Just in time for 2012. ____ Portal to mythical Mayan underworld found in Mexico Mexican archeologists have discovered a maze of stone temples in underground caves, some submerged in water and containing human bones, which ancient Mayans believed was a portal where dead souls entered the underworld. Clad in scuba gear and edging through narrow tunnels, researchers discovered the stone ruins of eleven sacred temples and what could be the remains of human sacrifices at the site in the Yucatan Peninsula. Archeologists say Mayans believed the underground complex of water-filled caves leading into dry chambers -- including an underground road stretching some 330 feet -- was the path to a mythical underworld, known as Xibalba. According to an ancient Mayan scripture, the Popol Vuh, the route was filled with obstacles, including rivers filled with scorpions, blood and pus and houses shrouded in darkness or swarming with shrieking bats, Guillermo de Anda, one of the lead investigators at the site, said on Thursday. The souls of the dead followed a mythical dog who could see at night, de Anda said. Excavations over the past five months in the Yucatan caves revealed stone carvings and pottery left for the dead. "They believed that this place was the entrance to Xibalba. That is why we have found the offerings there," de Anda said. The Mayans built soaring pyramids and elaborate palaces in Central America and southern Mexico before mysteriously abandoning their cities around 900 A.D. They described the torturous journey to Xibalba in the Popul Vuh sacred text, originally written in hieroglyphic script on long scrolls and later transcribed by Spanish conquerors. "It is very likely this area was protected as a sacred depository for the dead or for the passage of their souls," said de Anda, whose team has found ceramic offerings along with bones in some temples. Different Mayan groups who inhabited southern Mexico and northern Guatemala and Belize had their own entrances to the underworld which archeologists have discovered at other sites, almost always in cave systems buried deep in the jungle. In the Yucatan site they have found one 1,900-year-old ceramic vase, but most of the artifacts date back to between 700 and 850 A.D. "These sacred tunnels and caves were natural temples and annexes to temples on the surface," said de Anda. link
I'm becoming more and more fascinated with these kind of discoveries. Neat stuff. *goes off to do research on possible reasons why Mayans disappeared"
^ Thank you, Mel Gibson! I'll remind you to yawn when December 21, 2012, comes around... Seriously, though, new "findings" just mean that there are unknown places in the world. Caves are often found 'by mistake' by people whose curiosity makes them lucky. Nice.
The discovery is awesome -- but the article title is what I really loved. I was expecting something like this.
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cGqroT1FZ5Y&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cGqroT1FZ5Y&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
<br> According to an ancient doomsday prophecy, the Mayans predicted the world will end in 2012. Or rather, their calendar ends in 2012 which has lead people to believe that the apocalypse will occur in that year. <br> <br> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012#Metaphysical_predictions
www.religionfacts.com/mayan_religion/index.htm The Maya practiced a form of divination that centered on their elaborate calendar system and extensive knowledge of astronomy. It was the job of the priests to discern lucky days from unlucky ones, and advising the rulers on the best days to plant, harvest, wage war, etc. They were especially interested in the movements of the planet Venus — the Maya rulers scheduled wars to coordinate with its rise in the heavens. The Mayan calendar was very advanced, and consisted of a solar year of 365 days. It was divided into 18 months of 20 days each, followed by a five-day period that was highly unlucky. There was also a 260-day sacred year (tzolkin), divided into days named by the combination of 13 numbers and 20 names. For longer periods, the Maya identified an elaborate system of periods and cycles of various lengths. In ascending order, these were: kin (day); uinal (20 days); tun (18 uinals/360 days); katun (20 tuns/7,200 days); baktunbaktun (20 katuns/144,000 days), and so on, with the highest cycle being the alautun (23,040,000,000 days). These units were used in the Maya Long Count, which calculated the time elapsed from a zero date set at 3114 BC. In the Postclassical Period, the method of notation was somewhat simplified, and the Long Count katuns end with the name Ahau (Lord), combined with one of 13 numerals; and their names form a Katun Round of 13 katuns. This change makes it difficult to correlate the Mayan count with the Christian calendar, but scholars are fairly confident that the katun 13 Ahau, which seems to have had great significance for the Mayan, ended on November 14, 1539. It has been calculated that the next katun, which the Popul Vuh describes as the catastrophic end of the world, will end on December 21, 2012. Naturally, this has inspired quite a bit of speculation as to what might happen on this date.
Well then I hope this trade happens: Hornets recieve: Rockets draft picks (2013-2113) Rockets recieve: CP3 Morey, get it done.
Dumbass Mayans. lol Umm...yea...it's just some caves created in nature. Morons. Somebody said this is "how it is" and it became true. Maybe an early Mayan comedian?
The really cool thing is that they thought Xibalba was the Orion Nebula. That must have been their passage way to get their. The stories in the Popol Vuh are really interesting. I recommend you guys check them out along with the movie 'The Fountain'.
Well since the end of the world will involve zombies, we have about 3 and half years to prepare for the Zombie Apocalypse.
Yeah, developing a highly accurate calendar and having pre-telescopic knowledge of the Orion Nebula, want a bunch of r****ds. Their certainly not like the highly-rational Europeans and their unassailably logical beliefs.
