When Maya disappeared. Sunrise and disappearance of Maya civilization
Moscow, Jan 24 - RIA Novosti. Excavations in the ancient city of Saibal on the territory of Guatemala helped scientists find new hints to the fact that the Maja Indian Civication was killed not only with sharp climate change, but also military conflicts between cities - states, the article published in the PNAS magazine.
"We found that both cases of the disappearance of Maya civilizations in the classical and reports were similar to the way. They did not just disappear into one moment - this disappearance went on the waves. At first, these waves were small and they were associated with war and political instability, and then occurred. Total Collapse, during which major settlements of Maya were abandoned. Then they settled, and then re-disappeared, "says Takeshi Inomata (Takeshi Inomata) from Arizona University in Tucson (USA).
Double end of the world
The Mayan Indian Civilization existed several millennia, leaving behind the many "dead cities" and cultural monuments on the Yucatan Peninsula, disappearing from the face of the earth about the ninth century of our era, when most Maya cities were abandoned by their inhabitants. The reasons for this civilization collapse are still subject to disputes among scientists.
Mathematics revealed an unexpected mystery of the disappearance of Maya civilizationOne of the main reasons for the disappearance of Mayan cities could serve as a reservoir and channel systems that helped the Indians survive short drought and aggravated the situation during long periods of lack of water.One of the possible causes of the collapse of this civilization, as a number of archaeologists consider today, could be drought caused by climate change and the overpopulation of Maya cities. Serious confirmations of this theory were found in 2012 during excavations in Tikal, one of the largest cities of Indians, where scientists discovered a complex system of reservoirs and channels, indicating the importance of water in the life of its inhabitants.
Inomata and his colleagues revealed another possible reason for the disappearance of Maya, studying the data collected in the saibal, one of the largest and southern cities of Maya in Central America, which the authors of the article are already digging for more than 10 years.
As scientists tell, the recent excavations in the sabale have shown that the Mayan civilization has experienced not one, but two collaps, one of which occurred about 600-700 years to the complete disappearance of the culture of these Indians. The opening of two "ends of the world" forced archaeologists to compare them among themselves and try to understand whether they were caused by similar causes.
To answer this question, scientists tried to reconstruct how the population of Seibal changed in front of these episodes of the disappearance of civilization, streamingly calculating how many buildings were present in the city in different years of its existence. To get such an answer, the archaeologists had to use the latest technology of radiocarbon dating, allowing calculating dates up to several years.
Political climate
In total, the inomata and his colleagues held 154 such measurements at different points of the year, having received an almost complete picture of how his appearance changed in the past few decades to the classic and report collapse. It turned out that the city ceased to be the center of civilization at all as they presented themselves before historians.
As it turned out, sailed and other Mayan cities were not gradually or suddenly, as supporters of climatic theories, and in stages. As radiocarbon analysis shows, about 130 years before the first disappearance of the Seybal, the city entered the phase of political instability, which was accompanied by a series of military conflicts, attacks on the city and sharp cuts in the population.
For a long time, these periods of decline, as shown by the excavations of younger layers, alternated with short periods of recovery of the city, however, in about 300 years of Era, Seibal was almost completely abandoned, and the city completely disappeared in about 500 of our era.
Similarly, it is interesting, the situation developed before the final disappearance of the Seybal - at the end of the 600 years of our era, the city was anewly populated, and already in 735 he again survived the period of decline related, as scientists consider, with a lost war with the cities of Aguatec and Pilas. After 50 years, when both of these cities were broken by Tikalem, the largest city-state of this era, the sailor is again restored, is experiencing the buildings of the "militarization" of buildings, and finally disappears in the 930th year of our era after the wars started in 889.
All these periods of flourishing and decline of the city, as scientists noted, were primarily related to politics. However, this does not exclude the likelihood that in the launch of all these political events could play a leading role and drought, forced the Mayan rulers to "expand the living space" in search of water and land suitable for agriculture.
The sudden disappearance of Maya, has a special term in historical science, called collapse. This romantic legend originates from the middle of the XIX century, the time of the new discovery of Maya's civilization by American John L. Stephens and the Englishman Frederick Katherswood. Starting from 1838, these researchers are fusing the Jungle of Central America in search of the lost Maya cities. The result of the work was two volumes of adventures written in 1841 and 1843. The authors describe their travels to Yucatan in detail. The books were perfectly illustrated by the boatwood and introduced the image of the people who had disappeared from the face of the earth into the consciousness of people who had disappeared from the face of the earth almost one day. Unfortunately, this myth continues to exist safely in our day.
To understand the mystery of the life and disappearance of Maya, it is necessary to deduct from the established versions arising in the XIX century and consider civilization in the context of the entire history of this territory. Maya belongs to the cultural range, which received the name of mesoameric and stretching from 21 parallels to Costa Rica, which includes central and eastern Mexico, as well as almost the entire territory of Central America, ledgers of theuancepeckeeper to the San Jose region in Costa Rica. The Mayan territory is both in full complimentary in this conglomerate. Thus, the history of Maya is not separable from the history of the development and development of this region. If you snatch it from this geographical and historical context, it appears in front of us mysterious and absolutely inexplicable. It turns out that for her understanding you just need to expand the horizons.
Mesoameric is a large multicultural territory, where over the years have coexisted different nationalities who spoke each in their own language and had every culture. The peculiarity of the meso-American civilization is that it originated from the merge of the nomadic group of National Nasias and the indigenous settled population to which Maya and Otomis belonged. Nagas, who did not have a sedentary habitat, crumbled across all the mesoamer, the local population and mixing with him. Ultimately, nomadic people and served as cement to design a single ethnic identity of this region.
Within 3 centuries, the Mayan culture developed under the shadow of the dominion of Nagas. The conquerors contributed to the flowering of Maya cities, such as Copan, Tikal, Yaksuna, Yaksatun, Tskan, Beckan to such an extent that some modern archaeologists, based on the results of the excavations, believe that the first Mayan rulers actually were immigrants from National National. From 450 g. e. The Mayan culture is experiencing his highest flourishing, gradually it is exempt from the total meso-american influence, discovering more and more new horizons in individual development. But only from the VII century. AD Maya have access to management and power. Within two centuries from 650 to 850. n. e. The so-called technical progress is underway: the pyramids are being built, the places of the cult are being reconstructed, urban streets are expanding, housing is landscaped. Miriada sculptors chairs are trying to capture the sorcers in the rock with their lives, to know the magnificent mausoleums. Ceramics reaches unprecedented perfection. Writing and art develops, however, mainly, only representatives of power. Each city cultivates its, unlike others, architectural style. It seems that cities use all possible means to somehow stand out from the total mass and capture the long-awaited power and the right, called the first among equals. Unfortunately, such a surge of cultural activity led to the cultural distortion. After 850, Maya never succeeded to achieve such a heyday.
This is the first photo of the ruins of Maya buildings. She is obliged to the Frenchman Deeer Charper, who in 1859, together with the hardest photographic equipment, penetrated into the heart of Chichen Itts, abandoned century ago. The image captured Nonnes extension facade, almost completely hidden by the jungle.
The question will be natural: Why Maya, practically assimilated and enslaved by nomadic people, have made a truly unique cultural explosion in 600 g. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the former dynasties of Nasaas fell into decay, and the indigenous population got the opportunity to accept the reinforcement brars? And, indeed, we are seeing that with the VII century. The main cultures and peoples of Central Mexico - Teotihuacan and Monte Alban disappear almost in one generation. The crisis of power or religious, the degeneracy of the dynastic surnames who owns the region for the 18th centuries - maybe all this together and served as the basis of Maya's performance on the first plan in the hierarchy of all the nationalities of this region. Thus, the bipolarity of power (nomads - the settlement population) gradually goes, giving way to the Mayan people, originally lived on these lands. The only time in its history they finally can go beyond their habitat and spread across the entire Central Mexico.
After only 200 years, the panorama changes dramatically. Starting from 850, all construction activity freezes. Stella, with chronological records of events, punctually constructed every 20 years, appear irregularly, and then disappear from everybody.
The last date of the so-called "long-term year period", known to us, was found on Stella from Tonin in Chiapas. It is knocked out on it: 10.4.0.0.0., That in our chores corresponds to 909 AD. Some cities in the lower lands of Central America, in the heart of Guatemalan Pettogen were simply left. What happened? It is from this issue that all incredible legends on the disappearance of Maya are originated.
One of the hypotheses is very fashionable lately due to the issue of global warming, - climatic. She was expressed at the end of the last century Richardson B. Gill. However, it seems to us very controversial. The essence of the hypothesis is that the peoples of Maya comprehected the period of a colossal drought, which continued for a long time. The drought led to a shortage of the most necessary for food, which, in turn, led to great mortality among the population. The author of this theory believes that drought was caused not only by natural reasons, but also appeared the result of people's activities. The indigenous population increased, together with him, for the construction of new cities, the deforestation of the forest increased. Reducing the forest mass and led to a decrease in precipitation in the region, which led to the drought.
Further, the author of the hypothesis believes that Maya from the loop, those who did not die on the spot, most likely went to the north of Yucatan, or south to the upper lands of Guatemala, not so arid, where it was possible to escape from hunger. However, let's figure it out. Do not think that Dovenia America did not know the drought at all and was not ready for them. Surely, it happened that the entire harvest was secure due to lack of moisture. But the social system that established at the time everywhere in Mesoamer attracted this option. That is why barns and attics in many found cities were literally clogged with corn, having a property will remain up to 400 years without any harmful changes. She served as a means of feeding in years of less damage when the main food supply was eaten.
Let's ask yourself a question: is it possible that in Petana Drought lasted for 30 years, not giving the opportunity to collect a single harvest? The hypothesis itself, by the way, is based on the results of work carried out on Lake Yucatan Khdellem's climatol specialists, Kurtis and Brenner. The purpose of the work was to study the evolution of climate over a long period of time. Scientists came to the conclusion that the period from 800 to 1000 years. AD It was superior compared to the past and subsequent. Recall, it's not less that this method is very well applicable to study the dynamics of the climate in the Millennium, however, in our case, he cannot serve as relevant, because his scholars themselves say about it, about the 1st century. It turns out that we cannot say for sure whether drought began in 700, or in 1100 g.
Geographical surveys also contradict the hypothesis of drought, which destroyed Maya civilization. To begin with, we note the fact that the Yucatan Peninsula annually receives a sufficient share of precipitation, approximately 1 m in the area of \u200b\u200bMerida, in the north, 2 m in Flores, in the center and 4 m in the south in Petana. It is 6 times more than the annual rainfall norm in France. The territory of mesoamers is also very different, for example, from deserted and rocky southern coasts, where climatic phenomena, similar to El Niño, seriously affect the population and crops. Based on meteorological data of history and modernity, we can eliminate the period of unprecedented drought with a pure heart, which struck the Mayan civilization in the Middle Ages. Also, if we look at the map of the central and southern part of the Yucatan Peninsula, you will find a rather significant system of rivers on it. Rio Motagua in the southwest, Rio Ucematicinta in the south-east - two sufficiently strong rivers with a lot of tributaries. In the East, from the Caribbean Islands, Rio Hondo and Rio Belize Shipping round yearIn the East, two rivers fall into the Mexican Bay - Rio Candelaria and Rio Smpoton. And, despite the fact that there is no significant river in the north of the semistrov, this is a large karst plateau is washed by a huge amount of groundwater located in various places at a depth of 2 to 75 m below the ground level. All this fresh water is available for use due to numerous failures. earth crustwho received the name "Dzonot" from Maya, which then switched to the Spanish "Cenote", which means "underground lake". All the well-known settlements in the north of Yucatan are in close proximity to such underground lakes. In addition, Maya built a large number of Hydraulic structures: distribution and irrigation canals, yams for drainage, tanks for the preservation of rainwater, so-called pallets, at the bottom of which circular wells or pits in the form of a dome, covered with stones, called "Chultun". Among other things, the north and center of Yucatana include many lakes and lagoon, such as the loop. None of the conducted climax studies has still shown the dryness of all these reservoirs to any time.
Ultimately, the mystery of the disappearance of Maya is scattered in the dust, as soon as we begin to consider the history of this civilization in context historical Development Total peninsula. It seems to us correctly believe that Maya was the victim of the same nomadic people Nameaas, who did not appear on the stage of almost 2 centuries. This time, the conquerors came from Central Mexico, where peoples from the Central Altyplano, known in the history under the name of Toltec, come to power. Tolteci took power from Nagas and created a kind of federal state, swallowing and Nagas and Maya.
Most likely the story developed in two scenarios. Those cities that have submitted a new power without resistance, were not destroyed and then the period of their flaw began again. It so happened in most of the northern Yucatana, the city of Ukcmalowa is chicken IZZ - remained intact, the upper lands in Guatemala were not ruined. However, Maya centers turned out to be destroyed. Most likely it happened because the population did not want to restore nomads again. Initially, the names of the military units Naas appear on Stellah. The commander of sailed, for example, is depicted on Stella with a scroll in his hand, which means that the sculptor equated him to the Mexican "Tlatani" (chief of the city-state). Little Maja glyphs are becoming less and less verbal. The common style of cities is poor. Then the construction of Stell ceases: there are no more Maya rulers, all the actions of which need to be captured for history. The massive outflow of the Maya population from the loop to the north or south of the peninsula begins. According to estimates, only the tenth of the inhabitants decided not to leave the hugged places.
In Kopane (in the photo), as well as in other cities, Stellas were erected at the site of sacrifices. They were knocked out the date and name of the ruler, whom they personified. The last of Stell found in Tonin confirms the remaining of the city by its inhabitants in 909 AD.
Numerous destruction in the cities of Maya are whidden that the new power tried with all their mights to suppress the resistance of the indigenous population, especially this is noticeable in Peter. Migration of civilians always accompanies the military victories of the enemy. Thus, we see that Maya did not disappear overnight from the face of the earth. The symbols of their civilization were destroyed: the pyramids, palaces, stone scrolls, on which were inscribed by Maya conquest. Between 850 and 900 Maya is diligently assimilated by the whole population of mesoamerics, which is controlled now Naas. From this point on, the Mayan people are forced to dissipate and mix with other peoples.
With the arrival in America, the Spaniards of the Earth Maya remains densely populated. According to our estimates, the entire population that spoken in Maya at that time was about 7-8 million people. It was Maja who else resisted the Spanish colliation longer, to such an extent that the city of Taisal, belonging to the pre-columbian period, existed practically in its original form together with the indigenous population until 1697.
: The sunrise and disappearance of the state Maya
Maja is connected one of the numerous secrets. A whole people, which consisted mainly from the inhabitants of cities, suddenly left its good and strong pre-ma, spread out with the streets, squares, temples and palaces and moved to the distant wild north. None of these immigrants returned to the old place. The cities of empty, the jungle broke into the streets, the weed herbs were torn on stairs and steps; In the grooves and grooves, where the wind brought the smallest pieces of the Earth, lined the forest seeds, and they were allowed here growth-ki, destroying the walls. Never have no longer a man's leg of the courtyard, did not rise in the steps of the pyramids.
But maybe all the catastrophe was everything? And again we are forced to ask the same question: Where are the tracks of this catastrophe and what is it, in fact, for a catastrophe that could make the whole people leave their country and their cities and start life in a new place?
Perhaps any terrible epidemic broke out in the country? But we have no data that would testify that only miserable, the weak remnants of the once numerous and strong people were set off in the distant hike. On the contrary, the people who built such cities as Chichen Itza was undoubtedly strong and was in the flourish of their strength.
Maybe finally, the climate suddenly changed in the country, and therefore the further life was made here impossible? But from the center of the ancient kingdom to the center of the new kingdom in direct no more than four hundred kilometers. The change of climate, as, by the way, there is also no data that could have affected the structure of a whole state so sharply, it was unlikely that the area in which Maya moved.
There are many more secrets of an ancient Mayan civilization, maybe over time, many of them will be disclosed, and maybe they will remain secrets.
About 10,000 years ago, when the last ice age ended, people from the north moved to master the southern lands, known now called Latin America. They settled on the territory that was then the Maya region, with mountains and valleys, dense forests and anhydrous plains. The Mayan region includes modern Guatemala, Belize, South Mexico, Honduras, Salvador. Over the next 6000 years, the local population has passed from the semi-bed existence of hunters-gatherers to a more skewed agricultural lifestyle. They learned how to grow corn and beans, with the help of a variety of stone devices crushed the grain and prepared food. Gradually arose villages.
About 1500 BC. e. The ubiquitous construction of agricultural villages began, which served as a signal about the beginning of the so-called "report period", from which the counts of the centuries of the glorious civilization of Maya begins.
"Report-class" (1500 year BC. E.-250 year N. E)
People acquired some agricultural skills, learned how to increase the yield of fields. In the whole region of Maya, the dense settlements of rural type arise. About 1000 years BC e. Cuelo rural residents (in Belize) made clay dishes and buried the dead. Observing the laid ceremonial: in the grave put pieces of green stone and other valuable items. In the art of Maya of this period, the influence of Olmek civilization arising in Mexico on the shore of the bay and established trade relations with all mesoamerics. Some scientists believe that the creation of a hierarchical society and the royal authority Ancient Maya is obliged to Olmek presence in the southern regions of the Mayan region from 900 to 400 BC. e.
The power of Olmekov ended. The growth and prosperity of the southern shopping cities Maya begins. From 300 to n. e. for 250 years e. There are such major centers like Nabe, El Mirador and Tikal. Maya has achieved significant success in scientific knowledge. Used ritual, sunny and lunny calendar. They represent a complex system of interconnected calendars. This system allowed the Mayan Indians to fix the most important historical dates, make astronomical predictions and boldly peeling into such distant times, which even modern specialists in the field of cosmology are not taken to judge. Their calculations and records were based on a flexible account system, which included a symbol for setting a zero, unknown to the ancient Greeks and Romans, and in accuracy of astronomical calculations they exceeded other modern civilizations.
Of all the ancient crops that flourishing in Northern and South America, Only Maya possessed a developed writing system. And it is at this time that the hieroglyphic writing of Maya begins to develop. Mayan hieroglyphs are similar to miniature drawings lined in tiny squares. In fact, these are a few written speech units - one of the five original writing systems created, regardless of another. Some hieroglyphs are a slightest, but most of them are ideograms, denoting phrases, words or parts of words. The hieroglyphs were cut on steles, on perts, on vertical planes of stone stairs, on the walls of tombs, and also wrote on the pages of codes, on the clay dishes. About 800 hieroglyphs have already been read, and scientists with unlawable interest are engaged in decoptering new ones, and also give new interpretation of already known symbols.
In the same period, temples are being built, which are decorated with sculptural images of the gods, and then the rulers of Maya. In the tombs of the rulers of Maya of this period are rich offering.
Early "classic" period (250-600 years n. E.)
By 250, N.E. Tikal and neighboring city Vashaktun become the main cities in the central lowlands in Maya. In Tikal, it was all: and the giant temples-pyramids, and the palace complex, and playgrounds for playing the ball, and the market, and the steam bath.
The Company was divided into the ruling elite and the working worker class, artisans, merchants. Thanks to the excavations, it became known to us that the social bundle in the tikal concerned primarily the dwellings. While simple communities lived in the villages scattered here and there among forests of settlements, the ruling elite received at its disposal more or less clearly defined living space of the Central Acropolis, which by the end of the classical period turned into a real maze from buildings built around six spacious courtyards On the square about 2.5 square kilometers. The buildings consisted of one or two rows of long premises separated by transverse walls to a number of rooms, each room had its own way out. The "Palaces" served as a housing for important persons, in addition, the city administration was probably posted here.
Starting from the III century, the rulers endowed with the highest power erect the temples-pyramids and steles with images and inscriptions, designed to perpetuate their board; The rite of dedication consists of a ritual of blood consumption and human sacrifice. The earliest of the famous steles (dated 292) was found in the tickle, it was delivered in honor of one of the heirs of the ruler of Yash-Mok-Shock, who founded the dynasty at the beginning of the century, which was destined to rule the city of 600 years. In 378, with the ninth ruler from this dynasty - the lapse of the Great Jaguar, Tikal conquered Washaktun. By that time, Tikal is influenced by the tribe of warriors and merchants from the Mexican Center of Teotihuacan, having undergone some methods of warfare.
Late "Classic" period (600-900 years n. Er)
The classical Mayan culture for which the rapid construction of palaces and temples is characterized, in the VII-VIII centuries, it came to a new level of development. Tikal Returns itself to the former glory, but other, no less influential centers appear. In the west of the Maya region flourishes Palenk. With which Pacal rules, who came to power in 615 and buried with the highest honors in 683. The rulers of Palenque were distinguished by a large building zeal and created a large number of temples, palace complexes, a royal tomb and other buildings. But what is most importantly - sculptural images and hieroglyphic inscriptions, which are replete with these facilities, give us an idea that the rulers and obedient people considered the main thing. After studying all the monuments, it seems that during this period some changes in the role occurred, which was given to the ruler, and these changes indirectly indicate the cause of the collapse of such a seemingly prosperous civilization, which was the Mayan civilization in the "classical period".
In addition, in four different places in Palenca Pacal and his heir erected the so-called Tsarist registries - steles with records about the members of the ruling dynasty, tracing her roots up to 431. e. Apparently, these two were very concerned about the proof of their legitimate right to power, and the reason for this was two cases in the history of the city, when the ruler received the law of the prestoliya on the maternal line. So happened to the pacale. Since Maya has the right to the throne usually passed on the paternal line, Pacal and his son were forced to make some adjustments to this rule.
In the VII century, the southeastern city of Copan has gained his fame. Many inscriptions and steles of Copan show that the city for 4 centuries, from the V century N. er, rules one dynasty. Thanks to such stability, the city acquired weight and influence. The founder of the dynasty, the ruler of Yash-Cook-MO (Blue-Ketual-parrot), came to power in 426 N. e. And it can be assumed that his authority was very large, and all subsequent rulers of Copan considered it necessary to conduct the countdown of their royal line. Of the 15 of his royal descendants, the energetic Small Jaguar lived the longest, who climbed the throne in 628 and the ruled 67 years. Great as a great instigator, Smoke-jaguar led the Copan to an unprecedented bloom, expanding his possessions, possibly with the help of territorial wars. Noble people who served with him probably became rulers of conquered cities. During the reign of smoke-jaguar, the number of urban population reached about 10,000 people.
At that time, the war between the cities were the usual phenomenon. Despite the fact that the rulers of cities accounted for each other relatives due to interfalistic marriages, and in culture - art and religion - these cities were a lot in common.
Art continues to develop, artisans are supplied to know various exquisite crafts. The construction of ceremonial buildings and numerous steals, superozing personal merit of rulers continue. However, starting from the VIII century, and especially in the 9th century, the cities of central lowlands come into decay. In 822, the political crisis shook Copan; The last dated inscription in the tickle refers to 869.
"Postclassical" period (900-1500 years n. E.)
The depletion of natural resources, the decline of agriculture, the overpopulation of cities, epidemic, the invasion of outside, social shocks and the incessant wars - all this, both together and individually could have the cause of the Sunset of Maya's civilization in the southern plain regions. By 900 N. e. Construction on this territory ceases, once crowded cities, abandoned by residents, turn into ruins. But the Mayan culture still lives in the northern part of Yucatana. Such beautiful cities like Ushmal, Kabah, Saileil, Labn in the hilly terrain of the PUA, exist until 1000 years.
The historical chronicles of the eve of the Conquists and these archeology clearly indicate that in the 10th century AD The warlike central Mexican tribes - Toltecs invaded Yucatan. But, despite all this in the central region of the peninsula, the population survived and quickly adapted to new living conditions. And a short time, a peculiar syncretic culture appeared, connecting the Mayan and Toltec features. In the history of Yucatan, a new period began, received the name "Mexican" in the scientific literature. Chronologically, its frames fall on the X - XIII century AD.
The center of Chichen Itza becomes the center of this new culture. It is at this time for the city there is a time for prosperity, which is ongoing 200 years. Already by 1200, the building area (28 square kilometers), a majestic architecture and a magnificent sculpture says that this city was the main cultural center of Maya of the last period. New sculptural motifs and architectural details reflect the increased influence of Mexican cultures, mainly Toltec, developed in Central Mexico before Aztec. After a sudden and mysterious fall of Chichen-Itsi, Maudipan becomes the main city in Yucatan. Yucatanian Maya, apparently, was among themselves more cruel war compared to those that were conducted by their fellows in the south. Although detailed descriptions There are no specific battles, it is known that the wars from Chichen-Itsi fought against the warriors from Ushmal and the carobes, and later Majapan's people attacked Chichen ICU and plundered her.
According to scientists, the influence of other peoples involved in the territory of Maya affected the behavior of the northerners. It is possible that the invasion occurred peacefully, although this is not enough. For example, Episcopa de Landa had information about some people who came from the West, which Maya called "ICA". These people, as the remaining descendants of Maya Bishop de Lande, attacked Chichen Izu and captured her. After a sudden and mysterious fall of Chichen-Itsi, Maudipan becomes the main city in Yucatan.
If the development of Chichen-Itsi and Ushmal repeats other Mayan cities, then Mayanpan in this case was pretty different from general scheme. Mayan, an obscured by the wall, was a city of chaotic building. In addition, there were no huge temples. The main Pyramid of Mayapana was not a very good copy of the Pyramid of El Castillo in Chichen-Ice. The population in the city reached 12 thousand people. Scientists assume that in Mayapan there was a rather high level of economy, and that the Mayan society gradually moved to business relationships, paying less attention to the ancient gods.
250 years in Mayapana Rules of the Koks dynasty. They retained the power by holding their potential enemies hostage for the high walls of the city. An even more strengthened their positions of the koky, when they took to their service a whole army of mercenaries from Ah-Kanulu (Mexican State of Tabasco), whose devotion was purchased by military prey. The daily life of the dynasty is mostly engaged in passionateness, dancing, feirs and hunting.
In 1441, Majapan fell as a result of a bloody uprising raised by the leaders of neighboring cities, the city was looted and burned.
The fall of Majapana sounded a funeral ringing over the entire Maya civilization, rising from the jungle of Central America to an unprecedented height and the ever for oblivion. Mayanu was the last city in Yucatan, who was able to subjugate other cities. After its fall, the Confederation broke up on 16 competing mini-states, each of which struggled for the territorial advantages by the forces of his own army. In the constantly involved wars of the city were subjected to raids: they captured mainly young men in order to replenish them the army or bring them sacrificing, the fields were set fire to force the farmers to obey. In continuous wars, architecture and art were left asleep.
Shortly after the fall of Majapan, just a few decades, the Spaniards landed on the peninsula, and the Mayan fate was solved. Once a single prophet, the words of which are given in the "Books of Chilam Balam," predicted the emergence of strangers and its consequences. This is how prophecy sounded: "Take your guests, bearded people who come from the east ... This is the beginning of the death." But the same books warn that not only external circumstances, but the Maya itself will be guilty of what will happen. "And there were no more happy days," the prophecy says, "we left well." You might think that Long before that the last conquest of Maya knew that fame would sweep them and the ancient wisdom would be forgotten. And yet, as if anticipating future attempts to scientists, they expressed their world from non-existence, they expressed the hope that someday the voices from the past will be heard: "At the end of our blindness and our shame will all reveal again."
Knowledge in science and medicine.
Medicine. Medical knowledge from Maya was at a very high level: they knew the anatomy perfectly, and very well treated the skulls. However, their ideas were and rather contradictory - they could consider the causes of the disease, or sins, or the wrong sacrifices, but at the same time recognized a certain way of life of a person as a source of disease. Maya knew about contagious diseases, in the Word Waste of Maya there were many words with which they characterized the various painful states of the person. Moreover, many nervous diseases and mental state of a person were described separately. Various medicinal and drugs were used to stimulate and anesthesia, which were grown in separate pharmaceutical gardens.
Mathematics. Maya was used by a twenty number system, as well as the positioning system of the number of numbers, when the numbers stand on each other from the first order to the subsequent. This record system is also used by us, and is called the Arabic digital system. But, unlike the Europeans, Maya themselves thought for thousands of years earlier. Only the Maja number record is not built horizontally, but vertically (in the column).
Another amazing fact of mathematical knowledge of Maya is to use zero. This means the greatest progress in the field of abstract thinking.
The striking knowledge of Maja Customization is reflected in Maya's calendar. It is known for the whole world with its amazing accuracy and competes in perfection with modern computer calculations.
Mysteries Maya.
Maya artists created their countless treasures. Ritual items should have liked the gods. Stone, carved, clay, polished or painted in bright colors - they all had symbolic meaning. So, the hole in the painted dish shows that the dish is "killed" and that his liberated soul can accompany the dead in the afterlife.
Maya did not know either metal tools, no pottery circle, but their clay things are elegant and beautiful. Grinding powders and stone inventions were used for work with jade, silicon, sinks. Craft Lenniki - Maya knew the difference between the materials. Favorite ancient Maya for beauty, rarity, as well as for the intended magic force, nephritis was established by the ancient masters, although he demanded patience and inventiveness to process it. Wooden saws or bone drills were made by grooves, curls, wells, etc. Polishing was performed using solid vegetable fibers extracted from bamboo or pumpkin wood shoots, the cells of which contain microscopic particles of solid mineral substances. A huge number of fumbies from jade, depicting people and animals, has the form of a wedge: ancient stonecases used such a form of the product so that it can be possible to apply them as an instrument of labor. After a little refinement, these beautiful stone crafts could turn into amulets or figures of people and gods. The found elegant green necklace relating to the report of the report, tells us that his forces is not a simple person, but endowed with the authorities and standing on the top stu-penny of the socilation staircase.
In the art of Maya, the image often transmits an action or emotion. Masra developed an information style by investing in their works the charge of humor and tenderness or, on the contrary, cruelty. The items made by the hands of Unnamed Masters, still amazing people with their beauty, helping our contemporaries to understand the world's long-disappeared world of the oldest civilization.
From the many cities that rose among the Puuk hills in the "late classic syns" (700-1000 years of AD), the magnificence of planning and architecture three cities - Ushmal, Sailel and Labn: Massive quadrangles of buildings on the facade are lined with limestone, There are round columns with square capitals, the upper part of the facade is decorated with an elegant stone mosaic made of silica.
Strict organization of space, pomp and complication of architect-ry, panorama of cities - all this leads connoisseurs in admiration. Highly pyramid, palaces with reliefs and mosaic facades, folded from tightly fitted pieces of brushed stone, underground reserves, where stocks were once stored drinking water, Wall hieroglyphs - all this magnificence was combined with terrible cruelty. "The chief priest der-blind in his hand is a large, wide and sharp knife made of flint. Another priest held a wooden collar in the form of a snake. Doomed, fully deleted, took turns on the stairs up "there, putting a person on a stone, put on his collar on him, and four priests took the sacrifice for their arms and feet. Then the master priest with an amazing agility plowed the victim his chest, pulled his heart and stretched it to the Sun, bringing his heart, and a couple coming out of him. Then turned to the idol left his heart into his face, after which he faced the body along the steps, and it rolled down "down," Stephens with horror wrote about this.
The main archaeological surveys were made in Chichen-Ice, the last Maya capital. Ruins are freed from the jungle, the remnants of buildings are visible from all sides, and that: where in due time had to cut the road with the machete, a bus with tourists run; They see the "Temple of Warriors" with his columns and a staircase leading to the pyramids they see the so-called "Observato-Ria" - a round structure, the windows of which are cut down in such a way that some kind of certain star is visible from Ka-Lucky; They inspecting large areas for an ancient ball game, of which the biggest one has one hundred and sixty meth-docks in length and forty in width, - on these areas "Golden youth" Maya and a rolle in a game similar to basketball. They finally stop in front of the "El Castila most of the pyramids of Chichen-Itsi. Nine ledges she has, and on the upper vertices) it is located the temple of God Kukulkana - "Pernata Snake".
The appearance of all these images of serpentine heads, gods, the marchs of jaguarov Aerus is awesome. It wanted to penetrate the secrets of ornaments and hieroglyphs, you can find out that there is no single sign, not a single drawing, not a single sculpture that would not be associated with astronomical abandonment. Two crosses on the abnormal arcs; Snake's heads, jaguar claw in the ear of god kulcan, the shape of the gate, the number "Dew beads The form of repeating staircases - all expresses time and number. Nowhere numbers and time were not expressed in such a bizarre. But if you want to detect here at least some traces of life, you will see that in the magnificent kingdom of Ri-Sunkov Maya, in the ornamenika of this people who lived among lush and variety of vegetation, very rarely found pictures of plants - only a few of the huge quantities Colors and none of eight hundred cacti species. Recently, in one ornament, the flower of Bombax Aquaticum - a tree, a raised half in the water. If this is not really a mistake, the overall position does not change anyway: in the art of Maya there are no plant motives. Even obelski, columns, steles, which are almost all countries are a symbolic image of a pulling trees, the Mayan depicts the bodies of snakes, manifiable gadines.
Two such snake columns are facing the "temple of warriors." Heads with a corrugated process are pressed against the ground, the mouth is wide open, the torso raised upstairs together with the tails, once these tails supported the roof of the temple.
Dutchman Guillermo Dupa, for many years he served in the Spanish army to Mexico-educated and fond of an old man received from the Spanish king Karla, the order to explore the monuments of culture of Mexico DOP-Pan period.
With difficulty coming to Palenka, Dype came to indescribable delight from architecture, outdoor decoration Buildings: Colorful patterns with the image of birds, colors, full of drama bas-reliefs. "Poses are very dynamic and at the same time magnificent. Clothes, though luxurious, never cover the body. The heads usually decorate helmets, ridges and fluttering feathers. "
Dyupe noticed that all people depicted on the bas-reliefs, the head of a strange, flattened, from which he concluded that local Indians, with a normal head, could not be descendants of the Palenque builders.
Most likely, according to Dype, there were once the people of the unknown race, which disappeared from the face of the earth, who left behind the majestic and pre-red creations of their hands.
The Vatican Library stores an interesting certificate of Flood "Rios Code". Ironically, the Catholic clergy, which destroyed authentic Mayan manuscripts, retained their rare copies.
The Code of Rios is described about the creation of the world and the death of the first people. There were children who fired a wonderful tree. There was a new race of people. But after 40 years the gods hit the flood to the ground. One pair survived on the tree survived.
After the flood, another race was revived. But through 2010, an unusual URAN-Gan destroyed people; The survivors turned into monkeys who began to gnaw jaguar.
And only one pair again was saved: disappeared among the stones. After 4801, people destroyed the Great Fire. One couple was saved, floating on the boat in the sea.
This tradition is referred to periodic (repeated after 2-4-8 thousand years) disasters, one of which is a flood.
If we look at carefully on the card, you will be convinced that the ancient tsar-property occupied a kind of triangle whose corners were formed by Vashak Tun, Palenk and Copan. The fact that on the sides of the corners or directly inside the triangle was the cities of Tikal, Naranho and Piedras Negrats. Now we can come to the conclusion that, after the only exception (Benke Vieho), all the last cities of the trees of the kingdom, in particular, the Seibal, Ishkun, Flores were inside this triangle.
When the Spaniards arrived in Yucatan, Mayan had thousands of handwritten books made from natural material, but some of them were burned, part of the villagers in private collections. There were also inscriptions on the walls of the temples and steam. In the XIX century Scientists knew about the 3rd books - Codes called by the name of the city, in which each text was discovered (Dresden, Paris and Madrid Codes; Later, the 4th Code was found - Codex Great). 14 years old studied the chief royal librarian in Dresden Ernst Fusthemann Code and understood the principle of action of the Mayan calendar. And the studies of Yuri Knorozova, Henry Berlin and Tatiana Proskuryakova opened new stage In modern May-Yanistika. More than 80 percent of all hieroglyphs are solved, and the archaeologists of SDE-Lari have many striking discoveries.
So, Yuri Knorozov came to the conclusion that the Mayan Indian Letter System was mixed. Part of the signs should transmit morphems, and some are sounds and layers. This writing system is called hieroglyphic.
It did not make much difficulty for scientists decryption of Maja's digital signs. The reason for this is a striking simplicity and communicated to perfection the logical system of their accounts.
Ancient Maya used a twentitative number system, or a so-one. They recorded their digital signs in the form of points and dash, and the point always meant the units of this order, and the dash - five.
Meeting new and old light
The first contact of the two cultures took place with the participation of the Christophore of Columbus: during his fourth swimming in the alleged India (and he believed that the land was open - India) His ship passed by the shores of the seal part of the modern Honduras and the Island of Guanaya met the canoe, -Loned from a whole tree trunk, a width of 1.5 m. It was a trade boat, and the Europeans were offered copper plates, stone axes, ceramic products, cocoa beans, cotton clothes.
In 1517, the three Spanish ships who were walking on the capture of slaves, stuck to the non-famous island. After beating the attack of the Majori warriors, Spanish soldiers in the deregulation of mining found decorations of gold, and gold should have belonged to the source crown. Hernan Cortes, conquering the Great Aztec Empire in the Central Part of Mexico, sent one of his captains to the south - to conquer the new territory (modern states of Guatemala and Salvador). By 1547, the conquest of Maya was completed, although some tribes were hidden in the dense forests of the central part of the Yucatan Peninsula, where they and their descendants were resolved for another 150 years.
The epidemics of smallpox, measles and influenza, to which the indigenous population did not have immunity, carried out the lives of Millions of Maya. The Spaniards severely eradicated their religion: ruined temples, broke the shrines, robbed, and those who were seen in idolatry, the missionar monks were stretched on the pod, they scraped a ki heel, punished with their scam.
At the head of the monks arrived at Yucatan Monk-Franciscan Diego de Landa, an extraordinary and complex person. He studied the life, customs of the local population, tried to find the key to the secret of the letter of Maya, found a cache in which about 30 hieroglyphic books were stored. These were real works of art: black and red signs were calligraphically disclaimed on light paper made from the lower layer of fig tree or mulberries; Bump-hectare was a smooth from the plasteroside applied on its surface; The books themselves were folded by the "accordion", and the cover is made from the skins of the jaguar.
This monk decided that the books of Maya contains esoteric knowledge, confusing the souls of the devilish temptations, and told the books of these to burn all the time that "Maja plunged into deep grief and the strongest suffering."
During the three-month inquisition under his leadership in 1562, about 5,000 Indians were subjected to torture, of which 158 people died. De Landa was requested back to Spain on charges of exceeding authority, but was acquitted and returned to Yucatan already a bishop.
Indian culture was destroyed by all possible methods. And just a hundred years after the arrival of Europeans about the glorious past, Maya did not have memories.
Interesting facts about Maya.
1. So far, numerous representatives of the Mayan culture live in their previous regions. In fact, there are 7 million Maya, many of which were able to preserve important evidence of their ancient cultural heritage.
2. Maya had strange ideas about beauty. At an early age, the Baby's forehead was applied to the board so that it was flat. They also liked the squint: they dressed a big bead for children's bridges so that they were inconspicuously to mow. Another interesting fact - Maya children were often called by the day they were born.
3. They loved saunas. An important cleaning element for the ancient Maya was a coating bath: hot stones were lily water to create a couple. All baths used all, from women who recently gave birth to kings.
4. So they loved to drive into the ball. The meso-American game of the ball was equated to the ritual and existed for 3000 years. The modern version of the game, Ulam, is still popular with the local indigenous population.
5. The Last Country of Maya existed until 1697 (Thaya Island City). Now the lands under buildings mainly owns one family, and the government belongs to the monuments themselves.
6. Maya could not be able to process metal - their weapons were equipped with stone tips, or tips from sharp shells. But! Major's warriors used as a throwing weapon of Snorza ("Surrive bombs") to create panic in the opponent's ranks - is resourceful.
7. And also, they say, Maya very much loved guinea pigs. Well, as they loved ... they got very tasty meat out of the poor and magnificent fluff.
By the way, Maya had a kind of horoscope. The fact is that according to the calendar "Tzolkin" (he also "Zolkin", which was reported above) to each day a year was assigned his own kin - a kind of space of space energy (God, what am I carrying?) And, depending on What kind of kin is (what a birthday corresponds to your birth) - you can judge your character, life goals and blossoms. And depending on what Kin is assigned to today - one can judge your luck, well-being and other labud, which is usually written in horoscopes.
By the way, a rather entertaining thing. And the Mayan astrological characteristics of personalities on Kein quite correspond to reality, although I usually prefer to do not believe in astrology.
Contrary to the common opinion on the destruction of the Mayan civilization by the Spanish conquisites, the empire came into decline in five hundred years before the waters of Columbus. In the middle of the X century, the construction of magnificent pyramids and temples ceases, the city leave the residents, and by the time the Europeans appeared the entire "empire" was already minor fragmented settlements, continuously fighting between themselves and with nomads.
Two hypotheses are proposed about the reasons for the disappearance of the Great Civilization. First, defeat in wars with another Central American people - Tolteki. In the second hypothesis, an environmental catastrophe is considered caused by the use of a primitive gravy-firing agriculture system. And indeed, according to the Texts of Maya, deciphered by the Great Russian Linguist Yury Knorozov, every three or four years they had to throw old sowing areas, and to burn jungle. In addition, a huge amount of wood was required to roast limestone and receiving construction lime. As a result of the deforestation of forests, the structure of the soil has changed, drought began and the crops of the corn - the Maja monoculture decreased.
Recently there have been good arguments in favor of this hypothesis. According to the site Membrana.ru, American biologists David Lenz and Brian Hokadi investigated 135 samples wooden structures Of the 6 temples and 2 palaces of the ancient city of Tikal. It turned out that every year the construction was used with the construction of an ever worse quality. In the end, major and straight logs of Sapodillas builders replaced for short noded campanery trunks. Obviously, Sapodilla (local evergreen tree) Just have already cut down.
After the appearance of conkistadors to the Ecological troubles of Maya, they were added to the previously unknown diseases and persecution of the Inquisition, but completely people are not extinct, and now Maya is more than 6 million - live in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. Jungle has long been recovered, a lot of tourists come to look at the pyramids, and Maya sells them ancient-ancient figurines with a rejected label Made in China.
Writing Maya.:
Maifology Maya.. Mayan knowledge and religion were inseparable from the other and amounted to a single worldview, which was reflected in their art. The ideas about the diversity of the surrounding world were personified in the images of numerous deities, which can be combined into several major groups corresponding to different areas of people's experience: the gods of the hunt, the gods of fertility, the gods of various elements, the gods of the heavenly shine, the gods of war, the gods of death and so on. In different periods of Maya history, those or other gods could have different significance for their admirers.
Maya believed that the Universe consists of 13 heavens and 9 underground worlds. In the center of the earth there was a tree that passed through all the celestial spheres. On each of the four sides of the Earth, there were still one wood, symbolizing the country of light - the east corresponded to the red tree, the south is yellow, the West - the Black and the North - White. Each side of the world had several gods (winds, rains and heaven holders) who had an appropriate color. One of the important gods from the Maya of the classic period was the god of corn, represented in the guise of a young man with a high headdress. By the time of the appearance of the Spaniards, the Itzamna was considered to be another important deity, represented in the form of an old man with a humpback nose and a beard. As a rule, the images of the Mayan deities included a diverse symbolism, speaking about the complexity of the thinking of customers and performers of sculptures, reliefs or drawings. So, the god of the Sun had a big curves of the fangs, his mouth was controveed with a strip from the circles. The eyes and mouth of another deity are depicted in the form of a curved snake, etc. Among the deities of female, it was especially significant, judging by the Codes, the "Red Goddess", the spouse of the rain god; She was painted with a snake on the head and with a paws of some predator instead of the legs. The wife of Izamna was the goddess of the Ish-Chel moon; It was believed that it helps for childbirth, in weaving and in medicine. Some Maja gods were represented in the image of animals or birds: Jaguar, Eagle. In the Toltextian period of the Mayan history among them, the reversion of the central psychic on the origin of the deities was spread. One of the most respected gods of such a kind was the Kukulkan, in the image of which the elements of the God of Cetzalcoatlia nations are called.
Currently, the following mythological deities of Maya are accepted by most scientists: the God of Rain and Lightning - Chuck (Chaak or Chac); The God of the Death and Lord of the World of the Dead - Ah Puch (Ah Puch); God of death - Kimi (CIMI); Vladyka Sky - Izamna (Itzamna); God trade - ek Chuah (EK Chuah); the goddess of sacrifice and ritual suicides - ISH TAB (IXTAB); The goddess of rainbow and moonlight - Ish-Chel (Ixchel); Horse God, Pernation Snake Kezal - Kukulku (Gukumatz); God of corn and forests - YUM Kaash (Jum Kaash); God of fire and thunderstorms - Huarcan (Huracan); The demon of the underworld - Zipakna (Zipacna) and others.
The sample of the Maja Damispan's Mythology gives the epos from the colonial time of one of the peoples of Guatemala, KICH, "Popol-Wuh". It contains the stories of the creation of peace and people, the origin of the twin heroes, their fight against underground lords, etc. Revision of deities from Maya was expressed in complex rituals, part of which were sacrifices (including human) and a ball game. In Chichen Ice had a playground to play the ball, the largest in all Mexico. On both sides, she closed the walls, and also with two - temples. The ball game was not just a sports competition. Many archaeological discoveries indicate that it was clearly related to human sacrifices. On the walls of the wall, the defective people are embedded. There are 3 platforms around the platform around the platform: the platform "Venus" (Cetzalcoatlia) with the tomb of Chuck-Moole, the Eagle and Jaguar platform with the jaguar temple, as well as the skull platform. Huge statues of Chuck - Mojal depict it to be semi-cut, with a dish for sacrifices on the stomach. On the skull platform, the stakes were installed, which rushed the swollen heads of the victims. Library of Maya. For a long time it was believed that Maya were inventors of writing and calendar system. However, after similar, but more ancient marks were found in places remote from the Maya region, it became apparent that Maya inherited some elements of earlier crops.
The letter of Maya was a hieroglyphic type. Maya hieroglyphs are preserved in 4 manuscripts (the so-called Maya codes, three - in Dresden, Madrid, Paris, the fourth code has been preserved partially); They give or image figures, or are connected to groups of 4 or 6 hieroglyphs over figure images. Calendar signs and numbers accompany the entire text. For the analysis of the hieroglyphs, Shelllhas made a lot (in Zeitschrift Fuer Ethnologie, 1886) and Zeaner (in Verhandlungen Der Berliner Anthropologischen Gesellschaft and in Zeitschrift Fur Ethnologie, 1887).
The latter proved that the characters of the hieroglyphs are made up of one hieroglyph, which has shown in the picture under them, the other - the hieroglyphically meaning of the relevant God, and 2 more, reporting the attributes of God. Heroglyphs themselves are not connected elements representing a known sound or sounding, but almost exclusively ideograms. Paul Shellgas systematized the images of the Maya deities in three codes: Dresden, Madrid and Paris. The list of the deities of Shelgas consists of fifteen Mayai gods. He determined most of the hieroglyphs directly relating to these deities and denoting their names and epithets.
As a rule, the texts walked in parallel with the graphic image of the plot. Using the letter of Maya could record long texts of various content. Thanks to the efforts of several generations of researchers, the reading of ancient texts was possible. Our compatriot, Yuri Valentinovich Knorozov, introduced a significant contribution, whose first publications appeared in the early 1950s. In 1963, he published a monograph "Writing Indians Maya." It was reproduced by a facsimile method of the preserved manuscripts (Codes) of Maya, compiled, possibly before Spanish conquest, in 12-15 centuries. and named in those cities in which the Dresden, Madrid and Parisian are now stored. The book also set out the principles of decryption, a catalog of hieroglyphs, a dictionary of the language of Yucatanian Maya of the early colonial period and grammar Language of Maya. In 1975, in the book "The Hieroglyphic Manuscripts of Maya", Knorozov offered reading manuscripts and their translations into Russian. The texts of the Codes were a kind of benefits for priests with a list of rites, sacrifices and predictions, relate to different types of Mayan farm and to all social segments of the population, except for slaves. Brief descriptions The occupations of the gods served as directions to do the corresponding groups of residents. In turn, the priests, guided by the descriptions of the actions of the deities, could appoint the time of rites, bringing victims, the implementation of certain works; They could also predict the future.
Mayan calendar to review Maya's time used a challenging calendar system that included several cycles. One of them was a combination of numbers from 1 to 13 ("week") and 20 months that had their own names. It was also used to a sunny calendar in 365 days. It consisted of 18 months to 20 days and five "unnecessary", or "unhappy" days. In addition, Maya used the so-called long score, which, in addition to the 20th day and 18th month, took into account the 20-year period (Katun); A period of 20 Katun (Baktun) and so on. There were other dating methods. All these methods changed over time, which greatly makes it difficult to correlate dates recorded by Maya, with a European chronology.
According to the standards of the universe, the human civilization exists quite short. However, during this time, many events occurred on Earth. appeared and disappeared from our planet. And if the majority fell victims of epidemics and conquests, one of the brightest civilizations in the history of our species - Maya disappeared without a trace of a mysterious way. The disappearance of Maya is one of the most intriguing mysteries in history. But lately there were various theories that seem to be able to explain what actually happened to the residents of the Yucatan Peninsula.
Maya worshiped many gods - wind, rain, sun and fire
Developed civilizations of past
Before Spanish conquistadors opened Latin America, this continent inhabited many nations. The most developed were three civilizations - Maya, Aztecs and Incas. At the same time, the Mayan civilization was not only the most developed of them, but also the numerous. It was a civilization that was standing out for its ability to adapt and use the benefits of their surrounding resources. Architectural jewels, such as the city of Chichen Itsa, reopened at the end of the 19th century, causes many questions about this people, among which the mansion is the main thing: why did Maya culture disappeared?
Map of the arrangement of ancient civilizations
In trying to find an answer to one of the greatest mysteries in history, many scientists, archaeologists and historians led the fierce debate among themselves. Nevertheless, here are some facts that can shed light on the history of ancient civilization: the flourishing fell by approximately the III-IX centuries, when the state included the territory of today's GUGSMAZ - part of Mexico. It lasted this classic period from about 250 AD. Until 900 AD However, the growth of civilization ultimately led to its decline in the sixteenth century. So, Chichen Itza, one of the greatest bastions of Maya, was abandoned about 1200.
By excluding the conspiramic and mystical stories about the disappearance of Maya, it can be concluded that the death of this ancient culture occurred over a long period of time and was caused by a combination of different factors that led civilization to collapse.
The causes of the death of Maya.
Recent studies, among whom work published by North American and Swiss scientists in the SCIENCE journal agree that one of the key factors that accelerated the fall of Maya were a series of prolonged droughts. Droughts occurred in 810 and 860 and lasted about ten years each. Deposits in the Kariako Basin (Venezuela) fix the wet and dry seasons of the past and confirm the environmental catastrophe, which disabled complex systems of channels and reserves.
Discuss if you agree with the opinion of specialists with the participants of our Telegram chat.
For droughts, experts add Maya's ability to change the ecosystem in which they lived for their own benefit. If you do not control the environmental changes, human actions can lead to deforestation, which aggravates the effects of drought. As a result, residents of the affected regions will begin to migrate into large cities and other areas to hide from emerging problems with nutrition and drinking water. These movements of the population will entail the third element: internal wars and conflicts.
Ancient city of Chichen-Itza
Researchers believe that Maya would survive numerous periods of wars unleashed for the extension of the territory. However, the lack of resources and the necessary space for residents of large cities led to a series of clashes, which destroyed the population, destroyed the environment and destabilized the public administration systems, as well as society itself. As a result, a series of events, accompanied by drought, deforestation and wars led to the sunset one of the most.