There are still many descendents of the Mayans, living in the highlands of Guatemala, southern Mexico and other areas. Many still speak a distinct Mayan dialect, with Spanish only as a second language.
I spent two years in the forests and jungles of Guatemala on a religious mission. I worked among descedents of the Mayans. I learned the dialect Quiché. They had no words for computers, cars, watches or modern machines until recently when they borrowed Spanish words. They used to refer to metal items as a "chi'ch" (cheech). A big metal thing like a bus was "nim chi'ch" and a small metal thing was a "nitz chi'ch". They're beautiful people. They constructed their homes out of adobe and some of them made their own clothes and blankets. They speak in metafors. They referred to our American style ties as 'cows tongues'. Their art work, embroidery, and mask carvings were incredible. They are proud people. I love them and miss them.
Ozner Riznick I know northern quechua/quichua.(inca). street quichua uses spanish loan words while unified quichua uses zero spanish words for mordern devices. For example I want a tv in street quichua is televisionta munanimi... in unified quichua its rikuchik anta munanimi.. literal translation for the second one is: I want the metal thing that shows
@Gigantes Slaya native Americans came from Asia not Africa. Native Americans and mayans and Aztecs dont have black blood . DNA testing are related to indigenous people from thailand ,cambodia and Vietnam.
@@meow23 this is America they're called native Americans because this was their country until the whites took their land you think whites are natives here?
That's good. Teach your children about your heritage and culture, and tell them to teach it to their children, or else it will be lost. People all over the world should do this, regardless of what culture it is.
I am from Guatemala Mayans are are not to be confused to Aztecs were very different Aztecs have different pyramids and they are more bloody, manged to conquer many parts of Mexico. Maya is a word used to refer to all the small clans of the people that formed Guatemala, they were very good astronomers.
Yes, those pyramids are very different. I didn't have much trouble climbing up and down the pre-Aztec pyramids at Teotihuacan, but the Mayan ones - sooooooo steep. They scared the hell out of me. I don't think I would have been able to make the ascent (or descent) without that wire rope to cling to.
The Aztec and Maya’s are similar. From my understanding Chichen Itza is Mayan not Aztec and many people confuse it with Aztec. I am Mayan myself and many of the pictures I see look Mayan.
1. Chichen Itza is actually mayan but the city is totally inspired in the Toltec civilization. 2. By the time the aztecs were actually a civilization, mayans had already dissapeared centuries before. 3. Totally agree, some pictures in this video do not correspond to the mayan civilization and eventough there are SOME similarities, they’re nothing alike.
Irce Sekk I have much to learn, but I’m willing to learn. Send me your references and I’ll believe you. There is a lot of similarities. The Mayans adored the quetzal bird, and so did the Aztecs. I’ll look up the temple you stated. The thing is how do we know which evidence is true. Everything was lost because of colonization. It’s very sad to say my brother. I’m ignorant about this topic, but it is what I learned while growing up.
Moondoodle Zoflez lets not be ignorant or arrogant, humans are generally violent. Just as the greatest kindness is far from culturally exclusive, neither is the greatest evil.
The Aztec and Maya’s are very similar. From my understanding Chichen Itza is Mayan not Aztec and many people confuse it with Aztec. I am Mayan myself. Many of the pictures I see on this video look Mayan.
Red Lil Anime It just frustrates me cause while yes, the current political state of international affairs involves some level of dominance by European, Western, states over third world, former colonies to say that that makes their ills the worst in human history is...well just kinda ignorant. It should be addressed as appropriate because we should address every crime against humanity when an opportunity presents itself. But to say that colonial dominance represents the greatest crime to have ever happened ignores and invalidates a lot of Asian racial genocide and history.
Red Lil Anime Well that’s different. While it certainly has an effect on history that doesn’t make it relevant. I’m more talking about Pol Pot and the continuing oppression of the Chinese
@@lizzurita7668 the movie Apocalypto got it wrong, too. The tribes in that movie were Aztec, not Maya, so Mel Gibson got that wrong along with a few other stuff
@@galebh9715 He knows a lot about history…. He just happens to make videos. I recommend you still watch it. I bet you don’t even know that Maya history is divided into Preclassic, Classic and Post Classic eras.
There are probably hundreds of thousands of accurate videos on RU-vid. Crash Course, Kurzgesagt, Vsauce, Numberphile, NileRed, Physics Girl and PBS Eons are just some of the trustworthy education channels that do their research and pay attention to details, and if they do make a mistake they usually correct themselves instead of ignoring the comments. Anyone who proclaims to be an educational channel has a responsibility to make sure they aren't spreading misinformation, especially channels that teach history or science.
I went to the Mayan Ruins when I was like 15 years old, and that’s still one of the most surreal places I’ve ever been. Sounds weird but it’s almost like you can still feel the power in the land. Plus the view of the ocean they had 🤌🏼
What do you mean THE Mayan ruins? Like there’s only one. There’s hundreds, if not thousands of sites across southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Although I’d hazard a guess you’re talking specifically about the site in Tulum, possibly
@walker be smarter then the average donkey man, you really think your people would write about that in their history books even though it historically accurate.
Ecclesiastes 4:16 [16]There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
"as violent as they were" don't believe the book burners lies, to live for ten thousand years you had to be civil, Guatemala is all Maya and is been around forever.
As a Mexican I archaeologist gotta say that this video and the one made for Aztecs are mostly accurate although a bit lacking, probably due to a few outdated sources. I still love the channel of course. Great job on bringing this information to a broader audience amusingly and interestingly.
@@donfields1234 You're probably correct. No way they googled person sitting in front of mayan temple and absolutely no possible way whoever posted the picture didn't mislabel it. This was likely intentional as a slight to one of the two groups.
Yeah they do,Mayans still doing well in Yucatan and Chiapas Also stil got Aztecs around still many natural of Mexico people talk Nahuatl especially in Estado de Guerrero
So many infactual statements I don’t know where to start, he’s basically mixed the history and culture of Aztec’s, Maya, Zapotec and Olmec and blanketed it with the label Mayan!
I am a Mayan descendant, we as Natives of this continent Called America we don’t mind how they call us anymore. My people believed we all in one, certainly Europeans have divided us even themselves lol 😂 Now they don’t call us Mayans or Native Americans now they call us Mexicans or Guatemalans or Hispanics or Spaniards so we got used to it bro
My family is from Yucatán and my grandma speaks Spanish & Mayan dialect when she would come visit with my grandpa they would talk to each other in Mayan and I was always in awe it’s beautiful I did pick up some words growing up and use them all the time now I’ve passed it on to my daughters and still continue to learn from my abuelita ❤️
No way! I’ve never seen another person from Yucatán on the internet. We’re a rare breed. 😂 I’m Mayan as well, and my mother’s side, (as my dad is American), speaks Mayan. We play the Mayan version of Lotería as well. I have also picked up on some if not many words in Mayan and I’m looking forward to teaching my kids once I have them. Have a great day or night! 😊👍
That’s awesome yes it’s very rare to find someone from Yucatán specially in california lol, that’s so cool I didn’t know they have a Mayan lotería I need to find out more about that , and what a beautiful name you have 🙂
Getting the Mayan and Aztec culture mixed up 🙄 originally Mayans never did human sacrifices, that was the Aztec’s....it was Only very late in Mayan history that human sacrifices occurred and this was from expanding influence of the Aztecs. People were never forced to play the ball game, most people volunteered to play this, as it was an honour. The Mayan culture is such an interesting one and this video barely touched on it. Still many Mayans living in Mexico today and continue practicing their ancient culture. I’ve worked with many and many continue to have Mayan as their first language and some struggle to speak Spanish
The white were the ones that Enslaved and killed Millions of Africans and native Americans even going as far as to making Zoos featuring Africans...that's how the United Stated became wealthy, from the hundreds of years of forced work....
@@joeyo4163 well not exactly hundreds of years more precisely 89 years as the United States wasn't it's own country until 1776 and slavery ended in 1865. Before that time European countries benefited from slavery and the resources of the continent.
@@joeyo4163 you are wrong african tribes sold african war captives into slavery so really whites bought what was offerd to them by blacks truth hurts but it dont change the fact that it's true
joey o natives of every land enslaved and conquered each other. Africans sold Africans to Europeans. And the south went bankrupt (returned to zero) after the civil war so no wealth was made based on slavery. The freed black men post civil war also took part in fighting native americans when the U.S. pushed west.
Mexican Americans before there was such a thing as Mexicans. There was already people living in North America. They were called Indians and they are believed to have came over the land bridge. Indians have Chinese DNA in their genetic makeup with the exception of the Cherokee, whose DNA was traced back to western Europe. France if I'm not mistaken. I watched a documentary about this years ago.
@@pequenoperezoso3743 The scientists and professors in the documentary that I watched on TV said Chinese descent. But who knows? You might be right. I'll send out emails to the universities and have them stripped of their degrees.
@@mikaylamoonwilder9811 history states....europeans didn't practice good hygiene. Mayans and Aztecs, wait. Yeah, every Native American practiced good hygiene and practiced body beautification.
I just came back from Guatemala where I visited the Mayan capital of Tikal. We actually had a tour guide of Mayan descent. 1) They sacrificed in private rooms and punctured through ribs. 2) No one really knows how their ball game was played. Before I say more, where are you getting your information from?
I visited Chichen Itza last year. It is amazing. We had a wonderful guide who was so knowledgeable, he made the past come alive. The Mayans were really inventive, they had a complicated mathematics system, they studied the cosmos, the Mayan calendar attests to that.
Lesley Leith Mayans are still around. Of course after the Spaniards destroyed many things and tons of corrupt governments after they mostly hide in the mountains but their descendants are here n alive today.
My father in law said some migrated to USA, there are mounds and Myan artifacts in Georgia Alabama states, some were forced to Oklahoma but he says when they speak he can understand most of what they say. Explorers wrote the Florida seminole told them they were Myan too.
That was the worst, for it's inaccuracy. In real history when the europeans arived, the great cities and temples showed in the film were empty since long time ago, only smaller cities remained, and the fisrt thing they saw was not the europeans ships, but the mutilated and tortured tainos of the caribean who were fleeing all the things the things that the europeans did to them, thats why when the europeans arived to mayan territory they where harshly welcomed.
Deuteronomy 28:49-50 [49]The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; [50]A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:
From dental implants to actual (and successful) lobotomies, it is amazing to think how advanced the Mayans were, especially when it came to medical surgery...
Thank you, Paulie. I always attributed brain surgery to the Incas and Bolivians along the Andean Cordillera. And, while I can't agree the surgeries were lobotomies, I find it fascinating the Maya also practiced Trepanation. Usually to reduce the pressure on the brain after and injury caused swelling of the brain due to sub cranial bleeding.
Hold on... Large-scale Human sacrifices and the cutting of hearts were more Aztec than Maya. Another confusion video of Aztincamayan... Gracious, these history videos.
@@yax0183 no, keep in mind that "mass-scale" is also a misnomer that's mostly based within the confines of Mesoamerican standards. The Aztec are estimated to have sacrificed 300-2,000 POW annually, while the Maya rarely exceeded over 50 annually. As you can see, the Aztec sacrificed many more by some margin.
Hey guys, a quick correction for you - "Maya" is used to refer to the people, and "Mayan" is used to refer to the language, if you ever need to use those terms again for another video!
Actually, Jessica, anything related to the Mayan people can be referred to as Mayan, such as Mayan beliefs, or Mayan architecture. In speaking of them as a people, you can say the Maya.
Always wondered what life was like: - As a soldier in WWII or even WWI - As a militiaman in the American Revolution - As a cowboy in cattle drives - As a traveler on the oregon trail/ Settler in the 1849 gold rush - As a woman in practically any era - As a colonial settler - As Lewis and Clark on their expedition - As a slave in america - As someone living in the ice age - During the Black Death - As a french royal before the revolution - During the french or american revolution
@Dee Dee People also purposely misunderstand the purpose of Aztec human sacrifice. They call it a "terror tactic" to intimidate vassals, but every Mesoamerican culture engaged in the practice so that falls apart under even minor scrutiny. It was a religious obligation, something people in the modern world are skeptical of but would be easily understood by people just a few generations ago.
@Dee Dee If everyone considers it a normal part of religious practice then it isn't very scary and thus useless as a terror tactic. In fact, there were several Aztec festivals that required people to volunteer for sacrifice. Human sacrifice in Mesoamerica was not a terror tactic in any way.
My grandpa lived in Valladolid, Yucatan , he knew Mayan really well, unfortunately my dad did not learned it and thus not me. I remembered in his last days he speaked in "Spamayan". It would be cool to know Spanish, English, Japanese and Mayan.
I thought the Mayans tattooed themselves to establish social hierarchy among them. The more tattoos a Mayan had; the more respect they had in society. At least, that's my assumption.
The Mayans never sacrificed commoners, let alone slaves. They always sacrificed nobles because their blood was most pure. Also the Mayans never ripped out the hearts of their sacrifices. They were killed by decapitation or by an arrow to the chest. Also this dude shows images from the Aztecs, who did do heart removal during sacrifices.
I was fortunate enough to visit the Yucatán for 2 weeks (with a school group) in 1986... got to see numerous Mayan ruins, including Chichen Itza and Tulum. 💎
I know I said this in another video but you are hilarious!!! The subjects maybe scary, inspirational and educational but you are hilarious. I’m doing my best not to laugh hysterically out loud while I’m at the hospital for my cancer. Keep up the amazing job.
Thank you Weird History for an interesting video. I have been living in Guatemala for five years and I have been to two Mayan sites, Petén and Tecpán. I went to Petén last year just before lock down with my mum, brother and my wife. Petén Nation Park is huge and we all enjoyed our time there.
I love your videos, they manage to be interesting, informative and funny all at the same time. I've always been interested in history,in fact I love it and I'm so glad I discovered your channel. Please could you do a video on Boudicea? I would really enjoy learning more about the flame haired rebel warrior queen. Keep making these videos they are brilliant!🥰
One correction the main form of sacrifice was mostly self inflicted sacrifice like piercing your foreskin or bloodletting. When people were actually killed they were thrown down deep pits or decapitated not stabbed in the chest and got they’re heart taken out. The heart taken out wasn’t til later on.
@@danielflanard8274 as if it isn't exactly just as easy to look up life as a mayan, so what are you doing here? 😂 the man wants a video so let him recommend it
@@ntactime_w3488 History is always available, but especially history for the American frontier in the 1800s with RDR 2 coming out last year and overall being a prominent and popular era. I'm just being an asshole but the point is, wild west centered media is extremely common and accessible; and besides, there are way better documentaries here on RU-vid than anything they could produce. They keep their videos short sns simple.
You know, it’s funny. The only time I ever hear that these videos have it incorrect is whenever they discuss these cultures. However, what I hear in the comments from these so called “experts” also has conflicting information. I think we just need to agree that nobody really has a clear idea on Mayan/Aztec culture lol
Rhizosphere Mayans are an extinct people. It’s like saying, “Just go ask Italians what Ancient Rome was like!”... Just because they’re in the same place doesn’t mean they know what the culture was like.
They still here A lot of us are mixed with other groups, most commonly we also have Spaniard in us. But people like my grandpa are full, 100%. They still preserve language and a lot of traditions and culture.
If you didnt know there were a vast majority of Pagan Ancient Civiliizations all around Europe ECT. I suggest you read about Ancient History globaly. You will be suprised including canablism The Ancient Romans would feed early Christians and Prisioners to Savage Wild Animals they considerd that horrific act as a Sport.
@@sanjuanagasca4124 exactly. In fact the pagans weren't the worst offenders. European nations that worshipped the king would kill at the kings command for very little reason. It was as easy as just making a false accusation and with no proof nor innocent until proven guilty mindset, people would be tortured in much more brutal and elaborate ways than the maya or the Aztec would ever use for their sacrifices.
@@backwardsbandit8094 you know that the Spanish conquistadores burned the the Aztecs Artifacts books Cities down but later they recreated the Aztec drawings is that not a suspicious act? . Why not keep the original book ? Why then recreate? Another is Hernan Cortez had a child with his Aztec Concubine why mix with such a Savage people? king Charles the 2nd Is have said to drink human blood there is a book written called medicinal cannabals by Jan Van that was very popular back in Europe in the 1700ths ECT. It is said that the Gladiators in Ancient Rome would drink there rivals blood after the bloodshed.
@@seanzillax2828 funny you say that I just graduated HVAC school and gave a graduation Speech... I won't stop brother, you do the same and be the best possible you... With faith in yourself and the man above, anything is possible
3:07, wrong. The mayas rarely killed their sacrifices and more often simply inflicted self harm in and then burned the blood that would spurt out on some paper.
Some other thoughts: How about the concept of "0" in mathematics separately invented by the Mayans from the Arabs, who probably got it from India, and formed the critical basis for modern mathematics and building the computer you are using to read this comment. How about a concept of an earth/cosmos well beyond 6,000 years old which existed well before Darwin, Egyptians and Sumerians. And how about with their Northern brethren some of the most beautiful poetry which today forms the cultural genesis of the lyrics of many Mexican boleros and music. . Even Humphrey and Ingrid danced to Perfidia, the Mexican bolero in "Casablanca" on that very special night in gay Paris of 1939.. As for giving human life to assure survival of good against evil (nearly a universal human concept), I wonder how many crosses with a Christ figure on them exist in the Christian world, and how many times a day do Catholics exalt human sacrifice within the "sacrifice" of the Mass, with wine as drinking the blood of the savior and bread as eating his human body. Form of Western religious philosophical cannibalism? Maybe that is why it was so easy for many of the people of Mesoamerica to so quickly convert to Christianity and not the Spanish sword. Maya, Toltec, Aztec, religious belief was not philosophically very different from the more "modern" Europeans, including the northern European Druids and those who sacrificed adults and children in the Irish and Scottish bogs. And finally, we may have nearly wiped them out with our smallpox and other diseases but they in turn gave us tobacco which is still killing people around the world by the millions each year. So here is that for that or tit for tat you might say???? Mayans are a great people who gave a lot to the human experience and who should be treated with the utmost respect They were not very different from us in so many ways..... Finally, I think the NBA should change to the Mayan ball and really earn their salaries.... I wonder if the Warriors would still be building their championship dynasty! with this ball???
While yes the number 0 being used in mathematics was certainly a big deal, this video is talking about how life was in general for the Mayans. *Also the Mayans weren't the first to invent 0, nobody knows who invented that number. The first recorded use of it is approximately 3 B.C.* The video isn't called "History of the Mayans." It's about the lives of the average Mayan, in which case... Yeah there isn't a lot of respect for killing children, mutilation of the body, excessive drinking of alcohol, or the many more things that they did. As for the idea that the universe is 6000 years old being created by the Mayans, this isn't true. No one knows who created that concept. Even the Bible in the original Hebrew text shows that the universe was much older than 6 days old in the Genesis account. The word used for "day" in the Genesis accounts of creation interchange between lengths of time. Sadly this got lost through time which is why few even know of that part of Genesis. The Mayan people certainly were an interesting people to learn the history of and certainly had their fair share of positives. This doesn't change the fact they still did plenty of terrible things that we should definitely make fun of. Giving them credit for things that are inaccurate is debatably more disrespectful than making fun of the bad they did that was accurate.
Love how serious you were when speaking about the Spartans but the moment it comes to Mayans, everything is about joke, and plenty of what you mentioned about blood sacrifices etc were Aztecs, not the Mayans. While there were some, most of it was not the Mayans. A lot of this is inaccurate
I would like to hear more small details about the life of the Maya. Have you ever read the book Aztec by Gary Jenings? That's the level of detail I'm looking for
1:02 You just showed Aztec gods and now you're showing the "templo mayor" which was the main Pyramid temple in the Aztec city of tenochtitlan. Two completely different peoples from different parts of the Americas separated by hundreds of years and they definitely had their own religions and gods. They only shared one God, "the feathered serpent" which was called Kukulkan by the Maya and Quetzalcoatl by the Aztec. The Aztec inherited this God and made it their own when they migrated south into the Valley of Mexico where this God had existed for thousands of years. Don't confuse the two cultures. They are very different. Like comparing the ancient Greeks with the Roman's. There are some similarities and even gods borrowed, but to confuse them betrays an ignorance of basic history. Considering that you decided to do a video calling itself "history", it is remarkably insulting and offensive that you didn't even bother to do a basic Google search.
