Comparing the Mayans and the Ancestral Puebloan Civilizations
The Mayans and the Ancestral Puebloans of the Four Corners Region were two different civilizations hundreds of miles apart. The Mayans were an advanced society living in the Yucatan Peninsula region of Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. The Ancestral Puebloans were also an advanced society living in the desert southwest of the United States. Yet, as I learned about them, I have found striking similarities, ranging from the rise and fall of their “Classical Period” to advancements in their respective civilizations, including architecture and ceremonial sites, customs, and trade goods. Obviously, their was some sort of connection between both societies, but was there a direct influence or was this connection between both cultures coincidental?
No culture is the same, and everyone and every culture has their own uniqueness, their own special traditions and way of life. The Mayans lived in the Yucatan Peninsula, a relatively dry place with ample access to fresh water which was, and still is, stored in cenotes: entrances to underground aquifers. Contrastingly, the Ancestral Puebloans lived in a desert, with little rain and little water accessible. Additionally, the Mayans are different from the Ancestral Puebloans in their architectural style, in the fact that the buildings that the Mayans built were tall pyramidal-shaped temples and palaces for the rich, whereas the Ancestral Puebloans’ ceremonial centers are kivas, underground circular pits, and their main buildings were for storage and occasionally as living spaces. But, even though the Ancestral Puebloans and the Mayans are separated by hundreds of miles, they are more closely related than may be seen from this first glance.
While traveling throughout the Yucatan Peninsula and the Four Corners Region, I have seen many similarities and have come to the conclusion that there are three main aspects in which the Mayans and Ancestral Puebloans are very similar. One is the evolution of the civilizations, another is their advancements in architecture and astronomy, and the final is cultural similarities influenced by trading which brought ideas from different locations.
The evolution of the both the Mayans and Ancestral Puebloans were incredibly similar with the Post-Classic Period Maya flourishing from 900 AD to 1500 AD and the Ancestral Puebloans from 900 AD to 1300 AD. Historians think that droughts and long periods of warfare had an influence in bringing an end to both classical cultures, with the Ancestral Puebloans leaving Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde between 1200 and 1300 AD. Similarly, around 1300 AD a major drought also hit the Yucatan Peninsula and water levels dropped in the cenotes, which contributed to wars in which the two rival cities of Mayapán and Uxmal teamed up to take over Chichén Itza, leading to the decline of a portion of the Mayan civilization in the Yucatan Peninsula.
In terms of architecture, both Mayan and Ancestral Puebloans built major ceremonial centers with big buildings where only a few people lived. The Mayans had their cities laid out so that the city centers were public places, with temples and ball courts. Only a few people lived in the city center, and they were the religious leaders and wealthy people. Similarly, the Ancestral Puebloans built large pueblos, some at least four stories tall with hundreds of rooms, but only a handful of people lived in the pueblo full time, and the people who lived there were the caretakers of the pueblo. Another interesting architectural similarity is that both civilizations were incredible star gazers, and purposely oriented their buildings to the path of celestial objects and different astronomical events. The Mayans oriented their buildings, like ‘The Observatory’, so that the corners of the buildings lined up with the sun during the solstices, and the windows were oriented towards the cardinal directions. Similarly, the people of the Chaco culture had buildings that were oriented along the cardinal directions, windows that lined up to the sun during the equinoxes, and found unique places that aligned with certain astronomical events which then became sacred locations, including the lunar standstill site at Chimney Rock. A final architectural advancement was that both the Mayans and Ancestral Puebloans built and maintained major roads that led to and from their cultural and city centers.
A third way that the Mayans and Ancestral Puebloans are similar is in certain aspects of their culture. These similarities may have been influenced by an extensive trade route going from Central America to the Southwest of the United States. As food, mainly corn, beans and squash, made its way towards the southern United States, ideas also seemed to follow. Archeologists have found ceremonial macaw feathers in Chaco Canyon providing evidence of an advanced trade network going on between the two civilizations. Additionally, in places like Mesa Verde, the Ancestral Puebloans followed a tradition of elongating their babies heads in between two boards. This cultural practice was also seen in the Mayan civilization as the wealthy Mayans would elongate the heads of their babies at birth to ultimately show status. Finally, the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum in Mesa Verde displayed a curved wooden club that both cultures used to knock spears out of the air.
Contrary to popular belief, the Mayans and Ancestral Puebloans did not vanish into thin air but are still alive. Their descendants just live in much different ways than what hearing their names might evoke, as the descendants of the Mayans and the Ancestral Puebloans live outside of mainstream society. Both peoples had a very difficult time with the incoming of Europeans and while the descendants of the Ancestral Puebloans, including the Hopi, Zuni and Acoma, live on reservations and receive some assistance from the government, the Mayans don’t get any government subsidies at all. It seems that these cultures, connected in the past, have invariably met the same challenges throughout history, with these challenges still continuing. Clearly, though, while the ancient Mayans and the Ancestral Puebloans lived thousands of miles away from each other, there is a surprising number of similarities between their cultures. Perhaps these two civilizations had bigger influences on one another that we have previously thought.
No culture is the same, and everyone and every culture has their own uniqueness, their own special traditions and way of life. The Mayans lived in the Yucatan Peninsula, a relatively dry place with ample access to fresh water which was, and still is, stored in cenotes: entrances to underground aquifers. Contrastingly, the Ancestral Puebloans lived in a desert, with little rain and little water accessible. Additionally, the Mayans are different from the Ancestral Puebloans in their architectural style, in the fact that the buildings that the Mayans built were tall pyramidal-shaped temples and palaces for the rich, whereas the Ancestral Puebloans’ ceremonial centers are kivas, underground circular pits, and their main buildings were for storage and occasionally as living spaces. But, even though the Ancestral Puebloans and the Mayans are separated by hundreds of miles, they are more closely related than may be seen from this first glance.
While traveling throughout the Yucatan Peninsula and the Four Corners Region, I have seen many similarities and have come to the conclusion that there are three main aspects in which the Mayans and Ancestral Puebloans are very similar. One is the evolution of the civilizations, another is their advancements in architecture and astronomy, and the final is cultural similarities influenced by trading which brought ideas from different locations.
The evolution of the both the Mayans and Ancestral Puebloans were incredibly similar with the Post-Classic Period Maya flourishing from 900 AD to 1500 AD and the Ancestral Puebloans from 900 AD to 1300 AD. Historians think that droughts and long periods of warfare had an influence in bringing an end to both classical cultures, with the Ancestral Puebloans leaving Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde between 1200 and 1300 AD. Similarly, around 1300 AD a major drought also hit the Yucatan Peninsula and water levels dropped in the cenotes, which contributed to wars in which the two rival cities of Mayapán and Uxmal teamed up to take over Chichén Itza, leading to the decline of a portion of the Mayan civilization in the Yucatan Peninsula.
In terms of architecture, both Mayan and Ancestral Puebloans built major ceremonial centers with big buildings where only a few people lived. The Mayans had their cities laid out so that the city centers were public places, with temples and ball courts. Only a few people lived in the city center, and they were the religious leaders and wealthy people. Similarly, the Ancestral Puebloans built large pueblos, some at least four stories tall with hundreds of rooms, but only a handful of people lived in the pueblo full time, and the people who lived there were the caretakers of the pueblo. Another interesting architectural similarity is that both civilizations were incredible star gazers, and purposely oriented their buildings to the path of celestial objects and different astronomical events. The Mayans oriented their buildings, like ‘The Observatory’, so that the corners of the buildings lined up with the sun during the solstices, and the windows were oriented towards the cardinal directions. Similarly, the people of the Chaco culture had buildings that were oriented along the cardinal directions, windows that lined up to the sun during the equinoxes, and found unique places that aligned with certain astronomical events which then became sacred locations, including the lunar standstill site at Chimney Rock. A final architectural advancement was that both the Mayans and Ancestral Puebloans built and maintained major roads that led to and from their cultural and city centers.
A third way that the Mayans and Ancestral Puebloans are similar is in certain aspects of their culture. These similarities may have been influenced by an extensive trade route going from Central America to the Southwest of the United States. As food, mainly corn, beans and squash, made its way towards the southern United States, ideas also seemed to follow. Archeologists have found ceremonial macaw feathers in Chaco Canyon providing evidence of an advanced trade network going on between the two civilizations. Additionally, in places like Mesa Verde, the Ancestral Puebloans followed a tradition of elongating their babies heads in between two boards. This cultural practice was also seen in the Mayan civilization as the wealthy Mayans would elongate the heads of their babies at birth to ultimately show status. Finally, the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum in Mesa Verde displayed a curved wooden club that both cultures used to knock spears out of the air.
Contrary to popular belief, the Mayans and Ancestral Puebloans did not vanish into thin air but are still alive. Their descendants just live in much different ways than what hearing their names might evoke, as the descendants of the Mayans and the Ancestral Puebloans live outside of mainstream society. Both peoples had a very difficult time with the incoming of Europeans and while the descendants of the Ancestral Puebloans, including the Hopi, Zuni and Acoma, live on reservations and receive some assistance from the government, the Mayans don’t get any government subsidies at all. It seems that these cultures, connected in the past, have invariably met the same challenges throughout history, with these challenges still continuing. Clearly, though, while the ancient Mayans and the Ancestral Puebloans lived thousands of miles away from each other, there is a surprising number of similarities between their cultures. Perhaps these two civilizations had bigger influences on one another that we have previously thought.