APPENDIX-More about Maya culture
 
Today the legacy of the Maya is recognized worldwide thanks to excavation work, the deciphering of their glyph language and diligent research. They not only developed a calendar as accurate as our Gregorian but were also highly skilled astronomers,
astrologers, urban planners and excelled as mathematicians.
 
Mayan history is typically divided into three periods: the Pre Classic period lasted from 300 BC to 250 AD, and is when the first Mayan settlements came into being, generally near the coast. During the Classic Period, from 250 AD to 900 AD, the Mayan moved inland, into the rain forest, and their art, architecture, religion and science went from one achievement to the next. A major, and mysterious, disruption occurred about 900. Experts have speculated many reasons for the disruption, ranging from climatic change to epidemic -- but peasant revolt seems to be the favorite. Whatever it was, the cities were
abandoned and there appears to have been a sudden loss in technical expertise and artistic excellence, signaling the start of the Post Classic era, or period of decline. Most of the ancient cities were repopulated by 1000, and continued to have been inhabited until at least 1521, and some of the more remote cities even longer.
 
Their grand cities with monumental temples (the word "pyramid" was introduced by the Spaniards) were built without the use of today's tools. Yet, each major city-state was carefully planned with temples and palaces in the center, a nearby ball court for the famous pre Hispanic team sport and the surrounding adobe houses of the common people at a respectable distance from the ceremonial center of town.  As well as the technological underpinnings, many of the spiritual underpinnings of
the ancient Mayan world endure. Unlike modern industrialized cities, Mayan cities were principally ceremonial sites, less commercial centers. They were the spiritual and magical foci for the decentralized network of farming
 
villages that is still pretty much in place. The sacred symbols depicted on the walls and carved into stone can still be seen in the weaving. Far from engaging in rote copying, the Mayan weavers are very much aware of the symbols' meanings. Offerings are still being made to the same deities in religious ceremonies that can be both very traditional as well as a fusion of Catholic theology.
 
One of the Maya's unique contributions to architecture is the Korbel Arch, also called the Maya Arch, which was formed by projecting stone blocks out from each side of a wall until they met forming a peak. This technique was a handy substitute for a true arch. The Maya also invented the wheel but, dismissing its usefulness, only used it for children's toys.
 
When it came to mathematics, time and calendars, the Maya were geniuses. Believing that time repeated itself in cycles, they devised two calendars, one ritualistic, which was used for religious celebrations and astrological predictions, and the other a solar calendar. Both calendars were based on the calculation that a year had a little more than 365 days, a more precise system than the Gregorian calendar. Following the movement of the sun, moon and stars with such accuracy, the Maya were able to predict such mystifying phenomena as eclipses and the Spring and Autumn equinoxes.  The ancient Maya used 17 different calendars based on the cosmos. These calendars were, and still are, calculated by the traditional Mayan priests, and are used to time the planting of crops, and to schedule sacred celebrations and ceremonies. The two most important calendars are the Haab, based on the earth's rotation around the sun, and the sacred calendar, Tzolk'in, based on the cycles of the Pleiades
constellation.  The cycle of the Pleiades takes 26,000 years, which the Maya divided by 1,000 to make up years lasting 260 days. Since 13 and 20 were both sacred numbers, the fact that when you multiplied them together you got 260 seems especially auspicious to the Maya. Much like our own solar calendar, the Haab counts 365 days. But instead of 12 it has 18 months with 20 days in each month, with a special 19th month lasting only 5 days Every 52 years the two calendars restarted together again, probably accompanied by enormous celebrations. .
 
The construction of the Kukulcán Pyramid at Chichén Itzá was planned so that each Equinox the dying sun would cast a shadow of a serpent writhing down the steps of the pyramid. At nearby Dzibilchaltún long streams of sunbeams hit the exact center of two windows opposite each other while at Edzna, Campeche, the mask of the sun god is beautifully illuminated during the Equinox.
 
The Maya also incorporated the concept of zero in their mathematical system long before it was discovered by others. Instead of the decimal system, however, they used a vigesimal count, multiplying by 20 instead of ten. Eventually, they used the katun or a 20-year period to record the passage of time.
 
Another major step forward by the Maya was the invention of their hieroglyphic writing system. Glyphs embellished stelae and temples throughout the Maya world and cover the famous hieroglyphic stairway at Copan. Hieroglyphics were used to record historical events or, as at Copan, the achievements of the royal dynasty. Unfortunately, actual books or codices written by the Maya on deerskin or tree bark and formed like concertinas, were destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors. Only three codices, which have found their way to foreign museums, escaped destruction. The codices related Maya mythology, history, religious beliefs and arts and sciences through brightly-painted ideograms, or symbols. Maya scholars were not able to interpret the glyphs until 20 years ago when a team of Mexican and U.S. experts broke the code at  Palenque. The Maya also had a strong oral tradition which was strengthened after the destruction of the codices.
 
A text of the ancient "Popol Vuh" or "Book of Advice", written in the Maya Quiche language of Guatemala, was discovered by a 17th friar and rescued from oblivion. Translated into Spanish by the monk, Popul Vuh described the creation of the universe,
according to Maya beliefs and legends. In Mexico, the "Chilam Balam," a book of history, astrology, medicine and prophecies written in Maya using Latin script, was found in the Yucatán peninsula and also saved.
 
The Maya culture produced fine sculptors who created beautifully proportioned figures in perfect balance and harmony on stelae. Door frames were elaborately carved while facades and columns of buildings were covered with masks and friezes to honor the gods.
 
Pottery making also developed into a popular handicraft. The clay pots, dried in the open air instead of being baked in kilns, were just as likely to turn up in a householder's kitchen as at a temple ritual. Ceremonial pieces were often painted with mythological figures. Gold jewelry was principally for ceremonial use. while the
 
most precious stone, jade, was so highly valued it was used either as an offering for the gods or as decoration on a nobleman's costume. People also hung pieces of  jade carved in the shape of an animal or a bead around their neck to ward off illness.
 
Something courious is Maya concept for beauty. They used to put their children’ s skulls out of shape since they were newborn so as to have a conical conformation. They also used to hang objects leaning from their heads so that -being tempted to watch them- they would become squint-eyed. Finally, they used to cut their teethes and fill the holes with
precious jewels. Actually, a beautiful Maya would now be considered as a deformed.
 
About the Ruins
 
Mayan cities were ceremonial sites, not commercial centers or fortresses. The ancient Mayan seemed to have been unwarlike: none of their cities were fortified, and their art lacked the gruesome fierceness of the northern tribes, such as the Toltec. Their cities were connected by ceremonial roads called sacbes, now generally overgrown. Because so much Mayan culture, particularly religious ritual and writing, was lost, many of the uses of the awesome structures in Mayan ruins are
unknown. But even though their ancient use may be unknown, different sites had similar structures. The principle structures you can see are pyramids, palaces, ball courts, and wells.
 
Pyramids are the most recognizable Mayan structure. They basic function seemed to be a raised platform for an altar. Some pyramids seemed to have an astronomical use as well Palaces are the mysterious structures. They were multi-storied, multi-room buildings, frequently on raised platforms much like the pyramids. If they were domiciles, they would have been most uncomfortable, lacking cooking and sanitary facilities. If they were offices, the Mayans had an unlikely huge
level of bureaucracy.  By excavation work, archaeologists have found out more and more buildings beneath the new ones, so we know they used to enlarge the ceremonial buildings by exploiting the old ones as bases.
 
Ball courts were the playing ground for a game that was like basketball meets rugby meets Blue beard. On a playing ground about the size of a football field, two teams would try to keep a hard rubber ball in the air using their feet, hips, heads -- anything but their hands. The object was to put the ball through a stone hoop. Some people speculate that at
some very important games, the losing team would be sacrificed. According to other theories, the winning team would auto sacrifice, being the dishonored losers not worthy of sacrifice to gods.
 
Cenotes were the lifeblood of the Mayan community. The Yucatán Peninsula, which was an important Mayan center, is a flat limestone mesa. Instead of running off into rivers, rain seeps right through the porous limestone and is trapped by the harder, insolvent bedrock below. The wells formed by this process were called cenote. A cenote is like an oasis in the rain forest,
the thing that made established settlement possible.
 
 

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