Questions tagged [maya]
For questions about the Maya civilization and the Maya peoples of Central America.
28 questions
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What weapons did Peten Itza use in 1697 when it was conquered? [closed]
What weapons did the Peten Itza Kingdom use defend against its conquest by the Spanish Empire in 1697 more than 170 years after its first contract with the the army of Cortez in 1525? What kind of ...
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Why is the Maya civilization not considered one of the cradles of civilization?
I don't have a background in history, but I've been doing some reading about the Mayans on Wikipedia, and there's something I'm confused about.
The "cradles of civilization" page on ...
- 181
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Was the symbol post-classical Mayans used to represent zero really derived from a depiction of a turtle shell?
The Wikipedia page on Mayan numerals mentions the symbol for zero is an upside down turtle shell. It is not clear from the symbol itself that it is a turtle shell, and I'm not able to find any source ...
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Has there been significant progress in our knowledge of the Aztecs and/or Maya since the '60s?
[Would it be possible to know why the question has been downvoted? So that I can improve future ones]
The question comes from the fact that I found I have at home Aztecs of Mexico by George Vaillant.
...
- 129
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Why are some later Mayan scripts unintelligible to archaeologists, while earlier ones can be read?
Many of the [Maya's] greatest cities emptied, as did much of the countryside around them. Incredibly, some of the last inscriptions are gibberish, as if scribes had lost the knowledge of writing and ...
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What events led to the Aztecs and Mayans adopting cocoa beans as a currency?
I read how the Aztec Empire and the Mayans used cocoa beans as a currency but bartered before hand. I know records for these civilizations are rare, but do we have any record of certain historical ...
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Where was the Ixcanha Maya community located during the Caste War of the Yucatán?
There is mention of a Mayan community of about a thousand people during the Caste War of the Yucatán who refused to break with the Catholic Church. I am trying to figure out where their community was ...
- 367
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What kind of canoes were used in 19th century Yucatán?
I’m specifically curious about seagoing canoes along the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the mid-1800’s. Were they still typically of the dugout variety, or had they evolved to canvas on a wood ...
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Did the Maya civilization recognize that it was into an ecological crisis?
As I currently read so much about pessimistic ecological forecast of today's society, I'm wondering if the Maya or eastern islands society became aware of their heading into or state of an ecological ...
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Why and how did climate change affect the Mayan civilization?
Why and how did climate change affect the Maya empire? I thought climate change was a modern problem so I'm confused when my World History textbook says that its one of the reasons for the decline of ...
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Who was the Halach Uinik of Can Pech?
Who was the ruler (Halach Uinik) of the pre-conquest Mayan state (Kuchkabal) of Can Pech around the beginning of the 16th century? If not the individual, the dynasty?
- 525
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How reliable is a Maya codex facsimile?
I've found an online copy of William Gates' reproduction of the Dresden codex written in 1932. Some websites say that his reproduction is rather too stylistic to be a reliable facsimile of the codex. ...
- 245
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How is the accuracy of the Maya Calendar measured?
It is taken as a fact in many books and specialized publications that the Maya calendrical system - the Haab' and the Tzolk'in - was more accurate and closer to the real solar year than the Gregorian ...
- 245
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Was there contact between the Inca, Maya and Aztecs?
Were these three cultures aware of each others existence? Did they trade with one another?
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What type of name did the common Mayans use?
We know that most of the lord (ajaw) used to have names related to the sun, the earth or important animals.
See for example the rulers of Copan.
Do we have any idea if it was the same for every ...
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