Interesting Correlation to a 20-year Cycle -- the Katun

I read this article a few weeks ago. It comments on Samuel the Lamanite's prophecies and correlates it to the Mayan calendar.

https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/why-did-samuel-make-such-chronologically-precise-prophecies

I personally do not believe the Nephites used the Mayan Calendar for their main calendar, and the dating of the calendar precedes the Nephites. However, by the time of Samuel I am sure they were aware of it.

It is my opinion that one reason the Lamanites always seemed to be more numerous is that many of them met, traded, and integrated with other cultures in the Americas. It was from these associations that most likely introduced the Lamanites to the Mayan calendaring system, and I think they may have adopted it. From there it eventually would have become known to the Nephites, particularly when there was an extensive period of peace, progress, and free trade between the Nephites and Lamanites.

Here are a few excerpts from the article.

"LDS Mesoamericanist John E. Clark noted, “The major cycle of Maya time was a four-hundred-year period called a baktun.”4 Each baktun was broken down into 20 units called a katun, a 20-year cycle, and the katun was subdivided into units called a hotun, which was a five-year cycle.5 According to John L. Sorenson, “Omens and prophecies … among the Maya were commonly phrased in terms of the beginning or ending of whole calendar units.”"

"In this light, it is significant that both of Samuel the Lamanite’s time-specific prophecies correlate to the specific units of measurement within the Mesoamerican calendrical system.7 As Clark put it, “Samuel the Lamanite warned the Nephites that one baktun ‘shall not pass away before … they [would] be smitten’ (Helaman 13:9).”"

"Another LDS Mesoamericanist, Mark Wright, suggested, “Samuel the Lamanite may have been making a hotun prophecy when he stated that in ‘five years’ signs would be given concerning the birth of Christ (Helaman 14:2).”9 Interestingly, according to Sorenson, “In Yucatan at the time of the Spanish conquest, the ruler or his spokesman … had the duty to prophesy five years in advance what fate the next twenty-year katun would bring.”10 In similar fashion, Samuel the Lamanite prophesied the fate of the next baktun (Helaman 13:5, 9), and apparently did so five years in advance (Helaman 14:2).11"

"Mesoamerican anthropologist Prudence M. Rice explained, “Time is a cultural construct. Its units of measurement, meaning, and so on are unique in terms of legitimizing power and authority.”12 It is therefore highly significant that Samuel the Lamanite’s chronologically precise prophecies each used time periods that were likely important within the broader cultural context of the Nephites. The use of these culturally important time periods likely served to legitimize Samuel’s prophetic authority and credibility."

One of the footnotes also agrees with the idea that the Nephites did not need to actually be using the Mayan Calendar to have been aware of it.