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How did Maya mathematicians use the concept of zero?

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Map showing principal sites of Meso-American civilization, with the Mayan zone of influence shaded in green across southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador. The map highlights major Mayan, Aztec, and other ancient sites, as well as the extent of the Aztec Empire in central Mexico, using color-coded symbols and labels for notable cities and archaeological locations. — Pre-Columbian civilizations Principal sites of Mesoamerican civilization.

The Maya civilization independently developed a sophisticated positional number system that incorporated a symbol for zero by the 4th or 5th century CE.12

Maya mathematicians represented zero using a shell-shaped sign. Its primary function was to serve as a placeholder within their positional system, indicating when a specific numerical position had no value. This allowed them to distinguish between different numerical values, much like the use of zero in modern systems.21

Evidence suggests that the Maya used this system primarily for calendars and inscriptions rather than for commercial or general arithmetic purposes. In their calendar records, days were counted starting from 0 to 19 rather than 1 to 20. Because many written records were destroyed in the 16th century, much of what is known about their mathematical use of zero is derived from surviving stone carvings and architectural inscriptions.12