Can anyone tell me (serious question) why the Mayans (and Incas/Aztecs/etc) are heralded as some great civilization? As far as I can tell (and admittedly I’ve done little investigation) they couldn’t do in 900 AD what the Minoans had done in 2000 BC (yes, I stubbornly still say BC) or what the Egyptians were doing in 3000 BC.
Why were they so behind the rest of the world? Is it just further evidence that life started around the Fertile Crescent and it took that long to disperse out? And is it further evidence of how long life had to be around before they were advanced enough to, say, create a civilization like the Minoans or Egyptians? (Or is it evidence that a supernatural power, I.e. God, must have enlightened them - otherwise they’d be as backward as the Mayans after 2000 years?)
Furthermore, what’s the deal with acting like the Mayans are so great? PC bs? Pushing it on us to prop up the idea of flooding illegals into the States? Bc, frankly, after as much time as they had they should’ve been able to come up with something better than what they had. So I see no reason to be impressed. Then again, I may just be ignorant and racist. Which is why I’m asking.
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Eurocuckistan ago
most of the old ruins scattered across the world are from before the ~12,000bc cataclysm, don't believe any date they put to these structures and their civilizations.
even the Maya's themselves always claimed that they didn't build the structures, they inherited them from previous generations and they always spoke about great cataclysms that engulfed the earth and destroyed pretty much all of it. all old cultures that of this through religion and myths.
Judgejewdy ago
Ok, even still, why couldn’t they advance beyond that if they were around for 13,000 years.... and does that mean the pyramids etc are even older than reported? Or roman aqueducts? Is their lack of advancement bc they had no access to other cultures? (Unlike Europe/Asia/Middle East)? Anyway, I still feel like we’re suppised to be overly impressed with them. Maybe I am if the dates are older. But other than that, big nothing burger.
pauly_pants ago
They did well considering their lack of resources (domesticated beasts of burden) and trading partners. The old world 'began' sooner and had many more nations working on different things and all fighting each other. War is an evolutionary selection pressure on societies. China has a very long history of being a stable unit for lack of a better term. Many more people over a greater amount of time means more discovery, inventions etc. Mayans and Aztecs were much more isolated compared to the old world but managed some respectable achievements.
SpottyMatt ago
Largely this and farming: there's a fascinating book called "Lost City of the Monkey God" which is mostly an archaeological memoir but at the end talks about the extinction of the central American civilizations, in order to give that a fair treatment has to speculate on why they were prime extinction material when the Europeans arrived, which gets into the differences between the great civilizations on the various continents.
Big things central Amerocan civs didn't have:
Given all that, the growth of the population size and the need to form large civilizations (with accompanying structures) in Central America, is hypothesized to have been on a much slower timetable -if it would've got there at all- than Europe.