relationships, reflecting an unusually sophisticated grasp of how these separate calendrical and astronomical cycles intersect.
- calendrical
- Relating to the systems used to organize and track time
- textual record
- The body of written documents or inscriptions that survive from a period
- microtext
- A very small piece of writing, often densely packed with information
- attribution
- The act of crediting a particular person as the source or author of something
- authorship
- The identity of the person who created a written or intellectual work
- day-count
- A calendrical system that tracks time using a repeating sequence of numbered days
- interlocking
- Fitting together closely, such that each part connects with another
- intersect (conceptually)
- To meet or overlap at a shared point
Level 4 — Advanced
The Classic Maya civilization has long been celebrated for the sophistication of its astronomical observation and calendrical systems, yet until now the surviving textual record had never yielded the identity of a single named individual credited with an astronomical or mathematical achievement.
That gap has been closed by new research into mathematical microtexts painted within a chamber at Xultun, a Maya site in northern Guatemala originally excavated in 2011, which has surfaced the name of a scholar explicitly credited with an original calculation, a landmark in the epigraphic reconstruction of Maya intellectual history.
The roughly 1,200-year-old inscriptions identify the astronomer as Sak Tahn Waax, or White-Chested Fox, his name preceded in the penultimate glyph of the relevant microtext by a phrase epigraphers read as 'so says,' a formulation they interpret as a deliberate attribution of authorship rather than a passing mention.
What renders the formula itself extraordinary is its structural novelty: rather than replicating previously documented Maya calendrical schemes, it interlaces the 260-day ritual day-count, the solar year, and the observed periodicities of Venus and Mars into a set of relationships unique among known Maya texts, evidencing a command of intercalated cyclical astronomy that places its author among history's earliest known named mathematical scientists.
- epigraphic
- Relating to the study and interpretation of ancient inscriptions
- landmark (achievement)
- An event or discovery of major significance
- intellectual history
- The study of ideas and their development over time within a society
- penultimate
- Second to last in a sequence
- glyph
- A carved or painted symbol representing a word, sound, or idea
- structural novelty
- A distinctive, previously unseen form or organization of something
- periodicity
- The quality of occurring at regular intervals
- intercalated
- Inserted or interspersed between existing cycles or elements
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