The ancient Maya lived thousands of years ago, their history preserved by archaic, mysterious, yet quintessential glyphs and records. Their culture deprived, their traditions burned, modern day scholars have very limited access to the ancient life of the Maya.
When the Spaniards first came to the Yucatan in the 1600s, they were appalled by what they thought was "devil writing," therefore making the Maya synonymous to evil, sinister peoples. In an effort to "save" them, and save themselves, the explorers began forcibly converting hundreds of thousands of Maya, burned their books, tore down their monuments, ripped their culture apart, and tortured/killed anyone who refused to submit.
Because of these atrocities, especially the burning of "devil literature," the keys to unlock the cryptic Maya language were, for the most part, lost to history. To make matters worse, unlike English, …show more content…
What they saw, felt, did - all burnt or locked away in glyphs.
However, slowly but surely, modern day scholars such as David Stuart are making slow yet steady progress to breaking the Maya code. The 20th/21st centuries have brought magnanimous increases and technology and accessibility, ergo allowing for increased productivity and a smoother/quicker flow of ideas.
To corroborate, the bulk of what we know about the Maya and their language was discovered very recently in the late 1900s, and in less than a 50 year span involving very few yet prominent linguists. These discoveries, while earth-shattering in nature, still are not enough to truly unlock the Maya record. As the video mentions, language and culture are two defining aspects of society, and scholars today lack both for the Maya. No amount of architecture nor monuments could ever tell the whole story, the true story, of the Maya, especially the ordinary, everyday
When the Spaniards first came to the Yucatan in the 1600s, they were appalled by what they thought was "devil writing," therefore making the Maya synonymous to evil, sinister peoples. In an effort to "save" them, and save themselves, the explorers began forcibly converting hundreds of thousands of Maya, burned their books, tore down their monuments, ripped their culture apart, and tortured/killed anyone who refused to submit.
Because of these atrocities, especially the burning of "devil literature," the keys to unlock the cryptic Maya language were, for the most part, lost to history. To make matters worse, unlike English, …show more content…
What they saw, felt, did - all burnt or locked away in glyphs.
However, slowly but surely, modern day scholars such as David Stuart are making slow yet steady progress to breaking the Maya code. The 20th/21st centuries have brought magnanimous increases and technology and accessibility, ergo allowing for increased productivity and a smoother/quicker flow of ideas.
To corroborate, the bulk of what we know about the Maya and their language was discovered very recently in the late 1900s, and in less than a 50 year span involving very few yet prominent linguists. These discoveries, while earth-shattering in nature, still are not enough to truly unlock the Maya record. As the video mentions, language and culture are two defining aspects of society, and scholars today lack both for the Maya. No amount of architecture nor monuments could ever tell the whole story, the true story, of the Maya, especially the ordinary, everyday