Why the Mayans might have disappeared.

[War Lord]

Very interesting read.

http://www.efenews.com/detalleFrontPage.asp?opcion=0&id=1458214

Maya civilization collapsed upon learning kings weren't gods

Madrid, Aug 26 (EFE).- The decline of the Maya civilization began some 1,100 year ago when millions of Indians working on the contruction of tall pyramidal temples and palaces learned that their kings weren't gods, Spanish anthropologist Andres Ciudad told EFE.

The collapse of this culture with its brilliant mathematicians, astronomers and engineers, came when monarchs stopped being immortal in the eyes of their subjects, said Ciudad, who is deputy dean of the Faculty of Geography and History at Madrid's Universidad Complutense.

The inhabitants of Mayan lands, which extended through much of what is now Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, Honduras and Mexico, at some point understood there was no sense in working themselves to death building pharaonic edifices and temples destined for the burial of kings who had no "heavenly privileges." That is one of the conclusions drawn by the team of archaeologists led by Ciudad in the town of Machaquila, 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Tikal in Guatemala, the city most representative of the Mayan world that was named by its founders "the city of voices." The study, which weakens theories that attribute the death of this civilization to tribal warfare or prolonged drought, has also led to confirmation that the Mayas did not build an empire as such, but rather forged a series of decentralized states in which a noble caste governed together with the kings.

The collapse of this civilization, known for perfecting a calendar associated with movements of the moon, the sun and Venus, was slow and took centuries, according to the archaeologist.

The slow spread of the decay, which began in the west, explains why human activity in large urban centers like Tikal, Yaxha or Uaxactun could end in the 9th century, yet continued on in other places like Copan in what is now Honduras until the 13th century. The fruit of all that is the diversity and riches of the Mayan heritage that can be appreciated in Santa Rita de Corozal or in Lamanai, the land of the "submerged crocodile" in northern Belize where the culture survived longer.

It also explains why the ruins in Lamanai, which remained active until well into the 14th century, differ significantly in form from the archaeological remains of Copan, renowned for its "sumptuous altar" of sculptured stone.
At the same time, the ruins of both towns are different from those of the early city of Tikal in the Peten region, where, the archaeologist believes, harmony governs a space of prominent pyramidal temples that stretch toward the sky in an attempt to reach the Corn God, the Mayas' principal divinity.

The beauty of landscapes along the "Maya Route" is for the Guatemalan ambassador in Spain, Roberto Gereda, the best tourist advertisement in Central America, where, he says, "the wisdom of the pre-Columbian people lives on." Gereda told EFE that a journey through this region, where in Guatemala alone as many as 21 indigenous languages are spoken, is sufficient to understand the need to protect the identities of the groups that now maintain that diversity.

In his opinion, not only the culture of the Mayan communities is threatened by the "new globalized world," but also their heritage and environment because of "the ambition" of looters of treasure, wood and endangered animals like the jaguar and the quetzal, the Indians' sacred bird.
Nonetheless, the ambassador pointed to the "serious efforts" underway for sustainable development in Central America. EFE mjm/cd

 

[HellOnEarth]

*yawn*

they dissappeared because the white folks stoled their land

Answer me this: where are all the Native Americans living now?

 

[War Lord]

*yawn*

they dissappeared because the white folks stoled their land

Answer me this: where are all the Native Americans living now?

Presumably in North America.

 

[Slipknot]

they dissappeared because the white folks stoled their land

The Mayans were gone before the "white folks" came. You might be thinking of the Aztecs. The Aztecs disappeared because of the Spanish.

Answer me this: where are all the Native Americans living now?

In North America... they were put on reservations. Everyone knows that it was horrible what the English did to the Native American tribes... but this story is about the Mayans.

Oh... yeah... interesting read, but I'm not sure I buy it.

 

[Speedball]

*yawn*

they dissappeared because the white folks stoled their land

Answer me this: where are all the Native Americans living now?

Europeans never met the Mayans.
They "disappeared" before the Spanish ever set foot in Mexico.

 

[Edd Extraordinaire]

I read this and thought it said Wayans, and cheered with joy!

Alas..I felt dumb.

 

[War Lord]

Europeans never met the Mayans.
They "disappeared" before the Spanish ever set foot in Mexico.

Doesn't matter. The problems of the world is always the fault of the White man.

It was because of the White man that Christ was crucified.

 

[Slipknot]

It was because of the White man that Christ was crucified.

Well... a white man did crucify him...

 

[Mr Sparkle]

Doesn't matter. The problems of the world is always the fault of the White man.

It was because of the White man that Christ was crucified.

I heard that the mayans disapeared because all their nephews collectivelly beat them up.

at the same time

 

[Speedball]

Doesn't matter. The problems of the world is always the fault of the White man.

It was because of the White man that Christ was crucified.

Who would have crucified him? A leopard spotted person?

 

[War Lord]

Well... a white man did crucify him...

He was probably from the tribe of Pontii, which was in Southern Italy. He was quite Mediteranean in that case.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samnium

http://www.bible-history.com/empires/pilate.html

 

[War Lord]

I heard that the mayans disapeared because all their nephews collectivelly beat them up.

at the same time

That's very clever, it got me to laugh.

 

[Mr Sparkle]

That's very clever, it got me to laugh.

you're always laughing I think it's some sort of sickness

 

[Slipknot]

He was probably from the tribe of Pontii, which was in Southern Italy. He was quite Mediteranean in that case.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samnium

http://www.bible-history.com/empires/pilate.html

Yeah... and Mediterranean people aren't white? The guy who did it was probably of a tanned skin color... but would still be considered as being white.

 

[War Lord]

Yeah... and Mediterranean people aren't white? The guy who did it was probably of a tanned skin color... but would still be considered as being white.

It depends on your perspective. I wouldn't call dark Mediterraneans, "white". Dark Mediteraneans with dark skin, black eyes, and not a blonde among them can't really be considered white, imo.

 

[Twiztid_Klown]

*yawn*

they dissappeared because the white folks stoled their land

Answer me this: where are all the Native Americans living now?

In huge castles made of fudge.

 

[Slipknot]

It depends on your perspective. I wouldn't call dark Mediterraneans, "white". Dark Mediteraneans with dark skin, black eyes, and not a blonde among them can't really be considered white, imo.

That's like saying Italian people aren't white... or people who are tanned aren't white. They are white... and there are many shades of white. It doesn't matter if none of them have blonde hair. You don't see many blonde Irish people or blonde Russians... yet most are still white. It's like saying that you aren't a true white person unless you fit the Nazi's view of an ideal "Aryan" child with blonde hair and blue eyes.

 

[lars573]

He was probably from the tribe of Pontii, which was in Southern Italy. He was quite Mediteranean in that case.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samnium

http://www.bible-history.com/empires/pilate.html

Actually he was white. If by white you mean caucasian. By that definition Indians, Iranians, Turks, and turkics, all arabic/semetic peoples, in addition to europeans are white.

 

[RogueLDN]

nice find, good article too thanks

 

[St. of Sinners]

Just wait for the Mel Gibson movie, Apocalypto to come out. I hear that at the end the Jews come in with machine guns and wipe out the Mayans.

 

[tomahawk53]

Interesting read War Lord.

I've always been fascinated by Mayan and Aztec coulter and civilizations. I've never heard this take before though...

 

[Mr Sparkle]

Interesting read War Lord.

I've always been fascinated by Mayan and Aztec coulter and civilizations. I've never heard this take before though...

Freudian slip you war mongering republican!!!!

:P

 

[War Lord]

Actually he was white. If by white you mean caucasian. By that definition Indians, Iranians, Turks, and turkics, all arabic/semetic peoples, in addition to europeans are white.

Actually he was caucasian. Being white is a sub-classification of the caucasoid class of humans. You can be white and caucasion, but you can also be caucasion without being white.

Pilate was certainly caucasoid, but that doesn't mean he was white.

 

[lars573]

Problem is that white doesnt exist as an ethnic definition. It's far too vague.

 

[War Lord]

Problem is that white doesnt exist as an ethnic definition. It's far too vague.

It's not vague to me.

It might be vague to somebody who isn't white.