November 11, 2023 John Linden: “The Maya 819-Day Count and Planetary Astronomy.”
Arguably the most enigmatic of the Maya calendar cycles, the 819-day count has challenged modern scholars for decades. Even today it is not completely explained and there are several areas for further research, including its relationship with the synodic orbits of the planets visible to the naked eye. Earlier research has demonstrated a four part color directional scheme for the 819-day count such that each of its calendar stations progress in increments of 819-days in cycles of 4 x 819 days. Although prior research has sought to show planetary connections for the 819-day count, its four part color directional scheme is too short to fit well with the synodic periods of the visible planets. By increasing the calendar length to 20 periods of 819-days a pattern emerges in which the synodic orbits of all the visible planets commensurate with station points in the larger 819-day calendar.
John Linden was born at West Point, NY, a second generation “Army brat” who moved annually until high school- which probably contributed to his extrovert personality. He has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Egypt, Japan, and China developing a respect for foreign cultures and a love of archaeology. He obtained his BA in History from Duke University and an MA in Anthropology from Tulane University. He recently co-authored the paper “The Maya 819-Day Count and Planetary Astronomy” with Victoria Bricker, which was published in Ancient Mesoamerica earlier this year. Previous publications include “Glyph X of the Maya Lunar Series: An eighteen month synodic calendar” in American Antiquity (1986) and “The Deity Head Variants of Glyph C” in the Eighth Palenque Round Table (1993).
The talk was recorded, and is available for members at Meeting Archives.