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Sixth, the fantasy is very plump, and the reality is very skinny

After talking about those **** things, and also talking about not very **** things, let's talk about some nonsense now.

The so-called nonsense refers to all kinds of unreliable conjectures made by the "brick family" in later generations around the lost Mayan civilization.

Among them, the most famous and popular Mayan in recent years is naturally the Mayan prophecy of the world's destruction in 2o12 - Hollywood has filmed a popular blockbuster for this purpose, not to mention, there is also a person named Liu Qiyuan in Hebei Province, China, who has really built a bunch of spherical "doomsday arks" ready to be sold...... Of course, the fact that 2o12 is now behind us and we are still alive speaks of the bankruptcy of the doomsday prophecy.

What's more, did the ancient Mayans really and unequivocally predict that our world would be ruined on December 21, 2o12?

Let's take a look at how this "end of the world" is calculated!

According to archaeological findings, the Mayans compiled two very complex calendars at the same time based on their own unique decimal mathematics. A set of calendars is used to guide agricultural production, 18 months a year, 2o days per month, and the extra 5 days are considered unlucky days and are usually not announced to the public, but are secretly passed. The other set of calendars, which is used to guide religious activities, has only 13 months in the year, and each month is also 2o days, which is only 26o days per year. As a result, the two calendars are used at the same time, and the result is that the two calendars coincide only once every 52 years. As a result, the Mayans believed that the world would reincarnate every 52 years, so the Mayan pyramids were also built every 52 years.

For the past 52 years of history, the Maya have understood another set of calendars, which are still based on the Maya's unique base system - according to the records of Mayan mythology, the current world was born on September 6, 3114 BC, according to that calendar, a new "Great Reincarnation" will come every 5125 years or so, so this "Great Reincarnation" will end on December 21, 2o12...... This is where the phrase "the end of the world in 2o12" comes from. If you understand what the Mayan calendar is, it is not difficult to see that the so-called end of the world in 2o12 is nothing more than a millennium in the eyes of the Mayans, which represents the end of an epoch in the calendar.

However, due to cultural and linguistic differences, some European scholars seem to have understood "the end of the era" as "the destruction of the world", and with some chiseling and exaggerated rendering, as well as artistic embellishment, they finally came up with such an eye-catching and powerful statement as "the end of the world in 2o12".

In fact, around December 21, 2o12, CCTV sent someone to Central America to interview the modern Mayan elders, and the other party made it clear in front of the camera that their ancestors had never predicted that the world would be ruined at this time. If the Mayan civilization had survived into modern times, they would have held only a few celebrations on this day, just as we did when we welcomed the millennium.

Another well-known myth about the Maya is the "Mayan Crystal Skull", which often appears in games and movies, where a crystal skull was found in a Mayan site in Mesoamerica in the 2O years of the 2O century, and it was so beautifully cut that it didn't look like it could be polished with stone tools...... As a result, sensational arguments such as "the crystal skull is a hypnotic artifact, and the Mayans relied on it for surgery", "The Mayans are the descendants of aliens, and this skull contains the message of the universe" and other sensational arguments came out. At the same time, one after another, other crystal skulls sprung up in the rainforests of Central America, and finally dozens of them appeared in one go!

However, to the disappointment of some occult and dark arts worshippers, the scientific community has concluded that these crystal skulls may not have come from the hands of Mayan priests from ancient times, but the work of modern European jewellers - in 2oo5, the British Imperial Museum tested several legendary Mayan crystal skulls with an electron scanning microscope. The results show that the crystal skull does not have the uneven scratches that should have been left by hand, but rather the clean curves of modern wheels. From this, the archaeologists concluded: "All of these crystal skulls were carved from a modern gem-processing wheel using industrial diamonds and polished by modern machinery." ”

So, why did someone elaborately forge these fake Mayan crystal skulls at that time to concoct a "great scam of the century"?

This is because, from the early 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, it was an "age of museums", where European archaeologists excavated ancient artefacts, especially ornate works of art, in Egypt, the Middle East and other places where ancient civilizations existed, and then sold them to wealthy collectors in their own countries. Therefore, the "market demand" for this kind of art is very high, and it can bring high returns, which attracts many "professionals" who make fake antiquities to want a piece of the pie - such a counterfeit antique business is also common in China - on the other hand, the skull symbol is very common in American civilization and has important symbolic significance. Some of the rougher crystal skulls may indeed be real ancient relics.

In short, the earliest origins of these crystal skulls that emerged from the Mesoamerican rainforest cannot be verified one by one, and some people still believe that they originated from ancient times, believing that the crystal skulls were the product of an ancient civilization. However, the most famous skulls tend to have smooth surfaces and realistic details, clearly derived from modern carving techniques...... But regardless of where they come from, these crystal skulls can at least be regarded as a very unique work of art, for example, in the current Yiwu small commodity market, there are various styles of crystal skulls available for approval, welcome to buy.

Finally, there is the famous myth of the Mayan "ball of death" - according to some popular saying, the Maya loved to play ball, and the game system was so cruel that after a fierce match, one of the players of one side would be executed to sacrifice to the gods. But what is incomprehensible is that it is not the losing team that is killed as a living sacrifice, but the winning side! It seems that the Mayan players are all fighting to die.

There is indeed a certain factual basis for this Mayan anecdote, but it has also been embellished and exaggerated to a certain extent.

Here is the introduction of the Mayan ball game, the Mayan ball game is somewhat similar to modern basketball, both are a rubber ball and two baskets, but the rubber ball used is solid and very heavy. And Mayan players cannot throw the ball with their hands, they must hit it with their elbows, wrists or hips. In addition, to increase the excitement of the game, both teams place bets before the game, and spectators place bets on the ball. Most of the time, though, the stakes are just on clothes and accessories. Only in the most sacred and grand tournament will the players of both sides gamble their lives.

――If you think about it, you can understand how the Mayan team is organized and trained if you have to risk your life every game!

Even the gladiators of ancient Rome survived an average of eight fights per person, and only the hapluckiest guy would die as soon as he got on the field.

In any case, once the players of both sides gambled their lives, then the game turned into a bloody duel of life and death, and the players on both sides would do everything as if they were fighting, and some people even died when the ball broke their sternum on the field...... In the end, the winning team was rewarded with great rewards and supreme glory, while the losing team was placed on a pyramid where the priests executed the gods one by one.

This is the Mayan "ball of death", which is essentially no different from the gladiatorial arena of the ancient Roman Empire: the winner wins a qiē, the loser loses his life, and that's it.

Huh? Didn't it mean that the Mayans would put the winning team to death to sacrifice to the gods? How can you still execute the losing team? That's normal, isn't it?

…… This one...... It is true that the winning team is killed to sacrifice to the gods, but it is another game of comfort.

-- In some of the more "humane" Mayan city-states, when some prisoners, captives, and other unlucky people were selected as living sacrifices, those revered Mayan magnates, such as famous players, noble priests, etc., would "kindly" personally go down to play a ball game with them, and then deliberately let them lose the ball during the game, deliberately being beaten to the ground by these rookies. In the end, these fellows who were destined to be sacrificed could happily walk up the pyramid and die with the glory of the victors...... In fact, this kind of ball game does not matter whether it is won or lost, it is basically similar to the "severed head meal" enjoyed by the condemned prisoners in ancient China, just to make the living sacrifices happy before they die.

In short, the fantasy is very plump and the reality is very skinny. Human beings tend to be mystical in many cases, so there are many things that sound suspenseful around the mysterious Mayan civilization, but once it is really said, it is actually like that, and everyone can laugh it off.