One of the most mysterious peoples.
Today throughout Mesoamerica – areas stretching approximately from Central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua – you can see the ruins of ancient cities with towering pyramids, playgrounds for ball games, monumental statues and mysterious hieroglyphics. It’s the legacy of the ancient Mayan civilization, which will be discussed in this review.
1. The pyramids and Mayan cities are still
It may seem strange how the great pyramid could long escape the attention of modern archaeologists. But just a few years ago, the Mayan pyramid with more than 1,000 years old was discovered in Tonina (Mexican Chiapas). It was hidden under the hill, which was previously considered natural.
In 2015, the researchers said that this historical monument is actually the highest pyramid in Mexico (75 meters). Also recently in the Mexican state of Campeche discovered were the ruins of two Mayan cities, previously hidden behind dense vegetation.
2. Maya loved chocolate
More than 3,500 years ago the Olmecs in Mesoamerica became probably the first who realized that cocoa and its products are edible, but it is Maya, brought eating chocolate at the mass level. Archaeological evidence suggests that Mayans cultivated cocoa, at least 2600 years ago.
However, this drink was not similar to modern hot chocolate: the Mayans mixed cocoa with water, honey, chili peppers, cornmeal and other ingredients to make a spicy frothy drink. Preserved the art of the Maya suggests that drinking cacao was an important part of celebrations and rituals.
3. The system of hieroglyphics
Maya writing that dates back to the late preclassic period (300 BC – 100 ad), preserved on buildings, stone monuments, rare manuscripts and ceramics. While the words in the Russian language are formed by combinations of the 33 letters of the words of the Mayan language was formed from various combinations of more than 800 characters, each of which represented a syllable. This writing system is considered the most sophisticated in Mesoamerica.
4. Maya hieroglyphs deciphered by chance
The American native of Siberia Tatiana Proskuryakova studied to be an architect. When she was unable to get a job in their field, she started working an archaeological Illustrator for the Museum in Philadelphia. In 1930 she was invited on an expedition to the Mayan site of Piedras Negras in Guatemala.
Despite the lack of formal academic training, Proskuryakova eventually became the first person who was able partially to decipher the Maya writing. It was she who first suggested that the inscriptions tell of the events in the life of their rulers, which helped to decipher many verbs.
5. The Maya wrote books
The Maya wrote books on long strips of sturdy paper made from the inner bark of the Fig tree. But to date, survived only three of the Maya Code: the Dresden Codex, the Madrid Codex and the Paris Codex. Many other books of the Maya were victims of a humid climate of Mesoamerica and Europeans who deliberately destroyed Maya texts.
6. The Mayans never predicted the end of the world
The Internet has been full of talk about the fact that according to the Mayan calendar the world will end on 21 December 2012. Date has long passed, and the Apocalypse never happened. However, any pianist could immediately tell that there’s nothing to worry about. December 21, 2012 coincided with the end of the 5125-year full cycle “long” of the Mayan calendar. But it was only one of the calendars that the Mayans used. They also had a 260-day sacred calendar used for scheduling religious ceremonies, as well as a 365-day solar calendar.
7. The Maya has their own idea of beauty
Maya is not content with the clothes and makeup to make themselves beautiful. In childhood, many men and women artificially deformed skulls to give them an elongated shape, which probably meant their social status. The Mayans also drilled holes in their front teeth and inlaid them with jade, pyrite, hematite, or turquoise.
8. The Maya ritual enemas
For Maya use hallucinogens and intoxicants was the best way to talk to spirits . They drank such substances as “balché, which is made of fermented (possibly psychedelic effect) of honey. But to get a more rapid effect, and perhaps also to avoid vomiting, Maya often introduced alcohol and psychoactive substances rectally.
9. Mayan stained victims in blue color
Bright pigment known as “Mayan blue” has long fascinated archaeologists since it was preserved for centuries in stone monuments, even in the harsh conditions of the Mesoamerican jungle. But this cheerful color has also been used in human sacrifices. When Maya wanted to please the God of rain, they painted the sacrifice of people in blue color, then cut out their hearts and threw them on stone altars.
10. Maya loved to sweat
The Maya built out of stone or mud brick structure that is similar to the saunas used for medical purposes and for ritual purification. These “house sweating” were found in places such as Tikal in Guatemala and Joya de Ceren (the Mayan village which was buried in volcanic ash in El Salvador around the year 600 BC). The earliest known house sweating was discovered at Cuello, in Northern Belize. He is 3000 years older than the famous baths of Roman civilization.
