Maya Expert Answers Maya Civilization Questions From Twitter | Tech Support | WIRED
()
Maya Support
- Dr. Ed Barnhard answers questions about the Maya civilization from Twitter.
Shaping Baby Heads
- The Maya reshaped their babies' heads by tying boards to their heads.
- This was done to elongate the skull and make it look more like a husk of corn.
- Only elite people were allowed to do this, and it was a sign of high status.
Kukulkan
- Sergio expresses disappointment that Kukulkan, a Mayan deity, was defeated by a 19-year-old girl in the movie Black Panther.
- Dr. Barnhard explains that Kukulkan is the Maya word for Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent.
- He says that the character in the movie was accurate to the real Kukulkan, who was known for his power, wisdom, grace, and good governance.
Maya Calendar
- Astronic asks why the Mayan calendar looks like an Oreo.
- Dr. Barnhard clarifies that the image in question is actually the Aztec calendar stone, not the Mayan calendar.
- The Maya did have a 260-day calendar based on the human gestation period, which is unique among ancient civilizations.
- The Maya created the most elaborate calendar system in the ancient world, using five different cycles to tell the time.
Maya Sandals
- Nick Bloom asks what the first clothing trend might have been.
- Dr. Barnhard suggests that Mayan sandals were likely a popular fashion item.
- Sandals are depicted on ceramic vessels, and the Maya had a sophisticated sense of style.
2012 Apocalypse
- Superpower Armor asks if anyone else is upset that the world didn't end in 2012, as predicted by the Mayan calendar.
- Dr. Barnhard explains that the Maya were not predicting the end of the world in 2012.
- They were referring to the end of the third creation and the beginning of the fourth creation in their calendar.
- The next switch in the calendar will occur in the year 4,772.
Maya vs Aztec
- Tigerwood Suck asks how the Maya and the Aztecs compare.
- The Maya and the Aztecs shared many similarities, but there were also key differences.
- The Aztecs were an empire, while the Maya were independent city-states.
- The Aztecs focused on conquest, warfare, and sacrifice, while the Maya did not engage in much sacrificing.
- The Maya practiced auto-sacrifice, with kings bloodletting themselves in public to protect the people and please the gods.
Sports
- The Maya had a popular sport called the Maya ball game or Poca ta Pok.
- They made rubber balls from latex and sulfur for the game.
- The ball courts were I-shaped with a center line and two out of bounds areas.
- Teams bounced the ball back and forth using their hips or chest, and could not touch it with their hands or feet.
- Some versions of the ball court had rings on the sides, and getting the ball through the ring ended the game.
- The game originated 3500 years ago and was played by the Aztecs as well.
- Aztec cities had their own ball teams, and sometimes settled disputes through ball games instead of war.
- Rich people sat close to the court and threw treasures and gifts to the winning team.
- Contrary to popular belief, the winners of the Maya ball game were not sacrificed.
Sacrifice
- The Maya sacrificed mostly warriors captured in ceremonial battles.
- Elites fought in these battles, and those captured were stabbed in the leg and dragged to the temple for sacrifice.
- The Aztecs sacrificed a wider range of people.
Lost Maya City
- A 16-year-old boy in Canada used maps and Maya codes to identify a potential Maya city, but it turned out not to be accurate.
- With the advent of LiDAR technology, Maya cities are being discovered at a faster rate.
- Irregular or unnatural geometric shapes or arrangements, such as Maya pyramids arranged in groups around plazas, can indicate the presence of a man-made city.
- The speaker, an archaeologist, found a city in Belize named Masna in the 1990s using topography maps and his knowledge of Maya preferences for settlement locations.
Cacao
- The Mayans used cacao beans as a form of currency.
- Counterfeit chocolate beans made of ceramics were a problem, and Aztec police would search for them in the markets.
- Chocolate was a drink of the elite, made with chili pepper and no sugar.
- Cacao only grew in the Maya area due to specific tropical forest conditions.
Maya Civilization
- The Maya civilization can be traced back 10,000 years, but 2,000 years is a conservative estimate for its beginning.
- The Classic Maya civilization began around 200 CE, with the construction of large cities in northern Guatemala.
- The Classic period lasted for 400 years, marked by dynasties of kings, elaborate hieroglyphs, and carved monuments.
- The Terminal Classic period followed, characterized by movement, abandonment of cities, and the emergence of new ones.
- The Postclassic period lasted from 900 CE until Spanish contact around 1500.
Pyramids
- The tallest Maya pyramid is about 68 meters tall, while the tallest Egyptian pyramid stands at 150 meters.
- Egyptian pyramids were built as tombs from the beginning, while Maya pyramids were used as temples during the kings' lives and converted into tombs after their deaths.
- The Maya built thousands of pyramids, far more than the Egyptians, and many more are believed to be hidden under the jungle.
Tools
- The Maya did not use metal tools, instead relying on materials like chert (flint) and obsidian.
- Chert was used to make axes for cutting limestone, while obsidian, a volcanic glass, was used for finer cutting due to its sharpness and durability.
Aliens
- The speaker does not believe that aliens helped the Aztec and Maya civilizations, arguing that there is no evidence of advanced technologies beyond stone and temples.
- The speaker sees questions about alien involvement as disparaging the abilities of non-Western societies.
King Pakal
- King Pakal was a significant ruler in the history of the city of Palenque.
- He became king at the age of 12 and ruled for 80 years, bringing the city to its peak.
- Pakal's sarcophagus lid depicts his moment of death, falling down the world tree into the underworld, not an alien spaceship.
Palenque
- Palenque is the speaker's favorite Mayan ruin.
- The speaker spent three years mapping the site.
- Only a small portion of the city has been excavated, suggesting a population of less than 10,000 people.
- Palenque was a center of Mayan scientific and artistic knowledge.
- The Palace at Palenque has a three-story tower, which is unique in the Mayan world and still stands today despite being abandoned 1200 years ago.
Indigenous Writing
- Other indigenous people in Mesoamerica had writing scripts, but none were as sophisticated as the Mayan writing system.
- Mayan writing reflects the spoken word, with symbols representing sounds.
- The Maya had one of the four original writing systems in the world, along with Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Chinese scripts.
- Mayan glyphs represent words, often broken up into syllables.
- Mayan books were made from long strips of tree bark folded like an accordion and painted with limestone paste and stucco.
Mayan Language
- Millions of Maya people still speak their language today, with Yucatec Maya being the largest language group with about 5 million speakers.
- The movie Apocalypto features actors speaking actual Mayan, providing a good example of how the language sounds.
- Some Mayan sounds have a stop at the end, such as the word for fire, which is "tz'i".
- Apocalypto overdid the depiction of human sacrifice, which was more common among the Aztecs than the Maya.
Building Ancient Cities
- The ancient Maya built large cities far from water sources by quarrying stone for construction and creating reservoirs from the quarries.
- They lined the quarries with stucco to make giant swimming pools.
- The plazas between temples were sloped to funnel rainwater into the reservoirs.
- Water lilies were used as an indicator of fresh water, as they only grow in unpolluted water.
- A map of the city of Palenque revealed a sewer system that used gravity to transport fresh water and dispose of wastewater.
Astronomy
- The ancient Maya practiced horizon-based astronomy, with priests observing the rising and setting of celestial bodies from a fixed location.
- By recording these observations over generations, they gained a deep understanding of the cycles of planets, the moon, and the sun.
- Maya buildings were often oriented to interact with the cycles of the sun, such as El Castillo in Chichén Itzá, which casts a shadow resembling a snake during equinox sunsets.
Math
- The Maya had a sophisticated mathematical system based on three symbols: a dot for one, a bar for five, and a shell or flower for zero.
- Unlike the Western system, Maya numerals had a direct relationship with the symbols used, allowing for elegant mathematical operations.
- For example, adding three (three dots) and five (a bar) resulted in a bar with three dots over it, representing the symbol for eight.
Maya Today
- Contrary to popular belief, the Maya people are still present today, with an estimated population of around 15 million.
- Despite persecution and cultural disruption following contact with Europeans, the Maya community has endured and grown over the last 500 years.
- Many Maya people reside in the United States, particularly in convenience stores, and those under 5'2 in height are likely of Maya descent.
- The misconception about the disappearance of the Maya stems from the abandonment of their cities during the classic period around 700 years ago.
- However, this abandonment did not signify their extinction or disappearance; they simply relocated rather than perishing or being abducted by aliens.