Mayans--

Mayans, Where did they go?

Surely, you must be caught up in the new Indiana Jones movie hype? If you are not, Sci-Fi channel ran the Jones trilogy both Saturday and Sunday. Following Sunday’s night’s they had a two hour special on the Crystal Skulls around which the movie is reportedly built. The History Channel ran a competing show on real Indiana Jones types.

There are numerous believers in the Skull mythology and the backgrounds of the skulls and the Mayans are fascinating. Once a great culture of Central America the Mayans as an organized civilization ceased to exist.

Why? One could probably find many speculations, but we will never know unless Indiana finds a lost book. One theory I have is “human sacrifice.” No culture that practiced human sacrifice has survived.

Another more practical one is urbanization. Life in the jungle is tough even today. When the culture reached a level of architecture and agriculture which allowed for urbanization people flocked to the cities, much as they have in our recent history.

When the Spanish arrived with Small Pox and other diseases, the people were easily infected and conquered in large urban areas not built with invading Europeans in mind-- a small oversight in the Mayan’s otherwise brilliant historical achievements. They had a very advanced calendar, outstanding architecture, art, and a written language. For the time and geography they were very exceptional. Today all that is left are a few descendants and some old ruins.

Had the Mayans stayed in the jungle, they would have survived the Spanish, much as the indigenous peoples of South East Asia survived all the invaders. Anglos do not far well in the jungle. We are not genetically suited for jungle life. We are of the cold, damp climate. Our human traits are best adapted to getting through tough winters. In addition, the diseases would have had less impact on small groups moving away from the attacking Spaniards.

The Crystal Skulls remain a mystery as do many things on our planet which came from civilizations before us. One thing is common, they did not survive the test of time. In our arrogance we pretend to understand their history from small snapshots of the past.

That arrogance, like those involved in human sacrifice, can only lead to our demise. Indiana Jones may have rescued us from the Nazis but he seems to be marching to the tune of the socialists along with the rest of Sillywood. Maybe it’s time for a new character who understands more about history and less about exotic drug cocktails and sexual aberrance.