Mayan numeral system

The Mayan numeral system is a base-20 (vigesimal) system using dots, bars, and a shell symbol. Dots represent one, bars represent five, and the shell indicates zero. Numbers are written vertically with each level representing increasing powers of 20, similar to how our decimal system increases by tens. For example, the bottom level counts units, the next level tens times twenty, then four hundred, and so on. Combining dots and bars, the Mayans could write large numbers efficiently and accurately, which they used for astronomy, calendar calculations, and record-keeping.