WEBVTT - The Maya Civilization 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:03.400 Hey, everybody chuck here. Before we get going with the show, 0:00:03.440 --> 0:00:06.160 I want to plug a little podcast appearance that I 0:00:06.200 --> 0:00:09.760 made especially for uh the old movie crushers. I was 0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:13.240 on a movie podcast called it Too Scary, Didn't Watch, 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:15.720 and it is a lot of fun. And the basis 0:00:15.720 --> 0:00:19.920 of the episode basically is three very very funny women 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:23.599 who one of them likes to watch horror movies and 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:27.560 the other two hate to watch horror movies. So one 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:30.560 of them watches them and then tells the other two 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:33.200 about it, and it's really a lot of fun. It's 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:35.680 become one of my favorite podcasts that I listened to, 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:38.319 and I reached out to them and they were kind 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:40.720 enough to have me on as a guest, so you 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:46.160 get to hear me uh completely recap the horror movie 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:49.960 or kind of edge of your seat thriller slash horror 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:54.160 movie Don't Breathe. And I had a really great time 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:58.400 on the show. They're wonderful, they're funny, and we had 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:01.360 a lot of a lot of laughs. So check out 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:04.320 and just you know, subscribe as what I say, listen 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:08.160 to Too Scary, Didn't Watch, and check out my episode 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:11.560 on the movie Don't Breathe, which just came out a 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:16.679 couple of weeks ago. Alright, on with the show Welcome 0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:26.080 to Stuff you should know, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey, 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:28.600 and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's Chuck 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:32.399 and Jerry's here too. Um, and that makes this stuff 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:37.959 you should know, the anthropology edition. That's right. And I 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:49.120 would argue our one to three maybe four Maya adjacent podcast. Well, 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:52.320 we did the mind calendar. Yeah, the world ending in. 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:55.560 I mean I think we did that back then, right, 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:59.200 is right around that. That's the benefits of having a 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:00.880 show run this line. I think we did that in 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:06.240 That's what I mean, but leading up to Yeah, not 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:09.799 after the fact, because that would be very us uh. 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:12.000 And then of course we did our our episode where 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:14.000 we traveled to Guatemala. It's sort of like our two 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:19.720 part travel diary where Jerry spoke and um, you know, 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:24.720 Guatemala is partially where the Mayan people lived and live. 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:28.280 So maybe we should just start out by since I 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:32.080 said lived and live, dispelling some myths. Well, hold on, 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:36.440 we did another one last December. I believe did climate 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:40.560 cause the fall of the Maya civilization? All right, so 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:44.799 this is the fifth one, easily maybe I'm not sure 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:47.520 I lost count since you were talking. Well, I was 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:51.080 inspired because, as you know, I just recently took a 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:56.200 trip to Kintana Rue in Mexico, and uh that saw 0:02:56.200 --> 0:02:59.239 some Mayan temples, and so there's a couple of episodes 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:00.960 coming out of that rip because it was just one 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:04.280 of those inspiring trips where you're you know, when you 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:07.440 go someplace where your your endorphins are firing in your 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:10.760 brain is doing things that usually doesn't do. Those are 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:13.040 the best trips, you know, you come back. I wanted 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:15.639 to eat different foods and talk about different things, and 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:22.320 I love those trips wearing cats. I didn't get any clothes, 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:25.400 but we did get Ruby a couple of really pretty 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:28.680 traditional Mexican dresses. Oh that's cute. Does she like them? 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:31.160 She loves them because they are colorful and have flowers 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:35.520 embroidered and stuff. Yeah. So. Um. There are a lot 0:03:35.720 --> 0:03:39.280 of different groups that lived over the millennia in UM 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:43.640 Mexico and Central America. UM, but the Maya stand out 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:47.880 in particular for a number of reasons. Um. They had 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:52.880 one of the most developed alphabets um or systems of 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:58.840 writing ever in the ancient history of Central America. Or Mesoamerica. Yeah, 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:04.640 they came up with zero independently, almost almost almost a 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:08.120 thousand years before it was introduced to Europe. Not not 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:11.119 the europe didn't come up with themselves like it was introduced, 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:15.640 but they the Mayans figured it out independently. They also 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:19.640 had some really top notch calendars, which we talked about 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:21.960 in that one episode UM and that we're based on 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:26.960 um really advanced astronomical observations. So they were. And then 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:29.560 not to mention, they also have the romance of having 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:34.960 like lost civilizations, like entire cities swallowed up by the 0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:38.880 jungle and lost for a thousand or more years. Those 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:42.400 are that's like so Mayan, you know, so um. For 0:04:42.440 --> 0:04:44.680 all those reasons and more, they definitely kind of just 0:04:44.839 --> 0:04:49.840 stand out in a field of pretty interesting cultures. Uh, 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:52.720 if I may say so, Yeah, I think that's why 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:55.279 we keep going back to them. They just fascinate me 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:59.680 the more I read about them. And uh, at some 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:03.360 point I've heard it's a decent movie, but it's not 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:05.760 the most accurate. But I was reminded today of the 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:10.839 Mel Gibson directed film Apocalypto. Man, it's almost a snuff film, dude. 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:13.520 I saw the one human sacrifice scene, and I'm like, 0:05:15.480 --> 0:05:22.400 it's awful. It's super realistic. Yeah, it's way too stantographic. Director. 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:25.839 Oh yeah, he's like, yeah, he's super obsessed with violence. 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:30.120 It's crazy. Have you seen we were heroes? No? But 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:32.840 what I thought he did, Haxall Ridge, I don't know 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:34.560 if you did or not. I know he definitely did. 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:37.760 We were heroes about the early early day. We were heroes? 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:40.320 Is that what it was called. Yeah, it was the 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:43.000 early days of Vietnam and it's like brains blowing out 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:45.840 onto the camera lens in front of the Ridge was 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:48.560 supposed to be really violent too. It's just occurred to me. 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:52.680 I don't know if I've seen any Mel Gibson directed film. Uh, 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:56.320 we were heroes. No, we were soldiers. One of the two. 0:05:56.600 --> 0:06:00.359 It's Thanks for Soldiers. We were soldiers. Um meet me 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:03.560 in St. Louis. I think that's the name of it. 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:09.400 Super violent. But some of the myths we can dispel. 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:12.719 First of all, I kind of teased one out that, um, 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:15.880 the Maya are still around. That it's not like, you know, 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:18.520 people talk about the fall of the Mayan civilization. It's 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:21.719 not like a meteor came down and did the dinosaur 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:26.159 treatment on them. There are still Maya today, and you know, 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:29.679 some would argue that their civilization civilization didn't really collapse 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:34.600 so much as just became sort of a uh, suburban 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:37.040 sprawl in a way. Yeah. I mean a lot of 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:39.919 them speak some of these ancient languages and tongues that 0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:42.560 have been around for a very long time. They carry 0:06:42.600 --> 0:06:45.320 on a lot of the ancient traditions that were passed down. 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:48.880 So yeah, it's definitely inaccurate to say that the Mayan 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:53.839 civilization just went away, just disappeared. It just dispersed instead, 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:57.679 that's right. Uh. It is also incorrect to just say 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:03.279 the Maya were this one sort of unified historic people 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:06.239 that we can talk about as being one thing. Um, 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:09.000 we're talking about a lot of different like dozens and 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:15.080 dozens of cities and city states, um that you know, 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:17.680 they had a lot in common. Sure, and they did 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:20.680 trade with each other and did some of the same things, 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:24.840 but they also were at war with each other almost constantly, um, 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:28.440 between themselves. And you you can't just and we're talking 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:32.239 about hundreds and hundreds of years like they're definite. They're different, 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:37.520 very specific periods of Mayan culture and depending on when 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:40.640 you're talking about some cities may be bigger than others, 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:44.440 others maybe um not not quite as large yet. So 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:48.360 you can't really just say I believe Libya helped us 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:52.320 with this when I think she got from a website 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:56.080 called Mexicolore with an E they said just saying the 0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:59.720 Maya is trying to invent a name for like the 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:02.360 Free to the Italian, the Spanish and the Romanian people 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:05.440 all is one. It's just there. They were not just 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:08.160 one people, know, and they didn't see themselves as one people. 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:10.960 They probably saw themselves as members or citizens of their 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:14.640 particular city state. But the reason that we today and 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:18.840 researchers and archaeologists who you know, investigated the Maya to 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:23.160 begin with, considered them one group is for two reasons. One, 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:30.600 they inhabited a really specific um geographical location covered southern Mexico, Guatemala, 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:36.160 parts of Honduras, Sal Salvador, UH and Belize Peninsula specifically 0:08:36.280 --> 0:08:40.040 yeah um so and like in that area, not kind 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:44.120 of spread out like that was the Maya's area UM. 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:48.080 And Then number two, even though they consider themselves separate 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:51.400 um and and not like members of the same whole 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:54.760 group that inhabited the area. They exchanged, Like you said, 0:08:54.800 --> 0:09:00.400 they traded, they exchanged ideas, um, scientific breakthroughs art um. 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:03.120 So their their culture to those of us on the outside, 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:07.199 looks like one homogeneous, cohesive culture, when really it was 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:10.480 a bunch of different cultures influencing one another and creating 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:15.479 kind of this meticulture that we consider the Maya today. Right, UM. 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:17.680 If you know, I talked about the different periods that 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.839 we can talk about. The first one was the pre 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:24.200 Classic period. Uh. And we'll talk a little bit about 0:09:24.200 --> 0:09:25.839 each of these, but the Classic period is going to 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:28.120 be most of the focus. That's sort of the golden 0:09:28.120 --> 0:09:32.000 age of the Maya. Uh. But in the pre Classic period, 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:36.640 this is where they started to um get involved in agriculture. 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:43.120 They started to um cultivate through burning land. Uh. And 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:46.800 you know, as we covered in the episode on UM, 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:49.679 you know how they went away. I believe we talked 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:52.439 about burning crops as being you know, a lot of 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:55.480 people think that was significantly bad for them in the 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:58.760 long run, um over a population to be sure, and 0:09:59.160 --> 0:10:02.520 eventual uh food shortage when they had food surplus for 0:10:02.559 --> 0:10:05.960 so long. But they started out as always with the 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:12.720 three sisters growing those beans and maize and squash, and 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:15.560 then the Middle Pre Classic we're talking about a thousand 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:19.040 to three hundred, they started spreading out a little bit 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:23.440 in that territory, the same territory that would eventually be 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:29.520 like the classic most robust Mayan cultures UM. And they 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:33.160 also at that time, in the Middle Pre Classic, about 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:38.040 twenty three years ago, that's when they started to build 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:40.959 like architecture, not the stuff that you would see in 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:43.320 the classical period, but it was like the beginning of it, 0:10:43.400 --> 0:10:46.880 literally the foundation, because they actually started they built um 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:49.400 new structures over old structures. But this is kind of 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:52.480 where it was born. Yeah, and all this if it 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:55.160 sounds like it's happening very organically, is because it did. 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:59.920 Um Lvia is you know, points out that these these 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:03.400 city centers, in these city states, it wasn't some and 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:05.400 we we know now more than we ever had before. 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:07.120 We got a lot of stuff wrong over the years, 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:11.720 um science and archaeology, but we were pretty squared away 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:14.440 at least, you know, we're up to date on the 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:18.920 latest uh like truths about the Maya. But they think 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:20.920 they used to think they were so organized they would 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:23.440 plan out these cities, but they really sort of grew 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:26.720 organically because they were good at what they did and 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:29.040 they could really farm the heck out of the land 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:31.280 and support a lot of people. So it just sort 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:33.960 of happened organically. I mean, they clearly were a culture 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:36.240 that knew a good idea when they saw it. So 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:41.439 like an elevated highway, um causeway, it's wide and can 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:44.680 afford a bunch of traffic between one city state to another. 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:47.400 That's just a good idea. So if you build one that, 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.120 there's the other city states can say what other city 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:52.560 states can we link to? And before you know it, 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:54.920 basically every city state and I think there were four 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:57.440 great ones in total at the height of the Maya 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:01.280 classical period, are connected by ways. So of course today 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:05.479 it looks like, surely this was planned, some great centralized 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:08.880 government planned this out and they must have been amazing. No, 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:11.400 there's another way to do. It's almost like an emergent 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:13.920 property of a hive mind. A bunch of people no 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:15.760 good idea when they see it, and they put it 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:18.160 to use, and over time it just builds up and 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:21.240 up and up and becomes so complex that it looks 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:24.760 to people that come later like it couldn't have possibly 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:28.000 happened organically even though it did. That's right. Uh. And 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:31.120 we've talked a little bit before about the size of 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:34.560 these I guess, I mean people have called them empires 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:38.760 for these civilizations. Um, there were about forty cities in total. 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:41.720 I mean you said for within that there were all 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:45.640 these smaller cities each of these And they're not sure 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:48.560 so that the number ends up being a bit of 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:51.880 a swing. But five thousand and fifty thousand people and 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:56.720 total maybe up to fifteen million people. Uh. They've done 0:12:56.720 --> 0:13:00.480 studies that found I believe it was like double the uh, 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:03.839 double the size of medieval England at the time. Uh 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:08.040 and and farley more densely populated than medieval England, like 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:11.400 legitimate cities. Yeah, did I say four. I meant to 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:14.680 say forty. Oh did you say for No? I think 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:16.439 you said I said for no. No No, No, you did 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:18.960 say four. But I thought you just meant there were 0:13:18.960 --> 0:13:24.199 four main areas. There were at least forty great cities. 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:26.079 That was what I was trying to say. I think 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:29.760 he said for But yeah, we'll go. One of the 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:33.359 things that made the city so striking, though, Chuck, was, um, 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:37.480 the elaborate architecture, you know, and because it was all 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:39.520 made from well not all of it, but a lot 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:42.120 of it was made from cut limestone blocks, which, by 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:45.280 the way, they used harder stones to cut the limestone 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:49.640 because in the area that the maya Um occupied there's 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:53.280 no metals that are easily accessible. Um. There are also 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:56.800 no draft animals, so they did everything with like stones basically, 0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:01.239 and with human labor, not with animal labor. So um, 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:03.840 what they did is all the more impressive when you 0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:07.080 realize that because they built these huge temples in huge 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:11.000 pyramids that are just amazingly well designed and well built, 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:13.880 so so much so that they still survive today. But 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:16.520 then on top of it, when you start to investigate 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:19.080 the way that they're oriented, you're like, oh, my goodness, 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:22.040 each of these staircases is completely in line with each 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:25.640 of the four cardinal directions. How do they do that? Um? 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:27.800 Or if you stand on this one temple at Cheetz 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:30.360 and itsa and you look at the other three temples, 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:33.120 depending on whether it's a salstice or equinox, the other 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:35.400 temples are in line with the rising sun. How did 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:37.600 they do that? So yeah, So, in addition to just 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:41.160 the visual amazement that you get, UM, the kind of 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:44.600 intellectual amazement of how they were designed and implanned is 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:48.240 even more impressive. Yeah, and you can stand on these 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:51.200 things because they're still there. Uh. A lot of the 0:14:51.240 --> 0:14:54.840 civilization has gone now. But you know, if you go 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:57.080 down to the Ukndam Peninsula and you visit to Loom 0:14:57.160 --> 0:14:59.600 or someplace like that, I highly encourage you to take 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:03.400 one of those doors and go see these temples. Uh 0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:06.680 or well, we're not exactly sure what they were. We 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:09.920 think that they're temples. Uh. Sometimes they are called palaces, 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:12.160 but it's pretty clear from like the size of the 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:16.640 rooms that they weren't for the hierarchy. You know, it 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:21.040 was a very um, very hierarchical society. But they don't 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:23.800 think like that the kings lived in these temples that 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:26.640 are still, these pyramids that are standing. It was probably 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:30.960 for ceremonies. Uh. This may have been where I guess 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:34.160 we have to talk some about the ritual sacrifice. This 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:36.680 is where a lot of that took place as well. Yeah, 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:42.160 particularly the temples and the pyramids. Um, but they they Yeah, 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:44.600 we should talk about sacrifice at some point in time. 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:48.520 Will pepper it in? Okay, But the something you talked 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:50.720 about I want to kind of flesh out a little 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:55.320 more is the hierarchical society. So again, there wasn't some 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:59.440 one great central government that organized all these city states. 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:02.880 In some of the city states, not all, there was 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:06.520 a strong centralized government, a leader of priestly class, a 0:16:06.600 --> 0:16:09.920 divine king or something who ruled over that city state 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:13.560 with an iron fist and by divine right um and 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:16.640 could say I'm going to kill your kid um, to 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:20.520 sacrifice them for a bountiful harvest, for more rain or 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:23.360 something like that. It was that that level of control, 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:26.320 that level of hierarchy, and it was really rigid. But 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:29.680 again to kind of underscore how each of these cities 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:31.640 was kind of independent in its own kind of thing. 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:35.920 Not all of them had a hierarchical structure like that. Yeah, 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:38.960 And I think I think that's one reason they were. 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:44.760 It seemed like I saw a couple of like documentary documentary, documentary, 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:52.560 video high I am new to Earth, I'm new to YouTube. Uh. 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:56.880 It seemed like they were always at war with one another. 0:16:57.040 --> 0:17:00.320 And I think that, Um, I think that was just 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:02.840 sort of the nature of the hierarchy of these places, 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:05.280 Like I feel like these it just seems like these 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:10.240 kings were always at war with another king over something. Yeah, 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:14.280 and apparently the first the first researchers who started to 0:17:14.440 --> 0:17:18.359 investigate the Maya. I think it started in eighteen thirties, 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:22.760 the eighteen thirties when Westerners, when Europeans first started to well, 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:24.320 I don't want to say that because the Spanish war 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:29.479 aware of them. When say Western Europeans, this includes Spain, say, um, 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:32.400 you are new to Earth to northern Europeans. How about 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:37.359 the English? The English first stumbled upon you know, Mayan 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:41.359 cities um. From from from that point on, for a 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:45.160 very long time, researchers just assumed that the mines were 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:52.440 this really advanced, intelligent, peaceful culture. Um. And it wasn't 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:54.640 until later that we started to find more and more 0:17:54.720 --> 0:18:00.520 things like fortresses and battlements, um, defensive walls. Were like, oh, 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:03.960 actually there was a lot of warfare. And then as 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:08.000 we got to know more and more and cracked their language, UM, 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:11.600 we're like, oh wow, this is a deeply violent group 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:15.560 of of cultures that that really killed a lot of 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:18.960 one another in some really brutal ways too. Right, But 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:22.400 we did mention they also traded with one another. So 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:24.840 what wasn't like there was just a guarantee that their 0:18:24.840 --> 0:18:27.760 closest neighbor they were going to do battle with. Um. 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:31.440 They traded all kinds of things. They traded. Uh, it's 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:36.680 an area very rich in jade apparently, obsidian UM. Obviously 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:39.760 things that are a little more commonplace like salt, uh 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:41.959 and and seeds and grains and things like that they 0:18:41.960 --> 0:18:46.120 would trade. But copper and jade and obsidian were sort 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:50.160 of the money things that you would trade. And they traded, 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:52.879 like you said at the beginning, they traded ideas and 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:56.880 cultural ideas, and they traded art with one another. They 0:18:56.880 --> 0:18:59.000 had a lot of influence, and this was in one 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:05.000 of the documentary videos that I saw on online. Uh, 0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:08.520 the Olmec civilization was somewhat was the civilization that they 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:12.080 um really really borrowed from or not borrowed from. But 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:14.280 we're influenced by I guess yeah. The Old Mec I 0:19:14.320 --> 0:19:18.080 was reading are considered one of six pristine civilizations, meaning 0:19:18.119 --> 0:19:21.200 they just grew up out of whole cloth. Um. They 0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:26.760 weren't influenced by other civilizations or other groups six, including 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:32.240 I think the Um, like Sumerians, they think, maybe the Egyptians. 0:19:32.600 --> 0:19:36.560 I can't remember a few others UM, but the Old Yeah, 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:42.560 the Old Mecher considered pristine civilization. That's pretty cool. Um, 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:45.680 So I say we take a break and come back 0:19:45.720 --> 0:19:48.280 and talk about the religion and the science of the Maya. 0:19:48.320 --> 0:20:06.760 What do you think about that, Chuck, let's do it. 0:20:01.600 --> 0:20:16.720 So you mentioned religion and science, we'll talk about that now. 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:21.400 Previous to the break, you mentioned the priestly class. From 0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:25.040 what I saw, the priestly class was basically the highest 0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:28.920 class under the ruling class. Uh. And and I guess 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:32.240 in a lot of older civilizations that's sort of the case, 0:20:32.440 --> 0:20:36.200 is the religious leaders were I had so much influence 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:38.399 and we're just under the king and had a lot 0:20:38.440 --> 0:20:41.119 of influence on the king as well. But there was 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:45.520 that priestly class who organized these ceremonies in these rituals. 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:49.280 They were the ones who developed the mathematical system and 0:20:49.359 --> 0:20:52.680 the astronomy that we talked about, and they were able 0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:57.280 to accomplish some pretty amazing things. Uh, not only with 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:00.680 math in their alphabet, but with astronomy. They were able 0:21:00.720 --> 0:21:05.080 to accurately predict solar eclipses. And this is in I mean, 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:08.320 I guess depending on which period you're talking about, like 0:21:08.440 --> 0:21:10.760 thousands of years ago. Well, I think we've entered the 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:13.880 Classic period, which I think was from the second century 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:17.080 to the ninth or tenth century CE. Okay, so that's 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:19.720 when most of the astronomy and the math and sort 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:23.680 of sciences were advanced. Yeah, but yes, but again for comparison, 0:21:23.720 --> 0:21:26.920 at this time, England is in smack in the middle 0:21:26.960 --> 0:21:31.399 of the dark ages um, while the my priestly class 0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:35.440 are predicting solar eclipses and can accurately tracks Venus is 0:21:35.560 --> 0:21:40.480 transit around the Sun. Um. So they use this information, 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:45.160 this astronomical information, their ability to use math um, they're 0:21:45.240 --> 0:21:49.000 they're like extensive calendars. They use that for those rituals 0:21:49.480 --> 0:21:54.160 and for those um those like the to basically reinforce 0:21:54.280 --> 0:21:57.560 their priestliness like what we would recognize as mathematicians and 0:21:57.600 --> 0:22:01.639 astronomers today. Imagine if if you know, an astronomer said, 0:22:02.160 --> 0:22:04.399 you know, this comment is going to pass by Earth 0:22:04.680 --> 0:22:07.240 in two days. It's going to be amazing, and also 0:22:07.640 --> 0:22:11.000 the Sun God will be driving it like a chariot, 0:22:11.359 --> 0:22:16.000 so everybody don't leave your house that day, Like you're 0:22:16.640 --> 0:22:18.880 you're really on the money on one part of that, right, 0:22:19.240 --> 0:22:21.040 But I mean that that's kind of like what they're 0:22:21.080 --> 0:22:24.240 priestly class did they were right, but the interpretation was 0:22:24.280 --> 0:22:29.160 wildly different from you know what we interpret things as today. Yeah. Um, 0:22:29.200 --> 0:22:31.639 they had a solar calendar. And again we did a 0:22:31.640 --> 0:22:33.760 whole episode on the Mayan calendar, but it was very 0:22:33.800 --> 0:22:36.879 advanced for the time. Uh. They had eighteen months on 0:22:36.920 --> 0:22:41.000 their calendar, twenty days per month, with a five day 0:22:41.160 --> 0:22:44.919 unlucky period each month, which is pretty funny. No, I 0:22:44.920 --> 0:22:46.639 think that was every year there was a five day 0:22:46.680 --> 0:22:49.120 unlucky period. It was once a year, not once a month. 0:22:49.160 --> 0:22:52.680 I think so, I think so. I think I didn't 0:22:52.720 --> 0:22:56.560 do the math, Chuck, I'm no Mayan priestly class guy. Uh. 0:22:56.640 --> 0:22:59.800 And then they also had an overlapping calendar or two 0:23:00.040 --> 0:23:05.040 d in sixty day sacred calendar. This had thirteen cycles 0:23:05.080 --> 0:23:08.680 in twenty named days. And as we all know, in 0:23:09.240 --> 0:23:12.120 twelve it was the Mind's never said that the world 0:23:12.160 --> 0:23:15.160 was going to end in twelve. This was just internet 0:23:15.200 --> 0:23:18.560 hokum basically because their calendar was ending. Yeah. It wasn't 0:23:18.600 --> 0:23:22.280 like made up entirely from scratch like the old Mixed Civilization. 0:23:22.320 --> 0:23:26.040 It was based on like a misinterpretation, a misreading, uh, 0:23:26.080 --> 0:23:30.760 an exaggeration like in twelve the mind long count calendar 0:23:30.840 --> 0:23:34.960 like reset. It was a thing, and to the Maya 0:23:35.320 --> 0:23:40.600 that may have included some sort of apocalyptic thing, but um, 0:23:40.680 --> 0:23:42.600 it wasn't like the end of the world. It was 0:23:42.680 --> 0:23:46.600 like a resetting of the world order as we understand it, 0:23:46.800 --> 0:23:49.520 and that got turned into The World Is Ending starring 0:23:49.600 --> 0:23:54.359 John Cusack. Should we talk about the creation story? I 0:23:54.400 --> 0:23:58.600 think we should. It's pretty cool. Uh. There were a 0:23:58.640 --> 0:24:01.240 couple of sacred texts that's survived. As we'll see later, 0:24:02.119 --> 0:24:05.760 a lot of their written history was burned by Christian 0:24:05.800 --> 0:24:08.680 missionaries who said, you don't need that stuff anymore. You're 0:24:08.680 --> 0:24:11.920 gonna be like us, very sadly, but there are some 0:24:12.040 --> 0:24:16.320 texts and cotuses that survived. In a couple of them, 0:24:16.359 --> 0:24:21.200 the Popo Vu and the chill Um Bollum had these 0:24:21.240 --> 0:24:25.000 creation stories wherein there was a god of wind and 0:24:25.080 --> 0:24:30.920 sky called Hurricane Hurricane, and there was a ciba tree 0:24:30.960 --> 0:24:34.440