大多数幸存的前哥伦布时期的玛雅文字来源于玛雅遗址中的石柱和其他石刻，其中许多石柱在西班牙人到达之前已被遗弃。石柱上的碑文主要记录了发生在此处不同统治时期的王朝和战争。另外铭文也揭示了古代玛雅妇女的生活信息。另外，人们还在随葬陶器上找到其余的大部分玛雅象形文字，它们大部分描述的是来世生活。
Mathematics and Astronomy：The concept of zero and pre-telescopic civilization
In common with the other Mesoamerican civilizations， the Maya used a base 20 （vigesimal） and base 5 numbering system. Also， the preclassic Maya and their neighbors had independently developed the concept of zero by 36 BC. Inions show them on occasion working with sums up to the hundreds of millions and dates so large it would take several lines just to represent it.
They produced extremely accurate astronomical observations； their charts of the movements of the moon and planets are equal or superior to those of any other civilization working from naked eye observation.
Uniquely， there is some evidence to suggest the Maya appear to be the only pre-telescopic civilization to demonstrate knowledge of the Orion Nebula as being fuzzy， i.e. not a stellar pin-point. The information which supports this theory comes from a folk tale that deals with the Orion constellation’s area of the sky. Their traditional hearths include in their middle a smudge of glowing fire that corresponds with the Orion Nebula. This is a significant clue to support the idea that the Maya detected a diffuse area of the sky contrary to the pin points of stars before the telescope was invented. Many preclassic sites are oriented with the Pleiades and Eta Draconis.
The Dresden Codex contains the highest concentration of astronomical phenomena observations and calculations of any of the surviving texts. Examination and analysis of this codex reveals that Venus was the most important astronomical object to the Maya， even more important to them than the sun.
数学与天文学：零的概念与准望远镜文明
与其它中美洲文明一样，玛雅人使用了以20为基数（二十进制）和以5为基数的数字体系。此外，公元前36年，前古典时期的玛雅人和他们的邻居们独立开发了零的概念。有碑文显示，玛雅人偶然要处理高达数亿的数字，数据如此庞大，只得用好几条线来表示。
玛雅人推出了非常精确的天文观测，他们绘制的月亮和行星运行的图表不亚于其他用肉眼观测的任何文明成果。
罕见的是，有些证据表明玛雅似乎是唯一拥有准望远镜的文明社会，他们已经展示了猎户座大星云是模糊气体的知识，即恒星没有确定的位置。这个信息支持一个源自民间故事的理论，这个民间故事提及了猎户星座在天空中的面积。在玛雅人的传统壁炉中间位置上有一块烟熏的污迹，那象征着猎户座星云。这是一个重要的线索，支持着这样一个想法，玛雅人在望远镜发明之前就已经发现在天空中与星星相对的地方有一片弥漫的区域。许多古典遗迹都面向着昴宿星团和埃塔天龙星座。
《德累斯顿抄本》包括了任何尚存版本中最高深的天文现象的观测和计算，对这本书的解释和分析表明，对玛雅人来说金星是最重要的天文物体，它甚至比太阳更重要。
The accurate solar year
In common with the other Mesoamerican civilizations， the Maya had measured the length of the solar year to a high degree of accuracy， far more accurately than that used in Europe as the basis of the Gregorian calendar. They did not use this figure for the length of year in their calendars， however； the calendars they used were crude， being based on a year length of exactly 365 days， which means that the calendar falls out of step with the seasons by one day every four years. By comparison， the Julian calendar， used in Europe from Roman times until about the 16th Century， accumulated an error of only one day every 128 years. The modern Gregorian calendar is even more accurate， accumulating only a day’s error in approximately 3257 years.
精准的太阳年
与其他中美洲文明一样，玛雅人还测量了太阳年的长度，并达到了高度的准确性，它比作为格里高里历的基础在欧洲使用的日历要精确多了。然而，在玛雅人的日历中，他们并没有使用这个数字来表示一年的长度，他们使用的日历是粗糙的。基于一年的长度是365天，这意味着该日历每4年即误差1天。相比之下，从罗马时代直到16世纪一直在欧洲使用的罗马儒略历，累计误差仅为每128年误差1天。现代公历更准确，累计误差仅为大约每3257年误差1天。
