{"id":62574,"date":"2026-07-13T23:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T23:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/?p=2578746"},"modified":"2026-07-13T23:01:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T23:01:00","slug":"maya-mathematicians-name-decoded-alongside-astronomical-formula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/2026\/07\/13\/maya-mathematicians-name-decoded-alongside-astronomical-formula\/","title":{"rendered":"Maya mathematician\u2019s name decoded alongside astronomical formula"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1350\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305097838.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2578937\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305097838.jpg 1350w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305097838.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305097838.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305097838.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305097838.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305097838.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305097838.jpg?resize=900,600 900w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305097838.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305097838.jpg?resize=196,131 196w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305097838.jpg?resize=301,201 301w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305097838.jpg?resize=415,277 415w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305097838.jpg?resize=602,401 602w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305097838.jpg?resize=830,553 830w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305097838.jpg?resize=105,70 105w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305097838.jpg?resize=210,140 210w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1350px) 100vw, 1350px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><div class=\"wp-image__caption--icon\"><svg width=\"15\" height=\"15\" viewbox=\"0 0 15 15\"><use href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/themes\/newscientist\/images\/icon-circle-chevron.svg#icon-circle-chevron\"><\/use><\/svg><\/div><div class=\"wp-image__caption--text\">The Maya solar calendar is made up of 19 months<\/div><div class=\"wp-image__caption--credit\">zimmytws\/Getty Images<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An ancient Maya astronomer-mathematician has been identified for the first time along with his complex calculations made around 1200 years ago, predicting the orbital cycles of Mars and Venus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is the first direct mention of an ancestral Maya astronomer-mathematician by personal name,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/anthropology.mit.edu\/people\/lecturers\/franco-rossi\">Franco Rossi<\/a> at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t<div class=\"read-more__standard wp-block-newscientist-read-more\">\n\t\t<a class=\"read-more__standard--wrapper no-animation\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2498245-were-finally-reading-the-secrets-of-herculaneums-lost-library\/\">\n\t\t\t<strong>Read more<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<p>We\u2019re finally reading the secrets of Herculaneum\u2019s lost library<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is also the oldest recorded name of an astronomer-mathematician ever known from anywhere in the Americas, he says.<\/p>\n<div class=\"advert-wrapper advert__mid-article\">\n\t<div class=\"advert\">\n\t\t<div class=\"advert__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"advert__copy\">\n\t\t\t\t\tAdvertisement\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"advert__slot\" id=\"mid-article-slot\">\n\t\t\t\t<script>\n\t\t\t\t\tif( window?.adverts?.addToArray ) {\n\t\t\t\t\t\twindow.adverts.addToArray( {\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"pos\": \"mid-article-slot\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t} );\n\t\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Maya civilisation flourished in Central America between roughly 2000 BC and AD 1697. They had advanced knowledge of mathematics and astronomy, but much of it was lost after the mass burning of their books by Spanish missionaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since 2010, excavations at the site of Xultun, Guatemala, have revealed astronomical and mathematical inscriptions inside a small masonry building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-newscientist-newsletter-promotion\">\n\t<div class=\"newsletter-promotion__content\">\n\t\t<p class=\"newsletter-promotion__tagline\">Subscriber-only newsletter<\/p>\n\t\t<h4 class=\"newsletter-promotion__title\">\n\t\t\tSign up to Our Human Story\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t<p class=\"newsletter-promotion__excerpt\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t<div class=\"newsletter-promotion__actions\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"button button--secondary button--has-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/sign-up\/our-human-story\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<span>Sign up to newsletter<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<svg width=\"18\" height=\"18\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" style=\"--fill-color: #000\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<use href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/themes\/newscientist\/images\/icon-arrow-right.svg#icon-arrow-right\"><\/use>\n\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"newsletter-promotion__background\">\n\t\t<span class=\"newsletter-promotion__gradient\"><\/span>\n\t\t<div class=\"newsletter-promotion__image__wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"image__wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/16102056\/our_human_story_2025_ed_newsletter_landingtiles_2400px2.jpg?w=600&amp;h=450&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-4x3-sm size-4x3-sm wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" sizes=\"(min-width: 432px) 412px, (min-width: 300px) 373px, 100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/16102056\/our_human_story_2025_ed_newsletter_landingtiles_2400px2.jpg?resize=300,225 300w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/16102056\/our_human_story_2025_ed_newsletter_landingtiles_2400px2.jpg?resize=400,300 400w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/16102056\/our_human_story_2025_ed_newsletter_landingtiles_2400px2.jpg?resize=600,450 600w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/16102056\/our_human_story_2025_ed_newsletter_landingtiles_2400px2.jpg?resize=800,600 800w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/16102056\/our_human_story_2025_ed_newsletter_landingtiles_2400px2.jpg?resize=1024,768 1024w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/16102056\/our_human_story_2025_ed_newsletter_landingtiles_2400px2.jpg?resize=1920,1440 1920w\">\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the east and north-east wall of the building are around 50 texts that scientists believe are \u201crough drafts\u201d made by Maya mathematicians as they charted and predicted the cycles of celestial objects relative to Earth and to one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rossi and his colleagues have painstakingly deciphered one of these murals, named Text 19. At the bottom of the mural is the name of Sak Tahn Waax, which translates to White-chested Fox, who is believed the be the author of the formula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1350\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305100328.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2579066\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305100328.jpg 1350w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305100328.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305100328.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305100328.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305100328.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305100328.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305100328.jpg?resize=900,600 900w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305100328.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305100328.jpg?resize=196,131 196w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305100328.jpg?resize=301,201 301w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305100328.jpg?resize=415,277 415w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305100328.jpg?resize=602,401 602w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305100328.jpg?resize=830,553 830w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305100328.jpg?resize=105,70 105w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_305100328.jpg?resize=210,140 210w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1350px) 100vw, 1350px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><div class=\"wp-image__caption--icon\"><svg width=\"15\" height=\"15\" viewbox=\"0 0 15 15\"><use href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/themes\/newscientist\/images\/icon-circle-chevron.svg#icon-circle-chevron\"><\/use><\/svg><\/div><div class=\"wp-image__caption--text\">The mathematical formula inscribed on a wall at the Maya site of Xultun, Guatemala<\/div><div class=\"wp-image__caption--credit\">F.D. Rossi; H. Hurst<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Text 19 consists of 11 hieroglyphs, which had to be scanned, photographed and magnified under different illumination angles, and compared to other, later, astronomical-mathematical writings, before their meaning could be deduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While similar mathematical and astronomical expertise is found across Maya cities, the mention of Sak Tahn Waax, who the researchers believe was probably male, is unique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhether this is an instance of the scribe himself signing his own calculation or attributing the intellectual work to another, we have a formula and the name of its creator, which serves to demonstrate the importance of this kind of intellectual contribution for Classic Maya people,\u201d says Rossi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t<div class=\"read-more__standard wp-block-newscientist-read-more\">\n\t\t<a class=\"read-more__standard--wrapper no-animation\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2524042-a-lost-ancient-script-reveals-how-writing-as-we-know-it-really-began\/\">\n\t\t\t<strong>Read more<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<p>A lost ancient script reveals how writing as we know it really began<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The calendar system on display in Text 19 uses maths in relation to time periods, he says.\u00a0These time periods were drawn from a 260-day calendar, a 365-day solar calendar, a 584-day approximation of Venus\u2019s synodic cycle (when the planet returns to the same position relative to both Earth and the sun) and a 780-day approximation of Mars\u2019s synodic cycle. The total length of the formula is five Venus synodic cycles or 2920 days, and the date that Text 19 most likely refers to is 7 November of AD 781 in the Julian calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Exactly how this formula would have been applied is unknown, says Rossi, as it \u201cisn\u2019t incorporated into any larger body of work\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe think it is meant to concisely and meaningfully show the relationship between these two planets and human counts of time in ways that could then be applied to political ceremony, predictive astronomy and understandings of seasonality,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Such meticulous mathematical legwork would have been critical to structuring life in a world before computers, smartphones and weather apps, says Rossi.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"journal-reference__wrapper wp-block-newscientist-read-more\">\n\t<strong>Journal Reference:<\/strong>\n\t<p>\n\t\t<em>Antiquity<\/em>\n\t\t<a class=\"journal-reference__link no-animation\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.15184\/aqy.2026.10378\">\n\t\t\tDOI: 10.15184\/aqy.2026.10378\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hieroglyphs on the wall of a Maya building record calculations concerning the orbits of Earth, Mars and Venus, as well as the name of a mathematician who wrote the text around 1200 years ago<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":890,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[940,404,3449,450],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archaeology","category-astronomy","category-humans","category-mathematics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62574"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/890"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62574"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62688,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62574\/revisions\/62688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}