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The history of Maya civilization is divided into three principal periods: the Preclassic, Classic and Postclassic periods; [1] these were preceded by the Archaic Period, which saw the first settled villages and early developments in agriculture. [2]
Maya households interred their dead underneath the floors, with offerings appropriate to the social status of the family. There the dead could act as protective ancestors. Maya lineages were patrilineal, so the worship of a prominent male ancestor would be emphasised, often with a household shrine.
Ethnographic and ethnohistoric data shows that Late Classic Maya feasts were segmented into two corresponding parts: a private religious part and then a public festival. [2] The private religious section was focused on gods, family, and ancestor worship while the public festival was often political or social. [ 2 ]
While ancient Mayan culture offered various calendar types, the one that baffled scholars the most was this 819-day calendar discovered in glyphic texts. Researchers have long believed this ...
Ancient Maya placed a high value on certain extreme body modifications, often undergoing tedious and painful procedures as a rite of passage, an homage to their gods, and as a permanently visible status symbol of their place in society that would last a lifetime, and into their afterlife. Therefore, there was aesthetic, religious, and social ...
The ancient Maya concept of 'deity', or 'divinity' (k'u in Yucatec, ch'u in Ch'ol, and qabuvil in ancient Quiché) can by no means be reduced to a mere personification of natural phenomena. The life-cycle of the maize, for instance, lies at the heart of Maya belief, but the role of the principal Maya maize god transcends the sphere of ...
The Mayan calendar’s 819-day cycle has confounded scholars for decades, but new research shows how it matches up to planetary cycles over a 45-year span.
The Cult of the Cenote was a legendary tradition by the Mayan particularly under the rulership of the Mayapan in the Yucatán Peninsula.The tradition includes throwing selected people in the city's cenote as a human sacrifice as well as precious stones like gold, jade and other ornaments for the rain god, Chaac. [1]