One of the most famous among the oldest civilizations is the Mayan tribe. Until now, scientists in questions of the existence of the Maya civilization have left for themselves a lot of unknown. The researchers managed to determine that the Mayan civilization appeared in the 1st millennium BC. Their legacy lies in unusual writing and beautiful architectural structures, advanced mathematics and astronomy, art objects and the famous incredibly accurate calendar.
Despite the huge amount of unknown facts, the most secret for historians was the question of what led to the fall of the highly developed Mayan civilization. At the same time, the first prerequisites for such a decay, according to scientists, appeared around the 9th century AD.
Not only the decline of the Mayan civilization, but also many other mysterious moments from the life of this tribe to this day haunt scientists. The last place where such tribes were recorded was the north of Guatemala. Only archaeological excavations tell about the history and culture of the Maya.
1. Many people mistakenly assume that the Mayan tribe is extinct and the whole civilization is in the past, but this is not so. Maya to this day live in North America. Their number has decreased and today amounts to about 6 million.
2. The Maya never predicted the end of the world. This people had not 1, but 3 calendars. Each of them was not a harbinger of the apocalypse. The point was that the cycle of the longest Mayan calendar could reset to zero approximately every 2,880,000 days. One of these updates was planned for 2012.
3. The huge Mayan tribe lived in the vast territory of present-day Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize, in the west of Honduras and El Salvador. The development center of such a civilization was in the North.
4. Apart from the Babylonian systems, the Maya were the first to use the number "0". Indian mathematicians later began to use zero as a mathematical value in calculations.
5. Some linguists managed to prove that the word "shark" came to us from the language of the Mayan tribe.
6. The pre-Colombian Maya wanted to "improve" the physical characteristics of their own children. For this, mothers tied the boards to the child's forehead so that over time the forehead became flat.
7. Aristocrats from the Mayan tribes were hunchbacked, and their teeth were inlaid with jade.
8. In the ancient Maya tribes, all children were named according to the day they were born.
9. Some members of the Maya tribe to this day practice bloody sacrifices. Fortunately, chickens are now being sacrificed, not people.
10. All major cities of the Mayan civilization had stadiums. Their type of "football" involved decapitation. In this case, the team of losers was the victim. The severed heads, as historians suggest, were used as balls. The modern version of this game is called "ulama", but decapitation is no longer used.
11. Like the Aztecs, the Maya never used steel or iron in their construction. Their main weapon was obsidian or volcanic rocks.
12. They could create incredible constructions with geometric precision. Smooth corners and walls coupled with perfect computation is something that is difficult to achieve now. But in the Mayan civilization there were many such structures.
13. The main meal of the Maya in the diet was corn, and therefore it is not surprising that, according to Mayan mythology, the creator god Hunab created mankind precisely from the cob of corn.
14. The Mayans played football, but their game was to use a rubber ball. It had to be hammered into a round hoop.
15. Baths and saunas played a large role in the Mayan civilization. This tribe believed that with the release of sweat, they got rid of not only dirt, but also from perfect sins.
16. Archaeologists have been able to find evidence that the Mayan tribes used human hair to stitch up a wound. Representatives of this civilization were unsurpassed in treating not only bone fractures, but were also considered skilled dentists.
17. In the Maya tribe, prisoners, slaves, and other people who were to be sacrificed were painted blue and sometimes tortured. After that, they were brought to the top of one of the pyramids, where they were shot from a bow or their still beating heart was cut out from their chest. Sometimes the priests' assistants then removed the skin of the victim, which the high priest put on. Then a ritual dance was performed.
18. The Maya tribes had one of the most advanced writing systems among all ancient civilizations. They wrote on everything that came to their hand, especially on structures.
19. It was possible to prove that the Maya used means of pain relief. So for various religious rituals, hallucinogenic drugs were used. They used them in everyday life quite widely. Such a hallucinogen was made from a specific mushroom, peyote, bindweed, and tobacco.
20. The Mayan pyramids were included in the list of 7 wonders of the world. Until now, many structures are hidden under a thick layer of earth, and their excavation has become difficult due to the impassability of the rainforest. Those buildings that have already been restored impress with their own extraordinary layering.
