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alexmorales · 2 years

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Popular Mayan Ruin Sites in Belize

Belize is a substantial country of the Caribbean and is located on the banks of Haulover Creek, a distributary of Central America. The 20th century hurricane massively destroyed the entire country. But it still managed to overcome the disaster. Nevertheless, the country boasts a plethora of alluring attractions, including the historical Mayan ruin sites, depicting the Mayan civilization.

Hence, to explore the underrated city and its top attraction, take cheap flights from Mexico City to Belize or visa-versa, and you can also avail impressive deals.

Coming straight to the point, let’s learn more about the Mayan sites of the country which are too popular among the tourists from around the world.

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Caracol Mayan Ruin

Nestled deep within the Chiquibul Forest Reserve in the western part of the country, is this incredible Mayan site named after the Spanish word for “snail’. Moreover, it lies on a high plateau of 500m above sea level, and is the largest known Mayan ruin site in Belize covering about 75 square miles. The site was discovered in 1938 by Rosa Mai, a logger looking for mahogany. Caana (sky palace), the main pyramid at Caracol remains the tallest building in modern Belize with a height of approximately 141 feet.

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Xunantunich Mayan Ruin

It is situated a short drive away from the hand cracked ferry near the Mopan river in the village of San Jose Succotz. In addition, it received its name after the Mayan word “Stone Woman” or “Maiden of the Rocks,” and is a beautiful and popular historical site.

Furthermore, when you take flights from Mexico City to Belize, you get to explore this Mayan structure, which dates back to about 600-670 AD. Near this site is El Castillo, the second tallest building in Belize extending 130 feet high and containing two temples. Those ambitious enough to hike to the top of this pyramid are rewarded with panoramic views of our jewel Belize.

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Lamanai Maya Ruin

It is tucked on the banks of the New River Lagoon, which is also known as “Submerged Crocodile”. It is rightfully named as submerged crocodile, because several crocodile motifs can be seen at this Mayan ruin site. Lamanai’s site core extends about 12 square miles and is one of the largest ceremonial sites in Belize Moreover, it also has the most notable Jaguar Mask on the high temple

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Cahal Pech Mayan Ruin

It’s located just outside the San Ignacio Town over an enormous mountain peak, which overlooks the twin towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena. Cahal Pech, also known as “Place of Ticks”, consists of over 30 structures located around several courtyards, including temples. Moreover, the tallest structure placed here, stands to be 77 feet high. Additionally, this historical site dates back to about 1200 BC, making it one of the earliest Mayan sites in Belize.

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Conclusion

So these were some of the popular Mayan sites of Belize. However, there are many other sites which are impossible to cover in a blog. Instead, you can plan your trip here and check these fascinating historical sites on your own. Moreover, you can also click pictures as a memory and learn about the in-depth history of each of these places.

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liskantope · 5 years

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Journey Through Languages project: some languages of North/Central America

Here’s my next installment of languages to look at, mostly aboriginal languages spoken in what is now Mexico. A few of my choices of families/isolates to include in this list and in the previous list are questionable geographically -- the Uzo-Aztecan family could be considered North American, while the Hokan family (from the last list) has languages in present-day Mexico.

Uto-Aztecan languages

Numic languages

(Northern) Paiute

Shoshoni Comanche

Ute (dialect of Colorado River Numic)

Cupan languages

Ivilyuat

Hopi languages Hopi

Pimic languages

O’odham (Papago-Pima*) Tepehuán

Tarahumaran languages

Tarahumara

Cahitan languages

Yaqui Mayo

Corachol languages

Cora Huichol

Nahuan languages (Proto-Nahuan)

Classical Nahuatl Nahuatl* Nawat (Pipil)

Purépecha

Oto-Manguean languages

Oto-Pamean languages

Otomi Mazahua Pame Chinatec

Supanecan languages

Tlapanec

Popolocan languages

Mazatec

Zapotecan languages

Zapotec Chatino

Amuzgo languages Amuzgo

Mixtecan languages

Mixtec Trique Cuicatec

Mixe-Zoque languages (Proto-Mixe-Zoque)

Mixe

Zoquean languages (Zoque) Sierra Popoluca

Mayan languages (Proto-Mayan)

Yucatecan languages

(Yukatec) Maya Mopan

Ch’olan languages

Classic Maya Ch’ol Ch’orti’ Tzeltal Tzotzil

Q’anjobalan languages

Chuj Q’anjobal

Mamean languages

Mam Ixil

Quichean languages

Kaqchikel Tz’utujil K’iche’ (Quiché*) Achi Q’eqchi’

#journey through the world's languages

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notisur · 3 years

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Mejoran carretera hacia montañas Mayas en Dolores.

El tramo carretero de la cabecera municipal de Dolores hacia Mopan I, fue reparada por un convoy. Trabajamos que buscan mejorar el sistema vial de Dolores.

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trendingbelizenews · 4 years

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8 CASOS NUEVOS Estos son nuestros datos para hoy. Se procesaron un total de 89 pruebas para ...

New Post has been published on https://trendingbelizenews.com/8-casos-nuevos-estos-son-nuestros-datos-para-hoy-se-procesaron-un-total-de-89-pruebas-para/

8 CASOS NUEVOS Estos son nuestros datos para hoy. Se procesaron un total de 89 pruebas para ...

8 CASOS NUEVOS

Estos son nuestros datos de hoy.

Hoy se procesaron un whole de 89 pruebas con 8 nuevos casos identificados.

Se distribuyen de la siguiente manera:

Belice – 1 ciudad Stann Creek – 4 (Placencia, Maya Mopan, Seine Bight, 1 de Bella Vista In TOL) Toledo – 3 Punta Gorda

Por favor continúen a salvo todos.

Source

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foodsovereigntytribalsovereingty · 6 years

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As a part of the museum's 8th Living Earth Festival, three Native American chefs, Chefs Freddie Bitsoie (Diné [Navajo]), Neftali Duran (Mixteco), and Julio Saqui (Mopan Maya), explore the rich history of cacao and chocolate. In this segment, Neftali Duran talks about his experiences and knowledge of chocolate. Neftali Duran (Mixteco), born in the Mexican state of Oaxaca to a family of cooks, healers, and campesinos, now leads the Nuestra Comida Project at Nuestras Raices, a grassroots urban agriculture organization that seeks to create healthy environments and more equitable food systems in New England. His work is informed by his experience as a migrant worker and 19 years in the restaurant industry as chef, baker, and small business owner. He also educates communities across the United States about indigenous culinary traditions and the effects of migration on people and food. Chef Duran, who has been featured on the Cooking Channel, Food52.com, and various media, is interested in documenting the culinary traditions of the different regions of Oaxaca, Mexico, as well as reclaiming the roots and cultures of the original peoples of the Americas. The symposium was webcast and recorded in the Rasmuson Theater of the National Museum of the American Indian on July 14, 2017.

#mixteco #chocolate #mole #indigenous cuisine #food sovereignty #history #ndn

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folkfashion · 2 years

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Mopan Maya woman, Belize, by travelbelize.com

#mopan maya #mopan #maya #belize #central america #folk clothing #traditional clothing #tradition #culture #folk #people #geography #cultural clothing #traditional fashion #diversity #america

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tlatollotl · 7 years

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The Maya refer to both a modern-day people who can be found all over the world as well as their ancestors who built an ancient civilization that stretched throughout much of Central America, one that reached its peak during the first millennium A.D.

The Maya civilization was never unified; rather, it consisted of numerous small states, ruled by kings, each apparently centered on a city. Sometimes, a stronger Maya state would dominate a weaker state and be able to exact tribute and labor from it.

Mayan calendar

A system of writing using glyptic symbols was developed and was inscribed on buildings, stele, artifacts and books (also called codices).

The Maya calendar system was complicated. "By some 1,700 years ago speakers of proto-Ch'olan, the ancestor for three Maya languages still in use, had developed a calendar of 18 20-day months plus a set of five days," wrote Weldon Lamb, a researcher at New Mexico State University, in his book "The Maya Calendar: A Book of Months" (University of Oklahoma Press, 2017).

This calendar system also included what scholars call a "long-count" that kept track of time by using different units that range in length from a single day to millions of years (the unit in millions was rarely used).

Contrary to popular belief, this system did not predict the end of the world in 2012, the unit in millions of years providing evidence of this.

Also, contrary to popular belief, the Maya civilization never vanished. While many cities were abandoned around 1,100 years ago, other cities, such as Chichén Itzá, grew in their place.

When the Spanish arrived in Central America in force in the 16th century, the diseases they brought devastated the Maya. Additionally, the Spanish forced the Maya to convert to Christianity, going so far as to burn their books (the reason why so few of them survive today). However, it is important to note that the Maya people live on today and can be found all over the world.

"Millions of Maya people live in Central America and throughout the world. The Maya are not a single entity, a single community, or a single ethnic group. They speak many languages including Mayan languages (Yucatec, Quiche, Kekchi and Mopan), Spanish and English. However, the Maya are an indigenous group tied both to their distant past as well as to events of the last several hundred years," wrote Richard Leventhal, Carlos Chan Espinosa and Cristina Coc in the April 2012 edition of Expedition magazine.

Maya origins

While hunters and gatherers had a presence in Central America stretching back thousands of years, it was in what archaeologists call the Pre-classic period (1800 B.C. to A.D. 250) that permanent village life really took off, leading to the creation of early Maya cities.

"Really effective farming, in the sense that densely inhabited villages were to be found throughout the Maya area, was an innovation of the Pre-classic period," wrote Yale University Professor Michael Coe in his book "The Maya" (Thames and Hudson, 2011).

Coe said farming became more effective during this period, likely because of the breeding of more productive forms of maize and, perhaps more importantly, the introduction of the "nixtamal" process. In this process, the maize is soaked in lime, or something similar, and cooked, something that "enormously increased the nutritional value of corn," writes Coe. Maize complemented squash, bean, chili pepper and manioc (or cassava), which were already being used by the Maya, a 2014 Journal of Archaeological Science study shows.

During this time, the Maya were influenced by a civilization to the west of them known as the Olmecs. These people may have initially devised the long count calendar that the Maya would become famous for, Coe writes. Additionally, the discovery of a ceremonial site dated to 1000 B.C. at the site of Ceibal sheds more light on the relationship between the Maya and Olmecs, suggesting that it was a complex one.

Archaeologists have found that early Maya cities could be carefully planned. Nixtun-Ch'ich, in Peten, Guatemala, had pyramids, temples and other structures built using a grid system, a sign of urban planning. It flourished between 600 B.C. and 300 B.C.

Maya civilization at its peak

Coe writes that the ancient Maya reached a peak between A.D. 250 and 900, a time that archaeologists call the "Classic" period when numerous Maya cities flourished throughout much of Central America.

The civilization "reached intellectual and artistic heights which no other in the New World, and few in Europe, could match at the time," Coe writes. "Large populations, a flourishing economy, and widespread trade were typical of the Classic …" he said, noting that warfare was also quite common.

The Maya civilization was influenced by the city of Teotihuacan, located farther to the west. One of their early rulers, named Siyaj K'ak, who may have come from Tikal, ascended the throne on Sept. 13, A.D. 379, according to an inscription. He is depicted wearing feathers and shells and holding an atlatl (spear-thrower), features associated with Teotihuacan, wrote researcher John Montgomery in his book "Tikal: An Illustrated History of the Mayan Capital" (Hippocrene Books, 2001). A stela recently discovered at El Achiotal, a site near Tikal, also supports the idea that Teotihuacan controlled or heavily influenced Tikal for a time.

The numerous cities found throughout the Maya world each had their own individual wonders that made them unique. Tikal, for instance, is known for its pyramid building. Starting at least as early as A.D. 672, the city's rulers would construct a twin pyramid complex at the end of every K'atun (20-year period). Each of these pyramids would be flat-topped, built adjacent to each other and contain a staircase on each side. Between the pyramids was a plaza that had structures laid out to the north and south.

Copan, a Maya city in modern-day Honduras, is known for its "Temple of the Hieroglyphic Stairway." It's a pyramid-like structure that has more than 2,000 glyphs embellished on a flight of 63 steps, the longest ancient Maya inscription known to exist and appears to tell the history of the city's rulers.

The site of Palenque, another famous Maya city, is known for its soft limestone sculpture and the incredible burial of "Pakal," one of its kings, deep inside a pyramid. When Pakal died at about age 80, he was buried along with five or six human sacrifices in a jade-filled tomb (including a jade funerary mask he wore). His sarcophagus shows the king's rebirth and depictions of his ancestors in the form of plants. The tomb was re-discovered in 1952 and is "the American equivalent, if there is one, to King Tut's tomb," said archaeologist David Stuart in an online National Geographic lecture.

Not all Maya settlements were controlled by a king or elite member of society. At Ceren, a Maya village in El Salvador that was buried by a volcanic eruption 1,400 years ago, archaeologists found that there was no elite class in control and the village seems to have been managed communally, perhaps by local elders.

Collapse?

Contrary to popular belief the Maya civilization did not vanish. It's true that many cities, including Tikal, Copan and Palenque, became abandoned around 1,100 years ago. Drought, deforestation, war and climate change have all been suggested as potential causes of this. Drought may have played a particularly important role as a recent study on minerals from an underwater cave in Belize shows that a drought ravaged parts of Central America between A.D. 800 and 900.

However, it is important to note that other Maya cities, such as Chichén Itzá, grew, at least for a time. In fact, Chichén Itzá has the largest ball court in the Americas, being longer than a modern-day American football field. The court's rings, through which competing teams tried to score, rose about 20 feet (6 meters) off the ground, about twice the height of a modern-day NBA net. The rules for the Maya ball game are not well understood.

Council Houses, which were gathering places for people in a community, played an important role in some of the Maya towns and cities that flourished after the ninth century.

As mentioned earlier, the arrival of the Spanish brought about a profound change in the Maya world. The diseases they brought decimated the Maya and the Spaniards forced the Maya to convert to Christianity, even burning their books. Today, despite the devastation they experienced, the Maya people live on, numbering in the millions.

Mythical origins

The Maya had a lengthy and complicated mythical origin story that is recorded by the K'iche Maya (based in Guatemala) in the Popol Vuh, the "Book of Counsel," wrote Coe in his book. According to the stories, the forefather gods Tepew and Q'ukumatz "brought forth the earth from a watery void, and endowed it with animals and plants."

Creating sentient beings proved more difficult, but eventually humans were created, including the hero twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, who embark in a series of adventures, which included defeating the lords of the underworld. Their journey climaxed with the resurrection of their father, the maize god. "It seems clear that this whole mythic cycle was closely related to maize fertility," Coe writes.

The Maya universe

The late Robert Sharer, who was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, noted in his book "Daily Life in Maya Civilization" (Greenwood Press, 2009) that the ancient Maya believed that everything "was imbued in different degrees with an unseen power or sacred quality," call k'uh, which meant "divine or sacredness."

"The universe of the ancient Maya was composed of kab, or Earth (the visible domain of the Maya people), kan, or the sky above (the invisible realm of celestial deities), and xibalba, or the watery underworld below (the invisible realm of the underworld deities)," Sharer wrote.

Caves played a special role in Maya religion as they were seen as entranceways to the underworld. "These were especially sacred and dangerous places where the dead were buried and special rituals for the ancestors conducted," wrote Sharer.

Sharer notes that the Maya followed a number of deities, the most central of which was Itzamnaaj. "In his various aspects, Itzamnaaj was the lord over the most fundamental opposing forces in the universe — life and death, day and night, sky and earth," Sharer wrote, noting that "as lord of the celestial realm" Itzamnaaj was the Milky Way and could be depicted as a serpent or two-headed reptile.

Other Maya deities included the sun god K'inich Ajaw, the rain and storm god Chaak and the lightning deity K'awiil, among many others. The Maya believed that each person had a "life force," and draining a person's blood in a temple could provide some of this life force to a god. Recently an arrowhead containing the blood of a person who may have participated in a blood-letting ceremony was identified.

In times when water was scarce, Maya kings and priests would hold incense scattering ceremonies that they believed could provide wind and rain. A Maya pendant inscribed with 30 hieroglyphs that archaeologists believe would have been used in these ceremonies was recently discovered in Belize. Hallucinogenic substances could also be used to help the Maya contact spirits and seek advice on how to deal with problems or situations.

Maya religion also included stories of dangerous creatures such as the sea monster "Sipak." Fossilized teeth from the extinct shark Carcharodon megalodon were used as sacred offerings at several Maya sites and recent research suggests that stories involving "Sipak" were inspired by the fossilized remains of this massive extinct shark.

El Castillo is a pyramid with 91 steps on each of its four sides.

Credit: jgorzynik shutterstock

Human sacrifices

Sharer wrote that human sacrifices were made on special occasions. "Among the Maya, human sacrifice was not an everyday event but was essential to sanctify certain rituals, such as the inauguration of a new ruler, the designation of a new heir to the throne, or the dedication of an important new temple or ball court." The victims were often prisoners of war, he noted.

At Chichén Itzá, victims would be painted blue, a color that appears to have honored the god Chaak, and cast into a well. Additionally, near the site's ball court, there is a panel that shows a person being sacrificed. This may depict a ball-player from either the winning or losing team being killed after a game.

Writing & astronomy

Sharer noted that record keeping was an important part of the Maya world and was essential for agriculture, astronomy and prophecy. "By keeping records of the rainy and dry seasons, the Maya could determine the best times to plant and harvest their crops," Sharer wrote.

Additionally, by "recording the movements of the sky deities (sun, moon, planets, and stars), they developed accurate calendars that could be used for prophecy," Sharer wrote.

"With long-term records, the Maya were able to predict planetary cycles — the phases of the moon and Venus, even eclipses," he said. "This knowledge was used to determine when these deities would be in favorable positions for a variety of activities such as holding ceremonies, inaugurating kings, starting trading expeditions, or conducting wars."

The movements of the planet Venus appear to have played a particularly important role in Maya religion. Both the Dresden and Groliercodices contain detailed records of the movements of the planet. The ancient Maya "were probably doing large-scale ritual activity connected to the different phases of Venus," said Gerardo Aldana, a science historian in the department of Chicano studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Recent research reveals that at least some of the writers of Maya codices were part of "a specific cohort of ritual specialists called taaj," wrote a team of researchers in a 2015 American Anthropologist article. The team studied a room containing murals with inscriptions on them at the site of Xultun, Guatemala, and found that the writing of codices took place in the room and that the "taaj" wrote them.

Economy & power

Sharer wrote that while agriculture and food gathering were a central part of daily life, the Maya had a sophisticated economy capable of supporting specialists and a system of merchants and trade routes. While the Maya did not develop minted currency, they used various objects, at different times, as "money." These included greenstone beads, cacao beans and copper bells.

"Ultimately, the power of kings depended on their ability to control resources," Sharer wrote. "Maya rulers managed the production and distribution of status goods used to enhance their prestige and power. They also controlled some critical (non-local) commodities that included critical everyday resources each family needed, like salt," he said noting that over time Maya rulers managed ever-larger portions of the economy. The Maya rulers did not rule alone but were served by attendants and advisers who occasionally appear in Maya art.

Sharer also notes that Maya laborers were subject to a labor tax to build palaces, temples and public works. A ruler successful in war could control more laborers and exact tribute on defeated enemies, further increasing their economic might.

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buzzingonlinenow · 5 years

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Several Persons Detained for Murder of Elderly Man in Maya Mopan For the latest news across Belize, visit: Police say that there are several persons detained in connection with the murder of ... What did you think of this video? Let us know in the comments!

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worldtopstoresnow-blog · 6 years

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Lasers reveal Mayan civilization of 'unimaginable scale'

Lasers reveal Mayan civilization of ‘unimaginable scale’

Deutsche Welle Published 12:42 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2018

A view of the Mopan River in the municipality of Melchor de Mencos, Peten department, north of Guatemala City, on Jan. 19, 2018. (Photo: Carlos Alonzo, AFP/Getty Images)

Researchers from Guatemala’s PACUNAM foundation said on Thursday they had mapped the outlines of dozens of newly discovered Maya cities previously hidden…

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seonghwa-things · 5 years

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Then And Now: The Maya Culture

This paper aims to explore the differences between the Maya culture of the present and of the past. The Maya civilization was developed in Mesoamerica, and the culture continues to prosper today. Maya currently live in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador, all of which are places where the Maya originally settled. Architecture has changed, from the ancient Maya pyramids which dot the Mesoamerican postcards to small townhouses throughout Central America. Their religious beliefs have shifted from the worshipping of many Gods to the worshipping of a few, creating their own brand of Christianity. The key to Maya culture is the language. Their old writing system is still being interpreted, but the spoken language still remains, with at least 30 different dialects spoken today.

Maya culture has changed drastically over the last few hundred years. Many Maya traditions have become intermingled with European ones. After the Spanish conquest in the mid 1500s, the Maya people were forced to adapt; they integrated their cultures as a matter of survival. They had to learn to fit in with the Europeans, so as not to disrupt the new ruling. The transformations in architecture, religion, language and politics have changed the way the Maya live.

Maya architecture is much different than it used to be. In the past, Maya buildings such as houses, pyramids, and palaces were built out of limestone. Most Maya lived in city states - a city with its surrounding area would make up the state. The Maya built temples and palaces in the city centers, and houses surrounded them. The buildings weren’t laid out like a Western city would be, instead they were placed strategically to avoid flooding, building structures on uneven areas of higher ground. If not given the proper space to build, the Maya houses would be washed away during a storm. Residential areas started close to the center of the city, and grew sparser as they spread away. Most Maya lived in small houses - often times these houses were clumped together, leading researchers to believe that extended families would build close together. Family houses and palaces had thatch roofs which were made of straw, reed and palm leaves so they were easy to replace when the weather wore them down. Hurricanes and tropical storms were common in Mesoamerica, causing the Maya to change how they built. Unfortunately, when cities were abandoned, many of the buildings fell into shambles. Most of the surviving structures are temples, which were built to last through weather and war. Several foundations from smaller houses remain around the cities as they were meant to have continuous upkeep, though they are meek in comparison to the temples.(Minster 2019).

Maya houses now have a different structure. Rural houses have been reduced to foundations, and updated to fit a more European style. Many of the towns that dot the Yucatan Peninsula were once Maya. The houses in these towns are colourful by Spanish design, but are laid on top of Maya foundations, truly emphasizing that the Europeans had taken over. The Maya temples, such as Chichen Itza, Palenque and Uxmal, remained untouched as the Europeans found them too difficult to tear down, and hard to repurpose. Many of the temples are now protected, and tourists can no longer walk through them in hopes to preserve what remains (Antonio 2019).

The Maya religious beliefs were formed on the idea that everything in the world contained k’uh (sacredness). They worshipped over 165 Gods, who were represented by nature, for example: Chaac - the God of rain, Kinih Ahous - the God of sun, and Yum Kaax - the God of maize. Maya Gods were human like; they were born and they died, they farmed and they fought wars - if the Gods could do it, then it was acceptable for the Maya to as well. All deceased Maya would be sent to the Underworld (rulers included), unless they died in childbirth, or were sacrificed (which was seen as an honour). Sacrificing rituals were held at the top of a pyramid so that the public could view them. The Underworld was filled with evil Gods, who were represented by jaguars (Hullche1 2013).

Many Maya still practice the Maya religion, but it has become merged with Catholicism. Not all are polytheist - some believe solely in one God. Their one God is sometimes one of the 165 that the Maya used to worship, and sometimes it is a God from another religion (most often Catholicism or Christianity). Maya still take pride in their focus on astronomy in their religion, and still focus heavily on the symbolism of animals - the figures of jaguars, which represent the night, and rattlesnakes, which represent fertility, can still be found within their homes and on the clothes that they wear (Antonio 2019).

The Maya relied heavily on their calendars in the past - to discover when to perform rituals. On the Yucatan Peninsula, the Maya still use the calendar Haab, which is a 19 month calendar - 18 being 20 days and the last being five. They use the last five days - a month called Wayeb - to perform ceremonies. They are usually hoping for better crops, and are praying to their rain God, Chaac. However, for most daily activities they now rely on the Gregorian (Antonio 2019).

The Maya spoke over 32 different dialects of Mayan during their reign. They had an elaborate writing system, mostly written with hieroglyphs. Much of its history was destroyed by the Europeans who took over the Mesoamerican area in the mid 16th century. There were three main branches of Mayan dialect, each of which split off into even more distinct ones. Each country typically had their own dialect, and these dialects differed between regions of the country. For example, the Yucatecan branch of dialect (found mostly in the Yucatan Peninsula) harboured the Yucatec Maya, Lacandon, Itzáj, and Mopan dialects (Campbell 2018). While their written language has not been intensely studied, their numerical system has, due to it being easier to decipher. For example: • means one, and 丨means five, therefore •丨would mean six. The symbols vary as the numbers get larger, but the smaller numbers are the most studied thus far (Antonio 2019).

Today, there are still around 30 different dialects of Mayan spoken, but almost all of them are endangered, with only about five million people still speaking Mayan. The dialects have a wide number of people using them - from about 1 million people speaking one, to less than 30 speaking another. Only two languages have disappeared since the Spanish conquest, but since then the number of people learning Mayan has dwindled. It is not being taught to the Maya children as often as many children opt to learn Spanish instead. Many schools in Central America do not teach Mayan, and with the Maya people not being taught the language in their family homes, they will likely not learn it at all (England 2018). The written language is now romanized - writing in hieroglyphics is uncommon. Their number system has also changed - most Maya now use the Arabic numeral system. The Mayan language is yet another aspect of Maya culture that is being thrown aside in exchange for a more European one(Antonio 2019).

In ancient Maya times, there never was one single ruler for the entire empire - each state had its own ruler. The Maya states were linked together through trade, political alliances and tribute obligations. Each ruler was succeeded by his son, brother, or a suitable candidate if they had no living relatives. Military commanders - called nacom - were assigned to every state. The nacom were tasked to create military strategies and to call troops to war if necessary. A high priest was also necessary in each state - they led a hierarchy of priests, and organized festivals and rituals. As with many other ancient civilizations, the Maya were split into classes: nobles, commoners, serfs and slaves. Noble status and occupation were passed on through lineages - only the nobles could hold government jobs. Nobles were literate and wealthy, and would generally live close to the city’s center, while labourers, farmers and servants who live outside of the city’s central in familial groups, were considered commoners. It is believed that commoners could become quite wealthy if they were merchants, and some were even able to move up in class through service in the military - they were not, however, allowed to don clothes and symbols of nobility. Many Maya laws are unknown as Spanish priests destroyed codices when they invaded Mesoamerica. What is known is that crime punishment was harsh. Many crimes were punishable by death, though the Maya distinguished between accidental and purposeful crimes. If a crime was deemed accidental, the perpetrator would not be killed, instead they would have to pay the victim’s family or give them a slave. If a crime was committed by a minor, they would be sent into slavery, working for the victim (Tarlton 2018).

In Guatemala, the Maya make up 51% of the population, yet they still have to fight for their rights. Being indigenous, they often are still excluded from political events. There is an indigenous political party, Winaq, but they only win about 3.5 percent of the vote. That being said, even if the Winaq were elected in, they are forbidden from working a decision-making leadership role. In 1996, there was an agreement passed to promote indigenous cultural and social rights. However, with limited resources, and the lack of political will to enforce this, the Maya people are still struggling. They are faced with a lack of judicial rights as well - Maya people will be tried in Spanish, even when they do not speak the language, and often, no translator will be provided. As well, many Maya people find the profit that the government makes off their ancestors ruins to be an affront to their spiritual rights. They are granted no free access to these areas, and the areas themselves are not guaranteed future protection (Maya 2019).

Maya culture has changed drastically over the course of time. From kingdoms to democracies, Mayan to Spanish, polytheist to monotheist; they have adapted and grown. Although the Maya have adapted and grown as a culture, this adaptation has only happened because of the way the Europeans have treated them in both the past and the present. While their languages are endangered, the people still thrive and hope to put rights together to protect what remains of their culture.

Antonio. “Introduction to the Maya” Public Speech, Museum of Anthropology and History,Merida, 9 Feb 2019.

Campbell, Lyle. 2018. “Mayan Languages.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica,inc. April 25. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mayan-languages.

England, Nora C. 2018. “Mayan Languages - Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics.”Oxford Research Encyclopedias. March 21. http://oxfordre.com/linguistics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acrefor-9780199384655-e-60.

Hullche1. “Mayans Religion: Gods, Animal Spirits and Pyramids.” 2013. Great Discoveries in Archaeology. April 24. http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp264-ss13/2013/04/24/mayans-religion-gods-animal-spirits-and-pyramids/.

“Maya.” 2019. Minority Rights Group. Accessed April 6 https://minorityrights.org/minorities/maya-2/.

Minster, Christopher. 2019. “What Was Ancient Mayan Architecture Like?” ThoughtCo. ThoughtCo. January 21. https://www.thoughtco.com/ancient-maya-architecture-2136167.

"Tarlton Law Library: Exhibit - Aztec and Maya Law: Maya Political Structure." Aztec and Maya Law. Accessed March 20, 2019. http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/aztec-and-maya-law/maya-political-structure.

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