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Because of the hype surrounding the "end" of the Mayan calendar (along with the usual cultural relativism and Western guilt) it is nearly impossible to find an objective quantitative assessment of the accuracy and sophistication of Mayan astronomy.

Specifically, how accurate were there "ephemerides" in their time, and extended into the present? Most popular descriptions suggest that we understand enough of their models to apply them to present times, but could we really use them to, say, predict the time of a sunrise or the right ascension of a planet. If so, with what accuracy?

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Your question might receive more attention on History StackExchange. history.stackexchange.com – Raindrop Dec 20 '12 at 0:17
@Raindrop: More attention, but probably not useful attention. – raxacoricofallapatorius Dec 20 '12 at 2:47
@Raindrop: That's the sort of answer I expect I'd get from history.SE — and it's in Comic Sans! – raxacoricofallapatorius Dec 25 '12 at 4:32

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