Ep 616 - The Four Heavens (feat. David Stuart)

Fifty years ago, the history of the ancient Maya was largely unknown, with archaeologists unable to read their intricate hieroglyphs. Over the past five decades, a dedicated community of scholars, including David Stuart, has achieved 80-90% readability of these texts. This breakthrough has unveiled a detailed historical record, including the names of kings, dynasties, and political conflicts, providing the oldest written history in the Americas.

Stuart states, 'we've been through this amazing time in the last 50 years where we've kind of gone from zero to 100 in terms of knowing the names of kings and knowing the dynasties... it's the oldest history anywhere in the Americas.' He later adds, 'by the mid 90s I would say we could read maybe 80 or 90% of Maya texts.'

Stuart firmly rejects the 'Ancient Aliens' theory, which often misinterprets Maya monuments and texts as evidence of extraterrestrial contact. He clarifies that the 'real human story' of these civilizations is inherently compelling, and that modern archaeological understanding provides concrete explanations for phenomena often attributed to aliens. He cites the famous 'rocket ship' image as a misinterpretation of a sarcophagus lid depicting a king's resurrection.

Stuart calls the show 'nonsense' and states, 'the real human story of these places and and the monuments is I think the real story that that's just as compelling.' Regarding the 'rocket ship,' he explains, 'That is actually a lid of a coffin... The scene on the top is of Kinichan Pakal, the king. He he's he is kind of taking off in a way, right? But what he's doing is he's raising as as the son in the east. He's being resurrected.'

The 'Maya collapse' around 800-900 AD, which saw the abandonment of major cities like Tikal, was not a mysterious disappearance but a multifaceted crisis. Stuart attributes it to a combination of environmental factors like drought, the inability of large populations to sustain themselves, and a breakdown of the political system due to incessant warfare. The Maya people did not vanish but migrated, making 'hard decisions' to leave unsustainable regions.

Stuart explains, 'a lot of their cities some of them were really large... they collapsed.' He identifies factors: 'It had to do with climate for sure because we have records of drought... big populations basically couldn't sustain themselves... the political system kind of fell apart... there was so much warfare.' He concludes, 'I think they just voted with their feet and decided to go off to do other things.'

The ancient Maya possessed an extraordinary understanding of time and astronomy, reflected in their highly precise calendar system. Unlike many ancient civilizations where dates are approximate, Maya texts often record events to the exact day, which can be correlated with our modern calendar. This meticulous record-keeping provides an unparalleled level of detail for reconstructing ancient Maya history.

Stuart notes, 'We know because of the Maya calendar and the way they mesh with our calendar the very day when Kinich of Penke died and was resurrected. You know, we know when the war of 378 happened at Tikall that was on January the 16th.' He adds, 'They were so interested in their cosmos and in the patterns of time and everything that they they wrote that down with precision.'