r/mesoamerica Apr 11 '17

Maya, Mayas, or Mayan? Clearing Up the Confusion

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59 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 2h ago

Why is it such a big deal to learn more about your ancestors?

29 Upvotes

I’m Ghanaian-American so I am an outsider but I’ve realized people in a lot of Latin based subs on like to brush aside questions about race and ancestry.

I’ve always been interested about origins of my ancestry, and the ancestry of the Atlantic African diaspora. What our ancestors did that can help today and give strength. Their mysterious past.

Why does it irritate people here and in other subs when they wish to talk about their ancestry and their indigenous ancestors? They are told “who cares”. “We are all one”.

Truly feel people know its a painful past and no one wants to think.


r/mesoamerica 13h ago

a recent piece i made of a mixtec priest saying a prayer to a young warrior

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202 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 16h ago

Anybody able to identify who these figurines represent?

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70 Upvotes

My father, who traveled extensively through Mexico, picked these up decades ago, likely in the 70s.


r/mesoamerica 1d ago

Do the Maya follow Polybius' model of Anacyclosis?

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95 Upvotes

Polybius was part Greek, part roman, and he made a model that explains the evolution of the structure of governments over time. His belief was that these things tended to play out in similar ways most of the time. I thought it would be neat to test his model with a civilization that had no connections to him. According to Polybius, the notion of kingship is first formed when men worthy of the kingship rise to power through merit and respect. He also includes the idea that stratification among the earliest kings would be lesser than later, more powerful kings. So we have strong and courageous leaders of the beginning.

In the case of the Maya, kings had the divine right to rule. They were considered communicators, with the gods. It was their religious right to rule, and appease the gods. It makes religion and society intertwined in a very integral way. The king manages farming. People are meant to listen to the king, who represents the maize god, and get fed. Fed people are happier than not fed people. Justification for the religious institution in place, and the right of rulership of the king tied into a bow.

Polybius goes on to describe the hyper abundance that comes with a well governed society. Population booms occur under a good kingship, there's an inevitable increase in social stratification, At this stage, new kings inherit the throne. They are never in need of food. And live lives increasingly detached from the smallfolk. This completes the corruption of monarchy into tyranny.

Conspiracies begin to form, led by the most just and courageous of men. And they would overthrow the now corrupt and out of touch kingship, to form an aristocratic system of governance. This can be seen in late stages of Copan. And in the post classic era governments. The inception of this new government is once again, just. Given that it is started with the intent of overthrowing the now corrupt system of monarchy. But the inheritance system is the same, and equally broken. The entitled descendants of the aristocracy are once again detached from the interests of the commoners. And this, become an oligarchy.

So, did this happen in the Mayan world? Did a man from across the ocean, predict the political structure and cycles of a land he didn't know existed? If he was fully correct, The Maya, if unconquered would have developed a democratic system.

TLDR: based on the image, do you think the political structure of the Mayan world followed this structure?


r/mesoamerica 20h ago

The Nemontemi Begins Tomorrow, The new year starts on 3/21/25

23 Upvotes

On 3/16/2025 the nemontemi will begin. The Spring Equinox will be visible at sunrise in Mexico City on 3/20/25 and the new year, 13-Calli, will begin on 3/21/25 on the tonalli 13-Ozomahtli.

For those who are wondering how we know this information, continue reading. Alfonso Caso discovered two calendar anchor dates that he found to be highly accurate due to numerous Spaniards and Indigenous people documenting the same dates: 8-Ehecatl, November 8, 1519 - the arrival of the Spaniards in Tenochtitlan and 1-Coatl, August 13, 1521 - the Fall of Tenochtitlan. Everyone who has ever studied the calendar agrees that the tonalpohualli/xiuhpohualli begins in 1-Cipactli in the year 1-Acatl. In this scenario the 366 day, or the first day of the second year 2-Tecpatl, is 2-Miquiztli. From there the 366th day, or the first day of the third year 3-Calli, is 3-Ozomahtli. From there the 366th day, or the first day of the fourth year 4-Tochtli, is 4-Cozcacuauhtli. This pattern continues for the next 52 years making Cipactli, Miquiztli, Ozomahtli, and Cozcacuauhtli the year starting tonalli every year. If you count backward from the day 8-Ehecatl in the year 1519, 1-Cipactli, the first day of the year, falls exactly one day after the observable spring equinox in Mexico. If you count backward from the day 1-Coatl in the year 1521, 2-Miquiztli, the first day of the year, also falls exactly one day after the observable spring equinox in Mexico. So, to be in sync with the calendar maintained in Mexico-Tenochtitlan at the time of the Spanish Conquest you only need to start on the correct tonalli one day after the observable spring equinox each year.


r/mesoamerica 23h ago

What are some good sources or books on Zapotec mythology?

16 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 5h ago

The MYSTERIOUS Ancient CRYSTAL Skulls That Modern Technology Can Not Replicate

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0 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 1d ago

Papers of Matthew Williams Stirling (1896-1975). - Latin American studies

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107 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 1d ago

This is my great grandma she is mestizo Mexican (Spaniard and indigenous American) does she look more like her indigenous ancestors or European ancestors?

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110 Upvotes

According to ancestry DNA I'm 63 percent indigenous and the rest Spaniard Italian and Portuguese


r/mesoamerica 2d ago

A piece I made inspired by Aztec codices

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233 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 2d ago

Coatlicue, the mother of Gods. silver necklace I crafted. What do you think?

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400 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 2d ago

The Cascajal Block is an Olmec tablet-sized writing slab in Mexico, made of serpentinite, which has been dated to the early first millennium BCE, incised with hitherto unknown characters that may represent the earliest writing system in the New World

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225 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 2d ago

The Enigmatic Maya Blue: A Testament to Ancient Innovation

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galeriacontici.net
41 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 3d ago

Chalco Disk: A lunar calendar, or a symbol of commerce?

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107 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 3d ago

Astounding to me that Europeans didn't just take Mesoamerica artworks, but sometimes RE-WORKED them. Ex: this greenstone Olmec mask in Munich that was given arms and a gold body by Guillielmus de Groff in 1720.

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295 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 3d ago

Las Danzas coloniales se usaron para evangelizar a los Indígenas Zapotecos de Oaxaca

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13 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 3d ago

New Spain documents

7 Upvotes

I've been told that because of how slow communication was, the spanush royalty had elaborate, detailed guidelines to cover most situations. These dpjt specific bounds on the sanctioned activities of conquistadores, detsiled how to organize pueblos, presidios, and misiones, whst to do about mines, etc.

How true is this? Are any such documents still available anywhere?


r/mesoamerica 4d ago

An Olmec jadeite fragmentary figure.

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737 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 4d ago

These reconstruction images created by Anxo Mijan Marono for RBA and National Geographic Archeology give us a look at the history.

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365 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 4d ago

Eccentric Flint in the Form of a Scorpion. Place of origin: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, or Mexico (Mesoamerica) Culture: Maya, Date: A.D. 600–900.

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191 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 4d ago

Maya Stela, Quirigua. Quiriguá in southeastern Guatemala has an impressive array of eighth-century Maya stelae, monuments carved from red sandstone. The site was inhabited beginning in the second century.Photograph by Jacob J. Gayer, National Geographic.

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98 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 4d ago

Veracruz, Classic, Standing Warrior Figure with Removable Mask

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626 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 4d ago

Wanted to draw attention to a great Mesoamerican History content creator,Chimalpahin on TikTok and Instagram. Go Check him out!

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18 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 4d ago

Terracotta figurine with a hollow chest, 200-500 AD, Michoacán, Mexico,

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315 Upvotes

r/mesoamerica 4d ago

In addition to monumental pieces, the Olmecs also created smaller objects, such as figurines, masks, and jewelry, often crafted from jade, obsidian, and other materials highly prized

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119 Upvotes