VAN STONE: They didn't have a lot of things that we think of as the hallmarks of advancement, but what they did have is advanced mythology, advanced language and advanced religious culture.ĬHILDRESS: The site of Palenque is still a vast unexcavated site. NARRATOR: Regarded by scholars as one of the most sophisticated and complex civilizations in the ancient world, Maya triumphs included numerous scientific achievements in agriculture, engineering and astronomy. Jungles have really thin topsoil, and for them to be able to support a huge population, which is 20 or 30 times what the population is in that area today, is amazing. VAN STONE: What I find the most impressive about them is that they were able to build a civilization out of the jungle. The southern one was Copan, the eastern one was Tikal, and the northernmost one was Calakmul. Palenque is recognized in these texts as the Western capital of the Maya world. Without metal tools, the wheel or pack animals, the Maya built cities like Palenque across a vast region with incredible architectural precision.ĮDWIN BARNHART: There are a number of texts around the Maya world that mention four cities in association with four directions. Surrounded by dense forests in the foothills of the Tumbala Mountains lie the ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Palenque.Įstablished as early as 1800 BC, Palenque was one of the key population centers of the ancient Maya civilization that dominated present-day Central America for nearly 2,000 years.
NARRATOR: Millions of people around the world believe we have been visited in the past by extraterrestrial beings.ĭid ancient aliens really help to shape our history?Īnd if so, did they plot the success and demise of the ancient Maya civilization? PHILIP COPPENS: The Mayans were absolutely convinced that timing was crucial because the gods were going to come back.ĭAVID CHILDRESS: Lord Pakal's sarcophagus was his spaceship. LOHSE: They understood astronomy to an incredible degree, more so than any societies at the time. Or did their intelligence originate from somewhere else, perhaps out of this world?īut what they did have is advanced mythology, advanced language and advanced religious culture. History written in stone honoring otherworldly rulers.Īnd a calendar accurately predicting shifts in the Earth's axis every 26,000 years.ĭid the Maya of Central America really create one of the most advanced civilizations of ancient times? NARRATOR: Ancient monuments precisely aligned to celestial events.
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