The ancient Mayan cities were rediscovered in 1840. Exceptional palaces, pyramids and stone structures were uncovered. Adorning these finds were mysterious hieroglyphs that upon initial deciphering were thought only to translate into numbers and pictures.
This subsequent deciphering of the Mayan hieroglyphs revealed that the ancient Maya were mathematical geniuses. They had mapped out an accurate calendar by following the skies and had precisely plotted extremely difficult astronomical movements.
In the 1940’s and 1950’s two prominent archaeologists of their time deduced the Maya were a peaceful civilization. They based this on the fact that no visible fortifications could be found at the sites.
Spread throughout major Mayan cities were the etchings of numbers which told of the dates for when the Mayan civilization petered out. There were ending dates of 820 AD, 849, 859 and 879.
Scientists wondered why. There were no obvious signs that the Maya were wiped out like the Aztecs or Incas were by the Spanish Conquistadors and there were no signs of warring between rival civilizations.
At the time it was believed the disappearance of the Maya could have been environmental and that the Maya wiped out the forests in their quest for more land or that the soil had been tilled to the point of it becoming barren. Still, some argued, it had to be a natural disaster or disease that killed them off.
Due to the systematic belief that the Mayan hieroglyphs represented only numbers and pictures, it would not be until the 1960’s and 1970’s that linguists were able to translate the hieroglyphs into words as well.
It was soon discovered the ancient Maya were not peaceful at all. They were blood-thirsty, military strategists who practiced the ritual of human sacrifice. Evidence at the Mayan sites was revisited and certain structures and pictures were now viewed as pertaining to a civilization constantly at war.
Certain archaeological digs unearthed even more evidence for a warring civilization and a new theory was formed: a civil war led to the ultimate wiping out of the Maya.
Then, in 1995, paleo-climatologists uncovered evidence that a severe drought plagued the Mayan lands at the time of their disappearance. This led to yet another theory which stated the warring between cities was caused by the famine and disease which inevitably came about due to the drought.
A less popular theory states some of the Maya may have escaped to northern cities less grand than their southern counterparts and may not have died out.
But a more recent thought on their disappearance comes from ancient astronaut theorists who propose the Maya, and all of their confounding intellect, were otherworldly and simply left by way of the stars.
Whatever the theory, thought or belief, it remains that the disappearance of an entire, advanced civilization such as the Maya is a perplexing event, indeed.
Please visit these sites for more information:
www.wnd.com/?pageld=10053
www.aeonia.com/category/tagging/mayan-disappearance