Medallion with the Maya calendar

The Mayans and the Maya Calendar Medallion

The history of the Mayans

Still today, traces of the Maya can be found throughout Central America, even though they lived there many centuries ago.

The traces of the Maya are scattered throughout Central America: stone-carved depictions of mysterious gods or pyramid temples that stand in the middle of the jungle and rise high into the sky. But it has been many centuries since the Maya lived there.

The first settlements of the Maya emerged as early as 1000 years before Christ. The people lived in small villages and relied on agriculture - primarily maize cultivation.

Later, significant and large Maya cities emerged - for example, Tikal (Guatemala), which was settled around 600 BC. The Maya culture reached its peak between 300 and 700 AD. Researchers also refer to this phase as the "Classical Phase."

It is incredible what knowledge the Maya already had at that time: They built huge pyramids on whose tops they erected temples, calculated the orbits of planets, and invented a complex writing system.

It was the Spaniards who arrived on the coast of Central America with their ships in the 16th century and conquered the land. They drove out the indigenous people and destroyed the foreign culture - a culture that had developed over many centuries.

Gods and Sacrifices

The Maya religion was polytheistic, with the Maya gods being depicted similarly to humans as mortal, human- or animal-like beings. Like the Aztecs and other Mesoamerican religions, sacrifices were not only meant to win the favor of the gods but also to keep the gods alive in a certain way. This makes the quite common representation in Maya art understandable, which shows kings carrying a god as an infant in their arms. Nevertheless, the gods were also portrayed as beings that could be ancient.

Despite the multitude of gods, Maya religion has a dualistic orientation: The "world parent couple" (as with most agricultural societies) holds significant importance, formed by the old sun god and the young moon goddess. Life is viewed as a (burdensome) journey from the east (dual symbols: moonrise, life, color red) to the west (sunset, death, color black).

Human sacrifice

In the religion of the Maya, human sacrifices were quite common. The methods of ritual executions ranged from beheading, drowning (e.g., in cenotes), hanging, stoning, poisoning, mutilation to being buried alive or disemboweling and tearing out the still-beating heart. The latter is especially indirectly evidenced for the Postclassic period. Both prisoners of war and members of one's own group, including those from the upper class, were sacrificed. The conditions of who was sacrificed, when, how, and where are still being researched. What is certain, and well-documented through depictions, is the killing of prisoners of war on a larger scale, possibly from the upper class of the opposing state.

The downfall of the Mayans

Suddenly, the high culture of the Maya disappeared. This mystery remains unsolved to this day – despite the deciphering of many glyphs. Most researchers essentially lean towards a combination of three factors: war, exploitation, and drought.

War

Through the deciphering of the script, it was discovered that the Maya were not a peaceful cultural circle. There were around 50 city-states that belonged to two major power blocs. Tikal and Calakmul are considered the centers of the two power blocs. There were repeatedly supposed to be military conflicts between individual states.

Some researchers suspect that for a long time there was a relative equilibrium between the two blocks, but this equilibrium fell apart towards the end of the classical phase. It is also conceivable that a scenario occurred in which the population of the Maya states rebelled against their own rulers and freed themselves from them. This could also explain why no large structures were built afterwards.

exploitation

Another theory suggests that the people perished due to their size. Ruthless exploitation of nature may ultimately have destroyed their basis for survival. This is suspected, among others, by NASA, which has analyzed the former Maya region using satellite images. According to this, a dramatic deforestation could have taken place, which in consequence led to the drying out of further areas of land.

Drought

In a similar direction, studies aim to demonstrate that an extraordinary drought period was responsible for the disappearance of the Maya. Based on soil deposits, it is believed that there must have been a significant drought in the Maya region around 900 AD.

Also in the ice layers of Antarctica, deviations can also be observed during this period. All of this could indicate a global weather phenomenon, which in this case had devastating consequences for the Maya.

 

The Maya today

It is a widespread misconception that the Maya have gone extinct. Primarily, it is the culture of the so-called "classical phase" that has disappeared. Until the 16th century, the descendants of this high culture lived in self-determination. Then came conquerors from Spain, who claimed the land in bloody wars and subjugated the population.

The Spaniards did not hesitate to destroy unique relics from the Maya period. In 1697, Tayasal, the last great free Maya city, was conquered, marking the end of the history of this independent and unique culture.

Today, about six million descendants of the Maya still live in Central America, referred to as Indigenas. A large portion of them can be found in Guatemala. Most Indigenas live in poverty, but their lives are still shaped by ancient traditions and rituals.

The Maya calendar, which is presented and described in many books, consists of several cycles that measure different periods of time. The two main calendars developed and used by the Mayans were the Tzolkin (sacred almanac that marks the ceremonial year) and the Haab (for agricultural purposes). In the Tzolkin, the religious year consisted of thirteen periods of twenty days, totaling 260 days, while in the Haab, the year had 365 days, divided into 18 months (Uinal) of 20 days each, plus an additional period of five days at the end of the year.

The December 21, 2012 would correspond to the absolute end of Tzolkin (which ends on this date) and would either mark the end of the world or, on the contrary, a change in global consciousness and the beginning of a new era. According to this interpretation of the Mayan calendar, radical changes are to be expected on this day, with the fate of humanity depending solely on its decisions and its ability to use its free will wisely.

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