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Wiki concept · Maya & Mesoamerican calendars

Tzolk’in

Also called Tzolkin · Tzolk'in

A 260-day Maya count combining thirteen numbers with twenty day names; names and living practices vary by language and community.

In this entry

Word origin · etymology

Yucatec Maya calendar name in modern spelling.

Tzolk’in is the Yucatec name used for the 260-day calendar. The apostrophe marks a glottalized consonant; no first coiner is established here.

Smithsonian NMAI: The Calendar System ↗

How we know · epistemology

Historical and living calendar count

The thirteen-number and twenty-name cycles make the day sequence reproducible once an anchor is fixed. A converted date alone does not reproduce the community-specific language, ritual authority or interpretive practice associated with the count.

Smithsonian NMAI: the Maya calendar system ↗

Connected concepts

Browse other concepts in Maya & Mesoamerican calendars →

These links connect subjects and terminology. They do not establish a shared historical origin.

Sources & provenance

Use the citations beside each section to distinguish a calculation convention, a historical teaching and an editorial example.

Find these sources across the wiki →

  1. Smithsonian NMAI: the Maya calendar system ↗