1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:03,400 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody chuck here. Before we get going with the show, 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,160 Speaker 1: I want to plug a little podcast appearance that I 3 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: made especially for uh the old movie crushers. I was 4 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:13,240 Speaker 1: on a movie podcast called it Too Scary, Didn't Watch, 5 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: and it is a lot of fun. And the basis 6 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:19,920 Speaker 1: of the episode basically is three very very funny women 7 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,599 Speaker 1: who one of them likes to watch horror movies and 8 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: the other two hate to watch horror movies. So one 9 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: of them watches them and then tells the other two 10 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:33,200 Speaker 1: about it, and it's really a lot of fun. It's 11 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: become one of my favorite podcasts that I listened to, 12 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:38,319 Speaker 1: and I reached out to them and they were kind 13 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 1: enough to have me on as a guest, so you 14 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:46,160 Speaker 1: get to hear me uh completely recap the horror movie 15 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:49,960 Speaker 1: or kind of edge of your seat thriller slash horror 16 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 1: movie Don't Breathe. And I had a really great time 17 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,400 Speaker 1: on the show. They're wonderful, they're funny, and we had 18 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of laughs. So check out 19 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,320 Speaker 1: and just you know, subscribe as what I say, listen 20 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: to Too Scary, Didn't Watch, and check out my episode 21 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,560 Speaker 1: on the movie Don't Breathe, which just came out a 22 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago. Alright, on with the show Welcome 23 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: to Stuff you should know, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey, 24 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's Chuck 25 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:32,399 Speaker 1: and Jerry's here too. Um, and that makes this stuff 26 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:37,959 Speaker 1: you should know, the anthropology edition. That's right. And I 27 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 1: would argue our one to three maybe four Maya adjacent podcast. Well, 28 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: we did the mind calendar. Yeah, the world ending in. 29 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:55,560 Speaker 1: I mean I think we did that back then, right, 30 00:01:56,720 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: is right around that. That's the benefits of having a 31 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: show run this line. I think we did that in 32 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: That's what I mean, but leading up to Yeah, not 33 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,799 Speaker 1: after the fact, because that would be very us uh. 34 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: And then of course we did our our episode where 35 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: we traveled to Guatemala. It's sort of like our two 36 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: part travel diary where Jerry spoke and um, you know, 37 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: Guatemala is partially where the Mayan people lived and live. 38 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: So maybe we should just start out by since I 39 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:32,080 Speaker 1: said lived and live, dispelling some myths. Well, hold on, 40 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 1: we did another one last December. I believe did climate 41 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: cause the fall of the Maya civilization? All right, so 42 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:44,799 Speaker 1: this is the fifth one, easily maybe I'm not sure 43 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: I lost count since you were talking. Well, I was 44 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: inspired because, as you know, I just recently took a 45 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: trip to Kintana Rue in Mexico, and uh that saw 46 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,239 Speaker 1: some Mayan temples, and so there's a couple of episodes 47 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:00,960 Speaker 1: coming out of that rip because it was just one 48 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: of those inspiring trips where you're you know, when you 49 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: go someplace where your your endorphins are firing in your 50 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: brain is doing things that usually doesn't do. Those are 51 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: the best trips, you know, you come back. I wanted 52 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:15,639 Speaker 1: to eat different foods and talk about different things, and 53 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: I love those trips wearing cats. I didn't get any clothes, 54 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: but we did get Ruby a couple of really pretty 55 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: traditional Mexican dresses. Oh that's cute. Does she like them? 56 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: She loves them because they are colorful and have flowers 57 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: embroidered and stuff. Yeah. So. Um. There are a lot 58 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: of different groups that lived over the millennia in UM 59 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: Mexico and Central America. UM, but the Maya stand out 60 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 1: in particular for a number of reasons. Um. They had 61 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: one of the most developed alphabets um or systems of 62 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: writing ever in the ancient history of Central America. Or Mesoamerica. Yeah, 63 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 1: they came up with zero independently, almost almost almost a 64 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: thousand years before it was introduced to Europe. Not not 65 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:11,119 Speaker 1: the europe didn't come up with themselves like it was introduced, 66 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: but they the Mayans figured it out independently. They also 67 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: had some really top notch calendars, which we talked about 68 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: in that one episode UM and that we're based on 69 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: um really advanced astronomical observations. So they were. And then 70 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 1: not to mention, they also have the romance of having 71 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: like lost civilizations, like entire cities swallowed up by the 72 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: jungle and lost for a thousand or more years. Those 73 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:42,400 Speaker 1: are that's like so Mayan, you know, so um. For 74 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: all those reasons and more, they definitely kind of just 75 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:49,840 Speaker 1: stand out in a field of pretty interesting cultures. Uh, 76 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:52,720 Speaker 1: if I may say so, Yeah, I think that's why 77 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:55,279 Speaker 1: we keep going back to them. They just fascinate me 78 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:59,680 Speaker 1: the more I read about them. And uh, at some 79 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 1: point I've heard it's a decent movie, but it's not 80 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: the most accurate. But I was reminded today of the 81 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:10,839 Speaker 1: Mel Gibson directed film Apocalypto. Man, it's almost a snuff film, dude. 82 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:13,520 Speaker 1: I saw the one human sacrifice scene, and I'm like, 83 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:22,400 Speaker 1: it's awful. It's super realistic. Yeah, it's way too stantographic. Director. 84 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,839 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, he's like, yeah, he's super obsessed with violence. 85 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: It's crazy. Have you seen we were heroes? No? But 86 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:32,840 Speaker 1: what I thought he did, Haxall Ridge, I don't know 87 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: if you did or not. I know he definitely did. 88 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:37,760 Speaker 1: We were heroes about the early early day. We were heroes? 89 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: Is that what it was called. Yeah, it was the 90 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: early days of Vietnam and it's like brains blowing out 91 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:45,840 Speaker 1: onto the camera lens in front of the Ridge was 92 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 1: supposed to be really violent too. It's just occurred to me. 93 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:52,680 Speaker 1: I don't know if I've seen any Mel Gibson directed film. Uh, 94 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: we were heroes. No, we were soldiers. One of the two. 95 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:00,359 Speaker 1: It's Thanks for Soldiers. We were soldiers. Um meet me 96 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:03,560 Speaker 1: in St. Louis. I think that's the name of it. 97 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: Super violent. But some of the myths we can dispel. 98 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:12,719 Speaker 1: First of all, I kind of teased one out that, um, 99 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: the Maya are still around. That it's not like, you know, 100 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: people talk about the fall of the Mayan civilization. It's 101 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:21,719 Speaker 1: not like a meteor came down and did the dinosaur 102 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:26,159 Speaker 1: treatment on them. There are still Maya today, and you know, 103 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,679 Speaker 1: some would argue that their civilization civilization didn't really collapse 104 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:34,600 Speaker 1: so much as just became sort of a uh, suburban 105 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:37,040 Speaker 1: sprawl in a way. Yeah. I mean a lot of 106 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:39,919 Speaker 1: them speak some of these ancient languages and tongues that 107 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 1: have been around for a very long time. They carry 108 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: on a lot of the ancient traditions that were passed down. 109 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: So yeah, it's definitely inaccurate to say that the Mayan 110 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:53,839 Speaker 1: civilization just went away, just disappeared. It just dispersed instead, 111 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,679 Speaker 1: that's right. Uh. It is also incorrect to just say 112 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:03,279 Speaker 1: the Maya were this one sort of unified historic people 113 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:06,239 Speaker 1: that we can talk about as being one thing. Um, 114 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: we're talking about a lot of different like dozens and 115 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 1: dozens of cities and city states, um that you know, 116 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 1: they had a lot in common. Sure, and they did 117 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:20,680 Speaker 1: trade with each other and did some of the same things, 118 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: but they also were at war with each other almost constantly, um, 119 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 1: between themselves. And you you can't just and we're talking 120 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:32,239 Speaker 1: about hundreds and hundreds of years like they're definite. They're different, 121 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: very specific periods of Mayan culture and depending on when 122 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: you're talking about some cities may be bigger than others, 123 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: others maybe um not not quite as large yet. So 124 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:48,360 Speaker 1: you can't really just say I believe Libya helped us 125 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:52,320 Speaker 1: with this when I think she got from a website 126 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 1: called Mexicolore with an E they said just saying the 127 00:07:56,200 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: Maya is trying to invent a name for like the 128 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:02,360 Speaker 1: Free to the Italian, the Spanish and the Romanian people 129 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:05,440 Speaker 1: all is one. It's just there. They were not just 130 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:08,160 Speaker 1: one people, know, and they didn't see themselves as one people. 131 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: They probably saw themselves as members or citizens of their 132 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: particular city state. But the reason that we today and 133 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: researchers and archaeologists who you know, investigated the Maya to 134 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: begin with, considered them one group is for two reasons. One, 135 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: they inhabited a really specific um geographical location covered southern Mexico, Guatemala, 136 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:36,160 Speaker 1: parts of Honduras, Sal Salvador, UH and Belize Peninsula specifically 137 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: yeah um so and like in that area, not kind 138 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:44,120 Speaker 1: of spread out like that was the Maya's area UM. 139 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:48,080 Speaker 1: And Then number two, even though they consider themselves separate 140 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: um and and not like members of the same whole 141 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: group that inhabited the area. They exchanged, Like you said, 142 00:08:54,800 --> 00:09:00,400 Speaker 1: they traded, they exchanged ideas, um, scientific breakthroughs art um. 143 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: So their their culture to those of us on the outside, 144 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:07,199 Speaker 1: looks like one homogeneous, cohesive culture, when really it was 145 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 1: a bunch of different cultures influencing one another and creating 146 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:15,479 Speaker 1: kind of this meticulture that we consider the Maya today. Right, UM. 147 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:17,680 Speaker 1: If you know, I talked about the different periods that 148 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:20,839 Speaker 1: we can talk about. The first one was the pre 149 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,200 Speaker 1: Classic period. Uh. And we'll talk a little bit about 150 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:25,839 Speaker 1: each of these, but the Classic period is going to 151 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 1: be most of the focus. That's sort of the golden 152 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 1: age of the Maya. Uh. But in the pre Classic period, 153 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,640 Speaker 1: this is where they started to um get involved in agriculture. 154 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 1: They started to um cultivate through burning land. Uh. And 155 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:46,800 Speaker 1: you know, as we covered in the episode on UM, 156 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:49,679 Speaker 1: you know how they went away. I believe we talked 157 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:52,439 Speaker 1: about burning crops as being you know, a lot of 158 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:55,480 Speaker 1: people think that was significantly bad for them in the 159 00:09:55,559 --> 00:09:58,760 Speaker 1: long run, um over a population to be sure, and 160 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 1: eventual uh food shortage when they had food surplus for 161 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 1: so long. But they started out as always with the 162 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:12,720 Speaker 1: three sisters growing those beans and maize and squash, and 163 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:15,560 Speaker 1: then the Middle Pre Classic we're talking about a thousand 164 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 1: to three hundred, they started spreading out a little bit 165 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:23,440 Speaker 1: in that territory, the same territory that would eventually be 166 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: like the classic most robust Mayan cultures UM. And they 167 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 1: also at that time, in the Middle Pre Classic, about 168 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:38,040 Speaker 1: twenty three years ago, that's when they started to build 169 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:40,959 Speaker 1: like architecture, not the stuff that you would see in 170 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:43,320 Speaker 1: the classical period, but it was like the beginning of it, 171 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:46,880 Speaker 1: literally the foundation, because they actually started they built um 172 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: new structures over old structures. But this is kind of 173 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,480 Speaker 1: where it was born. Yeah, and all this if it 174 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:55,160 Speaker 1: sounds like it's happening very organically, is because it did. 175 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: Um Lvia is you know, points out that these these 176 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 1: city centers, in these city states, it wasn't some and 177 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 1: we we know now more than we ever had before. 178 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 1: We got a lot of stuff wrong over the years, 179 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:11,720 Speaker 1: um science and archaeology, but we were pretty squared away 180 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,440 Speaker 1: at least, you know, we're up to date on the 181 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 1: latest uh like truths about the Maya. But they think 182 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 1: they used to think they were so organized they would 183 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:23,440 Speaker 1: plan out these cities, but they really sort of grew 184 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:26,720 Speaker 1: organically because they were good at what they did and 185 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:29,040 Speaker 1: they could really farm the heck out of the land 186 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:31,280 Speaker 1: and support a lot of people. So it just sort 187 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:33,960 Speaker 1: of happened organically. I mean, they clearly were a culture 188 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:36,240 Speaker 1: that knew a good idea when they saw it. So 189 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:41,439 Speaker 1: like an elevated highway, um causeway, it's wide and can 190 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:44,680 Speaker 1: afford a bunch of traffic between one city state to another. 191 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:47,400 Speaker 1: That's just a good idea. So if you build one that, 192 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 1: there's the other city states can say what other city 193 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:52,560 Speaker 1: states can we link to? And before you know it, 194 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:54,920 Speaker 1: basically every city state and I think there were four 195 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:57,440 Speaker 1: great ones in total at the height of the Maya 196 00:11:57,559 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 1: classical period, are connected by ways. So of course today 197 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:05,479 Speaker 1: it looks like, surely this was planned, some great centralized 198 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: government planned this out and they must have been amazing. No, 199 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 1: there's another way to do. It's almost like an emergent 200 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 1: property of a hive mind. A bunch of people no 201 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:15,760 Speaker 1: good idea when they see it, and they put it 202 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: to use, and over time it just builds up and 203 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:21,240 Speaker 1: up and up and becomes so complex that it looks 204 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 1: to people that come later like it couldn't have possibly 205 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,000 Speaker 1: happened organically even though it did. That's right. Uh. And 206 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:31,120 Speaker 1: we've talked a little bit before about the size of 207 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,560 Speaker 1: these I guess, I mean people have called them empires 208 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:38,760 Speaker 1: for these civilizations. Um, there were about forty cities in total. 209 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 1: I mean you said for within that there were all 210 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: these smaller cities each of these And they're not sure 211 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:48,560 Speaker 1: so that the number ends up being a bit of 212 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 1: a swing. But five thousand and fifty thousand people and 213 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:56,720 Speaker 1: total maybe up to fifteen million people. Uh. They've done 214 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:00,480 Speaker 1: studies that found I believe it was like double the uh, 215 00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:03,839 Speaker 1: double the size of medieval England at the time. Uh 216 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:08,040 Speaker 1: and and farley more densely populated than medieval England, like 217 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 1: legitimate cities. Yeah, did I say four. I meant to 218 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:14,680 Speaker 1: say forty. Oh did you say for No? I think 219 00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:16,439 Speaker 1: you said I said for no. No No, No, you did 220 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:18,960 Speaker 1: say four. But I thought you just meant there were 221 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:24,199 Speaker 1: four main areas. There were at least forty great cities. 222 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:26,079 Speaker 1: That was what I was trying to say. I think 223 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:29,760 Speaker 1: he said for But yeah, we'll go. One of the 224 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:33,359 Speaker 1: things that made the city so striking, though, Chuck, was, um, 225 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:37,480 Speaker 1: the elaborate architecture, you know, and because it was all 226 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:39,520 Speaker 1: made from well not all of it, but a lot 227 00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:42,120 Speaker 1: of it was made from cut limestone blocks, which, by 228 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:45,280 Speaker 1: the way, they used harder stones to cut the limestone 229 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 1: because in the area that the maya Um occupied there's 230 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:53,280 Speaker 1: no metals that are easily accessible. Um. There are also 231 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:56,800 Speaker 1: no draft animals, so they did everything with like stones basically, 232 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:01,239 Speaker 1: and with human labor, not with animal labor. So um, 233 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:03,840 Speaker 1: what they did is all the more impressive when you 234 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:07,080 Speaker 1: realize that because they built these huge temples in huge 235 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 1: pyramids that are just amazingly well designed and well built, 236 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 1: so so much so that they still survive today. But 237 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 1: then on top of it, when you start to investigate 238 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 1: the way that they're oriented, you're like, oh, my goodness, 239 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:22,040 Speaker 1: each of these staircases is completely in line with each 240 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: of the four cardinal directions. How do they do that? Um? 241 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:27,800 Speaker 1: Or if you stand on this one temple at Cheetz 242 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:30,360 Speaker 1: and itsa and you look at the other three temples, 243 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:33,120 Speaker 1: depending on whether it's a salstice or equinox, the other 244 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 1: temples are in line with the rising sun. How did 245 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:37,600 Speaker 1: they do that? So yeah, So, in addition to just 246 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:41,160 Speaker 1: the visual amazement that you get, UM, the kind of 247 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:44,600 Speaker 1: intellectual amazement of how they were designed and implanned is 248 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:48,240 Speaker 1: even more impressive. Yeah, and you can stand on these 249 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:51,200 Speaker 1: things because they're still there. Uh. A lot of the 250 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: civilization has gone now. But you know, if you go 251 00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:57,080 Speaker 1: down to the Ukndam Peninsula and you visit to Loom 252 00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 1: or someplace like that, I highly encourage you to take 253 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:03,400 Speaker 1: one of those doors and go see these temples. Uh 254 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:06,680 Speaker 1: or well, we're not exactly sure what they were. We 255 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:09,920 Speaker 1: think that they're temples. Uh. Sometimes they are called palaces, 256 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:12,160 Speaker 1: but it's pretty clear from like the size of the 257 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:16,640 Speaker 1: rooms that they weren't for the hierarchy. You know, it 258 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 1: was a very um, very hierarchical society. But they don't 259 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: think like that the kings lived in these temples that 260 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:26,640 Speaker 1: are still, these pyramids that are standing. It was probably 261 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:30,960 Speaker 1: for ceremonies. Uh. This may have been where I guess 262 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 1: we have to talk some about the ritual sacrifice. This 263 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 1: is where a lot of that took place as well. Yeah, 264 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 1: particularly the temples and the pyramids. Um, but they they Yeah, 265 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: we should talk about sacrifice at some point in time. 266 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:48,520 Speaker 1: Will pepper it in? Okay, But the something you talked 267 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:50,720 Speaker 1: about I want to kind of flesh out a little 268 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:55,320 Speaker 1: more is the hierarchical society. So again, there wasn't some 269 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: one great central government that organized all these city states. 270 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:02,880 Speaker 1: In some of the city states, not all, there was 271 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 1: a strong centralized government, a leader of priestly class, a 272 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:09,920 Speaker 1: divine king or something who ruled over that city state 273 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 1: with an iron fist and by divine right um and 274 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 1: could say I'm going to kill your kid um, to 275 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:20,520 Speaker 1: sacrifice them for a bountiful harvest, for more rain or 276 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:23,360 Speaker 1: something like that. It was that that level of control, 277 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: that level of hierarchy, and it was really rigid. But 278 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: again to kind of underscore how each of these cities 279 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:31,640 Speaker 1: was kind of independent in its own kind of thing. 280 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:35,920 Speaker 1: Not all of them had a hierarchical structure like that. Yeah, 281 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:38,960 Speaker 1: And I think I think that's one reason they were. 282 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:44,760 Speaker 1: It seemed like I saw a couple of like documentary documentary, documentary, 283 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:52,560 Speaker 1: video high I am new to Earth, I'm new to YouTube. Uh. 284 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:56,880 Speaker 1: It seemed like they were always at war with one another. 285 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 1: And I think that, Um, I think that was just 286 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:02,840 Speaker 1: sort of the nature of the hierarchy of these places, 287 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 1: Like I feel like these it just seems like these 288 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 1: kings were always at war with another king over something. Yeah, 289 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: and apparently the first the first researchers who started to 290 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:18,359 Speaker 1: investigate the Maya. I think it started in eighteen thirties, 291 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 1: the eighteen thirties when Westerners, when Europeans first started to well, 292 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 1: I don't want to say that because the Spanish war 293 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:29,479 Speaker 1: aware of them. When say Western Europeans, this includes Spain, say, um, 294 00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:32,400 Speaker 1: you are new to Earth to northern Europeans. How about 295 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:37,359 Speaker 1: the English? The English first stumbled upon you know, Mayan 296 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:41,359 Speaker 1: cities um. From from from that point on, for a 297 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:45,160 Speaker 1: very long time, researchers just assumed that the mines were 298 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:52,440 Speaker 1: this really advanced, intelligent, peaceful culture. Um. And it wasn't 299 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:54,640 Speaker 1: until later that we started to find more and more 300 00:17:54,720 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: things like fortresses and battlements, um, defensive walls. Were like, oh, 301 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,960 Speaker 1: actually there was a lot of warfare. And then as 302 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 1: we got to know more and more and cracked their language, UM, 303 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 1: we're like, oh wow, this is a deeply violent group 304 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 1: of of cultures that that really killed a lot of 305 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:18,960 Speaker 1: one another in some really brutal ways too. Right, But 306 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:22,400 Speaker 1: we did mention they also traded with one another. So 307 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:24,840 Speaker 1: what wasn't like there was just a guarantee that their 308 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:27,760 Speaker 1: closest neighbor they were going to do battle with. Um. 309 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:31,440 Speaker 1: They traded all kinds of things. They traded. Uh, it's 310 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:36,680 Speaker 1: an area very rich in jade apparently, obsidian UM. Obviously 311 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: things that are a little more commonplace like salt, uh 312 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:41,959 Speaker 1: and and seeds and grains and things like that they 313 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:46,120 Speaker 1: would trade. But copper and jade and obsidian were sort 314 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:50,160 Speaker 1: of the money things that you would trade. And they traded, 315 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:52,879 Speaker 1: like you said at the beginning, they traded ideas and 316 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:56,880 Speaker 1: cultural ideas, and they traded art with one another. They 317 00:18:56,880 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: had a lot of influence, and this was in one 318 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:05,000 Speaker 1: of the documentary videos that I saw on online. Uh, 319 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 1: the Olmec civilization was somewhat was the civilization that they 320 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:12,080 Speaker 1: um really really borrowed from or not borrowed from. But 321 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 1: we're influenced by I guess yeah. The Old Mec I 322 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:18,080 Speaker 1: was reading are considered one of six pristine civilizations, meaning 323 00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:21,200 Speaker 1: they just grew up out of whole cloth. Um. They 324 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 1: weren't influenced by other civilizations or other groups six, including 325 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:32,240 Speaker 1: I think the Um, like Sumerians, they think, maybe the Egyptians. 326 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:36,560 Speaker 1: I can't remember a few others UM, but the Old Yeah, 327 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 1: the Old Mecher considered pristine civilization. That's pretty cool. Um, 328 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:45,680 Speaker 1: So I say we take a break and come back 329 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,280 Speaker 1: and talk about the religion and the science of the Maya. 330 00:19:48,320 --> 00:20:06,760 Speaker 1: What do you think about that, Chuck, let's do it. 331 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:16,720 Speaker 1: So you mentioned religion and science, we'll talk about that now. 332 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:21,400 Speaker 1: Previous to the break, you mentioned the priestly class. From 333 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 1: what I saw, the priestly class was basically the highest 334 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:28,920 Speaker 1: class under the ruling class. Uh. And and I guess 335 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:32,240 Speaker 1: in a lot of older civilizations that's sort of the case, 336 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:36,200 Speaker 1: is the religious leaders were I had so much influence 337 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,399 Speaker 1: and we're just under the king and had a lot 338 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:41,119 Speaker 1: of influence on the king as well. But there was 339 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:45,520 Speaker 1: that priestly class who organized these ceremonies in these rituals. 340 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:49,280 Speaker 1: They were the ones who developed the mathematical system and 341 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:52,680 Speaker 1: the astronomy that we talked about, and they were able 342 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:57,280 Speaker 1: to accomplish some pretty amazing things. Uh, not only with 343 00:20:57,359 --> 00:21:00,680 Speaker 1: math in their alphabet, but with astronomy. They were able 344 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:05,080 Speaker 1: to accurately predict solar eclipses. And this is in I mean, 345 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:08,320 Speaker 1: I guess depending on which period you're talking about, like 346 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:10,760 Speaker 1: thousands of years ago. Well, I think we've entered the 347 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,880 Speaker 1: Classic period, which I think was from the second century 348 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:17,080 Speaker 1: to the ninth or tenth century CE. Okay, so that's 349 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 1: when most of the astronomy and the math and sort 350 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:23,680 Speaker 1: of sciences were advanced. Yeah, but yes, but again for comparison, 351 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:26,920 Speaker 1: at this time, England is in smack in the middle 352 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:31,399 Speaker 1: of the dark ages um, while the my priestly class 353 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:35,440 Speaker 1: are predicting solar eclipses and can accurately tracks Venus is 354 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:40,480 Speaker 1: transit around the Sun. Um. So they use this information, 355 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:45,160 Speaker 1: this astronomical information, their ability to use math um, they're 356 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:49,000 Speaker 1: they're like extensive calendars. They use that for those rituals 357 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:54,160 Speaker 1: and for those um those like the to basically reinforce 358 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:57,560 Speaker 1: their priestliness like what we would recognize as mathematicians and 359 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:01,639 Speaker 1: astronomers today. Imagine if if you know, an astronomer said, 360 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:04,399 Speaker 1: you know, this comment is going to pass by Earth 361 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 1: in two days. It's going to be amazing, and also 362 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:11,000 Speaker 1: the Sun God will be driving it like a chariot, 363 00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:16,000 Speaker 1: so everybody don't leave your house that day, Like you're 364 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:18,880 Speaker 1: you're really on the money on one part of that, right, 365 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 1: But I mean that that's kind of like what they're 366 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,240 Speaker 1: priestly class did they were right, but the interpretation was 367 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:29,160 Speaker 1: wildly different from you know what we interpret things as today. Yeah. Um, 368 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:31,639 Speaker 1: they had a solar calendar. And again we did a 369 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:33,760 Speaker 1: whole episode on the Mayan calendar, but it was very 370 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:36,879 Speaker 1: advanced for the time. Uh. They had eighteen months on 371 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:41,000 Speaker 1: their calendar, twenty days per month, with a five day 372 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,919 Speaker 1: unlucky period each month, which is pretty funny. No, I 373 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:46,639 Speaker 1: think that was every year there was a five day 374 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:49,120 Speaker 1: unlucky period. It was once a year, not once a month. 375 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:52,680 Speaker 1: I think so, I think so. I think I didn't 376 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 1: do the math, Chuck, I'm no Mayan priestly class guy. Uh. 377 00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:59,800 Speaker 1: And then they also had an overlapping calendar or two 378 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:05,040 Speaker 1: d in sixty day sacred calendar. This had thirteen cycles 379 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:08,680 Speaker 1: in twenty named days. And as we all know, in 380 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:12,120 Speaker 1: twelve it was the Mind's never said that the world 381 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:15,160 Speaker 1: was going to end in twelve. This was just internet 382 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 1: hokum basically because their calendar was ending. Yeah. It wasn't 383 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:22,280 Speaker 1: like made up entirely from scratch like the old Mixed Civilization. 384 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:26,040 Speaker 1: It was based on like a misinterpretation, a misreading, uh, 385 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:30,760 Speaker 1: an exaggeration like in twelve the mind long count calendar 386 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:34,960 Speaker 1: like reset. It was a thing, and to the Maya 387 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:40,600 Speaker 1: that may have included some sort of apocalyptic thing, but um, 388 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:42,600 Speaker 1: it wasn't like the end of the world. It was 389 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: like a resetting of the world order as we understand it, 390 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:49,520 Speaker 1: and that got turned into The World Is Ending starring 391 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:54,359 Speaker 1: John Cusack. Should we talk about the creation story? I 392 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: think we should. It's pretty cool. Uh. There were a 393 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:01,240 Speaker 1: couple of sacred texts that's survived. As we'll see later, 394 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:05,760 Speaker 1: a lot of their written history was burned by Christian 395 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,680 Speaker 1: missionaries who said, you don't need that stuff anymore. You're 396 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:11,920 Speaker 1: gonna be like us, very sadly, but there are some 397 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:16,320 Speaker 1: texts and cotuses that survived. In a couple of them, 398 00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:21,200 Speaker 1: the Popo Vu and the chill Um Bollum had these 399 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:25,000 Speaker 1: creation stories wherein there was a god of wind and 400 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:30,920 Speaker 1: sky called Hurricane Hurricane, and there was a ciba tree 401 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:34,440 Speaker 1: planted on the earth to create space between the earth 402 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:37,440 Speaker 1: and sky for people and animals and plants and things 403 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:41,600 Speaker 1: to grow. And humans came third after the plants and animals. 404 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:44,400 Speaker 1: But in the text it said that they were made 405 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 1: out of mud. It's soundfamiliar, uh, And they could speak 406 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:53,479 Speaker 1: but could not think or move, which sounds like a 407 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:56,400 Speaker 1: lot of modern day Americans. Yeah, all they could say 408 00:24:56,440 --> 00:25:00,119 Speaker 1: is please kill me. Uh. So the god said, oh, 409 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:02,800 Speaker 1: that's not good, so they destroyed them with water. Then 410 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:05,720 Speaker 1: they tried again, created a man from wood and woman 411 00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:10,040 Speaker 1: from reeds, and they were sort of like functional humans evidently, 412 00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:13,719 Speaker 1: but were immortal and didn't have souls. So the god said, well, 413 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:18,440 Speaker 1: that's no good. Yeah, that that'll do if you're made 414 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,879 Speaker 1: of well I guess I thought if they were made 415 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:24,120 Speaker 1: of mud that would do, but I guess wooden reeds 416 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:26,600 Speaker 1: boiling water would in their minds, that would kill them. 417 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: It sounds more tortuous, but it didn't kill all of 418 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:31,159 Speaker 1: them because some people survive some of the reed and 419 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:36,640 Speaker 1: would people turned into monkeys also very interesting in terms 420 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:40,440 Speaker 1: of like evolutionary theory. Uh. And then finally they got 421 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,480 Speaker 1: it right in their minds. They created what we think 422 00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:47,359 Speaker 1: of modern humans in their creation story from maize dough 423 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:52,480 Speaker 1: and their own blood. But then the gods thought, hey, 424 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:56,080 Speaker 1: there a little too scary smart, So they might threaten 425 00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:59,200 Speaker 1: us one day, but we won't destroy them. We will 426 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,000 Speaker 1: just cloud their minds in their eyes and make them 427 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:05,959 Speaker 1: not as smart. And that's their creation story. Yeah, it's 428 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:09,760 Speaker 1: pretty interesting. Yeah. Um. They they had a pantheon of 429 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:13,720 Speaker 1: gods um, much like the Greeks had um that were 430 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:17,800 Speaker 1: dedicated to like a sky god or rain god. Um. 431 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:21,439 Speaker 1: There were like more than one creator god um. It 432 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:26,960 Speaker 1: depends on what period of the Maya civilization you're talking about, 433 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:29,800 Speaker 1: which one was more important than another. One might be 434 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:32,800 Speaker 1: a little more important to one city state than another. Um. 435 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,840 Speaker 1: So they kind of just jockeyed in and out of importance. 436 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:38,960 Speaker 1: But they were still generally the same pantheon. And again, 437 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:43,919 Speaker 1: in addition to art and um and like other ideas, 438 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 1: their religion was traded amongst themselves and with outside groups 439 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:52,120 Speaker 1: as well. That's right, Like they would trade God's right. Yeah, 440 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,840 Speaker 1: like I'll trade you a rookie shawl for eight eight 441 00:26:55,920 --> 00:27:00,520 Speaker 1: tops cucko khan. Uh. This part this next are really 442 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:04,200 Speaker 1: sort of gets me going intellectually, is when we talk 443 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 1: about their system of agriculture. Uh. They were great, great farmers. Um. 444 00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:13,639 Speaker 1: You know, some say too great and that they over farmed. 445 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:15,359 Speaker 1: I guess that would make them that great farmers because 446 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:18,359 Speaker 1: I don't know about over farming, but they were really 447 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:21,960 Speaker 1: good at making things grow and and depending on where 448 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:25,640 Speaker 1: you were, which mind culture you were talking about. Uh, 449 00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:28,240 Speaker 1: that was it could be very very dry if you 450 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:30,159 Speaker 1: weren't near water, if you were inland, and they have, 451 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:33,119 Speaker 1: you know, rainy season in your dry season. They have 452 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,000 Speaker 1: to contend with that dry season, and they did so 453 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:42,640 Speaker 1: by building these huge underwater cisterns that would collect enough 454 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:46,720 Speaker 1: water to basically last them about half of a year. Yeah. So, 455 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:50,520 Speaker 1: like every built structure was engineered so that anytime it 456 00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:54,200 Speaker 1: rained during the rainy season, that water got channeled right 457 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,400 Speaker 1: into that underground cistern. And it wasn't just carved out 458 00:27:57,400 --> 00:27:59,560 Speaker 1: of limestone, chuck. I mean it was they carved it 459 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:02,639 Speaker 1: out of a bedrock and then covered it up, but 460 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:05,120 Speaker 1: they also covered it with stucco so that it would 461 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:08,680 Speaker 1: be waterproof and could hold enough water to keep everybody 462 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:12,240 Speaker 1: going for the rest of the year. So cool. They 463 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:16,439 Speaker 1: had um aqueducts in one of the city's Uh. I 464 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 1: would pronounce that pelink polink polink. Okay, you say that 465 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:27,560 Speaker 1: as if you know for sure I've heard the word before. Polink. Plus, 466 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:30,480 Speaker 1: it's fun. It's more fun to say than polink. That 467 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:40,040 Speaker 1: sounds like a Internet challenge from you know, several years ago. Yeah, 468 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:42,640 Speaker 1: it's really I don't know. I've never done an Internet challenge. 469 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 1: I always think it's funny when they pop up. So 470 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:48,880 Speaker 1: the Polink challenge went away. But the Polink A they 471 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:54,360 Speaker 1: had a system of aqueducts and they actually I mean, 472 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:56,520 Speaker 1: in my mind, I don't know what the Chinese were doing. 473 00:28:56,520 --> 00:28:58,920 Speaker 1: It seems like they invented everything. But in my mind, 474 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:02,760 Speaker 1: they created water pressure. They're the first people I heard 475 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:05,320 Speaker 1: of to create water pressure, right, using like a drop 476 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:10,240 Speaker 1: in elevation and a narrow conduit for yeah, and then 477 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:13,120 Speaker 1: little kids would just dance and play in front of it. No, 478 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:16,600 Speaker 1: that wastes the water. Um. There's also like great use 479 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,560 Speaker 1: of filtration to which is amazing if you think about it. 480 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:24,000 Speaker 1: But two cal Um they use zeolite and quartz zeolites 481 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:27,840 Speaker 1: kind of like a clay like silicate um and quarts 482 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:30,760 Speaker 1: as courts um. The thing is is neither one of 483 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:34,600 Speaker 1: those are found at too cal Um. They're found kind 484 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:37,600 Speaker 1: of far away, So they were purposefully put in their 485 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:42,280 Speaker 1: water reservoirs. Uh. And the reason why that's so impressive 486 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:45,720 Speaker 1: is because zeolite and quarts are used today to filter 487 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:50,120 Speaker 1: microbes out of water. Yeah, and they figured it out. 488 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:53,840 Speaker 1: They think probably they just realized that the natural aquifer 489 00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:58,280 Speaker 1: around the zeolite cory tasted better, was clearer, that kind 490 00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: of thing. So they just quarried the zeolite and moved 491 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:04,280 Speaker 1: it over to their own reservoir. It's possible it's a 492 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:06,560 Speaker 1: pretty good gas. We just don't know for sure how 493 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:09,920 Speaker 1: they got the idea. We just know they didn't. Yeah, 494 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:12,000 Speaker 1: I mean a lot of it seems like just brilliant innovation, 495 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:15,880 Speaker 1: and a lot of it seems like just good common sense. Yeah, 496 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:18,280 Speaker 1: it really does. They knew a good idea when they 497 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 1: saw one, that's right. They also had irrigation canals. Uh, 498 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:25,800 Speaker 1: they had tiered agriculture fields that were cut into the hills, 499 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:29,040 Speaker 1: so it would prevent erosion, it would prevent flooding, and 500 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:31,800 Speaker 1: water would just sort of drained down like a beautiful 501 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 1: champagne fountain. Yeah. I mean, that's terraced farming, and that's 502 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:39,240 Speaker 1: been like invented multiple times by different cultures independently. It's 503 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:44,320 Speaker 1: just again a really good idea, wonderful idea. They also invented, 504 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:49,320 Speaker 1: or at least employed, raised beds for farming. Uh So 505 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:51,640 Speaker 1: if they're you know, they wanted to keep things a 506 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,160 Speaker 1: little dryer, they would build a raised beds and then 507 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:57,800 Speaker 1: you could still have wildlife underneath aquatic wildlife. Yeah, I 508 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:00,680 Speaker 1: think they were actually doing aquaculture too. They were raising 509 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:02,960 Speaker 1: the fish and the turtles, and that the swampy area 510 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:06,320 Speaker 1: next to that, next to the raised beds. Wonderful idea. 511 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:09,800 Speaker 1: So they also did what you mentioned before, slash and 512 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:13,880 Speaker 1: burns called milpa. It's where you take a section of rainforest, cut, 513 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:17,520 Speaker 1: cut it down, leave the vegetation in the trees in place, 514 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:21,280 Speaker 1: and burn them there, and then the resulting ash covers 515 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:24,200 Speaker 1: the dirt and you plant directly into the ashy dirt. 516 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:27,440 Speaker 1: You don't till the soil, and it's really really good 517 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:32,720 Speaker 1: at fertilizing um an area without any kind of inputs, 518 00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:36,760 Speaker 1: certainly no fossil fuel based industrial inputs, and it keeps 519 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,440 Speaker 1: the land going for about two to three years. But 520 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:42,320 Speaker 1: then after that it gets depleted, which means that you 521 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:45,240 Speaker 1: have to take that plot of land and leave it 522 00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:49,040 Speaker 1: fallow for about fifteen years. So if you do some 523 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:51,520 Speaker 1: pretty quick back of the envelope math, you have to 524 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:55,360 Speaker 1: have a tremendous amount of land to to cycle through 525 00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 1: so that you can leave each spot fallow for about 526 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:01,920 Speaker 1: fifteen years. They need a lot of land or very 527 00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:04,520 Speaker 1: low population. And that's one of the reasons why some 528 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:07,320 Speaker 1: people say must have we must have covered it in 529 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:10,320 Speaker 1: our episode from back in December. But some people say 530 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:12,560 Speaker 1: that's what led to the clin of the Maya. They 531 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:16,120 Speaker 1: over farmed, they over slashed and burned. Their population got 532 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:19,520 Speaker 1: too big to support through slash and burn agriculture because 533 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:22,400 Speaker 1: it just requires too much land because of the fallow 534 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:27,560 Speaker 1: period you have to have. Was that December, I believe so. 535 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:32,080 Speaker 1: I mean, the years are running together these days. Crazy. 536 00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:34,440 Speaker 1: I would have guessed that was seven years ago. I'm 537 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:39,000 Speaker 1: pretty sure it was December. Another thing that they did 538 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:43,160 Speaker 1: was sports ball. Yeah. I don't know what it is, Chuck, 539 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:46,760 Speaker 1: but talking about this particular game is always annoyed me. 540 00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:51,400 Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know, but I've always hated 541 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:55,280 Speaker 1: this game because we talked about it before we have Yeah, 542 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:57,239 Speaker 1: and plus, I mean it's a big anytime you talk 543 00:32:57,280 --> 00:32:59,560 Speaker 1: about the Maya, you can't not talk about it. You know, 544 00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:04,040 Speaker 1: why would it annoy you? I don't know, anno easy 545 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:07,160 Speaker 1: that they did it. It's just an annoying game. I 546 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:10,959 Speaker 1: feel like, Okay, well, they had a ball game, uh 547 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:15,680 Speaker 1: called either poc to poc or pocket talk. And you know, 548 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:18,600 Speaker 1: it's sort of like, I'm of the belief that most 549 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 1: of these sports games are pretty similar soccer, hockey, basketball, 550 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:27,840 Speaker 1: American football. They they're all sort of the same, which 551 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:31,080 Speaker 1: is they sort of simulate war, like here's our side, 552 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:33,560 Speaker 1: here's your side. We're gonna try and go on your 553 00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:35,920 Speaker 1: side and do something, and you're gonna try and come 554 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:38,000 Speaker 1: to our side and do something, and we're both going 555 00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: to try and prevent one another from doing that thing, 556 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:42,960 Speaker 1: whether it's putting a puck in a net or a 557 00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:45,640 Speaker 1: soccer ball in a net, or a basketball in a hoop, 558 00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:48,040 Speaker 1: or a football in an the end zone. And this 559 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:49,960 Speaker 1: may or may not take place during a ten cent 560 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:55,960 Speaker 1: beer night too. But they had a game all long 561 00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:58,240 Speaker 1: window way of saying, they had sort of the proto 562 00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:02,320 Speaker 1: version of this game where they have been able to 563 00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:05,440 Speaker 1: sort of reconstruct how it might have been played, except 564 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:08,360 Speaker 1: they did not use these a little rubber ball that 565 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:11,080 Speaker 1: they used by mixing latex with juice from a morning 566 00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:14,160 Speaker 1: glory vine to make it bounce here, and they wore 567 00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:17,359 Speaker 1: padding like you would in football American football. That's news 568 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:20,239 Speaker 1: to me. I didn't realize that they were padding. Does 569 00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:25,799 Speaker 1: that annoy you. It's okay, I'm neutral. Uh. And then 570 00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:27,560 Speaker 1: the key here with this game, though, it makes it 571 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:30,520 Speaker 1: so different is uh, they didn't use their hands or 572 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:34,000 Speaker 1: their feet. They would use their mainly their hips, I think, 573 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:37,120 Speaker 1: but their elbows in their knees as well to move 574 00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:40,359 Speaker 1: this ball until you, uh, in a very kidd itch 575 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:44,040 Speaker 1: like move, quidditch like move, throw it through two stone rings. 576 00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:46,919 Speaker 1: You almost just got us torn to pieces. I'm really glad, 577 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:51,560 Speaker 1: I think yourself. Yeah, maybe it's them. It's quidditch, right, Yeah, 578 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:56,400 Speaker 1: so it's close quidditch. So maybe it's the use of 579 00:34:56,440 --> 00:35:00,520 Speaker 1: the hips. It just seems really painful and that they 580 00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:02,839 Speaker 1: should have been like this really hurts. Let's try our 581 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:06,160 Speaker 1: hands or our feet instead. It seems intuitive to use 582 00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:08,919 Speaker 1: hand and feet. Yeah, and not hips. There's no other 583 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:11,440 Speaker 1: game in the history of games as far as I know, 584 00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:14,880 Speaker 1: and I know a lot about games um that used 585 00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:20,080 Speaker 1: the hips. Um, but it's twister they did, or maybe golf. 586 00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:23,759 Speaker 1: It's all in the hips. M. I've been playing on 587 00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:27,120 Speaker 1: golf again lately, Oh you have. Yeah, I got back 588 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:30,040 Speaker 1: into it after like a twenty year layoff. Oh that's right, 589 00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:33,560 Speaker 1: that's right. Yeah, are you still loving it. I'm having fun. 590 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:35,279 Speaker 1: That's a lot of fun. Good way to spend some 591 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:39,799 Speaker 1: time with friends. That's what tiger Wood says, and he 592 00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:44,480 Speaker 1: also says must dominate. All right, let's take a break 593 00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:49,640 Speaker 1: and let's come back and talk about the supposed fall 594 00:35:49,760 --> 00:36:13,680 Speaker 1: of the civilization right after this. Okay, So we talked 595 00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:17,040 Speaker 1: about all these different periods, um and the end of 596 00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:21,680 Speaker 1: the ninth century is typically considered the end of the 597 00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:24,239 Speaker 1: Maya classical period, what you referred to earlier as the 598 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:26,799 Speaker 1: Golden Age of the Maya, and for a lot of 599 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:30,600 Speaker 1: people that equates with the fall of the Maya civilization. 600 00:36:30,719 --> 00:36:34,000 Speaker 1: That was it. That's when their cities were abandoned and 601 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:38,000 Speaker 1: reclaimed by the jungle. That's when their ideas and thoughts 602 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:41,120 Speaker 1: and languages and culture were lost. And that was that 603 00:36:41,239 --> 00:36:44,200 Speaker 1: was when the Maya became a loss civilization. And like 604 00:36:44,239 --> 00:36:46,839 Speaker 1: we said at the outset, that's just not true. I mean, 605 00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:49,600 Speaker 1: the Maya is still around today. But in addition to 606 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:54,400 Speaker 1: being more of a dispersal than a fall um, that 607 00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:57,640 Speaker 1: didn't happen all at once to all of the Maya 608 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:01,160 Speaker 1: city depending on where you were the Maya territory. Some 609 00:37:01,239 --> 00:37:04,120 Speaker 1: of those cities not only kept on going just fine. 610 00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:09,200 Speaker 1: New ones were developed, like way after this this supposed 611 00:37:09,239 --> 00:37:13,960 Speaker 1: fall of the Maya civilization. Yeah, which that's really interesting 612 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:16,839 Speaker 1: to me. In fact, we get Maya, I don't think 613 00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:20,080 Speaker 1: we said from Maya Pan, which was one of the 614 00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:22,960 Speaker 1: last ones, and that was founded in twelve sixty three. 615 00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:26,680 Speaker 1: So this was after the supposed you know, fall of 616 00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:30,000 Speaker 1: the Mayans and the classic period um one of them. 617 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:32,719 Speaker 1: In fact, the last one to fall, which is in 618 00:37:32,760 --> 00:37:36,480 Speaker 1: modern i Guatemala today, was almost in the eighteenth century. 619 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:40,200 Speaker 1: It was in six when the Spanish finally took the 620 00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:45,760 Speaker 1: final um Mayan city basically, and we mentioned the Spanish 621 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:49,520 Speaker 1: because they were, uh, they were the big reason why 622 00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:52,920 Speaker 1: things stopped. It wasn't. I mean, there was a dispersal 623 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:55,840 Speaker 1: for sure, But when the Spanish came and the Christian 624 00:37:55,880 --> 00:38:00,000 Speaker 1: missionaries came is when things got really ugly. And they 625 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:03,200 Speaker 1: basically said, we're going to squash your culture, We're going 626 00:38:03,239 --> 00:38:05,399 Speaker 1: to take away your language, we're going to burn your 627 00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:09,960 Speaker 1: written history, and you're going to be like us now right, 628 00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:13,719 Speaker 1: you're gonna be Roman Catholic and you're gonna like it um. 629 00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:18,960 Speaker 1: And as we learned in Guatemala, um the modern Maya 630 00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:22,480 Speaker 1: uh and the Maya. From this colonial period, UM got 631 00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:26,880 Speaker 1: into syncretism, which is where they took their original traditional 632 00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:33,520 Speaker 1: religion and meshed it with the forced upon them Roman Catholicism, 633 00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:38,840 Speaker 1: so that they associated saints with specific deities like Um, Mashamo, 634 00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:42,799 Speaker 1: the the may A deity who helped me quit smoking. Yeah, 635 00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:45,840 Speaker 1: good old Mashamo. Yeah, he was associated with St. Simon, 636 00:38:46,719 --> 00:38:48,080 Speaker 1: and you would go to him and say, I have 637 00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:49,960 Speaker 1: this vice I need to I need to get rid of. 638 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:52,520 Speaker 1: Please help me Mashamo. You give him a cigarette and 639 00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:57,520 Speaker 1: some I think maniac root wine or liquor, and uh 640 00:38:57,680 --> 00:38:59,520 Speaker 1: light a candle and he would take care of you. 641 00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:03,480 Speaker 1: I forgot all about Mashamo. Oh how could you? That 642 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:06,959 Speaker 1: was one of the Yeah, that was a long time ago. 643 00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:11,560 Speaker 1: And uh we obviously shout out our friends at co ED, Uh, 644 00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:15,120 Speaker 1: the charity organization that we've been working with for years 645 00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:18,279 Speaker 1: who got us down there to begin with. So just 646 00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:21,680 Speaker 1: go check out their their work and uh sponsor a kid, 647 00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:25,640 Speaker 1: give them a access to books and education. Yep, co 648 00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:30,600 Speaker 1: ED you see dot org right, Yeah, go check them out. Um. 649 00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:35,520 Speaker 1: So you said that the Spanish missionaries, the Franciscans in particular, um, 650 00:39:35,640 --> 00:39:38,480 Speaker 1: were the ones who came in after the leading tip 651 00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:41,960 Speaker 1: of the spear, the conquistadors who would come in slaughter 652 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:44,560 Speaker 1: a bunch of people, subjugate them, and then the Franciscans 653 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:48,400 Speaker 1: would come in and rebuild them in the European style 654 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:52,480 Speaker 1: and voiced you know, um, the Spanish language on them, 655 00:39:52,800 --> 00:39:56,319 Speaker 1: Roman Catholicism on them, um. And that the Maya kind 656 00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:59,360 Speaker 1: of adapted with syncretism, right. But one of the big 657 00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:02,440 Speaker 1: ways you you get rid of somebody's culture getting rid 658 00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:05,160 Speaker 1: of their writing. And I think you said it earlier, 659 00:40:05,239 --> 00:40:10,440 Speaker 1: but the Franciscans burned almost all almost every book as 660 00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:14,840 Speaker 1: far as we know, except four of those codices were burned, 661 00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:19,239 Speaker 1: destroyed by Spanish missionaries in the colonial period when they 662 00:40:19,239 --> 00:40:23,359 Speaker 1: were trying to subjugate and convert the Maya um. Which 663 00:40:23,400 --> 00:40:27,000 Speaker 1: is extraordinarily sad because it just makes you wonder how 664 00:40:27,080 --> 00:40:31,480 Speaker 1: much history and and cosmological thought was just totally lost 665 00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:34,799 Speaker 1: forever through that. Yeah. I mean they wrote a lot 666 00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:38,200 Speaker 1: of books, uh. And those codices were made from fig 667 00:40:38,239 --> 00:40:42,680 Speaker 1: tree bark and they were folded accordion style, and you 668 00:40:42,719 --> 00:40:44,839 Speaker 1: can there's some of that stuff that's that's carved into 669 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:47,600 Speaker 1: monuments that you can still see, uh, some of us 670 00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:50,040 Speaker 1: painted on walls and pottery that you can still see 671 00:40:50,400 --> 00:40:55,120 Speaker 1: that survived. But just those four, uh survived and these 672 00:40:55,160 --> 00:41:00,160 Speaker 1: were basically post just after the end of the Classic period. It. 673 00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:02,680 Speaker 1: So there is good stuff in there about you know, 674 00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:06,880 Speaker 1: prophecies and medicine and their history and astronomy and science 675 00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:10,239 Speaker 1: or religious rituals and stuff like that. But again, like 676 00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:12,160 Speaker 1: you said, I mean, like who knows how much we 677 00:41:12,200 --> 00:41:15,040 Speaker 1: would understand if if they hadn't have just torched everything. 678 00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:18,440 Speaker 1: Well so, and then the surviving stuff, um, the surviving 679 00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:22,120 Speaker 1: writing and the hieroglyphics that mayan Um system of writing 680 00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:26,879 Speaker 1: that was so developed, Um, it wasn't cracked until uh, 681 00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:29,680 Speaker 1: not that many years ago, I think the twenty one century. 682 00:41:30,040 --> 00:41:34,160 Speaker 1: And there's a really great nova Um episode on PBS 683 00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:37,400 Speaker 1: called Cracking the Maya Code. And it's just almost like 684 00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:39,960 Speaker 1: this thriller where like a group of like linguists got 685 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:43,839 Speaker 1: together and um figured out you know what it meant 686 00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:47,279 Speaker 1: without a Rosetta stone, nothing like that. They just had 687 00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:52,720 Speaker 1: to make conclusions and assumptions, and um, they finally figured 688 00:41:52,760 --> 00:41:55,680 Speaker 1: it out. But um, one of the other things that 689 00:41:55,719 --> 00:41:58,960 Speaker 1: happened to one of the remaining kind of bits of 690 00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:04,840 Speaker 1: written information was on the hieroglyphics stairway at Copon. Another 691 00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:08,840 Speaker 1: great city, one of the temples Chuck was a pyramid 692 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:12,040 Speaker 1: and it had the staircase and the staircase was made 693 00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:15,720 Speaker 1: of limestone blocks with hieroglyphics carved into it that told 694 00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:19,960 Speaker 1: the story. But unfortunately, the first archaeologists who excavated it 695 00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:24,400 Speaker 1: back in disassembled the staircase to examine it, and when 696 00:42:24,440 --> 00:42:27,360 Speaker 1: they put it back together again, I guess they realized 697 00:42:27,400 --> 00:42:30,960 Speaker 1: that they hadn't noted where it was originally, so they 698 00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:33,080 Speaker 1: put it out of order. So whatever it was trying 699 00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:37,000 Speaker 1: to say is lost to history forever thanks to archaeologists. 700 00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:40,480 Speaker 1: And they said, it says there's a lady who knows 701 00:42:40,640 --> 00:42:44,239 Speaker 1: all that glitters is gold, and as she winds on 702 00:42:44,320 --> 00:42:47,239 Speaker 1: down the road, and they're like, no, no, it's all 703 00:42:47,280 --> 00:42:49,359 Speaker 1: out of order. There's something about a bustle in your 704 00:42:49,360 --> 00:42:55,080 Speaker 1: headgerow that doesn't make any sense. It still doesn't make sense. Uh. 705 00:42:55,320 --> 00:42:59,520 Speaker 1: The um colonial period that came much much later, the 706 00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:04,560 Speaker 1: agenous languages were um discourages. One way to say it 707 00:43:04,640 --> 00:43:07,840 Speaker 1: kind of squashed is another way. Uh. And then finally 708 00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:11,040 Speaker 1: in the nineteen seventies and eighties, there was a revival 709 00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:15,520 Speaker 1: of the Maya and Guatemala to basically say, you know, 710 00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:20,560 Speaker 1: our language is important, our cultural rights as indigenous people 711 00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:24,640 Speaker 1: are important, and they made some concessions. They're they're not 712 00:43:24,719 --> 00:43:29,200 Speaker 1: officially believe Guatemala still has not accepted any of the 713 00:43:29,200 --> 00:43:34,480 Speaker 1: indigenous languages as official co languages like it does with Spanish, 714 00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:38,440 Speaker 1: but uh, they are acknowledged, they're part of the national 715 00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:42,920 Speaker 1: identity and Guatemala and I believe that you can receive 716 00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:46,560 Speaker 1: public services in your native language, in indigenous tongue, even 717 00:43:46,600 --> 00:43:50,120 Speaker 1: though they're not official languages. They still guarantee that. Yeah, 718 00:43:50,200 --> 00:43:53,440 Speaker 1: that's really something. And that also actually comes after a genocide. 719 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:56,919 Speaker 1: There was a genocide against the Maya by the Guatemalan army, 720 00:43:57,320 --> 00:44:01,319 Speaker 1: which presumed that the typical indig and it's Maya in 721 00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:05,600 Speaker 1: Guatemala supported the guerrillas in the late seventies early eighties, 722 00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:09,920 Speaker 1: and something like two hundred thousand Maya indigenous Maya were killed, 723 00:44:10,560 --> 00:44:14,120 Speaker 1: uh in nineteen between nineteen eight and ninety three, and 724 00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:18,520 Speaker 1: another one and a half million um just disappeared and 725 00:44:18,640 --> 00:44:20,920 Speaker 1: are presumed to have been killed. And they keep finding 726 00:44:20,920 --> 00:44:24,640 Speaker 1: like mass graves that that definitely underscore the fact that 727 00:44:24,680 --> 00:44:28,280 Speaker 1: they were killed. So almost two million people were killed 728 00:44:28,360 --> 00:44:32,640 Speaker 1: in three years in tiny little Guatemala um. So so 729 00:44:32,719 --> 00:44:35,640 Speaker 1: much so that like there was a substantial hit to 730 00:44:35,719 --> 00:44:39,440 Speaker 1: the Maya population in that country. Um, but they managed 731 00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:42,480 Speaker 1: to hang on and stay around and maintain links to 732 00:44:42,520 --> 00:44:46,080 Speaker 1: their you know traditions still. Yeah, I mean, if you 733 00:44:46,120 --> 00:44:50,920 Speaker 1: go there today, you will see uh traditional mind people. Sometimes. 734 00:44:51,040 --> 00:44:53,880 Speaker 1: Uh the women might be wearing to the traditional clothing, 735 00:44:53,920 --> 00:44:58,600 Speaker 1: which is beautiful. Uh. Eat some of that food, is 736 00:44:58,719 --> 00:45:02,480 Speaker 1: my advice. Sit down with some of them, have a 737 00:45:02,520 --> 00:45:07,600 Speaker 1: conversation if you can. I guess we should finish up 738 00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:11,319 Speaker 1: with a little bit about human sacrifice instead of that 739 00:45:11,400 --> 00:45:14,600 Speaker 1: lovely note. Ye. So there's a great article in the 740 00:45:14,680 --> 00:45:17,200 Speaker 1: Economists called who did the Maya Sacrifice? And there was 741 00:45:17,239 --> 00:45:22,239 Speaker 1: another one in Reuters called Ancient Maya Sacrifice Boys not 742 00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:27,359 Speaker 1: Virgin Girls colon study. But there was this you know 743 00:45:27,719 --> 00:45:33,200 Speaker 1: notion that I mean, sacrifice happened in numerous ways. There 744 00:45:33,239 --> 00:45:36,239 Speaker 1: was blood letting. Sometimes. There was the ball game that 745 00:45:36,239 --> 00:45:38,600 Speaker 1: we spoke of. A lot of times they would play 746 00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:42,480 Speaker 1: the game against another city state and someone in that 747 00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:46,839 Speaker 1: city state would die if they lost and be sacrificed. Uh. 748 00:45:46,880 --> 00:45:51,000 Speaker 1: Sometimes they would sacrifice children like you spoke of. They 749 00:45:51,040 --> 00:45:54,279 Speaker 1: would uh throw them in the sootes which are the 750 00:45:54,840 --> 00:45:57,319 Speaker 1: swam in them when I was in Mexico, and it's 751 00:45:57,320 --> 00:46:00,160 Speaker 1: an amazing experience, but UM, to know that that kind 752 00:46:00,160 --> 00:46:02,000 Speaker 1: of thing happened there is a little sobering, to say 753 00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:06,120 Speaker 1: the least. But the underground, you know, pools uh in 754 00:46:06,200 --> 00:46:09,840 Speaker 1: these caves and uh, there's no way getting around it. 755 00:46:09,880 --> 00:46:12,839 Speaker 1: You know, they sacrifice people, and so they you know, 756 00:46:13,200 --> 00:46:16,480 Speaker 1: they definitely did it with uh when at war, they 757 00:46:16,520 --> 00:46:20,080 Speaker 1: would a lot of times sacrifice someone from another city 758 00:46:20,080 --> 00:46:22,239 Speaker 1: state to sort of appease the gods and not their own. 759 00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:25,839 Speaker 1: But they thought, maybe we can find out, um, who 760 00:46:25,880 --> 00:46:29,760 Speaker 1: these people were. And there's a lot of gobbady cookie 761 00:46:29,840 --> 00:46:33,000 Speaker 1: science that we won't get into and how they did it. 762 00:46:33,080 --> 00:46:36,680 Speaker 1: But they looked at their at these uh at teeth 763 00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:41,160 Speaker 1: and from examining the teeth in the isotopic ratios, they're 764 00:46:41,160 --> 00:46:44,960 Speaker 1: able to basically determine where people came from depending on 765 00:46:45,520 --> 00:46:47,560 Speaker 1: uh the enamel of their teeth. And what they ended 766 00:46:47,600 --> 00:46:51,240 Speaker 1: up finding out was what they called it was anywhere 767 00:46:51,239 --> 00:46:54,040 Speaker 1: and everywhere where Who these people were. There were half 768 00:46:54,080 --> 00:46:57,920 Speaker 1: of them were locals, about a quarter were from some 769 00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:04,560 Speaker 1: distance others from hundreds of kilometers away, and they were, uh, 770 00:47:04,600 --> 00:47:07,320 Speaker 1: you know, there were children, there were boys, there were girls, 771 00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:09,479 Speaker 1: there were adults. It was sort of all over the map. 772 00:47:09,560 --> 00:47:11,840 Speaker 1: So I think they were hoping for sort of like 773 00:47:11,840 --> 00:47:15,080 Speaker 1: a tidy little answer there and they did not get one. No, 774 00:47:15,480 --> 00:47:19,920 Speaker 1: But didn't they say that it was ultimately mostly younger boys, 775 00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:24,320 Speaker 1: like teenage boys. Well that was that was the Reuters study, 776 00:47:24,640 --> 00:47:28,520 Speaker 1: and that was um when they would specifically, I think, 777 00:47:28,680 --> 00:47:32,960 Speaker 1: throw children in the sontes to call for rain. I 778 00:47:33,000 --> 00:47:35,480 Speaker 1: think they used to think that those were, uh, they 779 00:47:35,480 --> 00:47:38,360 Speaker 1: sacrificed virgin girls. And what they found out that was 780 00:47:38,560 --> 00:47:40,759 Speaker 1: because I think they had ja jewelry and things like that. 781 00:47:41,800 --> 00:47:43,880 Speaker 1: But they said no, they found out that they were 782 00:47:43,920 --> 00:47:46,759 Speaker 1: in fact mostly young boys, right, And they would throw 783 00:47:46,800 --> 00:47:50,080 Speaker 1: them in the semeotes because those were considered portals to 784 00:47:50,120 --> 00:47:54,000 Speaker 1: the underworld and they were sacrificing not just for rain, 785 00:47:54,040 --> 00:47:56,480 Speaker 1: but also just to keep things going. Like they they 786 00:47:56,680 --> 00:48:00,359 Speaker 1: believed that the gods were nourished by human blood, and 787 00:48:00,360 --> 00:48:04,640 Speaker 1: by sacrificing humans, the sun would come up, crops would grow, 788 00:48:05,200 --> 00:48:08,000 Speaker 1: night would come and turn into day again. Um, like 789 00:48:08,080 --> 00:48:11,279 Speaker 1: the world would just keep functioning as a as a 790 00:48:11,280 --> 00:48:14,759 Speaker 1: matter of nourishing the gods with human blood. Yeah. I mean, 791 00:48:14,800 --> 00:48:18,000 Speaker 1: it's definitely something to keep in mind when you go 792 00:48:18,080 --> 00:48:20,719 Speaker 1: to tour and swim in a soote. It's a you 793 00:48:20,719 --> 00:48:23,839 Speaker 1: should always sort of respectfully think about that kind of stuff. 794 00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:27,600 Speaker 1: I think. And don't look down. Don't look down, you're 795 00:48:27,640 --> 00:48:30,080 Speaker 1: down already. Don't look up. That's where the bats are. 796 00:48:30,320 --> 00:48:34,839 Speaker 1: Did you go scuba diving in it? No? Uh, we 797 00:48:34,840 --> 00:48:36,759 Speaker 1: went on a great tour and ended up being just 798 00:48:36,840 --> 00:48:38,759 Speaker 1: the three of us and this one other woman is 799 00:48:38,880 --> 00:48:41,680 Speaker 1: very nice lady from Dallas. Uh, And we were the 800 00:48:41,680 --> 00:48:44,240 Speaker 1: only ones down there, and our guide was this awesome dude, 801 00:48:44,880 --> 00:48:47,319 Speaker 1: and uh, you know, you just it's like caving. You 802 00:48:47,360 --> 00:48:50,719 Speaker 1: go deeper and deeper and deeper about in knee deep 803 00:48:50,760 --> 00:48:55,080 Speaker 1: in water this cool, beautiful, perfectly clear water with blind 804 00:48:55,160 --> 00:48:57,560 Speaker 1: fish all around you. Uh. And then you get to 805 00:48:57,640 --> 00:49:00,840 Speaker 1: the sort of the swimming hole part. Uh. There are 806 00:49:00,880 --> 00:49:03,640 Speaker 1: others not taste down there that you can scuba dive 807 00:49:03,680 --> 00:49:05,800 Speaker 1: in and zip line in and the inner tube and 808 00:49:05,840 --> 00:49:08,239 Speaker 1: there's tons and tons of people, but this one was 809 00:49:08,280 --> 00:49:11,239 Speaker 1: way off the beaten path and very quiet and very 810 00:49:11,280 --> 00:49:14,600 Speaker 1: private and uh, more of a historical educational type of 811 00:49:14,600 --> 00:49:17,319 Speaker 1: tour was great. Yeah, a little in fact that may 812 00:49:17,520 --> 00:49:20,279 Speaker 1: invented the zip line so that they could zip line 813 00:49:20,280 --> 00:49:23,120 Speaker 1: in the scene note taste. But he gave us these 814 00:49:23,239 --> 00:49:26,480 Speaker 1: um waterproof flashlights. You know, it's our way around. And 815 00:49:26,520 --> 00:49:29,040 Speaker 1: I was floating. He gave us about thirty minutes just 816 00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:31,759 Speaker 1: to sort of swim and float in this one main 817 00:49:31,840 --> 00:49:35,560 Speaker 1: swimming cavern. Uh. And it's they electrified it down there. 818 00:49:35,600 --> 00:49:38,640 Speaker 1: They had these colored lights. It was really spectacular. But 819 00:49:38,719 --> 00:49:40,440 Speaker 1: I was laying there and I was floating, and I 820 00:49:40,480 --> 00:49:42,759 Speaker 1: saw these big sort of look like portals. There's these 821 00:49:42,800 --> 00:49:46,319 Speaker 1: little indentations in the ceiling above me, and I was like, oh, 822 00:49:46,360 --> 00:49:49,360 Speaker 1: I wonder what's in those? And it turned on the 823 00:49:49,440 --> 00:49:53,399 Speaker 1: light and it was like twenty bats just hovered and 824 00:49:53,440 --> 00:49:57,080 Speaker 1: sort of shaking and shivering together. Uh. And yet there 825 00:49:57,200 --> 00:50:00,239 Speaker 1: is no more natural instinct than to get out from 826 00:50:00,320 --> 00:50:04,080 Speaker 1: under that hole. Like a bat's gonna just fall on you. Like, no, 827 00:50:04,239 --> 00:50:07,600 Speaker 1: they fly, he kind of. But your instinct is like 828 00:50:07,680 --> 00:50:09,759 Speaker 1: every time one of us walked under one was like, oh, 829 00:50:09,760 --> 00:50:12,120 Speaker 1: I don't want to be under that, right. Yeah, it's 830 00:50:12,200 --> 00:50:16,680 Speaker 1: very cool though, Yeah, ah, you got anything else? I 831 00:50:16,719 --> 00:50:19,120 Speaker 1: got nothing else? Well, Chuck's got anything else. I don't 832 00:50:19,120 --> 00:50:21,920 Speaker 1: have anything else, and since uh that's the case, it's 833 00:50:21,920 --> 00:50:26,960 Speaker 1: time for a listener mail. I'm gonna call this our 834 00:50:27,080 --> 00:50:33,200 Speaker 1: second kidney donation email. We did one in our last 835 00:50:33,239 --> 00:50:35,680 Speaker 1: episode we just recorded, and this one is from a 836 00:50:35,719 --> 00:50:39,200 Speaker 1: kidney donor and it's pretty great. Uh. He discovered our 837 00:50:39,239 --> 00:50:43,080 Speaker 1: podcast six years ago and said, about seven years ago, 838 00:50:43,120 --> 00:50:44,920 Speaker 1: I had the opportunity to sign up to donate my 839 00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:48,640 Speaker 1: kidney to a stranger. I was fortunate enough to be 840 00:50:48,719 --> 00:50:51,279 Speaker 1: a universal donor. Our blood type was a match, and 841 00:50:51,320 --> 00:50:54,480 Speaker 1: the ride started. It took blood work every two weeks 842 00:50:54,560 --> 00:50:57,760 Speaker 1: for four months to get cleared. I met the recipient 843 00:50:57,800 --> 00:51:00,319 Speaker 1: and his family. They had two young kids, so it 844 00:51:00,360 --> 00:51:02,440 Speaker 1: made my decision that much easier and I would do 845 00:51:02,480 --> 00:51:07,040 Speaker 1: it again in a heartbeat. Some interesting facts the remaining 846 00:51:07,280 --> 00:51:10,600 Speaker 1: the remaining kidney can grow up to larger to make 847 00:51:10,680 --> 00:51:13,680 Speaker 1: up for the missing friend. I don't think we said that. No, 848 00:51:13,760 --> 00:51:16,880 Speaker 1: I didn't know that. I was also curious at the 849 00:51:16,880 --> 00:51:19,920 Speaker 1: time how they decided which one to take. They scoop 850 00:51:19,920 --> 00:51:22,560 Speaker 1: out the one that has the longest yurager because it 851 00:51:22,560 --> 00:51:27,719 Speaker 1: makes for an easier transplant. Uh. Here's another one. One 852 00:51:27,760 --> 00:51:31,080 Speaker 1: part was not mentioned is the six inch incision at 853 00:51:31,120 --> 00:51:36,000 Speaker 1: the waistline where the surgeon reaches in almost elbow deep 854 00:51:36,960 --> 00:51:43,839 Speaker 1: to grab the kidney. Isn't that something? Yes, he very 855 00:51:43,920 --> 00:51:46,640 Speaker 1: very clean arms. He said he made the mistake to 856 00:51:46,640 --> 00:51:50,040 Speaker 1: watch a video surgery video after he had it done. Yeah, 857 00:51:50,239 --> 00:51:54,479 Speaker 1: it's probably, he said, Now that I'm a living donor, 858 00:51:54,520 --> 00:51:55,800 Speaker 1: I'll be at the top of the waiting list of 859 00:51:55,960 --> 00:51:58,000 Speaker 1: ever needing a kidney. I'm not sure if this is 860 00:51:58,040 --> 00:52:01,040 Speaker 1: the case everywhere, but would help others, uh, if it 861 00:52:01,080 --> 00:52:02,799 Speaker 1: would help others that are on the fence about it 862 00:52:02,840 --> 00:52:06,480 Speaker 1: to know that. Uh. And our seven year transplant anniversaries 863 00:52:06,480 --> 00:52:09,080 Speaker 1: in May, so I had to write in and give 864 00:52:09,160 --> 00:52:12,720 Speaker 1: kudos for the great episode. And that is from Shane 865 00:52:12,760 --> 00:52:17,640 Speaker 1: Green and Candy and New Hampshire and Shane. We usually 866 00:52:17,680 --> 00:52:19,680 Speaker 1: don't do shout outs, but I think the rule now 867 00:52:19,760 --> 00:52:22,040 Speaker 1: is if you'd give a kidney, then you get some 868 00:52:22,040 --> 00:52:25,000 Speaker 1: shout outs. Because Shane wrote back after I said he 869 00:52:25,000 --> 00:52:27,680 Speaker 1: was going to be on listener mail and said, UH, 870 00:52:28,040 --> 00:52:32,359 Speaker 1: please shout out the Dartmouth Hitchcock Transplant team. Please shout 871 00:52:32,360 --> 00:52:36,120 Speaker 1: out Donate Life, which helped pay for Shane's bills while 872 00:52:36,120 --> 00:52:39,440 Speaker 1: he was out for five weeks. UH, and most importantly 873 00:52:39,520 --> 00:52:43,080 Speaker 1: my family that backed me up, my lovely wife Bree 874 00:52:43,080 --> 00:52:46,279 Speaker 1: and my daughter. Maybe we are all listeners and our 875 00:52:46,440 --> 00:52:50,439 Speaker 1: anniversary is coming up soon. So as from Shane Green, 876 00:52:50,560 --> 00:52:53,200 Speaker 1: he sent a picture of him and Big Mo, his 877 00:52:53,280 --> 00:52:58,480 Speaker 1: transplant friend. He was six ft six that's why they 878 00:52:58,520 --> 00:53:01,120 Speaker 1: call him Big Mo. And it's just a great story. 879 00:53:01,280 --> 00:53:03,920 Speaker 1: It's amazing you did that, Shane. Yeah, Shane, way to go. 880 00:53:04,080 --> 00:53:07,040 Speaker 1: You definitely get shouts out any time for that, just 881 00:53:07,239 --> 00:53:09,520 Speaker 1: right in next time you're like, I'm in the move 882 00:53:09,600 --> 00:53:13,279 Speaker 1: for a shout out. Yeah. If you want to add 883 00:53:13,320 --> 00:53:16,560 Speaker 1: a nice cheese steak the other day, right exactly. Um, 884 00:53:16,600 --> 00:53:18,279 Speaker 1: if you want to be in touch with us, like 885 00:53:18,360 --> 00:53:20,960 Speaker 1: Shane didn't let us know something amazing you did, we 886 00:53:21,080 --> 00:53:23,440 Speaker 1: might give you a shout out to who knows? You 887 00:53:23,480 --> 00:53:26,440 Speaker 1: can send us an email to Stuff podcast at iHeart 888 00:53:26,520 --> 00:53:31,920 Speaker 1: radio dot com. Stuff you Should Know is a production 889 00:53:31,960 --> 00:53:34,880 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts my heart Radio, 890 00:53:35,120 --> 00:53:38,080 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 891 00:53:38,120 --> 00:53:39,560 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.