The Lost Secrets of Maya Technology

by James A. O'Kon

  The diversity of the range in climatology and the extremes of precipitation were complicated by the geology and hydrology of the Yucatán Peninsula. The geology of the Yucatán is composed of karstic limestone, a porous material that directly absorbs surface water, drawing it down into an aquifer and resulting in a lack of surface water on the Maya landscape. The near absence of natural bodies of water in the form of rivers or lakes deprives the majority of the Maya population with a natural water supply during the dry season.

  Figure 1-5: Maya rainforests feature dense forests and tropical environments. Author’s image.

  Figure 1-6: Maya highlands have an alpine environment. Author’s image.

  An anomaly to the paucity of surface water supply occurs in the northern Yucatán. A unique characteristic of the geologic substrate in the north is the source of plentiful water from surface wells at the northern end of the Yucatán platform. This is the site of the Chicxulub crater, formed by an extraterrestrial impact occurring during the Cretaceous Period some 65,000,000 years ago. A concentric ring of stress fractures from the impact formed natural wells, or cenotes, in the limestone. These natural wells provided the Maya in the northern lowlands with direct access to a water source on a year-round basis.

  The Classic Maya cities were home to thousands of people. To survive, these cities required a dependable source of water for drinking and agriculture. In other parts of the world, civilizations usually located their cities near bodies of fresh water and could rely on a dependable water supply. However, in the Maya world, natural sources of free-flowing surface water were not available. The inconstant rainfall and the fickle environment compounded the paradox. These challenges stimulated the native ingenium of Maya engineers. In response, they developed innovative water management systems that insured a year-round supply of potable water for use in the cities and water for agricultural irrigation systems that made them independent of the fluctuating rainfall and the seasonal desert.

  The limestone under the Maya world is a sedimentary rock that provided them with unlimited building materials for their cities. However, this sedimentary rock does not contain deposits of metal ore. Igneous rock deposits, likely to contain valuable minerals, are located in the southern volcanic regions and along tectonic plates that extend across the isthmus. Deprived of a source of metal ore, the Maya created tools from minerals mined in the volcanic region and along tectonic plates. The volcanic belts and the tectonic fault line produced deposits of jadeite and obsidian; these two minerals have hardness properties greater than steel. Their unique characteristics were recognized by Maya technicians as viable materials for fabricating specialized tools. In this case a negative factor—the lack of metal ores—was turned into a positive factor: the fabrication of specialized tools from jadeite and obsidian.

  The Time Line of Maya Civilization

  The rediscovery of the Maya civilization in the mid-19th century stunned the academic world and resulted in the rewriting of history. The Classic Period, representing the height of Maya power, intellectualism, art, and wealth did not happen overnight. The brilliance of the culture and its significant accomplishments were a millennia-long work in progress, beginning in 8000 BC with agronomist-farmers domesticating maize.

  The Paleo-Indian Period: 20,000 BC to 8000 BC

  It is generally theorized that hunters and gatherers of Siberian origin crossed the frozen Bering Sea and settled America during the last Ice Age. This was not a purposeful migration southward, but a natural expansion into new areas that attracted the migrants. During this period, animals such as the giant ground sloth, mammoths, and wild horses still roamed the North American continent. A band of nomadic hunters, whose descendants would form the basis of the Maya civilization, migrated to the southern sector of Mesoamerica, liked what they saw, and made camp. They began their evolution into a great civilization.

  The Archaic Period: 8000 BC to 2500 BC

  During the Archaic Period, the proto-Maya began to practice sophisticated agricultural techniques. Their greatest contribution to agriculture was the domestication of maize. Maya agronomists were able to alter tenocinte, a wild native grass, into the high-yielding grain that is now known as maize. Recent genetic evidence suggests that domestication of maize began nearly 8,000 years ago. The ecosystem of the Maya world was an excellent environment for the growth of maize, as well as a wealth of other agriculture products that complemented their diet.

  The agriculture lifestyle of the Maya included the skillful domestication of plants and animals, which increased agriculture yields. This secure food supply allowed the Maya to slow their travels and settle down, adopt a sedentary lifestyle, advance their culture, and stabilize their population. The sedentary lifestyle and the abundance of agriculture led to the establishment of villages and towns. These settlements became the focus of their newly formed society.

  It was the establishment of towns, with their increased population base, that enabled the emergence of industry and trading skills, which enhanced the development of their technical arts. The technical arts flourished and created a new class of artisans who developed techniques, including loom weaving, basketry, stylized pottery, and specialized tool-making. These new industrial products and the surplus of agriculture yields created a merchant class, as well as the opportunity for long-range trade routes to other parts of Mesoamerica.

  The Pre-Classic Period: 1200 BC to AD 250

  The burgeoning of the Maya accelerated throughout the Pre-Classic Period. Conversely, the Olmec civilization, with whom the Maya had close contact, decayed during this period. The Olmec influenced the emerging Maya in the fabrication and design of exquisite carved jadeite jewelry, the artwork on large stone monuments, and the building of massive earthen pyramids. The Olmec also shared the notion of written script and the 260-day calendar.

  The Pre-Classic Period witnessed the ascent of the Maya civilization in the southern highlands and in the northern lowlands. The earliest Maya cities included Nakbe, El Mirador, and Cerros. These early cities initiated the trend toward life in urban places and monumental architecture, including platforms and pyramids with exotic artworks.

  In the middle and late Pre-Classic Period, multiple Maya cities rose to prominence and later became archetypal of the Classic Period. As the cities expanded, the scale of their architectural structures and monumental art grew in size and sophistication. The vast El Mirador possessed all the characteristics of a Classic Period Maya city, including pyramids of more than 70 meters in height, whose stairways were flanked by gigantic carved masks of great Maya deities; groups of massive architectural wonders connected by paved roads (sacbeob); and monumental carved stele of historic figures. The construction was coated with stucco and painted a deep red. All of these features became the characteristics of a Classic Maya city. However, El Mirador did not survive into the Classic Period and was abandoned in AD 150, some 100 years prior to the start of the Classic Period.

  Tikal, located in modern Guatemala, is considered to be the earliest of Maya Classic Period cities. Monuments deciphered in Tikal include the date of AD 292. Tikal has been established as the prototype for a Classic Maya city.

  The Classic Period: AD 250 to AD 900

  The Classic Period is considered to be the golden age of Mesoamerican culture, when the Maya reached the height of their scientific, technological, and artistic achievements. This time period encompasses both the flowering of the great city of Teotihuacán, which ruled a vast empire from their capital in the central Mexican plateau, as well as the peak of the Maya civilization. The ascendance of Teotihuacán was both parallel to and contemporary with the blossoming of the great Maya scientific civilization and the growth of powerful Maya city-states to the south. During its height, the sophisticated Teotihuacán culture influenced the style of art and architecture of the Maya, though it did not espouse scientific skills or a written script. However, Teotihuacán established colonies in the Maya heartland and practiced exchange, interaction, and disseminatio
n of knowledge with the Maya. Archaeological research indicates that the great city was sacked and burned, and abandoned in the seventh century. The demise was sudden and could have been a victim of “barbarians at the gate” syndrome.

  During the Classic Period, new technology emerged to implement the design and construction of public buildings and the efficient infrastructure for the burgeoning urban power centers. Fueled by the engine of “big business,” the city-states grew rich and powerful. Long-range trading activities prospered, enhanced by the sacbeob system and the design and construction of large seagoing cargo vessels. The Maya roads led traders to distant cities, and the cargo vessels carried goods to trading partners in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and the Pacific.

  The Classic Period Maya organized their domain into individual city-states. A total of more than 50 city-states were located in the 125,000-square-mile Maya area. As one would expect, some cities were larger and more powerful and sophisticated, and thus more influential than others. The larger Classic Period cities had greater influence on the development of the cultural, scientific, and technical advances of the Classic Period Maya culture. The grand scale and influence of the leading cities reflected their great wealth, and led to enhanced commercial power and the establishment of large universities offering a wide range of learning. Dissemination of scientific knowledge was enhanced by more powerful cities, such as Tikal, Calakmul, Palenque, and Copan, through their larger trade networks, political influences, and dominance.

  The Classic Period Maya cities were the epicenter of politics and social life within their own city-state and their relationships with other city-states. The cities served as foci for the government, as well as incubators of learning, scientific development, and technical capabilities. To support the activities required of a densely populated Classic Period power center, the process of urbanization required specialized buildings to satisfy specific functions. Large buildings unearthed in ruined Maya cities are simply referenced as palaces; some of the buildings were probably just that. However, many of these buildings had other vital functions: they served as royal residences, facilities for governmental bureaucracy, theological seminaries, observatories, and centers for technical and mercantile functionaries. The role of the Maya engineer was committed to the planning, design, construction, and operation of urban centers.

  Archaeology defines that Classic Period cities should be characterized as grand-scale metropolitan centers with large populations, monumental art, and structures adorned by art and carved inscriptions that chronicled the history of the ruling elite, describing heroes and villains, victories and defeats. The Classic Period cities featured pyramids towering high above the plazas below. Many of these skyscrapers topped out at more than 250 feet or 25 stories in height. These jungle high-rise buildings surpassed the height of structures in cities around the world until the late 19th century, when skyscrapers were erected in large American cities.

  The population of the inhabitants of large Classic Period cities is uncertain. Scholars have developed estimates of the population based on the remnants of dwellings in the urban area. For instance, it has been estimated that the city of Tikal had a population of 100,000 people. Based on the urban area of the city, a population density of 2,500 persons per square mile lived in the city. Maya cities were one of the most densely populated areas in the pre-industrial world. These high population densities required a major engineering effort to plan, design, and construct the structures, effective water-management systems, and efficient infrastructure to sustain a prosperous and viable lifestyle for the cities.

  The powerful city-states, fueled by the wealth from bountiful agriculture, multi-faceted industries, and a long-range trading network, produced a wealthy political environment. This power and wealth enabled sophisticated science and technology to flourish during the Classic Period. The scientific and technical levels achieved by the Maya during the Classic Period pre-dated similar achievements of European scientists by 1,000 years.

  The Decline of the Classic Period

  Great and powerful empires have emerged throughout history. These civilizations rose to power and created elevated levels of philosophy, knowledge, and science; then, in turn, each all-powerful state declined. The elite and educated classes of these empires dissolved, and their great cities were abandoned and eventually decayed. This pattern of decline was true of Egypt, Greece, the Roman Empire, the Indus Valley, Persia, and most recently the Soviet Empire.

  The ninth century saw the golden age of the Maya burning bright, and then mysteriously the brilliance dimmed. The Maya had enjoyed more than 3,000 years of civilization before their Classic Period and 600 years of unparalleled enlightenment and prosperity during the Classic Period. As the 10th century approached, the Classic Period civilization of the Maya mysteriously declined, and their magnificent cities were abandoned, surrendered to the encroaching rain forest.

  An analysis of the chronology of the collapse of the Classic Period Maya cities indicates that these power centers were systematically abandoned during a 100-year period. The dates inscribed on the final monuments erected in Classic Period cities ranged from AD 822 to AD 910. These end dates inscribed on monuments are clues to the demise of the Classic Period cities.

  Analysis of paleo-climatic and meteorological historical data concurrent with this period indicates that the root cause of the failure of the Maya society was an environmental catastrophe combined with the inability of Maya technology to overcome the natural crisis. The root cause of the demise of the Classic Period cities and the death of the Maya civilization was not due to the “barbarians at the gates” syndrome, the revolt of slaves, or invasion from outside forces as has been surmised by scholars, but by an apocalyptic environmental disaster and the inability of Maya technology to cope with the vagaries of Mother Nature.

  The Post-Classic Period

  The Post-Classic Period refers the resurrection of a number of Maya cities in the 11th century. The rebirth and dominance of cities in the northern lowlands, including Uxmal, Mayapán, and Chichen Itza, were the result of outside cultural influence from Central Mexico. This was a militaristic epoch operated under the rule of the Toltec culture, which originated from central Mexico. The Toltec and Maya cultures interacted to construct the new cities with a composite art and architectural style reflecting both Maya and Toltec stylistic modes. The brief fluorescence of these cities extended until about AD 1200. Then this last remnant of the Maya civilization followed suit and fell into ruin. In the 13th century, the mighty Aztec empire rose to power and eventually dominated all of Mesoamerica, including the Maya region.

  The Maya scientific heritage and their universities did not survive into the Post-Classic Period. However, thousands of Classic Period Maya books containing the collective knowledge inscribed by the intellectual elite did survive and were preserved and copied by Maya scribes well beyond the Post-Classic Period.

  The Spanish Conquest

  The cultures of Mesoamerica, including the dominant Aztecs and the repressed Maya, were extinguished by the Spanish conquest. The Maya Classic Period and their scientific civilization had collapsed more than six centuries before conquistador Hernán Cortés landed on the Mexican coast, and their ancient cities were worn down by the passage of time and jealously hidden by a veil of rainforest tendrils. The conquistadores had no interest in these ruins and their resplendent artwork; they were seeking gold and treasure.

  The knowledge of the Maya scientific civilization lived on through the thousands of books carefully protected by the Maya elite. These priceless treasures of scientific knowledge, which survived hundreds of years beyond the Classic Period, were destroyed by the Spanish colonial government and the Church during the period from 1563 to 1697. As the centuries passed, the colonial government suppressed all outside references to the lost cities of the Maya. The exploration of the ancient cities was forbidden by Spain until the Mexican Revolution in 1820.

  The Maya Today

  Th
e Maya civilization of the Classic Period has faded into the dust of history, but the Maya people have not disappeared. The Maya people and their spirit live on today in the distinctive set of culture, traditions, language, and beliefs practiced by millions of contemporary Maya living in Mexico and Central America. These Maya cherish their heritage and are continually reminded of its past grandeur as archaeologists uncover the ruins of ancient cities constructed by their ancestors.

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  The Mystery of the Codices

  The discovery of Maya codices spans 500 years and is complicated by the cruelty of the Spanish conquest, the severity of the Spanish Inquisition, the neglect of the Bourbon Kings, the xenophobia of colonial Spain, and the impenetrable jungle that housed Maya ruins. The grand cities of this scientific civilization lay buried beneath the luxuriant vegetation of the tropical jungle for six centuries before the conquistadors landed on the coast of Mexico, but a millennium would pass after the Maya collapse before the outside world knew of their existence. However, the riddle of Maya achievements would stay a mystery for an additional century after the discovery of the ruined civilization. When the Maya code was broken, it revealed the amazing truths of their philosophy, history, and scientific accomplishments.