The Maya are a series of indigenous people in Mexico and Central America. Although often mistakenly thought to have long died out, their ancestors still inhabit much of the lands we now refer to as Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas in Mexico and southward through Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras.

Amazingly the Mayans were able to develop their own concept of ‘zero’ at least 100 years earlier than in India, in about 350 AD. Frankly, this is incredible given that the continents of America were held back from the ‘old world’ not just because of their geographical isolation but also by their relatively recent occupation of the lands relative to ‘old world’ civilizations.

Although it is widely acknowledged that rubber did not become useful until one Charles Goodyear developed the vulcanization process in around 1840, this might not be entirely true. The Mayans and other Mesoamerican societies managed to devise their own process around 1600 BC. They appear to have been able to make a form of elastic from normal latex by blending it with other vegetative substances.

Chocolate was developed very early on in Mayan culture. They were able to develop a form of drink that was made from smashed cocoa beans that was so prized that it was often used as a form of currency.

Amongst their most famous inventions is the fabled Mayan Calendar (the one that was supposed to predict the end of the world in 2012). It was sophisticated and, like any decent calendar, records repetitive cycles of time based on the movements of the Sun, Moon, and Planets.

According to deciphered records, it appears that they had calculated an Earth tropical year to be about 365.242 days which is very close to the modern 365.2425 that is used as part of the Gregorian year.

Mayan astronomers also noticed that 81 lunar months lasted 2392 days expressing a lunar month as 29.5308 days. Modern-day estimates are 29.53059 days. 

The Mayans were highly accomplished engineers and employed their skills to develop innovative farming techniques including raised farm beds and terrace farming. These techniques were vitally important in providing means of reducing water runoff and erosion and turning mountainous regions into productive farmlands.

Sources: 9 Incredible Mayan Inventions and Achievements and One They Surprisingly Missed