In 1555 Bishop Diego de Landa wrote:

The natives of Yucatan were as attentive to the matters of religion as to those of government and they had a high priest whom they called Ah Kin (Daykeeper) Mai …. He was very much respected by the lords … and his sons or nearest relatives succeeded him in office. In him was the key of their learning …. They provided priests for the towns when they were needed, examining them in the sciences … and they employed themselves in the duties of the temples and in teaching them their sciences as well as in writing books about them …. The sciences which they taught were the computation of the years, months and days, the festivals and ceremonies, the administration of the sacraments, the fateful days and seasons, their methods of devotion and their prophecies. (Tozzer, 1941, p. 27)

When he wrote those words, Bishop Diego de...