Orono - Some folks believe the end of the Mayan calendar Friday means the end of the world, but an expert in Latin American history says Mayans don't see things that way.

The Mayan calendar is complex to say the least, but professor of Latin American History, Angela Thompson, is trying to explain how it works. She gave a lecture on Mayan Culture at UMaine and toured some Mayan Artifacts at the Hudson Museum.

"There is a three level calendar with two years, a calendar round and then a linear calendar."

She explained the Mayans wrote about a lot of topics, but they didn't write about a so-called "doomsday," not even on their calendar.

"There's nothing in this inscription or in the glyphs that are associated with this inscription that predict any end of the world."

Thompson says the Mayans used their calendar the way we use ours today.

"To mark time, to order every day, to commemorate significant events."

Our calendars come to an end on December 31st or the end of the year. Their calendar also marks an end. Not an end of the world, but an end of a specific era.

If you don't believe Thompson, then maybe you'll believe the modern Mayans, who aren't exactly bracing themselves for the apocalypse.

"They're in the middle of celebrating that winter festival this year, but they've already planned for next year for 2013."

It's safe to say if the Mayans are planning for 2013 to come like every other year, then maybe the rest of us should too.

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