1, the emergence and historical stage of civilization
In the Mexican Plateau of ancient South America and Central America, a highly developed ancient Mayan civilization was bred. 1839, American John? Steven and Kaiserwood, in the dense jungle of Honduras in Central America, discovered a magical and magnificent ancient palace site. In the jungles and wasteland of South America, continuous exploration has discovered more than 170 abandoned ancient city sites. These sites represent the splendid Mayan civilization praised by later generations. It tells people that the Mayans lived a stable life in this land 3000 years ago. Since then, the Mayan civilization has attracted the attention of the world, and the continuous new archaeological discoveries have made people's enthusiasm for it enduring.
The Mayans are distributed in four states and one region of Mexico today (namely, East Chiapas, East Tabasco, Yucatan, Campeche and Quintana Roo), as well as Guatemala, Honduras, western El Salvador and British Honduras. The central and southern parts here are all dense tropical rainforests, while the Yucatan Peninsula in the north is very dry, with shrubs and almost no surface water. As we know, the four ancient civilizations were born in the great river basins: the Nile in Egypt, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River in China, the Ganges and Indus rivers in India, the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Babylon; Mayan civilization rose in barren volcanic highlands and dense tropical rain forests. They have no metal tools, no cows, horses, pigs and sheep, no trolleys and no wheat. Their productivity level only stayed in the Stone Age, but they cultivated a dazzling flower in the garden of world civilization. The Mayans did not establish a unified and powerful empire, and the whole area was divided into hundreds of city-states. However, languages, religious beliefs and customs of all countries traditionally belong to the same civilization circle. This civilization developed earlier than other civilizations in America and reached a high level. Therefore, the Mayans were called "the Greeks of America".
People found that Maya civilization had many similarities with other ancient civilizations in Mexico, so scholars speculated that there might be an older civilization, which was the same origin of Maya and these Mexican civilizations. In the mid-20th century, Olmec civilization was finally discovered.
Olmec civilization appeared in the coastal area of the Gulf of Mexico around 1300 BC. It is the earliest advanced civilization in Mexico and is praised as the "mother of civilization" in Central America by academic circles. Olmec means "the land of rubber" because it is rich in rubber. Most Celtic statues found in Holm are famous for their huge stone heads. Most of them are thick lips, flat noses, almond eyes and helmets. It is the earliest memorial sculpture in America and is called Olmec's head. Scientists believe that these statues are probably to commemorate the emperor at that time. All the traditions initiated by Olmec civilization have been inherited by Central American civilization. From theocracy, pyramid temples, monuments and altars, to hieroglyphics, calendar system, and living people offering sacrifices to gods, all these constitute the foundation of ancient civilization in Central America. Around 300 BC, the decline of Olmec civilization was interrupted, leaving only a legacy. However, the torch of civilization has not been extinguished. When Olmec's afterglow gradually disappeared in the aura of Mayan civilization, the Mayan era came.
Maya civilization has a long history, including the civilization from16th century BC to16th century AD. The Encyclopedia of Mexico published in 1977 divides Mayan civilization into three periods: the pre-classical period, from 1500 BC to AD 292 (some people think it is 2500-250, some people think it is 300, and some people think it is 250); Classical period, from 292 (or 300 /250) to 900; Post-classical period, from 900 to 1527.
The pre-classical period is the formation period of Mayan civilization, from about 2500 BC to 250 AD. Settled agricultural life has emerged in the Peten Basin in the middle of Yucatan Peninsula and its surrounding valleys, with corn and beans as the main crops. An early sacrificial center composed of earthen platforms and altars has also been established. Since then, the country has sprouted and hieroglyphics have appeared.
In the classical period (about 250 ~ 900 AD), Maya civilization entered its heyday, and hundreds of large-scale cities and residents were small city-states that stood on their own feet. The hieroglyphics and calendar characters used in each state are the same, and the urban planning, architectural style and production level are roughly the same. Most of the main sites are located in the central tropical rain forest area, and the sacrificial center has formed a large building complex. At this time, there are a large number of stone pillars engraved with age inscriptions. Generally, a stone pillar is built every 5 years, 10 years or 20 years to become a unique timing pillar. Around 800 ~ 900, these sacrificial centers were suddenly abandoned, and Mayan civilization declined sharply. 1 1 century later, the center of Mayan civilization began to gradually shift to the limestone lowland plain in the north.
The civilization in the post-classical period (about 900 ~ 1527) has a strong Mexican style. The Toltecs from Mexico conquered Yucatan Peninsula. Since then, Maya Pan in the north has replaced Chen Chi Itza as the center of post-classical civilization. 1450, Mayapan was burned down due to internal rebellion, and civilization tended to decline in the next hundred years. From 1523 to 1524, Spanish colonists took advantage of the situation to occupy Yucatan Peninsula from Mexico, and the Mayan civilization was completely destroyed. These are some precious Mayan cultural relics.
2. Socioeconomics
Maya civilization basically belongs to Neolithic Age and Bronze Age, and tools and weapons are made of stone and wood. Gold and copper were only used at the end of the classical period, and iron was never used. Handmade products include all kinds of pottery, cotton fabrics and so on. There is a trade exchange relationship between different villages and regions. As early as the pre-classical period, Maya's social economy was obviously comprehensive, including agriculture, fishing and hunting and foreign trade activities. Agricultural technology is simple, extensive farming, no fertilization, no livestock, and later irrigation. In recent years, archaeological studies have found that Maya agriculture adopted intensive farming methods. Maya dug terraces in mountainous areas, canals as dense as cobwebs in low-lying areas, and built a large number of underwater cushion fields or floating fields. A year in China and the United States is divided into two seasons: the dry season is 10 to May, and the rainy season is June to June. The Mayans made effective use of this climate to develop agriculture. The earliest pottery in Maya area was around 1500 BC, which marked the beginning of the pre-classical period. At this time, India's "agricultural revolution" has been completed. After thousands of years of cultivation, a weed in the valley has become a sweet and nutritious food, that is, corn. With this "hard core" crop, the Mayans settled down, made pottery and stored corn. The Mayans ate relatively little meat, and their main food was corn. They call themselves corn people, and their civilization is also called "corn civilization". Their main crop is corn. There are many kinds of corn, including big ear corn (old woman corn) matured in 6 to 7 months, small ear corn (young girl corn) matured in 3 months, and special corn (whooping cough corn) matured in 60 days. Maya also planted tomatoes, cotton, beans, sweet potatoes, cocoa, tobacco and so on. Later, it spread all over the world. In handicraft industry, Maya made utensils with clay, wood and stone, tools and weapons with flint and obsidian, and utensils and decorations with metals such as gold, silver, copper and tin. Their decorations are usually woven with feathers and have unique artistic characteristics. The Mayans developed commercial transactions, and every city and village had squares as trading places. All kinds of food and daily necessities are bought and sold in the market, with cocoa beans as the exchange medium.
3. Achievements of civilization
The achievements of Mayan civilization include writing, literature, astronomy, calendars, primitive calculation methods, architecture and art.
Around A.D., the Mayans created hieroglyphics, similar to those in Egypt and China. This is a kind of writing composed of many figures and symbols, with more than 800 kinds of symbols, both phonetic and ideographic. The order of words is generally from left to right, from top to bottom, about 30 thousand words. Hieroglyphs are usually carved on stone pillars or on wood, jade and shells. Mayan script was monopolized by priests. Their books include astronomy, calendar images and other scientific works, as well as history, mythology, poetry, drama, prayer and etiquette. After the Spanish colonists entered, these precious Mayan manuscripts were basically burned as "the works of the devil", and many monks who mastered Mayan characters were burned at the stake. There are only three Maya transcripts left. One is about astronomy, written in 1 1 century; The other two books on divination, sacrifice and prophecy were written in15th century. These manuscripts are now kept in libraries in Dresden, Madrid and Paris, and have not been fully interpreted so far. Archaeologists have also found many stone tablets in the ruins of the ancient city, most of which are carved on the walls of city walls, palaces and temples.
The Mayans had unique literary achievements. Dramatic literature prevailed in Maya, but its works did not spread. Only some comedies have been verified. /kloc-at the end of 0/7, Spanish missionary Francisco? Ximenes discovered the Mayan epic Popper? Written in Guatemala in16th century. Ukraine (also known as Book of Commune, Convention of Quiche, Guide Book of Quiche, Origin and History of Quiche in Guatemala). It is the most outstanding classic literature and epic of Indians. Pop. Wu is the sacred book of the Kiche people. Quiche, Bobo? Wu is a "consulting book", also known as "a book that reads while sitting on the floor". When the emperor is in a meeting, he always sits on the mat, discusses with ministers and reads the history handed down from ancient times.
Due to the needs of agriculture, the Mayans made outstanding achievements in astronomy and calendar. Maya Observatory is usually a group of buildings. The most famous is Chyi Chin? Icha observatory. Their calendars are also strange and accurate. Scholars found that the Mayan calendar is the most perfect calendar in the world, and their calendar system consists of three calendars, namely, the divine calendar, the solar calendar and the calendar.
The God Calendar, also known as Zalkin Calendar, consists of 20 images of gods and numbers from 1 to 13, and it lasts for 260 days every year. Just like heavenly stems and earthly branches in China, it is constantly matched and combined, and 260 combination icons are obtained, representing 260 days. This calendar cycle is very similar to China's "heavenly stems" and "earthly branches", and the calendar is endless, not as endless as a straight line in the year of AD.
The solar calendar is based on astronomical calculations. A year is divided into 18 months, with 20 days in each month and 5 days as taboo days, so there are 365 days in the whole year. After long-term observation and careful calculation, the Maya, who are good at astrological observation, revised the length of a year to 365.245438+029 days, which is less than one thousandth of the absolute length of 365.4438+098 days measured scientifically today. In other words, the error in 5000 years is only one day. They can calculate the eclipse time and know the periods of the moon and planets. They measured that the period of Venus' movement was 584 days, only 583.92 days 1 hour and 55 minutes longer than that measured by modern scientists. Compared with modern measurement, the 50-year error is only 7 seconds.
Calendar is very suitable for calculating the long time scale of history, which is based on extremely developed mathematical thinking. Maya used the symbol "0". Using this computing system to calculate years and months, the Mayans can record tens of millions of years. According to the time when Spain invaded Maya was16th century, and according to the counting unit recorded in the inscription, archaeologists found that the first year of the Mayan calendar was actually 3 1 14 BC and 13 BC. The Mayans attached great importance to this complicated and elaborate calendar, and they recorded it in the stone carvings of many monuments and temples.
Mathematically, the Mayans invented a primitive calculation method. They produced a hexadecimal method based on the fingers of hands and feet. "Point" means one, "horizontal" means five, and the painted shell means zero. The concept of "0" was formed later than India, but 800 years earlier than Europeans. Maya used a point, a horizontal line and a shell symbol representing zero to represent numbers. When paleontologists studied the Maya digital system, they found that their digital expression was similar to an abacus. They use three symbols: a point, a horizontal line and a shell symbol representing zero-it can represent any number. A similar principle applies to the "binary" of today's computers. This counting method can be used for astronomical figures.
Maya made great achievements in architecture and art, and the pyramids were important buildings in the classical period. The pyramids in ancient America not only surpassed Egypt in number. The pyramids in Egypt are the tombs of kings and pharaohs, while the Mayan pyramids in the United States are not entirely the tombs of emperors, but often an altar. The Mayans had an almost fanatical worship of God. The gods that Maya believed in mainly include: sun god, rain god, wind god, valley god, god of war, death and so on. In Maya's view, the world of God is far richer and greater than the secular world. They often hold sacrificial ceremonies, and every Maya thinks it is a very sacred thing to sacrifice for God. The Mayan pyramids are made of huge polished stones, which are very spectacular. The pyramid is basically a square, which faces the southeast, northwest and four directions. The four sides of the tower are also equilateral triangles with the word "gold", and the ratio of the bottom to the height of the tower is exactly equal to the ratio of the perimeter to the radius. There are steps around the tower. There is a temple altar dedicated to the gods at the top of the tower. The steps leading to the pyramid are decorated with reliefs. The pyramid temple altar is Mexico's national treasure. Tigre and Monos in Mirrado are the largest buildings in Maya. Both pyramids were built around 150 BC. Tiger Tower is 55 meters high. The Mayans built tiger towers and pyramids, reflecting their worship of tigers.
Their superb tower-building skills are also amazing. Take Ku Ku Ku Kun Jin Yu Building as an example. The tower foundation is square, with nine floors, stacked from bottom to top, and gradually narrowed, just like a delicate and huge cake. There are 9 1 steps on all sides of the tower, reaching the top of the tower. All around ***364, plus the tower platform, no more, no less, 365, which is exactly the number of days in a year. The steps of the nine-story tower foundation are divided into l8 parts. This is exactly the number of months in a year in the Mayan calendar.
Maya art reached a high level in the classical period. Modern archaeologists have discovered a large number of exquisite painted pottery, Jieshi carved with figures and various figures, and other paintings and works of art in Maya area.
1927, a crystal skull was found in the Mayan temple in Honduras, Central America. This skull is 12.7 cm high and weighs 5.2 kg. It is as big as a real person's head and is carved according to a woman's head. According to the ancient Mayan legend, this crystal skull has magical power. In the Mayan temple, it is an important tool to ask God for divination. It has a history of 1000 years. This crystal head is carved very realistically. Not only the appearance, but also the internal structure is consistent with the skeleton structure of human skull. Moreover, the technology level is extremely high, and the prism hidden in the base and eye socket cooperates with the hand-polished lens to find dazzling light. People have to admire the wisdom of the Mayans.
The collocation of red and black is one of the characteristics of Mayan classical art, and this method has the meaning of etiquette, because red is related to the east, black is related to the west, and the sun turns from red to black every day. In the ancient Mayan city of Piedras? The colorful murals found in Bonanpak near Nigra are the only ancient Mayan murals preserved to this day. This mural was painted in the 6th to 8th century. It was painted in a temple on a hillside with three rooms. Murals are rich in color, with straight lines, accurate portraits and rigorous composition. Its contents include aristocratic rituals, wars and victories, celebrations and parades, tributes, trial of prisoners of war and other scenes. Murals vividly reproduce the social form of the Mayans.
4. The decline of civilization
Before the Spanish conquered the Maya region in the16th century, the classical Mayan civilization flourished in the tropical rain forests of Central and South America for about 600 years. The technological level of this civilization stayed in the Stone Age, and the city became its own kingdom. Maya created a splendid Mayan civilization in the past 2000 years. Around 800 AD, they abandoned the highly developed civilization and moved on a large scale, and every central city they established also stopped the construction of new buildings. Civilization soon disappeared in the tropical jungle of America. The reason for the interruption of Mayan civilization is still inconclusive. At present, there are the following statements:
(1) drought theory. This is a popular view at present. Mayan civilization was born because of successive years of drought in the local area, which destroyed the agricultural foundation on which ancient civilizations depended. And they have no knowledge of water conservancy to dig wells and vertical canals. After lakes and rivers dried up and cut off, agricultural failure triggered a series of chain reactions, and the huge urban civilization eventually collapsed. But what caused the frequent drought in Yucatan Peninsula has always been the focus of academic debate.
(2) Deforestation theory. Some experts pointed out that Maya has a complex religious system, and the city is centered on pyramids and temples. When building pyramids and temples, they used to paint the outer walls with white lime. Burning lime required a lot of wood, so the Mayans began to cut down forests. With the continuous expansion of the city, the pyramids are built higher and higher, and the demand for firewood is increasing. Finally, a large area of forest has been cut down, the local environment has gradually deteriorated and drought is inevitable. In this regard, the Mayan pyramid remains are widely distributed in southern Mexico and American countries, which is the best proof.
(3) Ecological crisis theory. Similar to the above point of view. Although Mayan civilization is an urban civilization, it is based on corn agriculture. Since ancient times, Mayan farmers have adopted a very primitive farming method: they first cut down all the trees, dried them for a period of time, set them on fire before the rainy season, and used the barren rainforest soil covered by plant ash as fertilizer. After burning one crop at a time, fallow 1-3 years, or even as long as 6 years in some places, and then burn and replant after the vegetation grows more luxuriantly. When civilization flourished in the classical period, the population increased greatly, and the pressure of agriculture became greater and greater, people destroyed more forests for land reclamation, and at the same time shortened the fallow time as much as possible. However, as a result, soil fertility declined and corn production became less and less. After the great development of population, Mayan civilization is facing the serious problems of deterioration of ecological environment and exhaustion of living resources, and the social situation has plummeted. More seriously, under the theocratic system, the Maya royal family and priests blamed all these "signs of decline" on God's dissatisfaction. They built more temples and prayed more frequently and solemnly, hoping to turn Gankun around with their divine power. Of course, the result of this is to waste more manpower and scarce resources until it falls into a vicious circle of incorrigible. With the serious shortage of agricultural production and supply, the highly developed civilization in Maya classical period began to collapse. When the barren land around the city was connected, hunger forced the Mayans to abandon the city. After a hundred years of decline and turmoil, all the city-states in the central lowlands were lost in the tropical jungle, and green plants quietly covered everything, like hiding an ancient secret.
(4) The theory of solar activity cycle. David, a geologist at the University of Florida? In a recent study, hoddle found that the drought in Maya area has obvious periodicity, with a severe drought every 208 years. Therefore, the scholar put forward a new viewpoint: the disappearance of Mayan civilization is related to the increase of periodic activities of the sun. (The research led by hoddle started with the sediments at the bottom of Lake Chichanganab in southern Mexico. They drilled holes at the bottom of the lake, obtained a sediment core sample of 1.9 m, and studied the concentration of calcium carbonate in the sample. Due to the large evaporation of lake water in dry years, the concentration of calcium carbonate in sediments in relative periods is also high. In the rock stratum with high calcium carbonate concentration, there must have been drought in the corresponding year. The research results are surprising. The concentration of calcium carbonate in sedimentary rocks has obvious age periodicity. Every 208 years, there will be a high concentration of calcium carbonate layer in the sediments at the bottom of the lake, that is to say, there will be a drought every 208 years. The most serious one happened in 750-850 AD, when the Mayan civilization disappeared. The cycle of 2008 coincides with the current cycle of solar activity increasing once every 206 years. Experts also believe that the coincidence of these two cycles is by no means accidental coincidence. Hoddle's geological research has brought a breakthrough to solve a historical mystery. Some scholars speculate that among the three major civilizations in India, Maya civilization is especially famous for its astronomical calendar and religious system, which may also be related to the occurrence of drought. Perhaps as early as 1000 years ago, the Mayans had discovered that the movement of celestial bodies was closely related to their lives, so they would observe the movement of various celestial bodies with a kind of enthusiasm and persistence that was rare in ancient Indians.
(5) Hierarchy theory. Some scholars believe that strict hierarchy is the primary reason for the disappearance of Mayan civilization after the decline of post-classical civilization. The Maya's profound knowledge and civilization are only in the hands of a few nobles and priests, while the lower-class workers, who account for the vast majority of the Mayan population, are completely illiterate. These privileged aristocratic intellectuals could not survive or even disappear soon after their prosperity was exhausted, and they also took away the splendid Mayan civilization. A large number of ordinary Mayan farmers who stayed behind naturally could not understand the words and history books they knew nothing about.
(6) scientific fantasy (alien theory).
This view holds that the Mayans came from other planets. In terms of living environment, humans generally choose to live in areas close to rivers and convenient transportation, while Maya choose tropical rain forests with harsh conditions. This deliberate choice is to avoid contact with people on earth and ensure their independent life. In this dense forest unsuitable for farming, it is puzzling that the Mayans created such a splendid civilization without metal tools and advanced means of transportation. They created a hieroglyphic system, so we can't decipher it all so far. Some people think that Maya aliens left their hometown to mine hundreds of thousands of years ago and came to a planet. Later, he came to earth to avoid the explosion of a planet. They first lived in the warm Antarctic, and later moved to the dense forests of Central America because of the arrival of the Ice Age. Later, due to the outbreak of war in the Mexican plateau, in order to avoid the disaster of war, the Mayans flew to the vast universe by spaceship to find a new home. But this view is not recognized by most people.
In addition, the growth of Mayan population destroyed the ecological environment (this view basically belongs to the ecological crisis theory); The plague destroyed the Mayans; Civil war or foreign invasion led to the destruction of civilization.
Mayan civilization began to lose its luster in the 9th century. The invasion of Spanish colonists gave a final blow to the fragmented Mayan world in the post-classical period, and the spiritual world supporting the civilization system and the books recording them were lost. At present, there are still nearly 2 million Mayans living in the land of their ancestors and using nearly 25 Mayan languages, but they know almost nothing about the past history.