This sketch of one of the gigantic stelae of Quiriguá in today's Guatemala shows the three ways in which the Mayans recorded dates.
The date (24 January 771 AD) is given in the secular and sacred calendars and as a day count from the beginning of the Mayan calendar. Three of the digits on the day count are zeros.
The actual day count differs from the simple sequence of powers of years; this will be discussed in Lecture 7, where the accurate count is displayed.
Adapted from G. Ifrah, G. (1999)