The Mayan system of writing numbers was very simple. The way they wrote out numbers was using bars and dots. Each dot represents a "1" and each bar represents a "5". Using this system, you could write out any number from one to twenty by placinig bars and dots on top of each other. Let's look at the number twelve as an example. It is made up of two bars, each representing five; and two dots, each representing one. Added up, it amounts to a sum of twelve.

We can also add two of these Mayan numerals together very easily by just adding the dots together. When there is a total of five dots, those five dots become one bar, and the remaining dots are placed on top. Look at this example that adds "4" and "2" together. Five of the dots become a bar and the remainder is placed above it. This is now the symbol for "6"

Which one of these is the correct answer? Click on the one you think it is.

In the English counting system, there are ten symbols that are used to create numbers: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, and 0. After we count past 9 we have to start using combinations of these symbols. For example, the number forty-six(46) is represented by a "4" with a "6". The "4" is in the tens place and represents four sets of ten. And the six is in the ones place, representing six sets of one. With this system, we can create any whole number possibe.

The Mayan system was similar, but instead of having only ten symbols, like there are today, there were twenty symbols. So instead of combing two symbols together after reaching nine, they started after reaching nineteen. Because the Mayan system is based on 20 and not 10 like the English system, instead of a tens place, there is a twenties place. Look at the example of the number 46. There are two dots in the twenties place, indicating two sets of twenty. And there is a bar with a dot in the ones place indicating six sets of one. Look at the diagram below to help visualize where these numbers come from.

This base twenty system is still in use today by such tribes as the Hopi and the Inuits. We can also add with these larger numbers almost as easily as the single digit ones. To do so, first add together the bars and dots in the 1s place. If the sum is over twenty, there will be some carrying involved, but we'll talk about that in just a little bit. Next, you sdd the bars and dots in together that are in the 20s place. This gives us the number in Mayan numerals. To translate the number into the kind of numbers that are in popular use today, there is just one trick to remember- Every dot in the 20s place represents one set of 20. And each bar in the 20s place represents one set of one hundred (or 5 sets of 20). Look at this example.

We start with the 1s place. First we add three to six to get nine. Then we move on to the 20s place. We add the twenty to the sixty (3 x 20) add get eighty. So our final answer is eighty-nine. Let's see if you can try one on your own. It's a little bit tricky, but I think you can get it anyway.

First of all, which is the correct answer?

Now, try some more.

Links | Credits | Rabbit Story