The Maya were also skilled at mathematics. They developed a system of number symbols. A dot stood for one. A bar stood for five. A shell stood for zero. We all know that zero can stand for “nothing.”

But when it comes to a system of numbers, zero means a lot! Think, for example, of the difference between the numbers twenty and two hundred. The Maya symbol for zero worked the same way ours does. In fact, the Maya were among the first people in the world to develop the concept of zero.