After seeing Apocalypto, i am wondering what happened to them.
I had always thought that they disappeared without a trace, but in the movie they seemed to have lived and then the Spaniards came....
What happened to them? When did the Spanish come to the Mayan civilization... was it before or after the settlers came to America?
2006-12-08 12:30:28 · 10 answers · asked by senor_cheese04 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
tham153 is correct, the Mayan people are still there. Their civilization, as they knew it, ended but the people are still there. As an anthropology major I had the opportunity to do some archaeological work in the Yucatan two years ago and I was shocked to see how many Mayan people are still there. I had heard the same thing everyone else has heard "the Mayan people disappeared and no one knows what happened to them."
They are a fascinating people, very kind and hard working. I was able to observe them working in their corn fields and in their small villages. Their features are very distinctive and when you see a Mayan individual you will recognize them immediately as their features have not changed much at all from their ancient ancestors.
The Spaniards came to Maya country in the 1500's and that resulted in much loss of life due to diseases that they Maya had no immunity too and there was much loss of life from fighting and trying to convert the Maya to christianity. The majority of the Maya are now christians and there are little churches everywhere in the Yucatan, some dating back a few hundred years.
There is much information on the internet about the Maya available on the web, books, etc. Just be careful what you read. You can even look for web sites connected with archaeology being done on Maya sites that are a great resource for finding more information.
The Maya are a wonderful people so if you ever get a chance to visit their country I highly recommend it.
2006-12-08 14:00:14 · answer #1 · answered by luvrplant 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You mean the classic mayas or the fictionalized idialized mayas? The first ones just moved out of great cities after the Great Collapse (900/1000 AD) and stablished less complex settlements (without great structures). Some had another great renaissance at the Posclassic Period (1000 - 1520's AD) specially in the Yucatan Penninsula (Puuc area). Many of those maya were still in the area at the time the spanish conquistadors settled there. A priest, Fray Diego de Landa, burned many codexes that depicted writting and possibly told mythic stories, or even, every day life. Nowadays maya descendants still live in Guatemala (Chichicastenango or the shores of Lake Atitlan), Yucatan and Chiapas (Mexico). In fact, the Lacandon Maya (who live in the Lacandon jungle between Mexico and Guatemala) still live in a very simple way, much like their ancestors did. They grow long hairs and wear a white cotton tunic (like a poncho). Fictionalized mayas were abducted by aliens (or went back to their home world?) or returned to Atlantis. Ohhhhhh by the way Sophist, Inca culture developed in the distant Peru (south America) and archaeoloically sepaking there isn't a single thead of evidence of invasion to Mesoamerica. Yes, the use of metal comes from south america but that doesn't mean an intrussive war-oriented presence.
2006-12-09 04:50:43 · answer #2 · answered by oni_koukogakusha 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There are millions of Mayans living in Mexico and Guatemala right this minute. They just don't live in their great stone cities anymore.
Theories abound about why they left the cities. Warfare, drought & famine seem to be the case. They just couldn't sustain that style of living. But they didn't ALL die.
The Spanish arrived in Mexico in 1519 (it was discovered 2 years earlier). At that time, the Mayan empire had already fallen and the Aztec empire was at its height.
2006-12-09 01:27:05 · answer #3 · answered by Gevera Bert 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Same thing that happened to the 'lost' tribes of Israel. The society disappeared and was supplanted by later civilizations, but the actual people - or more exactly, their descendants - remained in the same area. They simply lost their previous cultural identity and became assimilated into the later society. The descendants of the Maya still live in Mexico and Guatemala.
2006-12-08 12:49:45 · answer #4 · answered by dukefenton 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nothing. Nobody knows the day when we all are going to die. It's just a change with the Sun, because it conjuncts the intersection of the Milky Way and the plane of the ecliptic.
2016-05-22 21:44:39 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I assume that you mean the Mayan civilization. About the same thing that got most all civilizations. Some savage people cleaned them out. Possibly the Incas.
2006-12-08 13:32:43 · answer #6 · answered by Sophist 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
On "Engineering and Empire" on History channel, there are a lot of theories, but no one really knows for sure.
2006-12-08 12:36:46 · answer #7 · answered by colbykaplan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the descendants of the maya still exist today
2006-12-08 12:38:34 · answer #8 · answered by CALLIE 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They left town. It was too dangerous to stay. So they covered their tracks.
GOD bless.
2006-12-08 12:38:57 · answer #9 · answered by May I help You? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they went into the tourism business.
check out this site, hope it helps.
www.crystalinks.com/mayanhistory.html
2006-12-08 12:44:40 · answer #10 · answered by bidjaraboy_01 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋