The Mayans lived in one of the most comfortable parts of our planet. They did not need warm clothing; they were content with thick and long strips of fabric, which they wrapped around their bodies in a special manner. They ate mainly corn and what they got in the jungle, cocoa, fruits, and game. They did not keep domestic animals either for transportation or for food. The wheel was not used. By modern concepts it was the most primitive of the Stone Age civilizations; they were far from Greece and Rome. However, the fact remains that archaeologists have confirmed that during the mentioned period this people managed to build several dozen amazing cities over a fairly large area, far from each other. The basis of these cities is usually a complex of pyramids and powerful stone buildings, completely dotted with strange mask-like icons and various lines.

The tallest of the Mayan pyramids are no lower than the Egyptian ones. It still remains a mystery to scientists: how these structures were built!

And why were the cities of pre-Columbian civilization, so perfect in beauty and sophistication, suddenly unexpectedly abandoned, as if on command, by their inhabitants at the turn of 830 AD?

At this very time, the center of civilization went out, the peasants who lived around these cities scattered in the jungle, and all priestly traditions suddenly degenerated sharply. All subsequent surges of civilization in this region were characterized by sharp forms of power.

However, let's return to our topic. The same ones Mayan who left their cities, fifteen centuries before Columbus, invented an accurate solar calendar and developed hieroglyphic writing, and used the concept of zero in mathematics. The Classic Mayans confidently predicted solar and lunar eclipses and even predicted the Day of Judgment.

How did they do it?

To answer this question, you and I will have to look beyond what is allowed by established prejudices and doubt the correctness of the official interpretation of some historical events.

Maya - Geniuses of the pre-Columbian era

During his fourth American voyage in 1502, Columbus landed on a small island located off the coast of what is now the Republic of Honduras. Here Columbus met Indian merchants sailing on big ship. He asked where they were from, and they, as Columbus recorded, answered: “From Mayan Province" It is believed that the generally accepted name of the civilization “Maya” is derived from the name of this province, which, like the word “Indian,” is, in essence, an invention of the great admiral.

The name of the main tribal territory of the Maya proper - the Yucatan Peninsula - is of similar origin. Having dropped anchor off the coast of the peninsula for the first time, the conquistadors asked local inhabitants, what is the name of their land. The Indians answered all questions: “Siu tan,” which meant “I don’t understand you.” From then on, the Spaniards began to call this large peninsula Siugan, and later Siutan became Yucatan. In addition to Yucatan (during the conquest main territory this people), the Mayans lived in the mountainous region of the Central American Cordillera and in the tropical jungle of the so-called Meten, a lowland located in what is now Guatemala and Honduras. The Mayan culture probably originated in this area. Here, in the Usumasinta River basin, the first Mayan pyramids were erected and the first magnificent cities this civilization.

Mayan territory

By the beginning of the Spanish conquest in the 16th century Mayan culture occupied a vast and diverse territory in terms of natural conditions, which included the modern Mexican states of Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo, as well as all of Guatemala, Belize (former British Honduras), the western regions of El Salvador and Honduras Borders of the Mayan civilization area in I millennia, apparently, more or less coincided with those mentioned above. Currently, most scientists distinguish within this territory three large cultural-geographical regions, or zones: Northern, Central and Southern.

Map of the location of the Mayan civilization

The northern region includes the entire Yucatan Peninsula - a flat limestone plain with shrubby vegetation, intersected here and there by chains of low rocky hills. The poor and thin soils of the peninsula, especially along the coast, are not very favorable for maize farming. In addition, there are no rivers, lakes or streams; The only source of water (except for rain) are natural karst wells - senates.

The central region occupies the territory of modern Guatemala (Peten Department), the southern Mexican states of Tabasco, Chiapas (eastern) and Campeche, as well as Belize and a small area in western Honduras. It is an area of ​​tropical rainforest, low rocky hills, limestone plains and extensive seasonal wetlands. There are many large rivers and lakes: rivers - Usumacinta, Grijalva, Belize, Chamelekon, etc., lakes - Isabel, Peten Itza, etc. The climate is warm, tropical, with an average annual temperature of 25 above zero Celsius. The year is divided into two seasons: the dry season (lasts from the end of January to the end of May) and the rainy season. In total, precipitation falls here from 100 to 300 cm per year. Fertile soils and the lush splendor of tropical flora and fauna greatly distinguish the Central Region from the Yucatan.

The Central Maya region is not only central geographically. This is at the same time the very territory where Mayan civilization reached the peak of its development in the 1st millennium. Most of the largest urban centers were then located here: Tikal, Palenque, Yaxchilan, Naranjo, Piedras Negras, Copan, Quiriguaidre.

The Southern region includes the mountainous regions and the Pacific coast of Guatemala, the Mexican state of Chiapas (its mountainous part), and certain areas of El Salvador. This territory is distinguished by its unusual diversity ethnic composition, a variety of natural and climatic conditions and significant cultural specificity, which significantly distinguishes it from other Mayan areas.

These three areas differ not only geographically. They are also different from each other in their historical destinies.

Although all of them were inhabited from very early times, between them, of course, there was a kind of passing on of the “baton” of cultural leadership: the Southern (mountain) region, apparently, gave a powerful impetus to the development classical culture The Mayans are in the Central Region, and the last glimpse of the great Mayan civilization is associated with the Northern Region (Yucatan).

Mayan civilization- one of the most mysterious civilizations on our planet. It existed in Central America on the territory of the modern southern states of Mexico, as well as such states as Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Mayan calendar
five eras

The first mentions of this Indian people go back to the 1st millennium BC. e. During this period, the Mayan tribes began to inhabit the Petén plateau, where a hot and humid climate prevailed. Then they began to spread west along the Pasion and Usumacinta rivers. In the east we reached the shores Caribbean Sea. In the north, they chose the Yucatecan plains, covered with tropical rainforests. In the absence of rivers, they settled along the banks of karst lakes.

The Mayans quickly settled in the new lands: they began to build stone cities and engaged in agriculture. They grew maize, pumpkin, cotton, cocoa, fruits, and beans. Salt was mined in the north of the Yucatan Peninsula.

They had perfect writing in the form of hieroglyphs. Particularly noteworthy is his deep knowledge of astronomy. Based on them, they created calendars that still amaze with the accuracy of their calculations.

The Mayan tribes were never united into a single administrative entity. They lived in city-states. By 750 there were many of them: Tikal, Copan, Palenque, Camakmul, Uxmal, Vamaktuna and many others. Each had a population of more than 10,000 people, which was quite a lot at that time. All these, at first glance, isolated islands of life in the complex are designated as the Mayan civilization.

The culture, management system, and customs were similar in these mini-states and were practically no different from each other. Each city was headed by its own royal dynasty. At the next rung of the social ladder were the priesthood and the nobility. Next came the merchants and warriors. At the very bottom were peasants, artisans and other ordinary people.

In the center of each city there was a pyramid 15 to 20 meters high. It served as a tomb for noble people. There were houses around that could not be called spacious: they had narrow corridors and cramped rooms. The main material for construction was limestone.

Religion played important role in the life of this people. The worship of the gods was a cult, its basis was sacrifices of both animals and humans. The Mayans considered the gods to be mortal; according to their concepts, human blood extended the life of celestials. By flooding the sacrificial altars with the scarlet and warm blood of the unfortunate, they believed that in this way they preserved youth and strength for those who gave them rich harvests, victories over enemies and other benefits of this vain world.

In the period from 800 to 900, some of the Mayan cities were abandoned by the population. Still the real reason the hasty departure of people from their homes is unclear. Various hypotheses have been put forward trying to explain this behavior of residents, but whether they correspond to the truth is almost impossible to determine these days.

Many researchers see the main and main reason in the slash-and-burn method of farming. The Mayans burned areas of forests and bushes and planted these lands with agricultural crops. After three or four years, when the soil was depleted, they burned the forests again, moving further and further away from the cities.

As a result of such wasteful use of cropland, the cost of producing basic food products steadily increased. In the end, they became unaffordable not only for ordinary citizens, but also for rich people. This forced the residents to leave the city and go to new, fertile lands that had not yet been touched by fire.

There are other theories that try to explain the strange Mayan migration. Among them are: epidemics, conquests, climate changes. All this sounds plausible, but there is no serious evidence for such claims.

There is also a version that the reason for everything was the greed and cruelty of the nobility and priests. Driven to despair, the common people rebelled, destroyed everything and everyone, and having desecrated the temples in which representatives of the ruling class tried to escape from retribution, abandoned their homes and utensils and left for new lands.

The Mayan civilization gradually moved north and eventually concentrated in the Yucatan. This is the period from 900 to the beginning of the 16th century. There are also many cities here. Among them, Chichen Itza stands out, claiming to be the cultural center of the entire peninsula. But in the middle of the 12th century, the inhabitants left it. Mayapan takes the lead. His fate is also unenviable. It was destroyed in 1441 as a result of a revolt.

In the spring of 1517, Spanish conquistadors appeared in Yucatan. They are headed by Hernandez de Cordoba. At first they behave quite friendly, but already in 1528 the systematic conquest of the peninsula began.

The freedom-loving Indian people fiercely resist the invaders. It took the Spaniards 170 long years to completely subjugate these lands. It was not until 1697 that the last independent Mayan city of Tayasal recognized the authority of the King of Spain.

The Mayans were conquered, but not assimilated. They have preserved their identity, culture and language. Currently, six million representatives of this people live in the lands of Central America. In Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico, and Belize, they are united in communities, whose members strictly observe the traditions of their distant ancestors.

The conquistadors not only destroyed the Mayan civilization, but also caused irreparable harm to everything unique historical heritage of this people. The Spanish monk Diego de Landa, either falling into ecstasy from religious fervor, or due to dense ignorance, organized an act of vandalism. On his initiative, ancient Mayan books written in hieroglyphs were burned. By chance, only three copies have survived.

Subsequently, with great difficulty, the Mayan priests restored part of the text. Already in the Latin alphabet they rewrote such works as “Popolvukh” and “Books of Chilam-Balash”. These are, of course, far from complete copies of those priceless ancient sources that were lost forever in the fire.

The basis of the entire multifaceted heritage mysterious people are astronomical knowledge, which have survived to this day in the form Mayan calendars. These unique masterpieces of the past reflect both mythology and the most advanced scientific research. It was thanks to them that such a concept as Mayan predictions. Do they have a real basis? Without a doubt. It is not difficult to verify this by familiarizing yourself with the information that the ancient people possessed.

So Mayan solar calendar had a year of 365.2421 days. This corresponds more closely to the Earth's revolution around the Sun than does Gregorian calendar, whose length is 365.2425 days.

Observatory
Karakol

The Mayans observed the celestial bodies from stone observatories. They were tall round towers with square windows. Spiral staircase led to the upper platform, where ancient astronomers studied the picture every day starry sky and painstakingly recorded any changes in the vastness of the Universe. The largest observatory was called Karakol and was located near the city of Chichen Itza.

Mayans claimed - The cosmos exists within great cycles. The first cycle (the first Sun) lasted 4008 years and was destroyed by an earthquake. The Second Sun lasted 4010 years and turned into dust from winds and cyclones. The period of existence of the third Sun was 4081 years, it burned out in fire from volcanic craters. The fourth Sun gave life to everything on earth for 5026 years. Terrible floods flooded it.

There is now a fifth sun(Sun of movement). It lived for a very long time - 5126 years and went out due to the displacement of the soil on Earth. The end of the fifth cycle falls on December 23, 2012. On this day, Tonati Maya, the sun god of the current era, will die. Already on December 26, 2012, a new, sixth cycle will begin - the cycle of renewal and revival of all living things.

In total, the Mayan civilization had three solar calendars. Each of them performed its own strictly defined functions.

Mayan Tzolk'in solar calendar(a year lasted 260 days) contained a purely ritual purpose. Mayan Tun solar calendar reflected the chronology. Here the year lasted 360 days. Mayan Haab Solar Calendar, whose length was 365 days, was intended for daily life people.

The Mayan month was called Vinal, its duration was 20 days. There were thirteen vinals in the Tzolkin, and 18 vinals in the Tuna and Haab, respectively.

The year Haab actually had the nineteenth month of Vayeb. It consisted of only five days and was a continuous holiday of one of the gods - the patron of the next year.

The week lasted thirteen days. Each day of the week had its own patron god - one of the 13 heavenly gods.

It was still a nine-day week. Here the countdown went on at night. The patrons were the nine gods of the underworld.

Day and night weeks reflected the model of the Universe. According to the Maya, it had a layered hierarchy of worlds. Thirteen heavens shone above the earth, and nine floors of the underworld went down below the earth's surface.

Based on the Tzolkin year, the Mayan civilization built an entire system of predictions. Here the name of the day and the same day of the week were repeated at intervals of 260 days, that is, after thirteen twenty-day months.

The important stages were four-year and fifty-two-year periods of time. The Mayans argued that the complete renewal of any material organism occurs exactly after 52 years, after thirteen four-year cycles.

Legends say - Mayan civilization had a technique for predicting the future. The basis for this was astronomical knowledge. Only by glancing at the position of the heavenly bodies did the initiates tell the person what his future would be like. life path, what will happen to the fate of an entire nation, what awaits humanity in a few centuries. How did they manage to do this?

By painstakingly observing the stars, daily recording all events over thousands of years, the Mayan priests accumulated huge amount invaluable information. If only they knew the theory of probability and knew the basics of math. analysis and had computer equipment, then, based on the collected data, they could easily calculate an algorithm for the cyclicity of any process occurring both on Earth and in Space.

But even without these modern achievements science, the great ancient people, with their methods unknown to us, determined the sequence of seemingly chaotic natural and social phenomena, identified patterns and saw the future.

As for ominous Mayan predictions about the end of the world in 2012, the start of this was laid by the discovery of 1960. A fragment of a Mayan stone calendar associated with Bolon Yokte Ku, the god of war and rebirth, was found in southern Mexico. The date 2012 stamped on it marks the beginning of a new cycle.

Such predictions cannot be taken literally. In this case, we are talking about those transformations that will take place in the transcendental world, if you like, in another dimension. In that subtle and unknown matter that gradually controls our consciousness.

In physical reality, everything will remain as before. Only after hundreds of years will humanity notice that it has changed - hopefully, in a positive way. After all, you always want to believe in the best.

The article was written by ridar-shakin

The Mayan civilization is unique. Their writing, calendar system, and knowledge of astronomy amaze even modern cosmology specialists. The Mayan Indians are one of the most ancient and mysterious civilizations that ever existed on Earth.

Birth of the Mayan civilization

Scientists have determined where the Indians lived. According to theory, after the end of the last ice age, the tribes who lived in the north went south to develop new lands. Today it is the territory of Latin America.

Then, over the next 6 thousand years, the Indians created their own culture - they built cities and farmed.

By 1500 BC, the Mayans lived in the Yucatan Peninsula, present-day Guatemala, the southern states of Mexico, and the western parts of El Salvador and Honduras.

Mayan Indians: history of the development of civilization

The first major centers were the cities of El Mirador, Nakbe and Tikal. The construction of temples flourished, calendars were widely used, and hieroglyphic writing developed.

The photo below shows the ancient Mayan cultural center in ancient city Tikal.

The Indians created their own system, including architecture with unique buildings - pyramids, monuments, palaces, politics and social hierarchy. Society was divided into the masses and the elite, consisting of rulers.

The Mayans believed that their rulers were descended from the gods. Status was emphasized by robes with mandatory attribute– chest mirror. “Mirror of the people” - this is what the Mayans called their supreme ruler.

Mayan ruling class

The ancient Mayan civilization numbered more than 20 million people.

A whole system of 200 cities was created, 20 of them were megacities with a population of more than 50 thousand people.

Economic development of the Mayans

Initially, the Mayans were engaged in slash-and-burn agriculture - they cut down the forest on the site that they planned to cultivate, then burned the trees and shrubs, and fertilized the soil with ash. Since the land in the tropics is infertile, its resources were quickly depleted, and the fields ceased to be cultivated. They words were overgrown with forest. Then the whole process began again.

But as the population increased, new methods were required, and the Indians began to use hillsides for terrace farming. Swamps were also developed - raised fields were built on them by building beds a meter high above the water level.

They installed irrigation systems, and water flowed into reservoirs through a network of canals.

They traveled on the water in canoes made of red wood. They could accommodate up to 50 people at the same time. They traded fish, shells, shark teeth and other seafood. Salt was like money.

Salt production

Obsidian imported from Mexico and Guatemala was used to make weapons.

Jade was a ritual stone, it was always in price.

Jade products

Those who lived on the plain traded food supplies, cotton, jaguar skins and quetzal feathers.

Art and architecture

During the "classical" early and late periods(250 - 600 AD and 600 - 900 AD) a huge number of temples were built, wall paintings depicting rulers appeared. Art is flourishing.

Below is a photo of a Barel'ev with the image of the ruler.

New cultural centers become Copan and Palenque.

Migration

Beginning in 900 AD, the southern plains gradually emptied, leaving settlements in the northern part of Yucatan. Until 1000 AD, the influence of Mexican culture grew, and the cities of Labna, Uxmal, Kabah and ChiChen Itza flourished.

Below is a photo of the pyramid in the city of ChiChen Itza

After the mysterious collapse of Chichen Itza, Mayapan becomes the main Mayan city.

Why did the Mayan civilization disappear?

No one knows for sure the reason for the disappearance Indian people. There are only hypotheses on this matter. According to the main one, in 1441 there was an uprising of the leaders who lived in the cities neighboring Mayapan. This caused the degeneration of civilization and its transformation into scattered tribes. Drought and famine also had an impact. Then the conquistadors appeared.

Below in the photo is the last center of civilization.

In 1517, Spanish ships landed on an unknown shore. In the battle with the Indians, the conquistadors saw gold. This began the extermination of the Mayan people, since the Spaniards believed that gold should belong to their rulers. In 1547, the Mayans were conquered, but some of the tribes managed to escape and hide in the center of the Yucatan Peninsula, where they lived for 150 years.

The diseases that the Spaniards brought with them caused outbreaks of epidemics. The Indians had no immunity to influenza, measles and smallpox, and they died by the millions.

The culture and religion of the Indians was exterminated in every possible way: temples were destroyed, shrines were destroyed, idolatry was punished by torture.

In the 100 years since the arrival in Latin America The Mayan civilization was completely eradicated by Europeans.

See below documentary BBC channel about mysterious civilization Mayan

Apparently, the Mayans were very interesting people: They built giant pyramids, knew mathematics, astronomy and writing. But modern people much is unknown about them. For example:

1. The Mayans considered human sacrifice a great honor.

Archaeological excavations indicate that the Mayans did practice human sacrifice, but for the victim it was considered a mercy.

The Mayans believed that one still had to reach heaven: first one would have to go through 13 circles of the underworld, and only then a person would receive eternal bliss. And the journey is so difficult that not all souls make it. But there was also a direct “ticket to heaven”: it was received by women who died during childbirth, victims of wars, suicides, those who died while playing ball and ritual victims.

So becoming a victim was considered a high honor among the Mayans - this man was a messenger to the gods. Astronomers and mathematicians used calendars to know exactly when sacrifices should be made and who was best suited for the role. For this reason, the victims were almost always the Mayans, and not the inhabitants of neighboring tribes.

2. The Mayans preferred to invent their own technologies

The Mayans did not have two things that almost all advanced civilizations had - wheels and metal tools.

But their architecture had arches and hydraulic irrigation systems, for which you needed to know the geometry. The Mayans also knew how to make cement. But since they did not have livestock to pull the cart, they may not have needed the wheel. And instead of metal tools they used stone ones. Carefully sharpened stone tools were used for stone carving, sawing wood, and more.

The Mayans also had surgeons who, at that time, performed the most complex operations in the world using instruments made of volcanic glass. In fact, some Mayan stone tools were even more advanced than modern metal tools.

3. The Mayans were probably seafarers

The Mayan Codex contains indirect evidence that they were seafarers - underwater cities. Perhaps the Mayans even sailed to America from Asia.

When the Mayans first emerged as a civilization, there was a developed Olmec civilization on the continent in approximately the same places, and the Mayans apparently took a lot from them - chocolate drinks, ball games, stone sculpting and the worship of animal gods.

Where the Olmecs came from on the continent is also unclear. But what is much more confusing is where they went: civilization left behind the Mesoamerican pyramids, colossal stone heads, leading to the idea that the Olmecs themselves might have been giants.

They were depicted as people with heavy eyelids, wide noses and full lips. Proponents of the biblical migration theory consider this a sign that the Olmecs came from Africa. They lived in America for about 13 centuries and then disappeared. Some of the earliest Mayan remains date back seven millennia.

4. The Mayans did not have spaceships, but they did have working observatories.

There is no evidence that the Mayans had flying machines or cars, but complex system They definitely had paved roads. The Mayans also had advanced astronomical knowledge about movement. celestial bodies. Perhaps the most striking evidence of this is the domed building called El Caracol on the Yucatan Peninsula.

El Caracol is better known as the Observatory. This is a tower about 15 meters high with numerous windows allowing you to observe the equinoxes and the summer solstice. The building is oriented towards the orbit of Venus - the bright planet had for the Mayans great value, and it is believed that their sacred Tzolkin calendar was also based on the movement of Venus across the sky. The Mayan calendar was used to determine the time of celebrations, sowings, sacrifices and wars.

5. Were the Mayans familiar with aliens?

Nowadays, a conspiracy theory that says that in ancient times aliens visited Earth and shared their knowledge with people is quite popular. Erich von Däniken made millions of dollars in the 1960s from a book about how people from outer space control humanity and how in ancient times they exalted man from base animal instincts to a sublime sphere of consciousness.

Scientists really cannot explain how the Nazca paintings in Peru could appear, so huge that they can only be seen from a bird's eye view. Däniken wrote that the ancient Mayans had flying machines, and kind aliens even revealed to them the technology of space flight. He justifies his conclusions with drawings on Mayan pyramids, which depict men in “round helmets” soaring above the ground, with “oxygen tubes” hanging down.

True, all this “evidence” cannot be called such - it is very far-fetched.

6. “Apocalypse” by Mel Gibson is a fiction from beginning to end and has nothing to do with the real Mayans

In Apocalypse we see savages dressed in colorful feathers as they hunt fierce game and each other. Gibson assured us that this was exactly what the Mayans were like. Well he made a beautiful one interesting film, but he clearly skipped history at school.

Gibson's Mayan barbarians sell women into slavery and sacrifice male captives. But there is no evidence that the Mayans practiced slavery at all or even took captives ( wartime doesn't count, of course). The poor innocent Indians from the very heart of Gibson's jungle did not know about the great Mayan city where they eventually ended up. But during the heyday of the Mayan civilization, all the inhabitants of the surrounding forests were under the control of the city-state, although they retained their independence.

However, Gibson was right about one thing: when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico, the Mayans lived there, but no longer wanted to wage war or build cities - civilization was in decline.

7. The Mayans could have come from Atlantis

Understanding the history and origins of the Mayans is difficult. Thanks to the superstitious Spanish conquistadors - they burned almost all written history, mistaking the library for strange witchcraft symbols.

Only three documents survived: Madrid, Dresden and Paris, which are named after the cities where they eventually ended up. The pages of these codes describe ancient cities that fell from earthquakes, floods and fires. These cities are not located on the mainland North America- there are vague hints that they were somewhere in the ocean. One interpretation of the codes says that the Mayans came from a place that is now (and during their heyday) hidden under water, they were even mistaken for the children of Atlantis.

Atlantis is, of course, a strong word. But scientists have recently discovered what may be the remains of ancient Mayan cities on the ocean floor. The age of the cities and the cause of the cataclysm cannot be determined.

8. The Mayans were the first to know that time has neither beginning nor end.

We have our own calendar which we use to measure time. This gives us a sense of linearity of time.

The Mayans used as many as three calendars. The civil calendar, or Haab, included 18 months of 20 days each - in total it had 360 days. For ceremonial purposes, the Tzolkin was used, which had 20 months of 13 days each, and the entire cycle was thus 260 days. Together they made up a single complex and long calendar, which contained information about the movement of planets and constellations.

There was no beginning or end in the calendars - time for the Mayans went in a circle, everything was repeated over and over again. There was no such thing as “the end of the year” for them - only the rhythm of planetary cycles.

9. The Mayans invented sports

One thing is certain - the Mayans loved playing ball. Long before the Europeans thought of dressing in skins, the Mayans had already made a ball court at home and came up with the rules of the game. Their game appears to have been a hard-hitting combination of football, basketball and rugby.

The “sports uniform” consisted of a helmet, knee pads and elbow pads. You had to throw a rubber ball into a hoop, sometimes suspended more than six meters above the ground. To do this, you could use your shoulders, legs or hips. Penalty for losing - losers were sacrificed. Although, as we have already said, sacrifice was a ticket to heaven, so there were no losers as such.

10. The Mayans still exist

Usually people are firmly convinced that all the Mayans as a people disappeared - as if all the representatives of a multimillion-dollar civilization simply just died overnight. In fact, the modern Maya number about six million people, making them the largest indigenous tribe in North America.

For the most part, the Mayans did not die, but for some reason they had to abandon their huge cities. Since most early history Maya is lost, it is unknown why they suddenly stopped building large buildings, holding ceremonies and doing science. There are several versions: due to a long severe drought, the crops could have burned, or there were too many Mayans, or there was war and famine.

All that is really known is that in 1524 the Mayans began to form small agricultural communities and abandoned cities. Their descendants still live next to us, but they hardly remember anything about the past of their people. And even if they remember, they are unlikely to tell you.

The ancient Mayan civilization is of greatest interest to scientists, historians and archaeologists around the world. For many years people have been trying to unravel the mysteries that the Mayan people left behind. also evokes among ordinary inhabitants of the planet, because of the secrets and assumptions that are put forward by scientists regarding the end of the world. The Mayan people compiled a calendar, according to which conclusions are drawn about the upcoming end of life on Earth.

But no one has ever fully learned everything about the Maya tribe. This people was first mentioned in the 1st millennium. Scientists have found out where they lived. They inhabited Central America. Today it is southern states Mexico. Also traces of this were found in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Belize. The resettlement of the tribe began from the Peten plateau. The climate there was relatively humid and warm. Then the Mayan people developed new territories along rivers and on the shores of lakes.

The Mayan civilization is considered one of the most developed. They were way ahead of their time. Having mastered new lands, they immediately began to cultivate them. In places of settlement, the Maya people built cities of stone. They had well-developed agriculture. These tribes grew cotton, cocoa, maize, beans, fruits, and pumpkins. Some tribes mined salt.

The development of the Mayan civilization is evidenced by data on writing, which was well mastered by the tribes. It is presented in the form of hieroglyphs. The Mayan calendar, which still surprises with its high accuracy of compilation, is evidence of deep knowledge in the field of astronomy.
Despite high level civilization, the Mayan people were never united. They were divided into separate states. The number of inhabitants of such states was approximately ten thousand people. By the second half of the first millennium AD there were a lot of such small states. But at that time such a population was significant. All these small individual groups made up the Mayan civilization.

The basic provisions of the government system were the same in all parts of civilization. Each individual state was ruled by a dynasty of kings. Then noble residents and priests walked up the hierarchical ladder. Below them were warriors and merchants. At the last stage of social differentiation were peasants, commoners and artisans.

Main architectural structure every city had a pyramid. Its height reached 15-20 meters. This was the burial place of the nobility. Near the pyramid there were other residential buildings. The Mayan people built buildings from limestone. They had small rooms and narrow corridors.

Mayan tribes great attention devoted to religion. Priestesses were equated with the most noble people of the state. Worship of gods and sacrifices were traditional. The purpose of these rituals was to increase the lifespan of the gods, who in the concept of these peoples were mortal. The protection of the gods was the main thing for them, and for this the blood of animals and innocent people was shed.
At the end of the first millennium AD, tribes began to suddenly leave their homes. This fact has not yet been found precise definition. According to various hypotheses, the people were looking for new fertile lands or they were overtaken by an epidemic.

In 1517, the Spanish conquistadors visited the peninsula. They took over the tribes and their lands. The Mayan people did not cease to exist. Their descendants still live in

The Spanish conquerors destroyed the Mayan civilization. Those priceless manuscripts and calendars that have survived to this day are just a small fraction of the artifacts of civilization. A lot of valuable material perished in the fire or was simply destroyed along with the Mayan cities.