Here's a video of perhaps the largest pyramid ever found in Mezoamerica. It's in an ancient Mayan metropolis now called Mirador in Guatemala. The area is larger than L.A; estimates on the population put it at about 100,000 in its heyday, which was from about 600BC to between 300BC and 100AD. But the construction on it was started before 900BC and was abandoned at about that time with people returning centuries later.
The video also mentions and shows a frieze of Popol Vuh, the Mayan creation myth.
The whole abandon/return thing also had me really intrigued.
Pretty cool stuff:
I just realized that if you're in google reader, the video doesn't show unless you click into my blog. hmmph.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Mayan Metropolis
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4 comments:
Cool! I love the pre-columbian cultures, they are so fascinating to learn about. I love how their belief permeates every aspect of their lives. If you ever have time, you should see if you can sit in on a class with Allen J. Christenson at BYU. He translated the Popol Vuh from the original Quiche. That was cool to see the big carving they unearthed.
Also it's important to note something the CNN reporter didn't. The Popol Vuh is the Quiche Maya sacred book. It's not necessarily shared by all Maya. Just as the Cherokee, for example, had multiple subgroups and tribes that were distinct from each other, despite the shared Cherokee name, the Maya were/are not a homogeneous group but have multiple languages, beliefs, etc. Not that I know much on the subject, just what I've learned in school. A good book on the subject is by Michael D. Coe, simply titled, The Maya.
cool. thanks for the info and greater insight. I need to read more about the Maya and all of their beliefs.
very interesting
It's like one of those things when your mormony self looks at that timeline and is like, interesting.
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