Maya civilization

The Maya civilization is an ancient civilization next to the Andes civilization built by the Maya, a Native American tribe that, 2,000 years ago, lived on the Yucatán Peninsula of Central America, In southeastern Mexico, northern Guatemala and Honduras today. This is a civilization that has reached a high level not only in the field of state building, but also in the fields of architecture, mathematics, astronomy and computing. The earliest artifacts in the Mayan civilization found in Cuello (Belize) were originally identified in 2000 BC. From this source of land, the Maya divided a large branch to the north (the Gulf of Mexico today), leaving traces of the population along with many stone temples about 2,500 years old.

The largest city is Nabke in present Guatemala, with the most flourishing period from 800 BC to 400 BC. Also in this period, Chichen Itza city was built, followed by Yaxchlian, Palenque, Oxkintok ... The Mayan civilization embraces the Yucatán Peninsula, with more than 10,000 inhabitants, larger than any other city. Of Central Europe at the same time. The greatest accomplishments are corn planting techniques, astrology-specific calendars and writing systems. Although still pictorial, the Mayan writing has advanced beyond the hieroglyphics of Egyptian culture. The society at the time knew how to process stones, pottery, wood and weave.

Mayan Observatory

Based on the relics discovered increasingly rich, it is determined that around the first century the ancient Mayan countries were established. Most of the Maya nations were destroyed for reasons ranging from the ninth century to the tenth century. Only urban Mexico on the Yucatán Peninsula continued to exist until colonialism. Spain invaded this region in the 16th century. The consequences of the invasion have devastated many of the Mayan heritage. The Mayan economy relies heavily on agriculture and is highly dependent on natural conditions such as climate. Mayan cultivars are mainly maize, beans, tomatoes, pumpkins, cocoa, etc. The Maya are also raising livestock as their main crop after planting. They raise animals such as dogs, chickens, deer, birds, honey bees ...

Mayan handicrafts also reach a very high level. In addition, the Maya also knows how to make salt with large and unique areas. Archeology proves that the Maya has the first construction works dating to around 1000 BC. There are some disagreements over the cultural and geographic boundaries of Ancient Maya with neighboring pre-Columbian Central American civilizations, because there are many cultures with areas that overlap and influence each other. , But later had its own development and created its own unique culture.

Mayan calendar map

The Maya's first works were single tombs on high hills, a precursor to the later pyramid-like structures. Ultimately, the Olmec culture is dying after its impact on the Yucatán Peninsula, today in Mexico and other parts of South America. Evidence of the Mayan civilization includes the famous cities of Tikal, Palenque, Copán and Kalakmul, as well as Dos Pilas, Uaxactun, Altun Ha, Bonampak and many other locations in the area. They demonstrate a high level of agriculture, the crowded urban centers of many independent urban states. Many of their famous pyramid-style religious buildings are built in the Mayan power centers. Many of the stone carvings are left today (the Mayan called tetun or stone-tree),

Numbers Maya uses dots and tiles

Nowadays, it is the football pitches, stone chalets and stepped pyramids that are silent witnesses to the height of development in Mayan society. Silent because no one explained why the Maya suddenly disappeared into the darkness. So far, researchers have temporarily united the reason for the Mayan demise because of the sudden climate change, drought lasted all its life. Archaeologist Gerald Haug proved late in the 9th century that the area around Venezuela was unlikely to rain until the beginning of the 10th century.

However, the question of a peaceful civilization, living in harmony with nature, until the eighth century reached a population of 15 million can leave without leaving a word "still" Always pressing? In the early 80s of last century, the new science dare assert that it gradually "decodes" the message Maya. But it was not until the end of 1994, when about 80 percent of the letters were understood, researchers wondered at the ruins of a collapsed monument. The legend of a Mayan society that loves peace and nature dissolves in the blink of an eye. They did not disappear during a terrible earthquake, not starved for the destruction of tropical forest or disease, nor destroyed by another civilization. The truth is much simpler: It is the Mayan who put themselves to death.

The inscriptions on the ceramic plates and on the retained scrolls have proved that the Maya is a very aggressive nation. Their lives are marked by brutal rituals and are constantly engulfed in bloody wars. The two most powerful tribes of that time were under the command of Tikal and Calakmul. They both ruled and used more than 50 smaller tribesmen to slaughter each other. This comment was made by Nikolai Grube, a leading expert on Mayan culture and the one who has justified deciphering the ancient script.

In addition, according to him, the Mayan civilization disintegrated not as sudden as people have long anticipated, but this is a painful and slow process. Because not only at war, the Maya died of starvation. One of Grube's co-workers, Tom Sever, the only archaeologist who has worked with NASA, found that accidental, seemingly absurd, but profound. In 1999, the United States for reconnaissance purposes launched into satellite Ikonos. Ikonos is a satellite capable of imaging up to 1 meter, even recognizing people on the ground, while other satellites have surrendered to objects smaller than 5 meters. Based on the Ikonos photographs, Tom Sever recognized a canal system from the Mayan period. It is their efforts to improve the ecological environment. As the climate changes and the temperature rises more than 6 degrees, the jungle is heavily exploited,

Looking back on the Maya, during the war they did not eat enough. The skeletons are unearthed showing signs of malnutrition. By the end of the 9th century, water dried up in the canals, underground water withdrew to 150m deep that technology can not exploit that day. Slow death of the Maya has been explained. There are currently about 4.2 million descendants in Central America. The most striking recollection of this class today is in 1511, when Spanish colonists came out. Mayan brave resistance, their last nation - Tayasal - was not conquered until 1697. The tumultuous rebellion of 1901 was also smashed by the Mexican army and finally the Spanish alphabet also helped to destroy the last germ of an ancient civilization.