Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

2012: Resetting the Count

Much of the information available about the Maya calendar and the year 2012 is fraught with misconceptions and speculations about doomsday prophecies. Common themes such as catastrophic climate change, cosmic explosions, or lethal solar flares focus on end-of-the-world scenarios and astronomical misinformation. The majority of these predictions are made by non-experts and people who are not Maya. They do not reflect the perspectives or knowledge of Maya people, and lack a scientific foundation. Learn more about these predictions, and whether they have a scientific basis, or are occurrences unique to the year 2012. Hear the voices of the Maya people as they express their thoughts on 2012.

Maya time is cyclical, and the end of the Long Count calendar in December 2012 is just that, the end of a cycle.” José Huchim Herrera, Yucatec Maya, Archaeologist and Architect