Mesoamerican Long Count calendar 20, 2012 (Gregorian Calendar), followed by the start of the 14th b'ak'tun, 13.0.0.0.0, on December 21, 2012. There are only two references to the current creation's 13th b'ak'tun in the fragmentary Mayan corpus: Tortuguero Monument 6, part of a ruler's inscription and the recently discovered La Corona Hieroglyphic Stairway 2, Block V. Maya inscriptions occasionally reference future predicted events or commemorations that would occur on dates that lie beyond 2012 (that is, beyond the completion of the 13th "b'ak'tun" of the current era). Most of these are in the form of "distance dates" where some Long Count date is given,
Mesoamerican calendars Mesoamerican calendars Mesoamerican calendars are the calendrical systems devised and used by the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica. Besides keeping time, Mesoamerican calendars were also used in religious observances and social rituals, such as for divination. The existence of Mesoamerican calendars is known as early as ca. 500 BCE, with the essentials already appearing fully defined and functional. These calendars are still used today in the Guatemalan highlands, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico. Among the various calendar systems in use, two were particularly central and widespread across Mesoamerica. Common to all recorded Mesoamerican cultures, and the most important, was the 260-day