Among the many archaeological sites of the Mexican Yucatan associated with Mayan culture, the ancient city of Kaba is almost lost. And if the route of our expedition in 2007 did not run directly through this city (the highway passes directly through the territory of the complex), then we most likely would not have looked here.
Since we were looking for traces of the use of highly developed technologies in antiquity, and in Kaba they were not even close, this ancient town actually disappointed us. But among the many pyramids and palaces, there was one element that caught the eye - statues that adorned the walls of buildings. Several of them remained in their places, and one statue is now located a little to the side under a canopy for a better view by tourists and is cleared of black erosion plaque.
Statues for Mayan cities are not uncommon. The somewhat terrifying appearance of the statues too. Neither one nor the other is surprising. But the strange shape of the hands of these statues is striking. For some reason, the hands are made round. And the fingers are spaced so that they more resemble the mechanical manipulators of some kind of robot.
It is possible that such a strange shape of the hands of the statues is just the result of stylization, the interpretation of the sculptor-mason who created them. The flight of the artist's imagination and the manner of his presentation quite often defy simple linear logic.
But according to the sometimes strange associative logic of a techie, a comparison of these statues with one of the descriptions of the god Tezcatlipoca in local legends pops up in my head. In one of his terrible images, Tezcatlipoca appears headless and with two doors on his chest, which opened and closed with the sound of an ax on a tree. Well, why isn't this a description of a robot? …
The manipulating arms of the statue in Kaba.
Could not do everything personally, but shift part of their work to robots?.. Could.
And how could the Maya Indians, far from technological heights, describe and imagine a mechanical robot if they faced it in reality?.. Tezcatlipoca with manipulators instead of hands would be quite suitable for this.
Promotional video:
And maybe it is not at all accidental that it was in Kaba that the inscription with the largest known date - 2021 years old - was found. A date that was unnecessary for the Indians, but which representatives of the civilization of the gods could easily operate …
ANDREY SKLYAROV