The Ancient Maya were an indigenous people of Mexico and Central America around 2600 BC. The ancient Mayans were a very religious people. The culture became known for its architecture, art, mathematics, and astronomical systems. The ancient Mayans had many different gods and many different rituals and beliefs. All their actions were based on these beliefs and rituals. They believed in human sacrifice. The ancient Maya developed the science of calendar systems, hieroglyphic writing, and astronomy. By "recording the movements of sky deities (sun, moon, planets, and stars), they developed precise calendars that could be used for prophecy," Sharer wrote. This is just one of many things the Mayans did to contribute to the history of astronomy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Another thing the Mayan people discovered was being able to predict planetary systems. These planetary systems include phases of the moon, sun and Venus and even eclipses. They did this by observing cast shadows and tracing horizons to track the complex patterns of the sun, stars and plants. After this, they were able to develop calendars tracking the movements of celestial objects in space and their passages through time. The Mayans believed in many different gods, including Gucumatz and the pantheon. They looked to the sky for answers from their gods. In some Mayan regions, certain ceremonial buildings were located in accordance with the directions indicated by the compass. For example, at the autumn and spring equinoxes, the sun can be made to illuminate the holes of the Mayan observatory. The Mayans believed that the Earth was in the middle of all things. The sun, moons, stars, sun and planets were gods and their movements and different actions were seen as they moved between Earth, the Underworld and other celestial destinations in space. These gods were very involved in human activities and so their movements were monitored very closely. Many events in Mayan life were timed to coincide with particular celestial times: for example, a war might be postponed until the gods (planets) were in place, or a ruler might ascend the throne of a Mayan city-state only when a certain planet was visible in the sky at night. The Mayans knew the planets of the solar system and marked their movements. By far the most important planet to the Mayans was Venus, which they associated with war. Different battles and wars would be staged to coincide with the movements of Venus and warriors and rulers would most likely be sacrificed depending on Venus' position in the sky during the night. The Mayans carefully recorded the movements of Venus and determined that its year (this was relative to the Earth, not the sun because the Mayans believed everything revolved around the Earth) lasted 584 days, which is surprisingly close to 583.92 days determined by modern science. The observatory was a very important part of the Mayan culture, the observatory is an underground chamber with a hole in the ceiling. The sun shines through this underground hole for much of the summer, but is directly elevated on May 15 and July 29: on these few days the sun always shone directly, an illustration of the sun on the ground. These few days were considered very important. those of the Mayan priests. The Mayans had many priests, who were at the.