Perhaps inspired by the repeating patterns of the natural world, these cultures framed time itself as a grand cycle – a ‘cosmic odometer’27 – that ticked over once every 1,872,000 days (5,125 years), resetting the universe in the process. This calendar has fascinated Western observers, especially as the most recent cycle was estimated to have started on 11 August 3114 BC and ended on 21 December 2012.28 The flurry of excitement, paranoia, and opportunistic doomsaying that preceded this date was not echoed in contemporary Mayan communities, however. The ancient Maya were never particularly
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