Page 61 - All About History - Issue 16-14

Secrets of the Mayans

5 reasons the Mayans
were ahead of their time

Astronomy
The Mayans were highly skilled in
1 astronomy and developed an incredibly
accurate calendar. The Mayan calendar
featured a complicated arrangement of
interlocking circles, capable of keeping
time to a degree even more accurate
than the calendar we use today. They
were also able to predict the positions of
celestial objects precisely, despite lacking any
specialised equipment.
Architecture
More than 4,400 Mayan sites have been
2 documented with architecture spanning
thousands of years. The gigantic La Danta
2
pyramid covers 45 acres (18.2km ) with
Mayan medicine a height of 70m (230ft), making it one
of the largest pyramids in the world by
volume. It is largely because of the long-
The surprisingly sophisticated practices of Mayan medicine men lasting nature of these buildings that we
know so much about the Mayans.
TOOTHACHE
Remedy: Mayans were very skilled in dentistry, PRAY THAT YOU Artwork
Archaeologists have unearthed an abundance of
and fake teeth were made from jade and turquoise DIDN’T GET… SMALLPOX 3 detailed Mayan artwork including massive stone
if the patient could afford it. If a filling was When the Spanish began their conquest of sculptures, wood carvings, narrative paintings and
required, iron pyrite (‘fools gold’) was used. There the Mayans, they brought with them diseases delicate ceramics. Most remarkable of all are the
objects created from thick, dense materials
was also a trend in dental decoration where the previously unseen by the skilled medicine men, such as jade and obsidian as, unlike the
teeth were filed into points, ground into rectangles such as influenza, measles and tuberculosis. Incas, the Mayans did not have any metal
and drilled with holes. The holes would then be But it was a plague of smallpox that tools. Their artwork often features Maya
blue, a bright azure pigment that remains
filled with jade or gleaming iron pyrite to devastated the civilisation, killing
as vibrant today as the day it was painted.
produce a pattern on the teeth. as many as 90 per cent of the The techniques behind this mysterious
native population in a century. substance have not been discovered.
Mayan
PAIN doctors Up against a rapidly spreading
Remedy: Pain was often treated had their own disease on a scale previously Writing
Mayan script was a writing system comprising of
by putting the patient into a specialities, from bone unfathomable, the natural herbal 4 hieroglyphs, and they were the only civilisation
setting to childbirth,
trance-like state, using mind- and were called upon remedies of the Mayans didn’t in Mesoamerica with a complete writing system.
altering substances commonly depending on the stand a chance. The earliest Mayan inscriptions date back to the 3rd
century BCE, cementing them as the inventors
utilised in rituals. Flowers, patient’s needs of writing in their region. The complex
mushrooms, tobacco and plants MAIN PRINCIPLES writing system uses a combination of 800
used to make alcoholic substances Mayan medicine focused on the glyphs to represent words and is the only
Mesoamerican writing system that has
were collected and usually smoked. If concept of life force and the idea been substantially deciphered.
required, a ritual enema could be used for that this force can be directed to where
rapid absorption and immediate pain relief. it is needed. It was a healer’s job to balance Maths
This great civilisation created one of
this life force, which binds everything together. 5 the most advanced mathematical and
POISONOUS STINGS As this life energy also ran through plants, a numeric systems in the world at the time. This
Remedy: Sweat baths, or temazcal, were used lot of Mayan healing was focused on the use of sophisticated number system allowed them to
to encourage the patient to sweat out and expel flora. The blood determined the health of the write very large numbers by utilising just three
symbols, a dot, bar and shell shape. The
impurities from their body. They were also body so the pulse was a key tool in working Mayans also developed the concept of zero
used for ailments such as rheumatism, fevers, out the nature of the illness. Diseases were as early as 36 BCE and produced a symbol
weariness after battle or for women who had just also classified as either ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ and hot for it while Europeans were still using the
Roman numeral system.
given birth. The hot steam was thought to help foods such as onions and ginger would be
purify and restore the body for a long, healthy life. used to treat cold illnesses and vice versa.

1502-1529 1528-1530 1540-1547 1618-1697
The Spanish conquest begins The Mayans fight back Continuing conquest The final collapse
Christopher Columbus arrives in Led by Franciso de Montejo, The Spanish conquest continues The last stage of the Spanish
Guanaja and discovers a Mayan the Spanish begin their and in 1541 the first Spanish conquest takes place in the
settlement. The Europeans conquest of the Mayan town council is established in the Péten Basin. In 1618, Spanish
loot what they can carry and territories in the northern Yucatán Peninsula. Many Mayan missionaries arrive at the Itza
capture Mayans as slaves. News region. However, the Mayans lords submit to the might of capital and they are followed in
of his discovery travels and are not so easily toppled and the Spanish crown, but eastern 1622 by a military expedition.
more Spanish explorers journey fight back with surprising provinces resist Spanish rule. The Mayans massacre the © Look & Learn; Thinkstock; Corbis
to Mayan lands, bringing Old strength, leading to the The rebellious eastern Mayans invaders but by 1697 the Mayan
Much remains of World diseases such as smallpox, conquest dragging on over are finally defeated in battle and kingdoms are incorporated into
the city of Chichen
Itza, one of the seven influenza and measles. several bloody years. hundreds are killed. the Spanish Empire.
wonders of the world
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