With the date edging ever closer and the escalating amount of media coverage that has been focused on the Mayans’ alleged prediction of an apocalypse in 2012, there is no shortage of opinions floating around as to whether a cataclysmic event is on the horizon.

But there’s one thing that has been missing during the escalating debate about the Mayan calendar: Facts. That doesn’t mean that everything about the Mayans has an easy explanation, but here is a little background information about the Mayans and their infamous “Long Count” calendar.

The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization that is noted for having the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas. The primary reasons the Mayans have been vigorously studied for centuries are because of their art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. For example, their view of time — and their calendar — is a reflection of the Mayans’ dependence on the sun. As agricultural-minded people, they were obsessed with the cyclical nature of the seasons.

“The Mayan calendar goes back 104,000 years and is based heavily on the Mayan understanding that the universe works in cycles,” said David Salvaterra, associate history professor. “They had a very cyclical view of time.”

Another thing is certain: The Mayans were no ordinary group of people, and that’s why they have fascinated researchers for so long.

“The Mayans were a highly advanced society with tremendous mathematical skills and a writing system,” Salvaterra said. “They built large cities in a time where there were none. In Europe, the cities were smaller and less common, and (the Mayans) also built pyramids.”

But it’s the Mayans’ calendar that has generated the most attention — and controversy. Here’s what all the hubbub is about: the Mayans identified a day by counting the number of days passed since a mythical creation date that corresponds to August 11, 3114 B.C. in the Gregorian calendar. The 3114 date marks the beginning of the “fourth world of creation” that corresponds to the beginning of humans on Earth. The Long Count calendar for this “fourth world of creation” will end on Dec 20, 2012, and a new “creation” will take place the following day.

Does that mean the Mayans were predicting a doomsday event to take place Dec. 21, 2012? That debate rages on.

“Many culture experts say that the Mayans predicted a new beginning for mankind at the start of this new cycle,” said first-year Jacob Smith, who recently helped conduct a show at the planetarium about Mayan arch-astronomy. “The Mayans didn’t predict an end of the world.”

Mayan Skull.

Nonetheless, many predictions of the end of the world or some other significant change for mankind stems from the end of the Long Count calendar. Some suggest it will be the second coming of Christ … or perhaps a breakthrough in interstellar space travel … and the list of predictions goes on.

“Many people are taking the prediction of the Mayans and changing it to fit their beliefs or agenda,” said David Salvaterra, associate history professor. “For example, a lot of new-age cosmology believers think that mankind will replace jealousy and hatred with love and brotherhood.”

One of the reasons for so much intrigue that revolves around the date of the new “creation” is that it will not be an ordinary day, to say the least.

“Dec 21, 2012, is the winter solstice, which the Mayans would have known, but at 11:11 the solar system will be lined up with the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, which there is no way they could have known,” said junior Meghan Wolett, who was in charge of the Mayan arche-astronomy show at the planetarium. “The Mayans were a very advanced society, but there is no way they could have had the technology to calculate such a complex equation.”

This “coincidence” of the end of the calendar matching up perfectly with a giant astronomical event, when coupled with the fantastic advances in Mayan society, have led to rampant speculation. Some suggest that the Mayans might have communicated in some way with aliens. They cite the “Crystal Skulls” legend.

“Archeologists have found somewhere between seven or nine perfect Crystal Skulls of the 13 that the Mayans made,” Smith said. “The Smithsonian checked them and found no use of hand tools and that they were made of silicon, which can hold massive amounts of information. Some speculate that since hand tools were not used, these perfect skulls must have been given to the Mayans by aliens, and when all 13 are brought together a technological breakthrough will happen.”

There is a lot of speculation and guessing that will happen until Dec 21, 2012. But like “Y2K” and theories about “06/06/06,” many experts suspect that another “end of the world” scare will turn out to be nothing.

“I would bet come Dec 22, 2012, your life and my life will be the same — but maybe not,” Salvaterra added.