The entire history associated with the emergence, development and death of the Mayan civilization is shrouded in mystery. Science managed to discover only the smallest part of the Mayan secrets. Most often, researchers could hear the statement that the secrets of the Maya are just a myth. But is it?!
The Maya left behind unique monuments of art and architecture, astronomical and mathematical knowledge. It is mistakenly believed that the Mayan civilization died out - until now, about 3 million Mayan descendants live in Mexico and have managed to preserve the traditions of their ancestors.
According to historians, presumably in the second millennium BC, the predecessors of the Maya appeared on the territory of Central America. We can assume that they came from the north, where then there was a very powerful and ancient civilization. Information about her is found in the Mayan calendars.
Maya, in its development, went through several stages - from inception and dawn, to decline and disappearance. The stage of decline dates back to 900 AD. It is characterized by abandoned and crumbling cities and centers of religious culture, as well as abandoned objects used for astronomical observations. Today, all the buildings of the Maya are practically destroyed, and many are swallowed up by the jungle.
It was believed that the Maya were a calm and peaceful people, and each city was, relatively, an independent part of the entire state. But, despite the appearance of a single state formation, the Maya often entered into military clashes with each other. Religious centers gathered different tribes under their roofs to support the performance of uniform rites. There were many rituals - from human sacrifices to ball games (analogous to modern football). All tribes communicated among themselves in a common language, and this also served the purpose of maintaining the appearance of a single civilization.
The priests were the Mayan intellectual elite. It was believed that the priests, along with the rulers, took responsibility for everything that happened in the country. The priests were considered the keepers of the innermost knowledge of the ancient civilization. According to the surviving chronicles, the high priest “appointed priests in the villages when there was a need for it, testing them in the sciences and ceremonies, and entrusted them with affairs according to their position, obliging them to be a good example for the people, supplying them with books and sending them to the places. And these priests were engaged in serving in temples and teaching their sciences, as well as writing religious books. They gave their students knowledge about the following things: chronology, festivals and ceremonies, administration of sacraments, about unhappy days and cycles, ways of predicting them, prophecies, memorable events, medicines for various diseases, ancient monuments, about howhow to read and write their hieroglyphs and drawings”. One of the important duties of the priest was the need to indicate to the population the timing of agricultural work.
According to the historian who devoted his life to the study of this mysterious ancient civilization V. I. Gulyaeva: “For two months of work, the Mayan farmer of the classical period produced such an amount of food that covered all the needs of his family for a year, as well as taxes and tributes paid by the community to the ruling caste. The rest of the time he spent on all sorts of household chores and crafts, hunting and serving labor service in the construction of temples, palaces and other public buildings."
This is what the Russian scientist N. I. Vavilov, who visited the Mayan land: "The absence of farm animals forced man to limit the sowing area to small plots, work carefully on small plots, develop peculiar skills for caring for plants … Many varieties of corn, beans, papaya, fruit and cotton have reached great perfection here."
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Today, one of the versions of the cause of the death of civilization is supposed to be a sharp change in the climate in the Mayan territories. Thus, excavations show that at the end of the first millennium, a prolonged drought occurred. In addition, the depletion of the soil led to the fact that the local population could not survive by growing traditional crops (fruits, cotton, beans, cocoa, maize). So, the possibilities of modern research methods made it possible to understand that during the collapse of the Mayan civilization, the upper soil horizons of the Mayan agricultural lands significantly weakened. This was the result of slash-and-fire farming, which the local residents adhered to. With a period of 10-12 years, the vegetation on the site was completely burned out. The soil did not have time to restore the necessary balance and was gradually depleted. As a result, crop failures, famine, and Mayan extinction. The priests' references to the solution of divine forces in natural disasters only intensified social conflicts - riots broke out, seemingly unshakable faith in the priests was lost. The Maya people accused the priesthood of not caring for the population, hiding knowledge, which they believed to be the custodians. The priests were expelled or destroyed, and this turned out to be another terrible side of the disaster - there was no one to keep a calendar and set the dates for agricultural work. The entire economic system of the Maya collapsed.and this turned out to be another terrible side of the disaster - there was no one to keep a calendar and set the dates for agricultural work. The entire economic system of the Maya collapsed.and this turned out to be another terrible side of the disaster - there was no one to keep a calendar and set the dates for agricultural work. The entire economic system of the Maya collapsed.
Among other things, it should be noted that the Europeans of the Middle Ages made every effort to colonize new lands. They did not stop at the brutal suppression of the protest of the local population, or even their complete or partial extermination. The behavior of Europeans towards the Maya was no exception.
So who triggered the collapse of the Mayan civilization: a climate catastrophe, conflicts between tribes, or aliens from Europe? It is possible that the reason was a whole complex of conditions created then.
In the 15th century, another European expedition under the command of Juan Grijalva arrived in the Maya - 240 people arrived on four ships, most of whom were soldiers. The Europeans managed to establish good relations with the local population, they were even able to establish an exchange of goods with them: the Europeans paid for food products made of low-grade gold. Locals, pointing to the west and repeating the word "Mexico City", made it clear to the aliens that they have a lot of gold.
The emperor of Mexico, Montezuma, did not interfere with the travel of the arriving Europeans through the Mayan territory. The conquistadors, despite the fact that they themselves annexed new colonies with fire and sword, were shocked by the numerous bloody altars and the sight of terrible idols worshiped by the Maya. They attended the cruel rites of human sacrifice. Here is what one of the expedition members wrote: “On that day they sacrificed two boys, cut open their breasts and put their bloody hearts as a gift to their filthy god. They wanted to fumigate us, but we were not given. We were really shocked by the sight of the boys so cruelly slaughtered."
The expedition was quite successful - a huge cargo of Mayan gold was brought to Europe. This greatly inflamed passions around the rich lands of the American continent. The time has come for the conquest and at the same time the destruction of the Mayan and Aztec empires.
However, however, researchers are haunted by the question - why so easily collapsed the great civilization of the New World, which is in the period of its power and prosperity? It is unlikely that small detachments of conquistadors could cause such significant damage. After all, the Maya were not the wild descendants of the great ancestors. The Maya were amazing people. Without any astronomical instruments, they managed to create the most accurate ancient calendar, invented hieroglyphic writing, were the first to introduce the concept of zero in mathematics, built stunning architectural structures, and left samples of original painting.
The Maya managed to survive the five hundred years of Spanish occupation, preserving their heritage, culture, traditions and way of life. This heritage of the ancestors is carefully preserved by the descendants of the great Maya.
The history of the flourishing and death of an ancient civilization once again confirms that the interaction of social, environmental, intellectual and economic factors can both raise a civilization to the top of development and cause its collapse. And at what stage is our civilization today?