The Ancient Maya: Hidden not Lost

Speaker: 00:00:00

How does a civilization create

massive pyramids, intricate hieroglyphics,

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: 00:00:04

rudimentary plumbing,

advanced mathematics,

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: 00:00:06

and a celestial calendar

that rivals our modern, scientifically

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engineered calendars by a few minutes,

maybe even seconds?

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How does a civilization dwarf

the amount of pyramids left by the ancient

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: 00:00:16

Egyptians have advanced architecture

and create irrigation systems

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for their crops, and do all of this

while being only regarded as a Stone age

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civilization?

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Why does such a group like this

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make such a striking impact

on the world around them?

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And then just vanish? Where are they?

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Where did they come from

and where did they go?

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Where did you come from? Ghana. Joe.

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This week

we learn the mysteries of the Maya,

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the people who prophesize

the end of the world.

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In 2012, after having vanished

from the face of the earth

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almost a millennium before all that.

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More on

another episode of The Remedial Scholar.

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Welcome, everyone.

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I am Levi,

and this is the remedial scholar. I hope

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you are excited to hear me mispronounce

every other word in this episode.

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It's going to be fun.

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Before we get to making a linguistic

fool of myself, a few quick things.

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Firstly,

if you learn anything from the show,

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if you end up finding it fascinating,

or if you think my voice is irresistible,

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please leave a review wherever possible.

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: 00:01:33

You can also leave a comment

in the Facebook group there

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dedicated post to each episode.

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: 00:01:38

In addition to that,

you can also comment on the YouTube video

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about anything really,

but it would be cool

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if you leave a comment or,

you know, like like leave a like

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and do all the YouTube

things related to that, subscribe

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and all that jazz,

anything to help show in the algorithm.

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And speaking of boosting the algorithm,

not immediately.

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maybe immediately,

I don't know. We'll see how it goes.

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I will be back to the full swing

of things, releasing

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episodes in rapid fire

every hour on the hour. No.

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but it's going to be a much faster pace

than one every two months.

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you know, starting a

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year or two off, like,

I probably should have started year one.

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kind of crazy that it's been a whole year.

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I mean, with an asterix, this is like.

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This is like when they transition

from a shorter, more manageable scale

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early in baseball

and then into, like, this,

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the massive scale of games

that they play now,

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like all the records from back

then or Asterix because it's like, hey,

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you hit that many home runs

and you did it in this amount of games,

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but now we have these many games

and we can hit more home runs or whatever.

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So bad sports analogies aside,

I'm excited to see what year

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two brings and actually be,

you know, focused on creating the show.

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I'm back to feeling

very passionate about it.

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I am, you know, free from school,

and I kind of got

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a good work life balance going.

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So I'm very excited.

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and I just want to be able to deliver

the best possible show that I can.

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And, you know,

I have some fun ideas on how to do that

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and some cool episode ideas

also coming up.

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So all that preamble,

let's get into the actual episode itself.

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This week is an exciting one.

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This topic you, this topic itself is

also a Herculean effort for me to finish.

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If you are a long time

listener of the show, then you're like,

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yeah, we know we've been waiting,

waiting, waiting.

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You're also probably thinking

that because of the fact that you know,

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the mind up and vanished

is probably pretty tough to research.

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And you were slightly correct.

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Also, with slight correction,

the Maya did not vanish.

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They're actually never even here.

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You might be surprised to learn that

what we know is the Maya is actually

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nothing more than a few misunderstandings

and bad translation.

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And at the Maya,

we're actually just left handed Aztecs.

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So we're going to be looking further

into what split

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from the actual Aztecs

into what we believe is Maya. No.

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Now, this this week is definitely

just about the Maya.

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but to get a better understanding

of the Maya, like all things,

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we got to look backwards.

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Indigenous cultures

suffer from the lack of written history.

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Weirdly enough, they also.

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I mean, they

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they did write in calf things a lot,

but it seems a little bit different

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than what,

like the European and Asian cultures did.

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And I kind of looked into why this is.

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And it has to do with a few main things.

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First, let's compare

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some of the oldest written down

languages and cultures in Egypt.

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Writing on papyrus can be dated back

to the mid 26th century BCE,

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and the close proximity to the areas

around and blowing up of the trade

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in the Mediterranean

made a be camp pretty commonplace

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in the cultures we generally think of

when it comes to a written history.

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The next earliest in the invention

of writing on paper

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instead of stone comes from China,

almost: 2300

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years later, when fragments from a paper

map were dated.

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These cultures are very far apart,

and even in the heyday of the Roman

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Empire, Far East

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Asian cultures really did not interact

with those in the Mediterranean.

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So these two cultures

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who have both contributed

greatly to the advancement of society,

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whose distances are pretty,

pretty separate, you know, developed

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their writing on paper, not stone or clay,

thousands of years apart.

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The second issue with writing on paper,

like documentation, is that you need,

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you know, plants suitable

to create such long lasting documents.

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The developed paper

that the mass of American cultures

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did end up using instead of the native

papyrus that the Egyptians use,

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deteriorated far quicker than any other

Mediterranean or Asian versions.

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Mesoamerican cultures use what is known

as a mate, which is a bark based paper

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created by grinding up bark into a pulp,

type material and then drying it out.

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And then they would write on that and,

you know, the Maya, they,

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they did write

they developed a system of hieroglyphics,

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one of only

a few original written languages

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invented without external influences

all over the world.

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Like this is one of a handful of them,

so that's pretty impressive.

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They also

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had their own mathematical system,

which has been proven to be very accurate.

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So accurate that when,

the world was going to,

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people thought the world was going to end

when their calendar ended

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in 2012, or like, the Mayans,

they they really knew what was up.

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but I am getting ahead of myself, like,

like I often do.

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So what does all this paper nonsense

have to do with anything, Levi?

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Well, just kind of wanted to demonstrate

how lucky we are to have what information

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we do about the Maya and how a lot of it

is still an unraveling mystery.

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Would have been a lot

easier had the Spanish not burnt

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most of their written books

in in order to say,

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but there's not much

we can do about that now.

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there's only a few, codex

ins that, exist.

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Probably, I think four maybe

when the entire world of Maya codices,

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where their language is written down

on like books, there's only four.

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So, so that's pretty sweet.

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So did the Maya and other indigenous

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cultures really not write that much down,

or did the colonizers just burn it all?

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There's probably the latter,

but we won't know

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until

I look into every single one of them.

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I choose to tell you this

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because I believe that it's important

to understand that history is always,

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and probably history is, and probably

always will be, incomplete in many cases.

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This is to say that I will let you know

for sure when I have like

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this is this we know that this happened,

when facts are involved.

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And try my best

to tell you when scientific

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archeological hunches

are being made going forward. So

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in that spirit, let's do some estimation

on how people even got to the Americas.

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If human life truly did originate

and spread from the continent of Africa to

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where everybody rests now, there are a few

leading theories on how this happened.

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The most prominent one

is that 15 to 20,000 years ago,

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the first Americans

descended through North America via

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the Bering Land bridge,

which is now where the Bering Strait is.

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During the last ice age,

the hypothesis is focused

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around the connection of the eastern edge

of Russia on the Asian continent

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and the northwest edge

of what is modern day Alaska.

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DNA testing between Native American tribes

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and Siberian people shows

that there's a close link between them,

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and that there is a likelihood

that this is where the origin stems from.

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This is not the only case, however.

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There are two other DNA links

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which the origins

that archeological archeologists surmise

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could have contributed to or coincide

with the Bering land bridge crossing.

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Archeologists and historians

alike hypothesize that

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with the migration of people

to Australia 65,000 years ago,

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that many nautical expeditions

had taken place that very well

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could have led to the settlement

along the west coast of South America.

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Now, if you remember from the Magellan

episode, The Pacific Ocean

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ain't no easy feat.

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So it makes more sense that people walked

across the Bering Land Bridge.

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But we have to remember that the Americas

were vastly different 20,000 years ago.

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The earliest archeological data

we have found of indigenous cultures

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in America was thought to have been

the Clovis site, which dates around

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13,000 years ago.

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This discovery was made in the 1930s

near Clovis, New Mexico, hence the name.

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The site seemed to have lined up

with the Bering land bridge,

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but it is thought that North America

would have been frozen and not been able

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to offer much in terms of life

for traveling people to

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sustain themselves on, especially when

they had to walk the entire way.

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There's another site which predates

the Clovis site, all the way down

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in the southern, section of Chile.

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at Monteverdi. Monteverdi.

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I think if you're unfamiliar with

this area, that makes two of us well made.

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Two of us.

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Now we both know what Glasgow, Monteverdi

is in the southern section of Chile,

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and not far, like, not so far south,

that it touches the Strait of Magellan.

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But the cluster of islands

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in which Magellan tried to

navigate is just south of this area.

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Monteverdi is an archeological site

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in which the earliest dated indigenous

sites in the Americas is located.

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It predates the Clovis

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site by over a thousand years,

which means that people were all the way

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near the southern tip of South America,

much further back than we realize.

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Now, I do realize

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that Indonesia is much closer to Australia

than the southern tip of South.

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A South America is to, well,

literally anything

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except for maybe Antarctica

and the rest of South America.

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But it doesn't make sense

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that people would have taken boats

of some kind to the Americas,

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while people made it to the very remote

Easter Island as far back as 400 C.E..

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Granted, this is a long time

removed from 14,000 years ago,

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but when you factor in that people

were traveling

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via maritime routes that far back,

it is not completely unreasonable.

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I can't imagine that the voyage

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across the Pacific Ocean,

in what had to have been smaller vessels

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that Magellan had,

could have possibly been like,

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I can't imagine

it was very much fun, really.

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No matter which way you slice it,

we have absolute proof that people

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were living migrating in the Americas

almost 15,000 years ago.

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For certain.

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There's some other ones,

like there's footsteps

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I can't even remember

specifically where they are,

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but they were dated

about 22,000 years ago.

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And it's like these, this lady walking

with, a man,

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and then his steps disappear,

and then it's just her.

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And then there's, like,

mammoth footprints all over the place.

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Anyway, but if you think about what

these two sites show us,

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that these people had to have moved

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with some prior knowledge

because there's tools homes found.

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So it's kind of reasonable

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to assume that they were either near

those areas for a while, or they arrived

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with some very thorough knowledge

of how to survive, if only for a while.

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It's not like a bunch of babies

washed up on tour of South America

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and just drew up like some sort of,

I don't know, Lord of the flies situation.

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Another archeological find I want to bring

up is the find in Queenstown, a room.

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Mexico.

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This is the eastern section

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of the Yucatan Peninsula,

and this particular find was found

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on the north shore of Quinton Aru,

some 127 miles from the infamous

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Chichen Itza, which will we will discuss

further in a little bit.

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In this region,

a man was diving in a cenote,

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which is a water filled cave,

and while diving

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he came across a human skull

and attached skeleton,

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which had been encrusted with crystallized

liquid that had fell on it from above,

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from the stalactites above it, long before

the cave was eventually filled

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with water.

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Skeleton was dated to be about

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10,000 years old, and,

it was found to be a teenage girl.

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The suspected theory is that she fell into

the snow while looking for water.

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I think that this kind of tells me more

than anything that there were,

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you know, scores of people

just literally all around varying degrees

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of lifestyle, thousands of miles apart

around the same time

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doesn't really help pinpoint exactly

where people were or where they came from.

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But, you know,

this is in between both sites,

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and I guess it's younger than

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both of those sites,

but it kind of just shows how spread out

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the indigenous people of the Americas

were in that kind of time period.

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So anyway, on to our actual topic.

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the Maya kind of an interesting group

to look at, in particular

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because of what we think

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they were or what happened to them,

is largely misunderstood.

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They, like many cultures around the world,

have distinct phases that they went

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through in terms of their development,

into what we know as a civilization.

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Interesting part about this is that they

did not consider themselves to be Maya.

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They had no governing body

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that oversaw all the people

who fit the description of this group.

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This is different from people

like the Aztec, who had a defining name

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defining a government body over

overall ruling like system.

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Aztec also like the peak of the Maya

and the peak of the Aztecs, are different.

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The Aztecs kind of came up

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as the Maya had already began

to, quote unquote, collapse.

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I'll talk why?

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That's

kind of a quote unquote thing later.

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But there's some overlap with the Maya

and as tech,

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but also with different cultures

like the Inca and the Olmec.

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Although the Olmec are probably the ones

that that Maya interacted with the most,

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we know for sure

that they interacted with the old man

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because that's

where they got their famous calendar.

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they took the Olmecs calendar

and then developed

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it even further into what we know

as the Maya calendar.

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To that is it also important to note

that the Maya is essentially a term

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that was chosen to describe

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this larger group of people who did not

fit in the Aztec or Olmec categories.

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They're definitely a different group,

but they did not, you know,

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consider themselves

to be super different from Aztec or Olmec.

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They obviously live

by different governing rules,

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but they interacted

with these two cultures.

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Maya was also a broad term

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because there's over

30 different languages that the Maya spoke

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regionally differentiated,

but also closely, associated

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with one another, that they could speak

and trade within different city states.

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It is like as if you considered

all of Europe to be one type of people.

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Sure,

they can communicate with their neighbors

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just fine, but it's a little trickier

the further out you go.

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So without further ado, let's

look into what we know about the Maya.

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According to the Maya creation

myths, in the beginning, world was a vast

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expanse of nothingness filled with

only what the sky and an immense sea.

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Amidst this emptiness existed

the heart of the sky known as hurricane.

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A hurricane,

the creator of God's feathered serpent.

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These are the most famous of the Maya

deities.

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These divine

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beings looked upon the void and united

their powers to bring order to the chaos.

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Which is kind of ironic,

because it was like

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there's nothing other than water and sky.

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This is too chaotic.

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We got to bring more shit into it

throughout their words.

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But through their words, the gods conjured

into the world, into existence.

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Mountains, rose, valleys, dipped, trees,

grew tall, animals roamed the new land.

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And despite the beauty and abundance,

the gods were dissatisfied, for

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the animals

could not speak or offer praise.

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It's. Listen, you guys are very cute.

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The squirrel is adorable,

but it can't praise me, so I hate it.

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It's so crazy.

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the gods desired beings

who could acknowledge their creators,

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which you know,

I guess it was probably hard work.

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You want people to recognize your effort.

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Their first attempt to create humans

evolved, molding them from mud.

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These beings,

however, were weak, crumbled easily,

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and dissolved back into the Earth.

Obviously, they're made of mud.

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What did you expect?

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I mean, honestly,

you made animals just fine.

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But then people, you're like,

I guess we'll make them out of mud.

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Determine the gods. Try it again.

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This time crafting humans from wood.

All right.

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These

these wooden beings were more robust, yet

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: 00:16:13

they lacked souls and understanding

their ignorance angered the gods.

307

: 00:16:17

You stupid piece of wood.

308

: 00:16:18

You don't.

309

: 00:16:19

You can talk and praise me,

but you just don't get it, I imagine.

310

: 00:16:23

what is it, Jimmy?

311

: 00:16:25

From eternity with Planck.

312

: 00:16:28

This is Yelena.

313

: 00:16:29

Why don't you get me? Sorry.

314

: 00:16:31

But. Yeah.

315

: 00:16:32

So, God's unleashed a great flood

and other calamities

316

: 00:16:36

to destroy these wooden people.

317

: 00:16:37

Some of the wooden beings

managed to escape and were transformed

318

: 00:16:41

into monkeys, serving

as a reminder of the gods displeasure.

319

: 00:16:44

Which is not really sure why the gods hate

monkeys, or more importantly,

320

: 00:16:48

why the Maya myth makers

hate them so much.

321

: 00:16:51

But you know, moving on,

322

: 00:16:53

the gods made a final attempt

to make their their preferred people.

323

: 00:16:56

They used dough, a sacred and vital

substance for the Maya to shape humans.

324

: 00:17:01

That's right. We're all corn.

325

: 00:17:03

You mean everyone? Corn.

326

: 00:17:05

Always have been, always will be.

327

: 00:17:06

These beings were perfect,

328

: 00:17:08

possessing the ability

to see and comprehend everything.

329

: 00:17:11

Yet their perfection posed a threat

to the gods authority to prevent humans

330

: 00:17:15

from becoming too powerful.

The gods clouded their vision.

331

: 00:17:18

Limiting their understanding

to what was necessary seems a bit rude.

332

: 00:17:21

These game gods are a little picky.

333

: 00:17:23

You got all this power

and you're so picky on what you make.

334

: 00:17:27

the story of creation

did not end there. There.

335

: 00:17:29

the adventures of the Hero twins

had hudner poo and shubhankar.

336

: 00:17:34

I'm gonna say that I nailed that,

but I don't sound too confident.

337

: 00:17:38

That's kind of like Hercules a little bit.

They went to the underworld.

338

: 00:17:41

Also, underworld is called Jabal,

which is fun to say.

339

: 00:17:44

Where they defeated the Lords

through some advanced tactics.

340

: 00:17:49

They played games.

341

: 00:17:50

They outgained the gods in a way very,

342

: 00:17:54

Very Bill and Ted.

343

: 00:17:56

Bogus journey, if you will.

344

: 00:17:57

You know, when they have to play chess

with, the Grim Reaper and whatnot,

345

: 00:18:01

their exploits not only, you know,

gave the people some, like, power

346

: 00:18:05

through, like, this is who

we want to be, but, you know, it also,

347

: 00:18:10

it made it

it set up the values for the Maya

348

: 00:18:13

people and also gave them a reason

to love cosmology.

349

: 00:18:16

They picked up,

you know, there's the heroes in the sky

350

: 00:18:19

kind of thing, you know,

like we do now with constellations.

351

: 00:18:22

Anyway, pretty fun story.

352

: 00:18:23

But I wanted to dive into the things

we know about for sure.

353

: 00:18:26

So in a historical archeological manner,

Maya culture is broken into phases.

354

: 00:18:31

The archaic period,

which is from: 8000

355

: 00:18:35

Classic, which has further divisions

such as early, middle and late.

356

: 00:18:38

The pre Classic is defined as 2000

BCE to 200 C.E.,

357

: 00:18:42

so you can imagine with that

long of timeline,

358

: 00:18:44

kind of want to break things down

a little bit.

359

: 00:18:46

The classic goes from 250 to 950 C.E.

360

: 00:18:49

and the Post Classic,

to: 1539

361

: 00:18:54

and then overlaps

with which with what is called the contact

362

: 00:18:57

or contact period,

which stretches from: 1511

363

: 00:19:02

There's some overlap, as I mentioned,

but not just in timeline,

364

: 00:19:06

but also advancements, building

365

: 00:19:08

techniques, writing, and many other things

between the various periods.

366

: 00:19:11

But you know, when there are some

but not all the pieces

367

: 00:19:14

for the next movement, they kind of go,

all right, you're not quite there.

368

: 00:19:18

And then when you see all of the pieces

that are pretty like part

369

: 00:19:20

and parcel to that period, you're like,

all right,

370

: 00:19:23

that's kind of when they that's kind of

when they got there.

371

: 00:19:26

it's got it's a little archaic,

but you know, it works out overall

372

: 00:19:29

difficult to pin down exactly.

373

: 00:19:31

When things changed up similarly similarly

to how it is for us today.

374

: 00:19:35

But, you know, we do it by decades now.

375

: 00:19:37

But in 100,000 years, will alien

376

: 00:19:41

archeologist to discover our own planet

think the same?

377

: 00:19:43

Who knows?

378

: 00:19:44

Either way, we've kind of discussed

the migration

379

: 00:19:47

of indigenous people,

which happened at least 14,000 years ago.

380

: 00:19:50

But exactly when remains to be seen.

381

: 00:19:52

How did the people get from new settling

people to the mighty Mesoamerican cultures

382

: 00:19:57

we think of today? A lot of hard work.

383

: 00:19:59

There's a lot of trial and error.

384

: 00:20:00

The pre classic is based

transitional period to discuss as it takes

385

: 00:20:04

place between the archaic and the classic,

but also last: 2000

386

: 00:20:08

So there's definitely some room for growth

early pre pre classic period as

387

: 00:20:12

is when the Maya began

to get their footing

388

: 00:20:14

as a culture that we know

and would be later known for.

389

: 00:20:17

For that they were semi-nomadic turned

farmers settling in what are known

390

: 00:20:20

as the lowlands

or the peninsula part of the Yucatan.

391

: 00:20:24

The main plants that are made that made

these early Maya settle down as one.

392

: 00:20:28

I'm sure we're all familiar with maize.

393

: 00:20:30

I kind of mentioned it earlier. Corn.

394

: 00:20:32

The cob wobble, also known as

I don't think anybody calls it

395

: 00:20:35

the cob wobble.

396

: 00:20:36

But I think they said

this plant was one, one

397

: 00:20:40

that many indigenous people across North

America utilize in many different ways.

398

: 00:20:44

Most common was using it

399

: 00:20:45

as a base to make a bread type meal

and using the husk to make tamales.

400

: 00:20:49

That's my favorite way.

401

: 00:20:50

Other things they feasted

upon were squash, beans, peppers,

402

: 00:20:53

and the occasional sweet potato.

Yeah. Yuck.

403

: 00:20:56

I just hate sweet potatoes.

404

: 00:20:58

It's it's just a personal thing.

405

: 00:21:00

You know, it's fun as this process

is not exactly an overnight one.

406

: 00:21:03

That is, one of the earliest early

pre classic

407

: 00:21:06

period is from roughly 2000

BCE to: 1000

408

: 00:21:10

It's also in this timeframe

that the Maya began to trade

409

: 00:21:13

with the Olmec, who had a larger influence

on Maya culture,

410

: 00:21:16

as I briefly mentioned a little bit ago

with their influence on Brain

411

: 00:21:20

Child in the famous Maya calendar,

and so conosco.

412

: 00:21:24

The early Pre classic period began around

: 1800

413

: 00:21:29

in settlement patterns,

sustenance, technology and society.

414

: 00:21:33

Permanent inland villages

near flood prone bias provided

415

: 00:21:37

advantageous

fishing and agricultural conditions

416

: 00:21:40

despite maize being present,

you know, around: 1700

417

: 00:21:44

is not the primary diet staple yet,

leading to speculation

418

: 00:21:48

about reliance on other crops

like manioc or casa cassava.

419

: 00:21:52

Technological advancements

include the introduction of pottery

420

: 00:21:56

in the burrow phase, which is around 1800

BCE with sophisticated ceramics

421

: 00:22:00

like likely used for ritual purposes,

earliest of as evidence

422

: 00:22:04

of chocolate use, and clay figurines

also emerged during this time.

423

: 00:22:07

Then after this,

we have a little more of the complex

424

: 00:22:11

pottery, just kind of stemming from this,

like origin.

425

: 00:22:15

They, also began to have rank societies

with large capital villages

426

: 00:22:21

and signs of social differentiation,

such as elaborate burials

427

: 00:22:26

and depictions of shaman chiefs,

which, you know, also putting

428

: 00:22:30

a little more emphasis on the, it's like

almost like a aristocratic group.

429

: 00:22:36

Next phase, we have, unique pottery

decorations, more sophisticated figurines.

430

: 00:22:42

Early pre classic sites similar to snow

scale have been found along the Pacific

431

: 00:22:46

littoral, littoral, Guatemala

and El Salvador, but not in the Central

432

: 00:22:51

and North America Maya areas,

or the earliest Olmec civilization.

433

: 00:22:55

Before 1000 BCE, conditions

were not favorable for effective village

434

: 00:22:59

farming outside of the Pacific littoral.

435

: 00:23:01

However, during the middle pre

classic period, you know, until about 400

436

: 00:23:05

BCE, heavy populations with pottery,

likely Mayan speaking,

437

: 00:23:09

began establishing themselves

in both the highlands and the lowlands.

438

: 00:23:13

These populations

439

: 00:23:14

were mostly peasants with limited social

organization, architecture and art.

440

: 00:23:18

In contrast, the Olmec civilization

in southern Veracruz and adjacent

441

: 00:23:22

to Basco thrived during the early

and middle Pre Classic periods.

442

: 00:23:26

Olmec Center

t San Lorenzo, dating back to: 1400

443

: 00:23:29

BCE, was the first urban capital

in Mesoamerica.

444

: 00:23:32

Known for its giant basalt sculptures.

445

: 00:23:35

San Lorenzo was destroyed around 1150 BCE,

446

: 00:23:39

but its influence

spread across Mesoamerica,

447

: 00:23:42

even into the Yucatan Peninsula,

but only like a little bit.

448

: 00:23:46

Olmec colonists also settled

eastern San Usko.

449

: 00:23:49

So Conosco.

I think I'm been pronouncing that wrong,

450

: 00:23:54

because,

451

: 00:23:55

they they settled there

because of rich cacao orchards.

452

: 00:23:58

Which big thing, big theme.

453

: 00:24:00

After San Lorenzo was fall,

La Venta became the new Olmec center,

454

: 00:24:03

featuring these elaborate tombs,

jade and serpentine offerings,

455

: 00:24:08

and significant public architecture

indicating a very powerful Olmec state.

456

: 00:24:13

Olmec slightly likely created

the Long Count calendar, influencing

457

: 00:24:18

obviously the Maya at this

like this is when they created it

458

: 00:24:21

and then later

the Maya would pick up in the middle.

459

: 00:24:24

Pre classic period,

460

: 00:24:25

the Maya began to showcase things

that would define their classic period.

461

: 00:24:29

Architecture

began to flourish in similar patterns

462

: 00:24:31

across various settlements

Maya, across the lowlands.

463

: 00:24:34

architecture

was not the only major improvement

464

: 00:24:37

as they began to add some infrastructure

to their habitats,

465

: 00:24:39

which is really something

that I never really considered before.

466

: 00:24:42

They developed a very rudimentary

irrigation system

467

: 00:24:45

further advance their already

improving agricultural methods.

468

: 00:24:49

Villages of each state began

to show some version of a town

469

: 00:24:52

square or central plazas,

with greater gifts

470

: 00:24:55

within the greater

geographical area of the town.

471

: 00:24:58

There's also

the inclusion of sporting fields.

472

: 00:25:00

This is where the iconic ball game

would be played.

473

: 00:25:03

If you're unfamiliar,

474

: 00:25:04

the Mesoamerican people had a very

developed interest in physical feats.

475

: 00:25:08

This extended to their athletic prowess,

which could be displayed in war.

476

: 00:25:12

Also in the ball game.

477

: 00:25:14

The name is some kind

sometimes called these pits,

478

: 00:25:17

but most often just called the ball game

or the Maya Ball

479

: 00:25:20

game is not a specifically Maya thing,

as many cultures

480

: 00:25:23

in the Mesoamerica umbrella played it,

especially the Aztecs later on.

481

: 00:25:27

This game was also pretty interesting.

482

: 00:25:29

They, didn't use their hands or feet,

which sounds confusing

483

: 00:25:34

because all of the sports

484

: 00:25:36

we watched, they use their hands

and feet to move an object around.

485

: 00:25:40

But essentially what they did is like,

dribble it off of their chest or knees,

486

: 00:25:45

and then would like, you know, use their

hips to kind of kick it around, I guess.

487

: 00:25:50

not I don't know,

it seems very confusing,

488

: 00:25:53

but if you watch videos,

489

: 00:25:55

there's like people who could will

reenact it and play the game now

490

: 00:25:59

and you can watch them and it,

it seems relatively, interesting.

491

: 00:26:03

I don't know, it's different because it's

just so alien to what we're used to,

492

: 00:26:07

but it's also pretty interesting.

493

: 00:26:09

sometimes they would use this to settle

disputes.

494

: 00:26:12

So that's that's

495

: 00:26:14

they would also

496

: 00:26:15

in those cases, if they're like warring

with another town or whatever,

497

: 00:26:20

when they played the ball game

and the other town lost,

498

: 00:26:23

they might sacrifice

one of the people on the other team.

499

: 00:26:25

It's fun moving right along.

500

: 00:26:27

the, the decorated and,

501

: 00:26:30

expansive town center also came

hand in hand with, more decorated stelae,

502

: 00:26:36

which transcribe their hieroglyphics

and adorned many town

503

: 00:26:41

centers, similarly to how the Greek city

states borrowed from one another.

504

: 00:26:44

Early Mesoamerican cultures

did the same kind of thing, and the people

505

: 00:26:48

who would be labeled

as the Maya were no different.

506

: 00:26:51

They borrowed many, masonry techniques

from the nearby Olmec people, mostly,

507

: 00:26:56

most likely learned through traded means

508

: 00:26:58

because also extended to different methods

of tools and weaponry.

509

: 00:27:01

As the Maya never made it

510

: 00:27:03

out of the Stone age technically,

as far as tools were concerned,

511

: 00:27:06

their general weaponry and utilities

remained constant with,

512

: 00:27:09

some, some improvements

over the few thousand years

513

: 00:27:12

they utilized stone tools,

wooden tools crafted with stone tools,

514

: 00:27:16

but were also big users and,

obsidian tipped weapons into ores.

515

: 00:27:21

Obsidian is volcanic glass, which is ever

sharp and incredibly resilient and heavy.

516

: 00:27:26

Uses.

517

: 00:27:26

Obsidian also doubled as a highly sought

after traded item, and it,

518

: 00:27:30

kind of along with things like jade and,

cocoa beans.

519

: 00:27:35

So throughout the pre classic period,

more cities began to pop up,

520

: 00:27:39

especially in the regions

that are known as the lowlands.

521

: 00:27:42

If you look at the Yucatan Peninsula,

the region

522

: 00:27:44

just south of the actual peninsula

is called Southern Lowlands.

523

: 00:27:47

They are the, they are beginning,

you know, to spread throughout this region

524

: 00:27:51

and keeping connected from each city state

as they grow.

525

: 00:27:54

Numbers are hard to estimate,

526

: 00:27:56

but they were sizable enough

to have plenty temples

527

: 00:27:58

and plenty of infrastructure

that could support hundreds

528

: 00:28:00

of thousands of people

in some of the largest ones.

529

: 00:28:03

It seems super impressive to me

considering I have to.

530

: 00:28:06

I have tried to build cities and games

and can never get that high.

531

: 00:28:10

One of the most notable examples from

this time is oh boy, Cumbernauld Junior,

532

: 00:28:14

Cumbernauld u u.

533

: 00:28:16

Yeah, obviously, which is located

in modern day Guatemala City.

534

: 00:28:20

Remember earlier when I mentioned that,

there were some Maya cities

535

: 00:28:24

that had irrigation and really dynamic

features in stone carved buildings?

536

: 00:28:28

This city was founded towards the middle

pre classic in: 1500

537

: 00:28:33

but it lasted all the way until

t was eventually abandoned in: 1200

538

: 00:28:37

As is the case with most of Maya things,

we know most about it

539

: 00:28:40

thanks to their hieroglyphics, when

they marked many things in their cities,

540

: 00:28:44

as well as their dating system,

which could often include the carvings

541

: 00:28:48

that they made or which they often

included in the carvings that they made,

542

: 00:28:52

confused myself.

543

: 00:28:53

Ancient Maya were accomplished

544

: 00:28:55

astronomers and mathematicians

who developed one of the most important

545

: 00:28:59

one of the most accurate calendar systems

in human history.

546

: 00:29:02

They use several cyclical calendars,

including the harb,

547

: 00:29:06

the sultan, the sultan, and,

and the calendar round.

548

: 00:29:10

The is a 365 day calendar with 19 months,

549

: 00:29:14

18 of 20 days each, and one of five days.

550

: 00:29:17

Called the wired.

551

: 00:29:18

The token is a 260 day

calendar made from a combination of 20 day

552

: 00:29:23

glyphs and the numbers 1 to 13.

553

: 00:29:26

Calendar round interweaves

the hub and the token silicon.

554

: 00:29:30

I don't know, calendars

repeating every 52 periods.

555

: 00:29:34

365 day.

556

: 00:29:35

The Long Count

calendar was used to chronologically date

557

: 00:29:38

events spanning more than 5100 years,

counting in cycles of 20,

558

: 00:29:42

with an exception for the third cycle,

which approximates the solar year.

559

: 00:29:47

The long count calendar starts

from the mythical creation date

560

: 00:29:51

of August 1131, 14 BCE,

561

: 00:29:55

and that cycle ended December 21st, 2012.

562

: 00:29:58

This is the sign of a new cycle

and not the end of the world,

563

: 00:30:02

like many people like to assume

because they, you know, see the word end

564

: 00:30:06

and get all weird.

565

: 00:30:07

But really,

566

: 00:30:08

if the Maya would have been around for

this entire amount of time, realistically

567

: 00:30:13

what it would have just meant

is a new beginning kind of thing.

568

: 00:30:16

like, not even a rebirth, but just like,

all right, this is our new cycle.

569

: 00:30:20

We're on this cycle.

570

: 00:30:21

We're doing stuff differently. Slightly.

571

: 00:30:24

Maya farmers conducted offerings

and ceremonial hour ceremonies.

572

: 00:30:28

According to the Hobgoblin,

the silken, calendar

573

: 00:30:32

also played a significant role

in Maya rituals, including the.

574

: 00:30:35

Oh my gosh, what luck.

575

: 00:30:38

Shakib, what's.

576

: 00:30:40

Yeah. Nailed it! Ceremony.

577

: 00:30:42

The Walk Saki Bots ceremony

in the highlands

578

: 00:30:45

of Guatemala, marking

the start of a new 260 day cycle.

579

: 00:30:48

Now with the calendar round combining

both the hub and a token token,

580

: 00:30:53

I'm still not convinced

that, its completion signifies

581

: 00:30:57

special wisdom

for those reaching 52 years of age.

582

: 00:31:00

Every 52 years,

the calendars would synchronize a period.

583

: 00:31:05

this period is considered to be sacred.

584

: 00:31:07

Mentioned earlier

that they had accurately counted 365 days

585

: 00:31:11

in the year for their mathematics.

586

: 00:31:13

Goes way more in-depth than just that.

587

: 00:31:15

The mathematical achievement of the Maya

is, pretty noteworthy and very complex.

588

: 00:31:19

The Maya number system was,

it was a base 20 system,

589

: 00:31:23

likely influenced by counting on fingers

and toes.

590

: 00:31:26

It included advances

the features such as zero.

591

: 00:31:29

Who would have thought that zero

such an events feature.

592

: 00:31:32

But, an positional system, though

not a true positional based system.

593

: 00:31:37

The interesting thing about this is that

the Maya had the concept of zero down

594

: 00:31:41

way before the Europeans did,

and this might be silly,

595

: 00:31:44

but think of how often the concept of

nothing might play a part in your life.

596

: 00:31:48

Think about how the Europeans

597

: 00:31:49

did not have something like that

until like: 1200

598

: 00:31:53

when the famous Fibonacci

599

: 00:31:55

returned from traveling in North Africa

and delivered the concept,

600

: 00:31:58

along with Arabic numerals,

to Europe, Egypt, Greece, Rome.

601

: 00:32:02

None of these ever had zero figured out.

602

: 00:32:04

Isn't that kind of wild?

603

: 00:32:05

Astronomically, the Maya achieved

remarkable precision with minimal tools.

604

: 00:32:09

They calculated the solar year

to be 365.242

605

: 00:32:14

days, and the lunar month to be 29.30

.: 5302

606

: 00:32:19

Very, very close to modern values,

their interest in celestial cycles

607

: 00:32:23

led to constructions of observatories

like the Caracol building et cheating

608

: 00:32:28

Chichen Itza.

609

: 00:32:29

Aside from astronomy, the Maya's

mathematical legacy includes intricate

610

: 00:32:33

architectural decorations

with geometric patterns found in the

611

: 00:32:37

regions, ruins, showcasing

their inventiveness and intuition.

612

: 00:32:42

And, you know,

you kind of got to think about it

613

: 00:32:44

because they spent a lot of time

hanging out outside

614

: 00:32:46

and a lot of time looking at the stars

and a lot of time planning.

615

: 00:32:50

And, you know, we we were like, man,

they're not making very many observations

616

: 00:32:56

in science now,

but like, let's just during our lifetime

617

: 00:32:58

think about generations of wealth,

that of knowledge that's been passed out.

618

: 00:33:04

So anyway, that moves us right.

619

: 00:33:05

In the classic period, this titular

this is the Maya period as we know it,

620

: 00:33:10

considered by many

to be the height of the Maya civilization,

621

: 00:33:13

where things that I mentioned before

with the mathematic calendar,

622

: 00:33:17

mathematics calendars, celestial

observing and architecture

623

: 00:33:21

really grew into their iconic selves

is in the classical period

624

: 00:33:24

that the heavy influence of the calendar

in the way that they began

625

: 00:33:28

to heavily date things and most

architectural achievements from this time.

626

: 00:33:32

There are calendar dates

included in the hieroglyphics

627

: 00:33:35

that decorated the facades

of these buildings and monuments.

628

: 00:33:38

This is especially useful

now that we have an understanding

629

: 00:33:40

of how the calendars work,

and can use them to tell exactly

630

: 00:33:44

when the building was built,

which is pretty neat.

631

: 00:33:46

During the classical period,

which, as I mentioned earlier, stretches

632

: 00:33:50

from the second century BCE to 900 C.E.

633

: 00:33:53

we also have one of the most influential

Mayan rulers.

634

: 00:33:57

There's a good time to share the fact that

635

: 00:33:59

just because Maya did not have a unified

governing body or major kingdom presence

636

: 00:34:03

in the same way that the Aztec

or Inca had their city states,

637

: 00:34:07

who often fought one

another struggled in these fights.

638

: 00:34:09

one such location in

is in the city of Plunkett,

639

: 00:34:14

which had been dealing with some major

rival disputes with the Catholic.

640

: 00:34:17

More turnover for rulers of Lincoln

was pretty bad, and Catholic more

641

: 00:34:21

attacked them consistently over and over

during the fourth and fifth centuries.

642

: 00:34:26

With the tumultuous time

643

: 00:34:27

that the attacks and leaders

who were unable to make any meaningful

644

: 00:34:31

progress in their city, the people of

Lincoln felt, you know, very disparaged.

645

: 00:34:35

Religious ceremonies were ignored, linked

even more, people just being alienated.

646

: 00:34:41

There's even glyphs which stated the fact,

you know, like people aren't praying.

647

: 00:34:46

That's not what they said specifically.

But, you know, you know, it's bad.

648

: 00:34:50

You know how bad

649

: 00:34:50

your city is missing

a religious ceremony or ceremonies.

650

: 00:34:54

There has to be a it has to have

an artisan carve it into a building.

651

: 00:34:58

That's pretty bad. Things felt bleak.

652

: 00:35:00

That was until the son of a woman

who assumed the role as a leader of

653

: 00:35:03

the city was brought into the fold.

654

: 00:35:05

Sack.

655

: 00:35:06

Cook was the daughter of a man

named Jenab Khalil,

656

: 00:35:09

who is the namesake for her son.

657

: 00:35:12

I explain that very confusing,

but he her son, took

658

: 00:35:16

power at age 12, assisted by his mother

for a quarter of a century.

659

: 00:35:20

The young Pascal, also known as Pascal

the Great began to run the city

660

: 00:35:25

in the right direction.

661

: 00:35:26

City experienced a great renaissance

under Picard's guidance.

662

: 00:35:29

Majority of the buildings

in Pelinka were constructed during his

663

: 00:35:33

nearly 70 year tenure, remodeling

current buildings, adding new

664

: 00:35:37

and majorly improved structures

that feature

665

: 00:35:39

some of the greatest and latest

breakthroughs of Mayan engineering.

666

: 00:35:43

Plank was advanced as it features

some of the rudimentary pseudo plumbing

667

: 00:35:47

which fed sweat baths, latrines, and, of

course, water for crops, which is amazing.

668

: 00:35:53

They had sweat, sweat baths, figured out.

669

: 00:35:55

Buildings were constructed

with iconic vault style

670

: 00:35:58

that would be found in many other

classic and Post Classic Maya buildings.

671

: 00:36:02

Although there were no great success

stories in the buildings,

672

: 00:36:05

he did not rule unchallenged

during his reign.

673

: 00:36:07

The warriors of pulling battle

against external foes quite often,

674

: 00:36:11

but just as often found themselves

victorious.

675

: 00:36:13

The success of percale is important

in highlighting a few different things.

676

: 00:36:17

Firstly, the lack of religious effort

before he took over versus the importance

677

: 00:36:21

he placed on building

678

: 00:36:22

temples, doing rituals

at the beginning of his reign in an effort

679

: 00:36:26

to please their gods, who in turn provided

some favor towards him and his reign.

680

: 00:36:30

This is a pattern

that is seen in a few mind states,

681

: 00:36:33

where at a certain point, emphasis

on religious practice does get placed.

682

: 00:36:38

And maybe it worked

and it did keep doing it.

683

: 00:36:40

So or it stops working and they move on.

684

: 00:36:43

More on that,

more on the latter in a little bit.

685

: 00:36:46

It's kind of a great system. No,

because like,

686

: 00:36:48

you don't swear religious fealty,

support my reign as king.

687

: 00:36:51

And if I do a good job, you know,

or the gods support my rule, then

688

: 00:36:55

if things work out

and I'm actually good at my job,

689

: 00:36:58

it will look like the gods favor me.

690

: 00:36:59

So this is my thought on ancient systems

of like God kings.

691

: 00:37:03

They really are really effective ones.

692

: 00:37:05

Really, really helped the spread

of the power of their dominant religion.

693

: 00:37:09

If you think about it as you move through,

towards the modern age, through history,

694

: 00:37:14

the power of who is running,

whatever place

695

: 00:37:16

it may be largely focused on the gods

supporting them.

696

: 00:37:19

Then, as time moves forward,

the common people become more educated.

697

: 00:37:23

Facts become a little more obvious, and

then the leader is a little more to blame

698

: 00:37:27

because of their actions,

699

: 00:37:28

rather than they displease

the gods in some vague fashion.

700

: 00:37:31

Let's you actually did it.

701

: 00:37:33

I digress.

702

: 00:37:34

The reason we know Picard's

great leadership is due to a few factors.

703

: 00:37:38

The first, obviously,

704

: 00:37:39

the inscriptions of the monuments and

buildings constructed during his reign.

705

: 00:37:43

As I stated before, they often tagged them

with the dates of the buildings.

706

: 00:37:47

And then when the general events,

like what general events

707

: 00:37:50

were happening at the time,

which I think we should go back to.

708

: 00:37:53

Welcome.

709

: 00:37:54

Welcome to McDonald's.

710

: 00:37:55

This building was constructed

on the third day of June: 2007

711

: 00:37:58

When it was constructed,

it was the only building

712

: 00:38:00

within a five block radius,

and during construction, a man

713

: 00:38:03

drove into the building

and defecated on the fresh concrete.

714

: 00:38:06

Something like that.

715

: 00:38:07

It would be fun.

716

: 00:38:08

I thought it would actually be cool

717

: 00:38:09

if they did that with buildings

that they take spot of other buildings.

718

: 00:38:13

They knocked some,

719

: 00:38:13

you know, classic Art Deco building

and put up a soulless square building,

720

: 00:38:17

leaving a picture of what was replaced

so that people know the new architects.

721

: 00:38:21

All right.

722

: 00:38:21

So back stepping off here, the other way

to tell how important a leader was

723

: 00:38:25

is to base off

their funerary elements, right.

724

: 00:38:29

Because definitely upper

echelon of importance.

725

: 00:38:32

His tomb was being prepared well before

he died, which not super duper uncommon.

726

: 00:38:36

But when he died,

727

: 00:38:37

they had devised a way for him

to be placed in sealed nice and neatly.

728

: 00:38:41

His funeral mask was made

from the prized jade which the Maya loved.

729

: 00:38:45

This thing was pretty wicked too.

730

: 00:38:47

He was, you know,

he was in his 70s, having ruled from 615

731

: 00:38:50

until his death in 683,

so he clearly was doing something right.

732

: 00:38:54

The death mask is completely made of jade

with like 12 chains of jade as well.

733

: 00:38:59

Massive spine earring

734

: 00:39:00

type things, Jade bracelets, rings

and pins to go on clothing.

735

: 00:39:04

The cover of his tomb is also fantastic.

736

: 00:39:06

Features him curled up in a seated

position like sideways like profile view.

737

: 00:39:11

You could call it

738

: 00:39:12

an like elaborate decoration

of what looks like a throne under him.

739

: 00:39:16

And then there's like this massive tree

and like, masks floating around.

740

: 00:39:19

Obviously, I'm gonna put an image

of these things on the social media posts

741

: 00:39:23

and then in the video companion, so,

you know, don't forget to look for those.

742

: 00:39:26

But percale is one of the most famous

kings of the mind city.

743

: 00:39:30

And he brought his city to a great power.

And you'd think.

744

: 00:39:32

But the footing he left in it,

it would succeed for a long time.

745

: 00:39:35

But this is not not really the case.

746

: 00:39:37

If you have a standard passing

knowledge of the Maya,

747

: 00:39:39

you might be thinking that is around

this time that they began to disappear.

748

: 00:39:43

The famous vanishing of the Maya.

749

: 00:39:45

The only problem with this theory is that

there's still Maya around to this day.

750

: 00:39:50

Many people believe that they were wiped

out with the arrival of Spanish as well,

751

: 00:39:53

but this is also not the case.

752

: 00:39:55

I mentioned

the phases of the Maya time periods,

753

: 00:39:57

and that the classic period

is what truly defines

754

: 00:39:59

what we think of as the Maya to this day,

and that there are sections to the

755

: 00:40:03

classic period, while the early and late

classic are what I've described until now.

756

: 00:40:07

So now we're entering

what is known as the Terminal Classic.

757

: 00:40:10

The name like, that's pretty easy

to guesstimate what is about to happen.

758

: 00:40:14

Even so, there's

759

: 00:40:15

some misrepresentations of what happened

because we really don't have a full story.

760

: 00:40:19

There are a few leading ideas

and theories, but before I get to those,

761

: 00:40:23

I want to describe what is found

in archeological realm from this time.

762

: 00:40:26

At this time we have cities.

763

: 00:40:28

No longer expanding.

764

: 00:40:29

In the years after cause death

in the eighth century,

765

: 00:40:32

there are no new buildings

being built at all.

766

: 00:40:34

There's also the same issue

and numerous other Maya sites.

767

: 00:40:37

Not all the same time, but

around each other around the same time.

768

: 00:40:40

For sure.

769

: 00:40:41

This is often described as a collapse,

which if you look at the city

770

: 00:40:45

itself, no longer expanding.

771

: 00:40:46

And soon people began to leave. The city

collapsed.

772

: 00:40:49

Sure, the Maya civilization did continue

on, though they did

773

: 00:40:53

what they did

before they had these cities.

774

: 00:40:55

They moved. They moved to others.

They started new ones.

775

: 00:40:57

Some of the most notable Maya cities

that we know of today

776

: 00:41:00

actually started around

the time of this so-called collapse.

777

: 00:41:03

So let's talk about what is happening

during this time.

778

: 00:41:06

Well, the leading theory is that one of

the droughts and subsequent lack of food,

779

: 00:41:10

there carvings from around this time

that indicate that the people were people

780

: 00:41:15

themselves, were attempting

781

: 00:41:16

to please the gods in whatever ways

they could that there, you know,

782

: 00:41:19

and there are scientific data points

that have been taken from caves, senators

783

: 00:41:24

and the like,

784

: 00:41:24

which revealed different isotopes

within crystallized selected stalagmites

785

: 00:41:29

that point towards low amounts of water

for many years in this time period.

786

: 00:41:33

Actual science behind

787

: 00:41:34

it is pretty intricate, but essentially

they found certain pairings of isotopes

788

: 00:41:38

in these crystals that indicate

that there were a few major droughts.

789

: 00:41:42

What causes these droughts?

790

: 00:41:43

The main idea

is that the Maya actually deforested.

791

: 00:41:46

So much of their region that it affected

the environment and produced,

792

: 00:41:50

that produced rainfall, the sharp

and vast forest region becoming nothing.

793

: 00:41:54

It makes the region much hotter,

affects the amount of rainfall.

794

: 00:41:58

And then that affects affects the crop

rotation.

795

: 00:42:01

There's scientific data

to back that up from 802,000 C.E.

796

: 00:42:05

was one of the most arid times

in the Yucatan.

797

: 00:42:08

And a quote from this PhD candidate, well,

this is from: 2018

798

: 00:42:12

He's probably a doctor by now.

799

: 00:42:13

But, Nick Evans of Cambridge

said, quote, rainfall decreased on average

800

: 00:42:18

by about half and up to 70%

during peak drought conditions.

801

: 00:42:21

This is all very interesting.

802

: 00:42:23

But then

how does that go to affect the Maya?

803

: 00:42:26

Well, you could say that

804

: 00:42:27

they're very crafty with their irrigation

water reservoirs and whatnot, right.

805

: 00:42:32

The bigger issue is that they're focused

on one main crop at a certain point,

806

: 00:42:36

maize, the corn crop.

807

: 00:42:37

They'd put so much into using this crop,

which cannot do well in droughts.

808

: 00:42:41

And because of that,

809

: 00:42:41

the food stores begin to dry out,

both figuratively and literally.

810

: 00:42:45

The Maya were effective in their methods

of constructing, expanding,

811

: 00:42:49

as well as farming and irrigation

based on all success that they had.

812

: 00:42:53

They just did not have the data

that would show them

813

: 00:42:56

that they overextended themselves

in many different ways.

814

: 00:42:59

Their population

grew vastly during the classic period,

815

: 00:43:02

and this requires a lot of food and space

for people to live in.

816

: 00:43:05

Space means clearing out rich jungle

and planting more food and feeding more

817

: 00:43:09

people. Now,

I've been playing a lot of manor

818

: 00:43:11

lords lately

and I promise this will connect.

819

: 00:43:14

And in this game

820

: 00:43:15

you are starting a medieval settlement

and you're trying to expand your village

821

: 00:43:19

and use the finite resources along

with agriculture and military expansion.

822

: 00:43:24

I've struggled in each game.

823

: 00:43:26

I start with feeding my people

after a certain point, try to set up

824

: 00:43:29

a few different fields, rotate crops,

make sure the soil stays fertile,

825

: 00:43:33

and yet every couple of years

I dip into dangerously low food reserves.

826

: 00:43:37

What I'm trying to say

827

: 00:43:38

is that it's very hard to manage things

like this, even on a virtual small scale.

828

: 00:43:42

So imagine their crops not growing

829

: 00:43:44

because of no water or little water

depleting the reserves.

830

: 00:43:47

This causing people to just leave,

find a better place

831

: 00:43:50

to live makes total sense to me.

832

: 00:43:51

There were some tactics

that they tried to apply before completely

833

: 00:43:55

abandoning their cities, though.

834

: 00:43:56

A major archeological find known as the

as the Calm Conveys was found in the pit

835

: 00:44:01

of just like a bunch of random things,

and it was broken into a bunch of big

836

: 00:44:06

broken face in a broken pit,

all of broken dreams in a broken city.

837

: 00:44:10

What's so special about it?

838

: 00:44:12

Well, this place is actually decorated

completely with hieroglyphics

839

: 00:44:16

spelling out things

840

: 00:44:17

that would normally be told in building

form with no new buildings.

841

: 00:44:21

This space

842

: 00:44:21

from the middle of the Terminal Classic

period kind of sheds some light on.

843

: 00:44:25

You know, the city in modern day believes

this space tells about the, various,

844

: 00:44:30

events at the time, which is standard,

but also tells about the efforts

845

: 00:44:34

the city and the king were taking

to pull themselves out of the struggle.

846

: 00:44:38

At the time, the King was doing things

like leading attacks on neighboring cities

847

: 00:44:42

to take their resources, also

doing a lot of rituals and sacrificing.

848

: 00:44:46

This is a point of pause, because I think

the I often get wrapped up with the Aztec

849

: 00:44:50

and how often or how they perform

sacrifices both cultures did.

850

: 00:44:54

And by no means were the Maya.

851

: 00:44:55

These holistic and peace loving people.

852

: 00:44:57

But compared to

the Aztec, they kind of were

853

: 00:45:01

compared to compared to the Aztec.

854

: 00:45:03

Most people were.

855

: 00:45:04

But predominantly

the Maya defaulted to blood sacrifices,

856

: 00:45:07

but again, not as extreme as you are

thinking they would do bloodletting,

857

: 00:45:11

which is a form of ritual

in which they bleed into an effigy

858

: 00:45:14

or cauldron of swords.

859

: 00:45:15

And this blood is an offering to the gods.

860

: 00:45:18

They did sacrifice humans ever

so often as one does, but it was

861

: 00:45:22

it was rarely their own citizens,

typically capturing an enemy combatant

862

: 00:45:26

and sacrificing them,

which I suppose is not much better

863

: 00:45:30

than killing your own people,

but a do what you got to do regardless

864

: 00:45:33

the come, come.

865

: 00:45:33

This gives us a peek into the day, day

to day of the Maya people in this region

866

: 00:45:38

as their city begin to

867

: 00:45:39

fold under the weight of this situation,

some Maya people in cities began

868

: 00:45:43

to flee in droves, in some cases

leaving behind many important things.

869

: 00:45:47

In one such case that in Kenya,

people left the city so quickly

870

: 00:45:52

that a child was left unburied,

which is completely abnormal for the Maya.

871

: 00:45:55

So this kind of speaks to the rapid nature

of some of these evacuations.

872

: 00:45:59

The remainder of the Terminal Classic

is much the same.

873

: 00:46:02

People leaving the cities,

874

: 00:46:04

traveling to new ones, new cities

taking hold in the post classic period.

875

: 00:46:08

There is also as movement of the Maya

from the highlands

876

: 00:46:11

into lowlands,

the actual Yucatan Peninsula proper.

877

: 00:46:15

This coincides with cities

like Chichen Itza, although Chichen

878

: 00:46:19

Itza itself has beginnings that date

a little bit further back to Late Classic

879

: 00:46:24

most likely actually have a piece

of some of the ruins.

880

: 00:46:28

some.

881

: 00:46:29

This is it.

882

: 00:46:30

Some of my friends visited,

visited the site and grabbed this.

883

: 00:46:33

They grabbed it right off of the ruins

when nobody was looking.

884

: 00:46:36

I mean, is it super fascinating?

885

: 00:46:39

Not not particularly,

but this episode had kind of given me

886

: 00:46:42

a little more interest in it

and, respect for it as well.

887

: 00:46:46

I did ask them to grab it.

888

: 00:46:47

But here here's the thing is,

I feel like I didn't ask them

889

: 00:46:51

to bring me a whole temple.

890

: 00:46:52

I just kind of wanted

I just wanted a little piece of history.

891

: 00:46:55

I like collecting things.

892

: 00:46:56

One of the more intriguing parts of,

893

: 00:46:58

the city is actually called El Caracol,

which I talked about earlier.

894

: 00:47:02

Is that observatory.

895

: 00:47:04

You know, these people were so in love

with stars that they had observatory,

896

: 00:47:07

which is super fascinating

and not surprising.

897

: 00:47:10

But, you know, they had rudimentary

plumbing in some cities,

898

: 00:47:14

but it's still pretty cool nonetheless.

899

: 00:47:15

Sites also featured, the sports ball

arenas that I told you about.

900

: 00:47:19

And then also they had the step pyramids.

901

: 00:47:22

Most notable of these is the, Cuzco Corn

pyramid,

902

: 00:47:26

named after the feathered serpent god,

which features an iconic step design.

903

: 00:47:30

Part of this design actually

casts a shadow that looks like a serpent

904

: 00:47:34

on the side of the pyramid,

around a spring and fall equinoxes, which,

905

: 00:47:38

you know, kind of demonstrates

the Maya's skill at both architecture

906

: 00:47:42

and their understanding

of the celestial universe around them.

907

: 00:47:46

The shadow of the serpent, ascending

or descending the steps of the pyramid

908

: 00:47:49

is visible for a week or so before

and after the equinoxes, so it's not

909

: 00:47:53

as if they have like an exact day down

for this specific type of thing,

910

: 00:47:57

but other buildings lining up

with further away stars and planets

911

: 00:48:00

on specific dates of the year, indicate

that they were able to get fairly close.

912

: 00:48:05

As stated, the city itself

913

: 00:48:06

did grow during

914

: 00:48:07

the Terminal Classic period,

which is different from many other cities.

915

: 00:48:10

Other cities like Maya Pan,

916

: 00:48:11

which is the namesake for the culture

as a whole, had battled with people within

917

: 00:48:16

Chichen Itza, but there no hard evidence

pointing to any decisive victory.

918

: 00:48:21

Chichen Itza is actually kind of unique,

as it held

919

: 00:48:23

many culturally different people

within its limits.

920

: 00:48:26

this is demonstrated by more diverse

architecture and art style.

921

: 00:48:30

Pizza were an ethnic group

within the umbrella of the Maya.

922

: 00:48:34

The name Chichen Itza translates roughly

to at the mouth of the well of the Pizza.

923

: 00:48:40

Chichen Itza is a little easier to.

924

: 00:48:42

The other one's a little wordy

as the site.

925

: 00:48:45

The site is near

a major snow day, so notice,

926

: 00:48:49

we're very much ingrained in the religion

and rituals of the Maya.

927

: 00:48:53

One video I watched,

they described the fact that the mouth

928

: 00:48:56

of these caves, these cenotes,

look like actual mouths.

929

: 00:48:59

Sometimes they have stalactites

and stalagmites

930

: 00:49:02

that look like teeth in their dark,

and the sounds that come from them

931

: 00:49:06

when you know the air

rushing past as you approach can feel

932

: 00:49:10

very much like breathing, especially

if that's your only interaction with them.

933

: 00:49:13

I think people make fun of historical

people and or like how silly I was.

934

: 00:49:17

Silly. Why would they believe that

there's so crazy?

935

: 00:49:20

It's obviously just a cave, bro.

936

: 00:49:22

You know? Or like whatever

the thing might be.

937

: 00:49:24

But like considering how they had

basically no information on a topic

938

: 00:49:28

unless they or someone else

had showed them or taught them about it.

939

: 00:49:32

There's no wonder why

940

: 00:49:33

there's so many like, deities

to think about on a daily basis.

941

: 00:49:36

Mentioned Maya Pan, which, event

which became one of the larger cities

942

: 00:49:41

following the slight decline of Chichen

Itza Maya

943

: 00:49:43

and possibly grew from some traditional

Maya people, feeling

944

: 00:49:47

that the cultural assimilation

within Chichen Itza was too, too much,

945

: 00:49:50

and they wanted to return

to some more Maya centric city.

946

: 00:49:54

A little back to the basics, man.

947

: 00:49:56

Sounds a little racist.

948

: 00:49:57

No, I have no idea, but it's it's

fun to be ridiculous like that, right?

949

: 00:50:01

This transition is actually part

of a bigger cultural,

950

: 00:50:03

cultural transition as well.

951

: 00:50:05

The Maya had already begun to rely

952

: 00:50:07

less on rituals, possibly

because they weren't working or because,

953

: 00:50:12

or whatever.

954

: 00:50:13

But either way,

the Maya focus less on religious fealty

955

: 00:50:15

and more on practical

methods of surviving.

956

: 00:50:18

There is an asterix to this,

since they still did pray

957

: 00:50:20

to rain gods, probably

having some sort of drought based PTSD.

958

: 00:50:24

Maybe like like America

after the dust bowls.

959

: 00:50:27

You know, overall,

there was more militarization

960

: 00:50:29

within the Maya cities, warring

more frequently than before.

961

: 00:50:32

There were inclusions of other groups,

such as the Toltec as well,

962

: 00:50:36

which I don't think played a part

in the rise of violence, but I didn't

963

: 00:50:40

know where else to add it in is the post

Classic period, which began around

964

: 00:50:44

950 C.E., saw the last length of the Maya

before the Spanish arrival.

965

: 00:50:49

this period is not as easily studied

966

: 00:50:53

and there's not as much information on it

either.

967

: 00:50:55

I can't help

968

: 00:50:56

feel like it relates to the arrival of

969

: 00:50:58

Spanish in their pressure to suppress

indigenous cultures, like a lot of,

970

: 00:51:02

a lot of the things that they were doing

at that time demolished, but like ruins

971

: 00:51:06

that weren't really inhabited

at that time, that were inhabited

972

: 00:51:10

a couple hundred years

ago. Still around. Right?

973

: 00:51:13

Either way, the Post Classic period

974

: 00:51:14

showed more abandonment

of some of the longer lasting cities.

975

: 00:51:18

I mentioned the one earlier.

976

: 00:51:19

Come now, all the way back.

977

: 00:51:23

Common knowledge area.

978

: 00:51:24

I think I think that's pretty close,

which had been occupied

979

: 00:51:28

for over 2000 years at that point.

980

: 00:51:30

Larger

theme could be that many of these cities

981

: 00:51:32

found themselves susceptible to attacks

and an increase in occupation of cities

982

: 00:51:36

that were located on hilltops

983

: 00:51:38

or coastline, which needed only, you know,

one lane of events were more preferred.

984

: 00:51:42

Wasn't too long before other cities

like Maya Pan were abandoned by,

985

: 00:51:46

you know, around 1450, shortly after this

first contact with Spanish occurred,

986

: 00:51:51

known as contact period,

beginning in the: 1511

987

: 00:51:54

when the first explorers

wrecked off the Yucatan coast,

988

: 00:51:57

where most of the survivors

probably ended up captured and sacrificed.

989

: 00:52:01

I mentioned, you know, they would

sacrifice their military opponents.

990

: 00:52:06

So make sense?

991

: 00:52:06

The reclusive nature of the Maya

at this point actually

992

: 00:52:09

probably saved them from a faster fate

that the Aztecs received,

993

: 00:52:13

which, you know, kind of summarize

because they deserve their own episode.

994

: 00:52:16

But while that the Maya

had initial contact with their cities

995

: 00:52:20

on the Yucatan Peninsula,

996

: 00:52:21

you know, which was an excellent

landing point for the Spanish coming from

997

: 00:52:25

the previously discovered Carib Caribbean

islands, they were super spread out,

998

: 00:52:29

not connected by their, you know,

overarching government and harder

999

: 00:52:33

to maintain power over

because you might take over one city,

: 1000

00:52:38,188 --> 00:52:41,892

but another city has no real connection

to that other than trade.

: 1001

00:52:42,292 --> 00:52:45,695

The Aztec, on the other hand,

were a solid government centralized power.

: 1002

00:52:45,695 --> 00:52:49,466

Because of this, when their capital fell

to the Spanish, more accurately,

: 1003

00:52:49,466 --> 00:52:54,104

when their leader invited the Spanish in

and gave them instant access to help their

: 1004

00:52:54,671 --> 00:52:58,241

instant access to their interior,

which further helped the Spanish

: 1005

00:52:58,241 --> 00:53:00,877

infiltrate

and recognize the weakness within,

: 1006

00:53:00,877 --> 00:53:01,878

but more importantly,

: 1007

00:53:01,878 --> 00:53:05,682

brought the European diseases

directly into the heart of the largest

: 1008

00:53:06,016 --> 00:53:09,753

and wealthiest cities in Mesoamerica,

a city which traded with other

: 1009

00:53:09,753 --> 00:53:11,288

indigenous people around the area.

: 1010

00:53:11,288 --> 00:53:14,291

You know, a lot of the issues

surrounding the the,

: 1011

00:53:14,291 --> 00:53:17,427

narrative of the Spanish conquest relies

on first hand testimony

: 1012

00:53:17,427 --> 00:53:20,997

of the conquistadors themselves,

who often embellish their stories

: 1013

00:53:20,997 --> 00:53:22,899

to make themselves

look better than they did.

: 1014

00:53:22,899 --> 00:53:26,102

The main thing I want people to know

about the Spanish is that

: 1015

00:53:26,102 --> 00:53:29,839

these were not even trained military men,

like there was probably some,

: 1016

00:53:29,839 --> 00:53:33,009

but they were the equivalent

of like contracted explorers

: 1017

00:53:33,009 --> 00:53:35,445

as Spain kept their real soldiers

near the homeland.

: 1018

00:53:35,445 --> 00:53:38,248

You know, you might need those closer

to England case.

: 1019

00:53:38,248 --> 00:53:41,484

Things get crazy,

or the Portuguese probably didn't.

: 1020

00:53:41,484 --> 00:53:43,019

Portuguese.

: 1021

00:53:43,019 --> 00:53:47,791

so these men, some of whom had military

experience but not all, were outnumbered.

: 1022

00:53:47,791 --> 00:53:51,962

And while they did have superior armor,

we know that from the Magellan episode

: 1023

00:53:52,028 --> 00:53:56,266

that does not automatically qualify

us being superior fighting ability.

: 1024

00:53:56,299 --> 00:53:59,169

We also know that, diseases,

including smallpox,

: 1025

00:53:59,169 --> 00:54:02,439

had reached the highlands faster

than the Spanish conquistadors.

: 1026

00:54:02,439 --> 00:54:03,206

Despite this,

: 1027

00:54:03,206 --> 00:54:07,077

by the time the Spanish top of the Aztec

and set their sights on the Maya,

: 1028

00:54:07,077 --> 00:54:11,114

the diseases were already wiping out

the indigenous population all over.

: 1029

00:54:11,181 --> 00:54:15,352

Still, the Maya fought on and actually

put up like a really, really good fight.

: 1030

00:54:15,986 --> 00:54:18,588

I mean, first contact: 1511

: 1031

00:54:18,588 --> 00:54:20,991

and it wouldn't be till almost

: 1032

00:54:20,991 --> 00:54:24,261

so the: 1700

when they actually, like, relented

: 1033

00:54:24,327 --> 00:54:29,966

and even still like there was anyway,

other indigenous people use the Spanish

: 1034

00:54:29,966 --> 00:54:33,303

as lust for gold as a tool

to help eliminate their opponents,

: 1035

00:54:33,303 --> 00:54:35,272

which definitely didn't make any things

better.

: 1036

00:54:35,272 --> 00:54:36,539

But, you know, things like that

: 1037

00:54:36,539 --> 00:54:40,343

make me curious if the indigenous people

had, like, banded together

: 1038

00:54:40,343 --> 00:54:44,714

instead of being so divisive, like,

what would have the outcome have been?

: 1039

00:54:44,714 --> 00:54:47,851

Eventually the Spanish

would have probably used more force

: 1040

00:54:47,851 --> 00:54:49,052

sending more and more people.

: 1041

00:54:49,052 --> 00:54:50,787

But like those trips take time

: 1042

00:54:50,787 --> 00:54:54,391

and they could have only sent

like 50 to 75 guys at a time.

: 1043

00:54:54,391 --> 00:54:58,261

I don't know, an alternate

history is super fun topic to think about,

: 1044

00:54:58,261 --> 00:55:01,631

but either way, the Spanish began

to settle in the region and further push

: 1045

00:55:01,631 --> 00:55:05,769

towards the upper Yucatan

and in the late 16th century,

: 1046

00:55:05,835 --> 00:55:11,341

like: 1697

when the last Maya city state of Egypt,

: 1047

00:55:12,375 --> 00:55:15,812

Najib P10 located in the P10 basin,

: 1048

00:55:15,845 --> 00:55:16,613

essentially

: 1049

00:55:16,613 --> 00:55:20,583

the innermost section of the Yucatan

like real main body of the Yucatan,

: 1050

00:55:20,583 --> 00:55:23,953

I assume partly because they were so rural

and isolated in the forest,

: 1051

00:55:23,953 --> 00:55:26,323

is why it took Spanish

so long to locate it.

: 1052

00:55:26,323 --> 00:55:30,627

But also like,

you know, ferocity had to been a factor

: 1053

00:55:30,627 --> 00:55:35,365

that the Maya city did fall of,

even however hard they fought.

: 1054

00:55:35,365 --> 00:55:37,033

And then the Maya disappeared forever.

: 1055

00:55:37,033 --> 00:55:39,736

Right? Remaining mysterious,

we all wonder what happened.

: 1056

00:55:39,736 --> 00:55:43,239

This once great civilization. Not.

Not now.

: 1057

00:55:43,239 --> 00:55:45,608

I don't understand

why people like to say they.

: 1058

00:55:45,608 --> 00:55:47,644

That they are such a forgotten people.

: 1059

00:55:47,644 --> 00:55:51,881

There are an estimated 15 million genetic

Maya people living today.

: 1060

00:55:51,981 --> 00:55:55,418

Not a super massive number,

but still nothing like no slouch.

: 1061

00:55:55,518 --> 00:55:58,621

They definitely endure many issues

and lack of recognition

: 1062

00:55:58,621 --> 00:56:01,191

by governments of Central America,

but they do exist.

: 1063

00:56:01,191 --> 00:56:03,026

And they don't just live in

small villages.

: 1064

00:56:03,026 --> 00:56:06,863

They're not like the Mesoamerican version

of like the people in the Seminole Island

: 1065

00:56:06,863 --> 00:56:07,430

or something

: 1066

00:56:07,430 --> 00:56:12,402

like they have their cultural centers

where they do like, live authentically.

: 1067

00:56:13,069 --> 00:56:17,140

but the Maya definitely faced,

like the full brunt of Spanish,

: 1068

00:56:17,140 --> 00:56:22,145

like the witch in the remote villages

that they were found in.

: 1069

00:56:22,145 --> 00:56:25,815

I guess they were subjugate,

they were subjected to harsh treatment

: 1070

00:56:25,815 --> 00:56:30,320

in the name of the conversion, you know,

to Catholicism, victims of annatto, to fe.

: 1071

00:56:30,320 --> 00:56:33,823

Like I mentioned, you know, convert

or die, we're going to burn all your,

: 1072

00:56:33,823 --> 00:56:37,527

you know, your personal ethnic

like things.

: 1073

00:56:37,527 --> 00:56:38,762

Forget your culture.

: 1074

00:56:38,762 --> 00:56:43,199

You're assimilating other indigenous

cultures face the same, treatment.

: 1075

00:56:43,199 --> 00:56:44,567

All of them were either,

: 1076

00:56:44,567 --> 00:56:46,669

you know, forced to assimilate

under Spanish rule

: 1077

00:56:46,669 --> 00:56:50,240

or subjugated to slavery

while millions of the population died off

: 1078

00:56:50,240 --> 00:56:53,543

thanks to the disease

or the treatment themselves.

: 1079

00:56:53,543 --> 00:56:56,479

Biological warfare

wreaked havoc on the population,

: 1080

00:56:56,479 --> 00:56:59,115

but there's no way to know

exactly how bad it was.

: 1081

00:56:59,115 --> 00:57:02,786

Estimates range from 70

to 90% of the population affected, which,

: 1082

00:57:02,819 --> 00:57:06,623

you know, would have killed off

tens of hundreds of millions, maybe more.

: 1083

00:57:06,623 --> 00:57:09,926

You know, it's it's hard to tell

what the actual original population

: 1084

00:57:09,926 --> 00:57:10,727

was, but still,

: 1085

00:57:10,727 --> 00:57:11,928

it was actually partially due

: 1086

00:57:11,928 --> 00:57:15,231

to this fact that these indigenous slaves

were dying off.

: 1087

00:57:15,231 --> 00:57:19,736

That fueled the transatlantic slave trade

to give an influx of free labor

: 1088

00:57:19,736 --> 00:57:23,239

for the lazy settlers and greedy countries

looking to make fast cash

: 1089

00:57:23,239 --> 00:57:26,876

off the New World, Maya cities

return to the jungle, becoming overgrown

: 1090

00:57:26,876 --> 00:57:28,144

and ignored largely

: 1091

00:57:28,144 --> 00:57:31,981

until the 19th century, when explorer

exploration and history became

: 1092

00:57:31,981 --> 00:57:36,052

a bigger interest of the wealthy American

and European citizens.

: 1093

00:57:36,085 --> 00:57:39,255

Two men are responsible

for a larger increase of interest

: 1094

00:57:39,255 --> 00:57:41,991

in the Mesoamerican culture,

specifically the Maya.

: 1095

00:57:41,991 --> 00:57:46,229

John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick

Cather Catherwood explore Maya

: 1096

00:57:46,262 --> 00:57:47,430

as sites, Catherwood

: 1097

00:57:47,430 --> 00:57:51,334

providing illustrations of these places

which are honestly pretty, pretty sick.

: 1098

00:57:51,334 --> 00:57:55,104

John makes kind of want

to, work on my still life and landscape

: 1099

00:57:55,104 --> 00:57:55,905

skill a little bit.

: 1100

00:57:55,905 --> 00:57:58,675

These drawings and the writings of Stevens

inspired many people

: 1101

00:57:58,675 --> 00:58:01,878

to search out these ruins and learn

more about the forgotten culture.

: 1102

00:58:01,878 --> 00:58:06,282

So, so that's that's kind of the history

of the Maya people as far as timelines go.

: 1103

00:58:06,282 --> 00:58:08,318

So that is the history of the Maya people.

: 1104

00:58:08,318 --> 00:58:11,421

As far as timelines

go, there's plenty more information

: 1105

00:58:11,421 --> 00:58:13,189

about the Maya to go through,

but I will leave you

: 1106

00:58:13,189 --> 00:58:16,926

with some more interesting aspects

in this little summary here that,

: 1107

00:58:16,926 --> 00:58:19,195

you know,

they invented the spherical ball game,

: 1108

00:58:19,195 --> 00:58:22,599

which was played without using feet

or hands that I mentioned.

: 1109

00:58:22,899 --> 00:58:26,202

this game, intense,

used to settle disputes.

: 1110

00:58:26,469 --> 00:58:30,273

some cases a player from the losing team

would get sacrificed.

: 1111

00:58:30,273 --> 00:58:32,242

So that's pretty hardcore.

I don't know if they like

: 1112

00:58:33,810 --> 00:58:36,813

if, like, Tom Brady was still playing

and they're like,

: 1113

00:58:36,813 --> 00:58:40,116

all right, well Tom Brady lost

and they just executed.

: 1114

00:58:40,817 --> 00:58:41,751

That'd be crazy.

: 1115

00:58:41,751 --> 00:58:46,055

when the Maya did fight, they,

incorporated some interesting weapons

: 1116

00:58:46,322 --> 00:58:47,857

like that of the Hornet bomb.

: 1117

00:58:47,857 --> 00:58:49,392

That's exactly what it sounds like.

: 1118

00:58:49,392 --> 00:58:50,493

They threw a hornet's nest

: 1119

00:58:50,493 --> 00:58:54,264

at their enemies, which is hilarious

and evil like, super useful.

: 1120

00:58:54,330 --> 00:58:55,231

I also want, again,

: 1121

00:58:55,231 --> 00:58:57,567

to call your attention

to the level of engineering

: 1122

00:58:57,567 --> 00:58:59,936

for being essentially

a Stone age civilization.

: 1123

00:58:59,936 --> 00:59:03,840

They were able to craft magnets for neck

magnificence and structures, incredibly

: 1124

00:59:03,840 --> 00:59:07,644

well designed systems of early plumbing,

and they informed incredibly

: 1125

00:59:07,644 --> 00:59:09,112

well until they didn't.

: 1126

00:59:09,112 --> 00:59:11,614

I guess they just mold themselves

in the end.

: 1127

00:59:11,614 --> 00:59:15,685

But, they're adorning of jade

and obsidian, as well as ceramic

: 1128

00:59:15,685 --> 00:59:19,322

and natural gems from the region

made their outfits look pretty badass.

: 1129

00:59:19,322 --> 00:59:21,324

They had the handsome staff look it up.

: 1130

00:59:21,324 --> 00:59:23,860

Look, look up some ancient Maya clothing.

: 1131

00:59:23,860 --> 00:59:25,028

They had it figured out.

: 1132

00:59:25,028 --> 00:59:28,231

I also want to point out some pop culture

representations of the Maya.

: 1133

00:59:28,531 --> 00:59:30,400

Starting off with a misguided attempt.

: 1134

00:59:30,400 --> 00:59:34,637

Mel's with Mel Gibson's Apocalypto

take takes place during the beginning

: 1135

00:59:34,637 --> 00:59:37,774

of the fall of their civilization

and early contact.

: 1136

00:59:37,774 --> 00:59:42,345

The depictions of the people are done

in a relatively accurate manner, kind of,

: 1137

00:59:42,345 --> 00:59:45,315

but it blends a lot of Aztec

imagery and incorporates

: 1138

00:59:45,315 --> 00:59:47,617

a lot of their sacrificial methods

as well.

: 1139

00:59:47,617 --> 00:59:48,451

More recently,

: 1140

00:59:48,451 --> 00:59:52,589

we have, the character of Namor

in Black Panther two Wakanda Forever

: 1141

00:59:52,655 --> 00:59:57,460

goes by his native name, Coco Khan,

who is the feather serpent, right?

: 1142

00:59:57,527 --> 01:00:01,064

I mentioned earlier name War

also speaks Yucatan Mayan.

: 1143

01:00:01,064 --> 01:00:03,066

So that's pretty cool.

: 1144

01:00:03,066 --> 01:00:06,869

also not really recognized as Maya,

: 1145

01:00:06,869 --> 01:00:11,407

but in Star

Wars, the, the Yavin four base,

: 1146

01:00:12,542 --> 01:00:13,743

there's Mayan ruins.

: 1147

01:00:13,743 --> 01:00:16,512

Like, that's what

that's the ruins at there in the shot.

: 1148

01:00:16,512 --> 01:00:19,315

It's Maya temples sticking up over the.

: 1149

01:00:19,315 --> 01:00:20,416

I'll put the picture.

: 1150

01:00:20,416 --> 01:00:23,319

It's fine, but those are

the ones that I've seen myself.

: 1151

01:00:23,319 --> 01:00:25,355

I mean, I'm, I'm assuming there's more.

: 1152

01:00:25,355 --> 01:00:27,690

So I'm going to be looking out

for some good movies that, you know,

: 1153

01:00:27,690 --> 01:00:29,792

represent the Mesoamerican people

in a good way.

: 1154

01:00:29,792 --> 01:00:33,896

I feel like, might be might be fun

to watch with all this newfound knowledge

: 1155

01:00:33,896 --> 01:00:36,132

or might just be like

when I watch military movie

: 1156

01:00:36,132 --> 01:00:37,867

and point out all the inconsistencies.

: 1157

01:00:37,867 --> 01:00:40,770

I try not to do that,

but sometimes I can't help but notice.

: 1158

01:00:40,770 --> 01:00:42,271

You know, let me know if you have any,

: 1159

01:00:42,271 --> 01:00:45,541

if you seen any of these

or what genuinely learned,

: 1160

01:00:45,842 --> 01:00:48,378

like what

you genuinely learned from this episode,

: 1161

01:00:48,378 --> 01:00:50,546

I want to know

if I made this interesting at all.

: 1162

01:00:50,546 --> 01:00:52,382

I feel like that was a lot of information.

: 1163

01:00:53,916 --> 01:00:55,652

but it is super interesting.

: 1164

01:00:55,652 --> 01:00:59,756

I mean, the, the timeline of the Mayan,

like how how well

: 1165

01:00:59,956 --> 01:01:04,460

they succeed did when they did,

I think is super impressive.

: 1166

01:01:04,460 --> 01:01:08,431

I think that the way that they built

I like that they like,

: 1167

01:01:08,431 --> 01:01:09,899

use their hieroglyphics

: 1168

01:01:09,899 --> 01:01:13,636

in such a way where it was like,

we're dating buildings as we build them.

: 1169

01:01:13,636 --> 01:01:15,471

Like, that's that's pretty badass.

: 1170

01:01:15,471 --> 01:01:18,508

I mean, I mean, just because, like,

we had to date

: 1171

01:01:18,508 --> 01:01:21,511

castles and ancient ruins

: 1172

01:01:21,577 --> 01:01:24,814

and other places and they're like,

this is when we made it right here.

: 1173

01:01:24,847 --> 01:01:26,482

Check it out. Super handy.

: 1174

01:01:26,482 --> 01:01:30,086

it's probably

because the aliens told them to, you know.

: 1175

01:01:30,119 --> 01:01:35,925

Hey, like, hey, there's going to be

some confused guy in his

: 1176

01:01:36,592 --> 01:01:39,896

in his two bedroom apartment

doing research on you guys,

: 1177

01:01:39,896 --> 01:01:42,298

and he's going to really need to know

when he dated these.

: 1178

01:01:42,298 --> 01:01:43,833

When when they built them.

: 1179

01:01:43,833 --> 01:01:46,469

anyway, I hope you enjoyed this episode.

: 1180

01:01:46,469 --> 01:01:51,074

I think this is a good episode

to kind of return to form with.

: 1181

01:01:51,074 --> 01:01:53,242

I, you know,

I do have some pretty exciting ideas

: 1182

01:01:53,242 --> 01:01:56,145

coming down the pipe,

but I also, you know, want your input.

: 1183

01:01:56,145 --> 01:01:58,614

What topics

would you like to know more about?

: 1184

01:01:58,614 --> 01:02:02,051

What types of ideas

have you enjoyed so far?

: 1185

01:02:02,051 --> 01:02:06,322

Do you like these timeline

based topic episodes, or do you like when?

: 1186

01:02:06,322 --> 01:02:09,459

I do like group episodes

where I discuss a few different stories

: 1187

01:02:09,459 --> 01:02:12,662

with an overarching theme,

like what kind of things do you enjoy?

: 1188

01:02:12,662 --> 01:02:16,532

You know, I I'm putting out this podcast

because I enjoy history,

: 1189

01:02:16,532 --> 01:02:19,435

but I also, you know,

I enjoy it from my perspective.

: 1190

01:02:19,435 --> 01:02:20,570

I want to have

: 1191

01:02:20,570 --> 01:02:24,540

a little more of a community thing going

on, so let me know in the comments.

: 1192

01:02:24,540 --> 01:02:27,610

Facebook Instagram,

comment on the YouTube video

: 1193

01:02:27,643 --> 01:02:29,579

and share us wherever possible.

: 1194

01:02:29,579 --> 01:02:33,649

Also want to shout out to my friends

The Makeup Emporium, the Real Creature

: 1195

01:02:33,649 --> 01:02:37,053

feature Dark Windows Podcast,

and of course, West of Nowhere.

: 1196

01:02:37,053 --> 01:02:39,922

Don't forget to click

all of the links in the description.

: 1197

01:02:39,922 --> 01:02:43,493

Find out all things related to the show,

including merch store.

: 1198

01:02:43,493 --> 01:02:46,429

You know I'm wearing

where my NASA shirt right now.

: 1199

01:02:47,630 --> 01:02:49,532

but that's all I have for you today.

: 1200

01:02:49,532 --> 01:02:52,668

Thank you

and I will see you guys next time. Bye.