Page 64 - All About History - Issue 16-14

Secrets of the Mayans

© Look & Learn; Thinkstock 3 Mayan myths were regarded as

examined
Crossed eyes
beautiful, so Mayan
THEY PROPHESIED THE END parents would dangle
OF THE WORLD objects before their
Experts analysed the Mesoamerican long count children’s eyes to
calendar, used by the Mayans, by using ancient permanently cross
inscriptions. The calendar foretold that the end of them
the cycle would fall on 21 December 2012. In the
Mayan calendar this represented the end of the ‘fourth
world’, ushering forth a large worldwide change, something
that would change the face of the Earth forever.
Although it is correct that the end of the cycle
was a major event for the Mayans, this would be
cause for celebration, rather than concern. This
also didn’t mark the end of the calendar, there
would simply be another cycle after that one, after all, there
was a cycle before the one in question. Additional calendars
were also found that prove the Maya believed the world
would continue for at least another 7,000 years.

Conclusion: FALSE
There is no evidence of this doomsday theory anywhere
in Mayan texts, and it demonstrates a misunderstanding of
Maya history and culture.
THEY DIDN’T DEVELOP IN MEXICO
It is highly unlikely that an ancient civilisation
could have prospered in the seasonal desert the
Mayans are believed to. Other ancient
civilisations in Egypt, China and Mesopotamia all
developed along rivers, with access to stable sources of
drinking water. It is therefore more reasonable to assume
that the Mayans developed elsewhere and then reached the
tropical lowlands toward the end of their history.
It is true that the Maya civilisation is thought to
have prospered in unusual territory – a seasonal
desert without a stable source of water, but to
deny their ability to do this is to ignore their
remarkable accomplishments. The Maya created an
ingenious system of storing water based on rainfall and also
engineered the first water pressure system. Additionally,
there is evidence from archaeological excavations that the
Maya developed many skilful methods of dealing with their
harsh environment.
Conclusion: FALSE
There’s no evidence to back up this myth – countless
archaeological finds place the Maya firmly in the Mexican
lowlands for thousands of years.
THEY WERE A PEACEFUL PEOPLE
The Maya were an incredibly developed society
for their time. They were primarily concerned
with intellectual pursuits such as astronomy, The Final Mystery
mathematics and writing. They believed in a life
force that unites all things and had great respect and faith in
the power of nature, with healing practices that What happened to the Mayans?
demonstrated this. The Maya also lived in dispersed, self-
sufficient city-states with strong focus on agriculture. In 800 the Mayan Empire was at its peak, its city-states catastrophic to the Mayans. However, there has been
spread from southern Mexico to northern Honduras, no definite proof for any theory, so the Mayan collapse
Recent discoveries and newly deciphered and millions of citizens worshiped and prospered in their remains one of history’s biggest unsolved mysteries.
writings show a very different side to the towns. However, just 100 years later, all that remained
pacifists the Maya were once believed to be, of the magnificent cities were ruins, and the people had
indicating they often fought and warred between fled en masse. This has led some researchers to believe
themselves. The individual rulers of the city-states were the cities were plagued by a sudden catastrophic event
eager to expand their territory and they would do this such as an earthquake or volcanic eruption, but due to the
through war and bloodshed. Fortified defences and artistic length of time of the decline this is doubtful.
depictions of war as well as the discovery of weapons all The theory of modern invasion or war also seems
contribute to the theory that the Maya were regularly unlikely to account for the mass collapse that occurred.
involved in violent warfare. More likely is the sudden introduction of a devastating
infectious illness that tore through the population. But the
Conclusion: FALSE most popular theory is that the civilisation was hit by a
The Mayans were not any different to the great majority of severe drought. Highly reliant on rainfall and hunting, an
ancient civilisations, and war was the driving force for much environmental disaster such as this would have proved
of their cultural change.
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