The Mayans made great achievements in astronomy and mathematics. Through long-term observation of astronomical phenomena, we have mastered the cycle of solar eclipse and the running laws of the sun, the moon and Venus, and at the end of the pre-classical period, we created two calendars, the solar calendar and the holy calendar. The former is one year 13 months, 20 days a month and 260 days a year. The latter is one year 18 months, 20 days a month, plus 5 days of death, 365 days a year, every 4 years 1 day. Memorizing the names of the sun and the moon in two calendars every day, which is repeated every 52 years, is more accurate than the Greek and Roman calendars of the same period. Mathematically, Maya used the concept of "0" more than 800 years earlier than Europeans, and counted in decimal system. The unique creation of Maya is hieroglyphic system, whose characters are composed of complex graphics, which are generally carved on stone buildings such as altars, stairs and stone pillars. Seal cutting and writing require long-term training. At present, there are more than 800 known characters, but most of them have not been successfully interpreted except for time symbols and a few names and artifacts. At that time, books were written with bark paper and deerskin, mainly about history, science and ceremonies, and they are still unreadable.
Step 2 introduce
Maya is a branch of ancient Indians and the only nation in America that left written records. They constitute a diverse Native American people, living in southern Mexico and northern Central America. "Maya" is a general term for convenience, including people who have contributed some cultural and linguistic heritage to this area. But it also includes many different population, social and ethnic groups, all of which have their own special traditional, cultural and historical characteristics.
Around 2500 BC, the Mayans settled in southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and parts of El Salvador and Honduras, with about 2 million people. It belongs to the American branch of Mongolian race. Use Mayan language, belonging to Maya-Quiche family of Indian language family. It is distributed in the central and northern Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, southern Honduras, Tabasco and parts of Chiapas, the lowlands and highlands of Guatemala and the southernmost tip of Chiapas and El Salvador.
3. Unsolved mystery
So far, almost the entire Mayan civilization has been shrouded in mystery. In the ninth century, hypotheses about Maya's demise emerged one after another, such as "natural disasters" such as floods, earthquakes and hurricanes; "Infectious diseases" such as plague and collective poisoning; The theory of "economic problems" such as population expansion and poor soil caused by repeated burning and reclamation of forests; Foreign invasion, city-state war, peasant uprising and other "social problems" and "collective suicide" are numerous. Although opinions vary, there is not enough evidence to convince any hypothesis.
Here we face a new problem. Because the Mayans didn't build a road connecting the city and the dense forest, and they didn't use metal at all until the collapse of the Mayan golden age. To build the Great Pyramid in the tropical jungle, the stones needed must be transported at least ten miles away and cut into pieces. So where did the boulder that built the Great Pyramid come from and how did it move?
From the traditional historical and cultural point of view, Mayan civilization is a peculiar civilization. Archaeological records show that the first Maya appeared "suddenly" more than 500 years ago, in some remote areas of Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize. The difference between Maya civilization and other civilizations in the same period is that Maya had advanced technology from the beginning and did not go through a long evolutionary period. Although there are many theories, none of them can absolutely solve the "Maya mystery".