Things You DIDN'T KNOW About Mayan Culture

The ancient Mayan civilization developed in the Mesoamerican cultural area which incorporates the area from northern Mexico southwards into Central America. Their contribution to human history is vast and today we have a look at some very interesting facts that you may not have known about the Mayan culture.

11 - Destroyed forever…
In the mid-16th century, many of the writings of the Mayans were destroyed by a Spanish Franciscan monk named Diego de Landa. He ruined 40 codices, which is a book written on bark, as well as around 20,000 religious’ images. Only 4 codices were left intact. It was later written by De Landa: "We found a large number of books in these characters and, as they contained nothing in which were not to be seen as superstition and lies of the devil, we burned them all, which they (the Maya) regretted to an amazing degree, and which caused them much affliction."

10 - Let’s toast…
A popular drink among the Maya people was known as "Báalché". It was made in the hollow of a log or canoe, and it contained water, honey, tree roots and then the bark of the balché tree. It was believed that by drinking this, you would get magical powers. It was banned by the Spanish colony as they believed it was interfering in their plans to convert the Mayan people to Christianity. The Mayans were able to convince the Spanish that the drink held exceptional health benefits, and that people couldn’t survive without drinking it – so they were once again allowed their magical drink of Báalché.

9 - Sweat it out…
Saunas were important to the Mayan people who believed in its purification process. They had many sweat baths that were made from stone walls and ceilings with a gap in the ceiling to allow the steam to escape. The sweat baths were thought to cure many conditions and heal the sick. Maya kings frequently used the saunas as it made them feel refreshed and cleaner.

8 - Written in the stars…
The Maya were very keen on astronomy and kept detailed records of everything to do with the planets, stars, sun and moon. They had accurate tables of when the eclipses occurred, the solstices and all other celestial events. Their belief was that the planets, sun and moon was the gods moving between the heavens, the underworld and earth.

7 - We’ll name him Monday…
Mayan children received their names depending on what day of the week they were born.

6 - Feeling a little blue…
There’s a vivid blue called Maya Blue, which is associated with equally vivid memories. Human sacrifices were often painted with this Maya Blue when they were offered to the rain god. The color is incredibly resilient and has survived for centuries on certain stone monuments despite the harsh conditions in the Mesoamerican jungles.

5 - Good enough to eat…
And thankfully this has nothing to do with human sacrifices, but everything to do with tamales. They were made with masa, which is corn dough and on a number of ancient Maya glyphs there are depictions of the tamale.

4 - Crunch the numbers….
The first time the digit zero appeared was traced back to the ancient Sumerians around 5,000-years ago! However, the Mayans found the number by themselves around 4.AD. They used the digit to as a placeholder in their calendars before realizing its use in major mathematical equations. Robert Kaplan from the Harvard University Mathematics department says it’s “most striking example of the zero being devised wholly from scratch.”
3 - The beginning of the end…
The actual cause of the collapse of the Mayan culture is still being speculated and debated, and from the 8th to the 9th century, there was a steady decline. Several reasons for the collapse have been brought forward, from overpopulation to peasant revolt, foreign invasion to key trade routes collapsing. There could have been disease, environmental disaster and climate change. They could have over-hunted, exhausted their agricultural potential or they could have experienced a drought like no other. There are a plethora of possibilities, but which one is the truth is still open to debate.

2 - A trade-off….
The Mayans were known to trade extensively, and had trade routes throughout modern-day Mexico and Central America. They used to trade two types of items. The first being prestige items which included things that were coveted by others, like feathers, gold and jade, and then there were subsistence items which covered basic necessities such as clothing, food, tools and salt.
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