The Mystery of the Ancient Maya

This readable book contains two tales - the story of the discovery and exploration of the Mayan Empire and the story of the Mayans themselves. The first detailed investigation of the vanished empire began in the early 19th century and has continued unabated. The same questions are still asked today - where did they come from, how and more important, why did they settle in such inhospitable land, Why did they abandon their cities?First, there is a discussion of theories suggesting a link between the old and new world. This is rejected...Egypt did not influence the Mayans - all ancient cultures built pyramidal structures due to their ease of construction. Like other early kingdoms, it was both a political and religious entity - a theocracy that became more elitist and authoritarian as time passed Mayans excelled in many area but surprisingly, not the practical ones. Their mathematics and time calculations were phenomenal, the art sophisticated, their astronomy advanced and the various theologies complex. But they did not make tools to chop trees, till the soil, plant or harvest crops. The empire passed through several phases then the people disappeared, the cities were abandoned. Among the many theories that have been proposed, the author concluded upon the most likely - a long-time revolt by the peasants against the priestly class. Why would illiterate natives be impressed with great strides in astronomy, mathematics or time forecasting? There is also the matter of the evolution of the religion to demand more and more sacrifices. The exploration of the Well of Sacrifice in Chichen Itza revealed literally thousands of corpses slain to satisfy the blood-thirsty gods. At some point the lower classes revolted and the cities were emptied one by one. Alas, we shall probably never know for sure. This is a great book for the amateur, not at all technical, a very good introduction to the Mayans.

to prepare our family (pre-teen and teenage children) for a trip to central america, we began to read aloud this book at dinner. it describes the adventures of early explorers and colonists and the mayan culture as a storyteller might. it's a wonderful resource "to set the stage", to spark the imagination and curiosity for knowing more about this civilization. it incorporates information from recent research and successfully imparts this to young adult readers without a lot of scientific googly-goo but sufficient scholarly material. this book is a gem - it never talks "down" to the reader; in fact, it's almost as if you are invited to share in the enthusiasm and appreciation felt by these authors for the maya.