c. 1300–1521 CE (surviving manuscript) / Americas
A Maya codex tabulates Venus and eclipse cycles
The Dresden Maya Codex arranges calendrical, Venus and eclipse-related calculations in tables, preserving knowledge older than the surviving manuscript.
The story
SLUB dates this bark-paper screenfold from Yucatán to about 1300–1521. Astronomical tables coexist with ritual and divination. The Venus table uses an approximately 584-day synodic cycle, but should not be equated with modern planetary mechanics. Its traditions predate this copy; authorship and exact production site remain uncertain.
Connections and context
Detailed astronomical calculation was not confined to Eurasia. Comparing traditions requires attention to records and purposes, not only resemblance to modern science.
Dates and precision
c. 1300–1521 CE (surviving manuscript) Ongoing process
The dates describe a span of activity; the timeline uses its starting point.
Representative map location
Yucatán Peninsula (representative area)
The production area is only broadly known; this is neither an identified writing site nor its present repository in Dresden.
Representative coordinates · 20.7°, -89°
A marker identifies one representative place, such as a manuscript collection, laboratory or observing site. It does not mean the work happened only there, or assign a shared discovery to one country.
Bibliography
- SLUB Dresden | Dresden Maya Codex and content guide
- SLUB Dresden | The Dresden Maya Codex: Content
References are listed as plain bibliography titles. They support particular facts or context; a reference does not certify every interpretation in a story.