The Mayans: Discoveries & Theories

[Fabio Picasso]

The Creation and Sacrifice of Witches in Classic Maya Society.
Overview:
Worldwide, witch persecution occurs in times of trouble including untimely deaths, drought, floods, famine, and disease (e.g., Bacigalupo, 2005; Krug et al., 2002; Sanders, 2003). Supplications are made to no avail. It is not the fault of gods or ancestors; consequently, there is no other way to explain the disastrous events other than to blame mortals (Evans-Pritchard, 1979). Someone has brought misfortune to the community, and they must pay, often violently. Witches, whether or not the term exists in any given society, can be defined as people who are blamed and punished for perceived or real problems by community census. We explore this phenomenon in ancient Maya society after a brief discussion of witches and their treatment cross-culturally.

Source: Lucero, L.J., Gibbs, S.A. (2007). The Creation and Sacrifice of Witches in Classic Maya Society. In: Tiesler, V., Cucina, A. (eds) New Perspectives on Human Sacrifice and Ritual Body Treatments in Ancient Maya Society. Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Empowered Children in Classic Maya Sacrificial Rites
Abstract:
Sacrifice is a basic component of human religious experience, and well documented in many ancient cultures. In Mesoamerica, sacrifice took many forms although perhaps the most dramatic was the offering of human children. In Maya studies this topic has largely been overlooked despite data from a variety of sources. This paper explores the

perspective that children were not the subject of sacrifice due to their marginal status as less than adult, but rather the opposite – that due to their very young age which afforded them proximity to the ancestors and the gods, they were one of the most precious offerings available. When children are understood to have held a numinous power related to their recent time on earth, child sacrifice is revealed to be a religious rite of profound emotion and loss, consistent with the nature of the spiritual contract held by ancient Maya people.​

Source: Ardren, T. (2011). Empowered Children in Classic Maya Sacrificial Rites. Childhood in the Past, 4(1), 133–145.

 

[Fabio Picasso]

The Role of Cenotes in the Social History of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula
Abstract:

Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula has had a complex and dynamic history, which has seen processes such as the rise of the Maya civilisation, colonial conquests, indigenous rebellions and a range of commercial activities. The eninsula also represents a unique ecological place in the world: no rivers or major lakes exist on its surface - rather fresh water can only be found in its extensive underground flooded cave system, which is only accessible through cenotes (water sinkholes) that sporadically pierce the landscape's surface across the region. This paper seeks to reconcile the above observations, analysing how the Peninsula's dynamic history and its unique ecological landscape have interacted, producing certain environmental, social, political and economic outcomes. Thus, presented in this paper is an alternative perspective on the Peninsula's history, cast through an environmental historical lens that elicits nature's role as a historical actor.

Source: Munro, P. G., & Melo Zurita, M. de L. (2011). The Role of Cenotes in the Social History of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Environment and History, 17(4), 583–612.

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Underwater Archaeological Exploration of the MayanCenotes.
Abstract:
Cenotes are natural geological formations, commonly known as sinkholes, which are often linked to subterranean galleries with groundwater. These natural wells constitute complex and dynamic hydraulic systems that have a long history of interaction with the surrounding civilizations. These ‘time capsules’ contain information pertaining to the symbolic and religious aspects linked to the Mayan culture, as well as to geological processes in the Peninsula of Yucatán. Archaeologists, geologists and biologists are working together to study these unique sites using specialized speleological diving techniques. However, the cenotes have also become a tourist attraction and a spot favoured by sports divers. Consequently, treasure hunting has become a constant threat. A sustainable management programme should permit both public enjoyment of these unique cultural heritage sites and ensure their preservation.

Source: López, L. A. M. (2008). Underwater Archaeological Exploration of the MayanCenotes. Museum International, 60(4), 100–110.

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Pilgrimage to the Edge of the Watery Underworld: an Ancient Maya Water Temple at Cara Blanca, Belize.
Abstract:

The Classic Maya (AD 250–950) landscape was imbued with sacred, animate qualities. Of particular significance were openings in the earth, such as caves and pools because, as portals to the underworld, the Maya could communicate with gods and ancestors to petition for plentiful rain and crops. The 25 pools of Cara Blanca, Belize embody such a place; their isolation from settled communities and the relatively sparse but unique architecture near pools suggest that it served as a pilgrimage destination. Growing evidence from exploratory dives and excavations at a possible water temple indicate that the Maya increased their visits in response to several prolonged droughts that struck between c.AD 800 and 900. Not only do we present results from a type of site that has been little explored, we also detail how non-elites dealt with climate change via ritual intensification and pilgrimage. It also serves as a lesson for how we deal with climate change today — that relying on traditional means rather than changing our course of action can have detrimental repercussions.​

Source: Lucero, L. J., & Kinkella, A. (2015). Pilgrimage to the Edge of the Watery Underworld: an Ancient Maya Water Temple at Cara Blanca, Belize. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 25(01), 163–185.

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Cenotes and Placemaking in the Maya World: Biocultural Landscapes as Archival Spaces
Abstract:
In the Yucatán Peninsula, freshwater sinkholes known as cenotes are the only natural water systems beyond seasonal rainfall. In addition to their role as sustainable sources of water, certain cenotes were sacred to ancestral Maya peoples. Unfortunately, today, cenotes are threatened by pollution and contamination due to trash-dumping, intensive farming, and the effects of tourism. In response to these threats, InHerit: Indigenous Heritage Passed to Present (University of North Carolina), partnered with the Universidad de Oriente (UNO) in Valladolid, Mexico, and nine middle schools in Maya towns throughout Yucatán. Together, we developed curriculum resources focused on the environmental and cultural preservation of cenotes. Our initiative not only generated conservation activities but archival materials related to cenotes. These include photographs and landscape drawings by students, community oral histories about cenotes, and illustrations related to cenotes in the Maya codices—ancestral books of prophecy and fate authored by Yucatec Maya scribes before the sixteenth century. Through our multi-disciplinary exploration of the relationship between biocultural heritage and place, we investigate whether or not cenotes as landscape markers and archaeological caches, themselves, can also be archives—spaces with the capacity to collect, preserve, protect, and convey intergenerational memory and knowledge in the Yucatec Maya world.

Source: Montes, K.N., Clark, D.J., McAnany, P.A., Alpuche, A.I.B. (2024). Cenotes and Placemaking in the Maya World: Biocultural Landscapes as Archival Spaces. In: Olko, J., Radding, C. (eds) Living with Nature, Cherishing Language. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Caves and Artificial Caves in Late Postclassic Maya Ceremonial Groups
Abstract:

Maya ceremonial groups are well-known for their monu-mental constructions, built as microcosmic images of the universe. Such ritual assemblages often represent cre-ation places from which the universe emerged (Freidel et al. 1993: 123–172; Schele and Mathews 1998: 36–40). Caves are critical places in Maya creation events and the subsequent universe; hence, one would expect to find these features incorporated into monumental construc-tions. Yet, many archaeologists ignore the subterranean features in their fieldwork and discount them in their in-terpretations. This chapter investigates some of the ways that the Late Postclassic (A.D. 1200 to 1540) Maya incor-porated caves into their built environment. This point will be primarily illustrated through an examination of Late Postclassic temple assemblages and related groups, al-though I will also discuss some Colonial and modern uses of caves as analogies for the interpretation of archaeo-logical materials.​

Source: Pugh, Timothy W., "Caves and Artificial Caves in Late Postclassic Maya Ceremonial Groups" (2005). KIP Articles. 8069.

 

[maximus otter]

Archaeologists Found a Mysterious Ancient Stone That Could Lead to a Lost Maya City​

A stone slab covered with 123 hieroglyphic cartouches discovered at an ancient Maya pyramid in Mexico might not be a treasure map to a lost city, but it comes incredibly close.

The discovery—located in the archaeological zone of Cobá on what is now the eastern side of the Yucatán Peninsula—came from the bottom of what was once a pool. The large stone slab measures a full 118 square feet and features a panel containing 123 hieroglyphic characters carved directly onto the rock.

A 3D copy of the glyphs on the stone slab. (INAH)

Part of the slab describes the founding of the town of Keh Witz Nal on May 12, 569 A.D. Just where the lost Maya city—the name for which translates to “Deer Mountain”—once existed remains a mystery.

Cobá took its place in Maya culture no earlier than 100 B.C., and enjoyed a continuous life as a city until about 1,200 A.D. Known as the “city of chopped water,” the site may have had up to 50,000 residents at one time, and still features the largest pyramid in Mexico—the Nohoch Mul pyramid.

In addition to the information regarding Keh Witz Nal, the team believes that they have uncovered the name of an additional Cobá sovereign—K’awiil Ch’ak Cheen.

https://www.sciencealert.com/123-maya-glyphs-found-on-huge-stone-reveal-secrets-of-a-lost-city

maximus otter

 

[SimonBurchell]

Don't pay the armadillo
Don't even fix a price
Don't pay the armadillo
Until he gets you to the other side

Psychopomps are an interesting class of being.

Are armadillos psychopomps? Is that why there is a don Quixote-themed armadillo crossing the road in Rango?

 

[ramonmercado]

Lost city the size of Edinburgh rediscovered, Some wish Edinburgh would be lost.

A huge Maya city has been discovered centuries after it disappeared under jungle canopy in Mexico.

Archaeologists found pyramids, sports fields, causeways connecting districts and amphitheatres in the southeastern state of Campeche. They uncovered the hidden complex - which they have called Valeriana - using Lidar, a type of laser survey that maps structures buried under vegetation.

They believe it is second in density only to Calakmul, thought to be the largest Maya site in ancient Latin America. The team discovered three sites in total, which are the size of Scotland's capital Edinburgh, “by accident” when one archaeologist browsed data on the internet.

“I was on something like page 16 of Google search and found a laser survey done by a Mexican organisation for environmental monitoring,” explains Luke Auld-Thomas, a PhD student at Tulane university in the US.

It was a Lidar survey, a remote sensing technique which fires thousands of laser pulses from a plane and maps objects below using the time the signal takes to return. But when Mr Auld-Thomas processed the data with methods used by archaeologists, he saw what others had missed - a huge ancient city which may have been home to 30-50,000 people at its peak from 750 to 850 AD. That is more than the number of people who live in the region today, the researchers say.

Mr Auld-Thomas and his colleagues named the city Valeriana after a nearby lagoon.

The find helps change an idea in Western thinking that the Tropics was where “civilisations went to die”, says Professor Marcello Canuto, a co-author in the research. Instead, this part of the world was home to rich and complex cultures, he explains. We can’t be sure what led to the demise and eventual abandonment of the city, but the archaeologists say climate change was a major factor.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crmznzkly3go

 

[SimonBurchell]

For me rhis is really interesting. The Mesoamerican Preclassic/Formative didn't begin until about 1400 BC, with the appearance of the first bug cities, so what happened in the 500-year gap? And before, what was going on that suddenly this massive infrastructure appears?

From The Guardian:

4,000-year-old canals used for fishing by Maya predecessors discovered in Belize

New research revealed canals used for about 1,000 years to channel and catch freshwater fish on the Yucatán peninsula

Long before the ancient Maya built temples, their predecessors were already altering the landscape of Central America’s Yucatán peninsula.

Using drones and Google Earth imagery, archaeologists have discovered a 4,000-year-old network of earthen canals in what’s now Belize. The findings were published on Friday in the journal Science Advances.


“The aerial imagery was crucial to identify this really distinctive pattern of zigzag linear canals” running for several miles through wetlands, said study co-author Eleanor Harrison-Buck of the University of New Hampshire.

 

[ramonmercado]

New theory about altar found at Tikal.

Just steps from the center of Tikal, a 2,400-year-old Maya city in the heart of modern-day Guatemala, a global team of researchers including scholars from Brown University have unearthed a buried altar that could unlock the secrets of a mysterious time of upheaval in the ancient world.

The altar, built around the late 300s A.D., is decorated with four painted panels of red, black and yellow depicting a person wearing a feathered headdress and flanked by shields or regalia. The face has almond-shaped eyes, a nose bar and a double earspool. It closely resembles other depictions of a deity dubbed the "Storm God" in central Mexico.

In a study released on Tuesday, April 8, in Antiquity, the Brown researchers, along with co-authors from across the United States and Guatemala, argue that the painted altar wasn't the work of a Maya artist. Instead, they believe it was created by a highly skilled artisan trained at Teotihuacan—the formidable ancient power whose seat was located 630 miles west, outside modern-day Mexico City.

"It's increasingly clear that this was an extraordinary period of turbulence at Tikal," said Stephen Houston, a professor of social science, anthropology, and history of art and architecture at Brown, who co-authored the paper. "What the altar confirms is that wealthy leaders from Teotihuacan came to Tikal and created replicas of ritual facilities that would have existed in their home city. It shows Teotihuacan left a heavy imprint there."

Even before discovering the altar, Houston and colleagues knew the Maya interacted with Teotihuacan for centuries before their relationship became closer.

https://phys.org/news/2025-04-guatemala-altar-tikal-context-mysterious.html

 

[ramonmercado]

Tattooing tools finally found.

From ethnographic accounts and ancient Mayan imagery, we know that the Maya engaged in various forms of body modification, including piercing, body painting, scarification, and tattooing. However, no Mayan remains with tattoos or tattooing implements are known from the archaeological record.

Despite this, we know tattoos were found on a wide variety of individuals and differed depending on the individual receiving them, serving both as a source of pride and a form of punishment.

Dr. W. James Stemp elaborates, "Based on the Spanish ethnohistoric accounts and Classic Maya artwork, it appears both adult men and women could be tattooed. We have no evidence suggesting children were tattooed.

"Men and women seem to have been tattooed differently in terms of body parts, and this also seemed to vary somewhat by ethnic/language group. It seems that tattooing was done to mark transitions in a person's life or to mark important events, and that tattooing may have been both a sign of value, as well as a form of punishment, depending on the person and the situation.

"Aspects of special status seem to be involved in some cases. Warriors may have been tattooed as signs of valor, and specialists who performed certain religious rituals may have also been tattooed."

Tattoos usually followed one of two themes, either being animal-based, such as depicting bats, serpents, and eagles, or taking the form of geometric shapes, including loops, dots, curves, and spirals, often placed on the face, thighs, breasts, soles of the feet, and ankles.

a) Stela 11 captives with tattoos or scarification at Yaxchilan, Mexico b) Captives on Stela 12 at Piedras Negras, Guatemala. Credit: C. Helmke, in Stemp et al. 2025
However, distinguishing what imagery and even what accounts refer to tattoos can be difficult. For one, depictions make it hard to distinguish between simple body paint and tattoos, while ethnohistoric accounts often describe tattooing with words such as "paint," "painting," or "painted."

This is likely because the Classic Mayan word "tz'ihb" meant both "to write" and "to paint" and was used for any form of linework with ink.

Thus, the archaeological evidence for tattoos in the ancient Maya world is somewhat blurred.

However, recently, a group of researchers, led by Dr. Stemp, have uncovered the first ever Mayan tattooing implements in Actun Uayazaba Kab cave in Belize. The findings are published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. ...

https://phys.org/news/2025-05-ancient-maya-tattooing-tools-belize.html

 

[ramonmercado]

Mr Beast pigs out on "Mayan dessert". Mexico wants a cut.

Mexico is seeking compensation from the producers of a MrBeast video and has accused the US YouTuber of exploiting its ancient pyramids for commercial gain.

The video "I Explored 2000 Year Old Ancient Temples" shows the influencer, real name Jimmy Donaldson, 27, and his team exploring ancient Mayan cities, with a permit.

But in one part of the video produced by Full Circle Media, which has received more than 60 million views in a week, MrBeast advertises a chocolate product as a "Mayan dessert" and urges viewers to buy it.

Authorities said that while they had granted permission to film at the sites, they had not permitted for-profit use. A MrBeast representative denied some of the accusations.

The spokesperson told the BBC: "No advertisement material was shot on any archaeological sites overseen by INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History)."

In the video, the scene promoting the chocolate snack appears to be filmed at the influencer's camping site.

The spokesperson also said the video was "meant to highlight these treasured Mayan sites in Mexico" and that it was "unfortunate that this has turned into a political issue - hopefully it can lead to a productive dialogue and encourages people to visit these unique historical treasures".

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday called for an investigation into the conditions under which the filming permit had been granted.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crr70vykk0wo