Where can I find examples of the Mayan number system?

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Where can I find examples of the Mayan number system?

Instead of ten digits like we have today, the Maya used a base number of 20. (Base 20 is vigesimal.) They also used a system of bar and dot as "shorthand" for counting. A dot stood for one and a bar stood for five.

In the following table, you can see how this works:

0.gif (470 bytes) 1.gif (187 bytes) 3.gif (261 bytes) 3.gif (261 bytes) 3.gif (261 bytes)
3.gif (261 bytes) 3.gif (261 bytes) 3.gif (261 bytes) 3.gif (261 bytes) 3.gif (261 bytes)
3.gif (261 bytes) 3.gif (261 bytes) 3.gif (261 bytes) 3.gif (261 bytes) 3.gif (261 bytes)
3.gif (261 bytes) 3.gif (261 bytes) 3.gif (261 bytes) 3.gif (261 bytes) 3.gif (261 bytes)

 

Special thanks to Michielb's Homepage for the Mayan Numeral images and information.

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