Machu Picchu is located 2,430 meters or 7,970 feet above sea level. It sits on a mountain ridge and looks down on the Urubamba Valley. Construction on the site began around 1400 CE and was later abandoned approximately 100 years later when the Spanish Conquest began.

One theory is that the site was built in an area that was sacred to the Inca people. The Inca considered the Urubamba River to be sacred. Machu Picchu is built on a mountain which is circled almost completely by the Urubamba River. The site is also positioned so that the rising and setting of the sun is in alignment with mountains that are religiously significant. This is something that is unique to Machu Picchu.

The site also may have acted as a temple that was dedicated to an order known as the Virgins of the Sun. These women lived at Machu Picchu and were responsible for maintaining sacred fires, the weaving of sacred and royal clothing and even the preparation of ritual food. They were supervised by women known as Mama Cuna and governed by a high priestess known as the Coya Pasca.

A third theory was that the site acted as a royal retreat for the Incan Emperor. It was believed that the site was used so that the royal court could hunt, entertain guests and generally relax. It is unknown how long the court would have stayed at Machu Picchu. The theory was developed in the 1980’s and was based on a document written in the 16^th century. It referred to a royal estate that was named Picchu and which was constructed in an area close to where Machu Picchu is actually located.

Another theory states that Machu Picchu may have been built as a way of recreating a mythic landscape that was important to the Inca people. The theory is that Machu Picchu acted as a kind of Mecca for the Incan people and that the journey to the site was actually a recreation of the harrowing journey that their ancestors took. The pilgrimage is believed to have begun at Lake Titicaca which lies on the border between Peru and Bolivia. The path that they followed went underground for a distance before it emerged in an area close to Cusco.

A final theory states that the site was actually an Inca city known as Vilcabamba la Vieja. This was the site where Inca rulers maintained their independence and fought against the Spanish conquistadors that were invading the Inca Empire in the 16^th century. This theory was disproved when archaeologists identified the refuge in Espiritu Pampa which was a jungle site located approximately 80 miles west of Cusco.

Archaeologists first discovered the site after looters unearthed large, sculpted stone masks that were located on the side of one of the principal structures. Unfortunately, looters managed to destroy the major architecture at the site. The site was later surveyed by the IADAEH’s Department of Prehispanic and Colonial Monuments and investigations were continued at the site in 2010.

The site is made up of approximately 115 structures. They had previously been concealed by the thick jungle that had grown over them. The structures are grouped into six architectural groups. Some of the structures at the site include basal platforms, patios, mounds, pyramids, courtyards, causeways and several other structures. They are still largely obscured by the jungle vegetation that had grown over them. The site is also home to a number of stone houses or buildings that may have been used as burial chambers by Mayan kings. It is this use of stone homes as burial chambers that may have made it more difficult for researchers to find the royal remains.

Scientists have been able to determine that there would have been important religious ceremonies held at the city even though it was not as large or culturally advanced as other cities such as Tikal. Archaeologists have stated that if Tikal was the equivalent of a New York or a Los Angeles that it would have roughly compared to an Atlanta or a Denver.

Now scientists have been able to use different mapping techniques imaging technology in order to further excavate and explore the site. They have used three dimensional mapping in order to erase centuries of jungle growth as well as ground penetrating radar that has shown them a wealth of new information about what life would have been like when the site was being lived in.

It is believed that the site was in use between 600 BCE and 900 CE (the Late to Middle Preclassic period). At this time, it was estimated that approximately two thousand permanent residents would have made their home in the city. It was believed that at this time the Mayan peoples did not view their kings as being the center of the universe. Because of this view, it may have made more sense for kings to have been buried in their homes rather than in pyramids as they were in later Mayan civilizations.

It is also believed that the site would have accommodated a number of visitors who would have come to the site at times of great importance. Some of these events would have included the crowning of a king or the naming of a royal heir. At this time the site would have had to accommodate several thousand additional visitors.

On May 5^th, 1862, a force of 8,000 French troops attacked the Mexican army. The odds seemed overwhelmingly in favor of the French. After all, the Mexicans only had about 4,000 troops in their army and the French had proven undefeatable in battle. In the fifty years preceding the battle, no army had managed to defeat the French. Things seemed hopeless.

And yet, they weren’t. Even though the Mexican army was much more poorly equipped, they not only defeated the French they were able to crush them. The battle was known as the Battle of Puebla. In modern times, while the celebration of the Mexican victory is still celebrated by the people of Puebla, Cinqo de Mayo is not celebrated on a massive scale throughout the rest of Mexico. It is, however, being celebrated by many Mexican-Americans who are currently living in the United States. The day has, for them, become a way to celebrate their Mexican heritage.

Cinqo de Mayo is a modern celebration but there are other celebrated traditions that are much older. One perfect example is the Danza de los Voladores or Dance of the Flyers. This is a tradition that has its roots in the time predating the Spanish presence in Mexico. While it is performed in Mexico, the tradition has actually spread throughout much of Mesoamerica.

The practice is a spectacular one. A team of five dancers scales a pole that is 30 meters in height. Four of the participants attach themselves to ropes and the fifth balances on top of the pole. The man on the pole dances and plays a flute, all the while remaining balanced at the top. While he does so, the other four participants (who are known as voladores) launch themselves from the top of the pole. They descend from the top of the pole with only ropes to keep them from falling to their death.

While the five individuals are traditionally men, women have recently been allowed to take part in the ritual. Women were first trained as voladores starting in 1972 although their participation in the ritual is still quite rare.

The modern version of this ritual was started as a way to appease the gods after a brutal drought that happened approximately 450 years ago. The four voladores represent the elements of earth, water, air and fire. In more ancient versions of the ritual there were taboos and other aspects attached to performing the ritual. In the past, the voladores did not represent the elements. Instead, they would often be dressed in bird costumes instead. There was also much more ritual attached to the harvesting and preparation of the tree that would form the pole used in the ritual.

Different areas of Mexico and Mesoamerica celebrate this practice differently. There are often differences in the shape of the pole

The Mayan or Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is a complicated system that calculates dates based on the number of days that have passed since the world was created. According to the calendar, this equated to August 11^th, 3114 BCE according to a variation on the Gregorian calendar that much of the world follows today. This variation is known as the Proleptic Gregorian calendar. The Long Count calendar was one of several that were used to mark the passage of time. They included the Haab’, a 365-day solar calendar, and a 260-day calendar known as the Tzolk’in.

While the other two calendars could be used to identify days that would happen within a 52 year period. If someone needed to identify a date that would fall outside of that 52 year period, they needed a different way to identify it and, in these cases, the Long Count calendar was used instead. The passage of time could be measured in units of 20. A uinal was made up of 20 days. A group of 18 uinals made a tun, which worked out to 360 days. 20 tuns made a unit of time known as a k’atun and 20 k’atuns made a unit of time known as a b’ak’tun. This equaled 144,000 days. On December 20^th, 2012, the 13^th b’ak’tun since the creation of the world will end.

However, when the Mayans talked about the end of the world, they were not necessarily talking about the destruction of the planet Earth itself. Instead, they believed that there were a progression of different “world ages” and that we are currently living in the fourth world age. It is this that is supposed to be ending in 2012 and that the time will be one of transformation. There has been some argument over whether or not this transformation will be accompanied by the destruction of the planet or some other great apocalypse.

There have been some Mayan texts found that do mention the end of B’ak’tun 13, the day that correlates to December 20^th, 2012. In many of the books, it mentions that great and important events will take place, and in at least one it states that at least one god will return to the Earth to visit his children. There have also been written records that mention dates that take place after December, 2012, something which would be totally unlikely if the Mayans thought the world was ending.

Whether the Mayans’ view of a period of transformation and rebirth, or the modern doomsday beliefs that the world will end will come true remains to be seen. All around the world, people watch and wait to see what the future will bring.

The Mayan civilization as a whole was extremely advanced. It was initially established in the time period that lasted from 2000BCE to 250CE and did not fully decline until the Spanish arrived in the area. Their cultural influence was felt throughout Central America and has been felt in areas such as Guatemala, Northern El Salvador and Honduras. Even Mexico, which is located at some distance from the center of the Mayan empire, has felt their influence to a certain extent.

Although there were other cultures in the area, the Mayans are the only ones to have a written language that was fully developed as well as advanced architectural, astrological and mathematical systems as well. The Mayan calendar is known throughout the world and many people have spent years trying to decipher its meanings. Their written language was extremely advanced and was closer to the modern Japanese written language than it was to the Egyptian system of hieroglyphs.

Mayan hieroglyphs have proved to be much more challenging than the Egyptian system of hieroglyphs. There is no Rosetta Stone and, while the two writing systems do appear somewhat similar, they are actually completely unrelated. Being able to translate the language has been an ongoing process that has taken several centuries to accomplish and there are still large portions of writing that are still not fully translated.

Part of what has made Mayan hieroglyphs so difficult to translate is the fact that there are nearly 800 basic signs that make up the language and which can be combined in many different ways. Each of the signs represents a syllable rather than an individual letter. The modern English language, for example, uses a written alphabet that is made up of only 26 individual sounds. In the Mayan written language, there was often more than one symbol that would represent a single sound and scribes could choose from any one of these when writing out a particular word.

There was also a specific way of recording numbers as well. There were no fractions or partial numbers in the Mayan numerical system. They used a combination of bars and dots in order to represent various numbers and the entire system followed a positional base-twenty numerical system. In the Mayan numerical system, a dot would represent 1 and a bar would represent 5. The Mayans did have a way to represent the number 0 and used a shell symbol to do so. Numbers could be written either vertically or horizontally although more complex numbers tended to be written vertically.

Although the Spanish did have contact with the Mayans and had a number of codices that contained their language, they were destroyed by Bishop Diego de Landa in an attempt to eradicate what he termed “pagan rites”. We have been struggling to translate the language ever since.

The trip to Xibalba was not pleasant or scenic as travelers would need to pass rivers of scorpions, bat filled houses and lots of blood and pus. According to the Popul Vuh, travelers would be guided along this path by a mythical dog which could see in the dark.

The Mayan civilization flourished between 2000 BCE and 250 CE. They were known for many things including their intricate calendar, their system of writing, and the massive stone structures and temples that they built throughout Central America. Their civilization was centered on southern Mexico in areas such as Chiapas, the Yucatan Peninsula and other areas further south. Their influence was felt in civilizations that were spread out through a much wider geographical area. Even after the Spanish arrived they continued to be an influence on the region before vanishing around 900 CE.

Now, archaeologists have found a series of stone temples that they believe may have been constructed by Mayans as a way to reach Xibalba. A total of eleven sacred temples were found tucked into underground caves in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. They were discovered and excavated in 2008. Archaeologists were forced to wear scuba gear in areas as many of the caverns were filled with water. Other caverns had dry chambers in them. Many of the tunnels that led from cavern to cavern were very narrow, making it difficult for archaeologists to move from one cavern to the next. The group of temples even included an underground road that was approximately 330 feet in length.

The temples were not the only thing found in the underground caverns. Archaeologists were able to locate examples of Mayan stone carvings and ceramic offerings that were left for the dead. The system of caves and temples also included human remains as well. It is believed that not only did the series of caves act as a route to Xibalba, they were also used as a repository for human remains due to the sheltering nature of the caves themselves. This would have been especially important after the Spanish arrived.

It appears as though the site was used for some time. One ceramic vase that was found in the system of temples was 1900 years old although the majority of the artifacts were dated to between 700CE and 850CE.

The cave system found in the Yucatan is not the only one of its kind. Others were discovered in cave systems located in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. Although they are similar, in that there is a series of temples they have different characteristics that are mainly due to cultural differences. All of the sites found used cavern systems that were located deep in jungle areas as a location for temple complexes.

The process of changing the shape of a person’s head is done for cosmetic reasons. Some of the changes that can be made to a skull include making it flatter, elongating the skull or even creating a conical shaped head. The process begins early, usually in infancy. A new baby’s skull is soft and has not completely fused as it has in an adult. Therefore it does not take as much effort to reshape a child’s head into a more socially acceptable shape.

The process varies from culture to culture and usually uses materials that are plentiful and easy to come by. Boards, baskets and cords woven from native fibers are often used to change the shape of the skull. For example, an elongated skull may have been bound between two boards in order to cause it to lengthen. The process can be a lengthy one as it may take several months or even years for the head to achieve the desired shape. Once the process has been completed, the skull cannot change back and has been permanently altered.

Altered skull shape was often believed to be connected with desirable attributes. Some cultures believed that if a head was elongated, for example, it would mean that the individual was more intelligent than other individuals who had shorter heads. Other cultures believed that if a person’s skull shape had been altered it would make it easier for them to communicate with the spirit world.

The act of changing the shape of an individual’s skull is not limited to Central and South America. It has also been found in other ancient cultures such as the Egyptians. Some of the pharaohs had altered head shapes. One of the most famous is Tutankhamun. His head had been elongated using head molding. Egyptian skulls dating from the third millennium BCE are believed to be some of the most ancient examples of modified skulls but archaeologists have also unearthed altered skulls that are as old as 45,000 BCE.

Many cultures have used some sort of permanent body modification as a rite of passage or to show that a person belongs to their ethnic or tribal group. It was also often performed as a way of showing what social class an individual belonged to as it was often the offspring of wealthy or important individuals who were cared for enough that they were able to survive the modification process. Scarification, tattooing and permanent body modification techniques are used to do this and, while less common now than they were in the past, many of these modification techniques are still being practiced even now.

Many of the skulls were found in the late 19^th century and in the early 20^th century. At the time, many of them did not have visible tool marks. Experts in lapidary who originally examined the skulls declared that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to carve these skulls without shattering or cracking them. There was much speculation about who had made them and where they came from. At the time, reports stated that some skulls were anywhere from 5,000 to 36,000 years old.

A number of claims have been made about these skulls. They are believed to have been found in areas surrounding Mayan and Aztec ruins and yet, there is no documentation that they were found at any recognized dig site. It is believed by many people that these items were used as ritual objects and one legend in particular states that crystal skulls were used for healing because of their supernatural powers.

There have been many claims about what these skulls are capable of doing. Some individuals believe that their power can be used to heal diseases such as cancer or can be used for darker purposes such as using them to kill others. It is believed that crystal skulls were seen as premonitions of events such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Many of the skulls are on display in museums or are part of private collections around the world. Some look like human skulls and others have overbites and other deformities that make them look more like aliens. When you consider the artwork that was common to many Central American peoples, it seems fitting that some of the skulls would look somewhat otherworldly.

Some of the skulls have never been examined or subjected to scientific testing while others have. Using modern equipment, scientists have been able to tell quite a bit about the crystal skulls. Many of them do show evidence of modern tool marks and one, known as the Paris skull, was found to contain traces of water that dated from the 19^th century.

Using modern testing methods, scientists have been able to prove that some of the skulls were actually part of the vast trade in fake archeological artifacts that were bought and sold at the end of the 19^th century. Regardless of this proof, many people still view the 13 crystal skulls as strange and mysterious artifacts that were part of ancient Central American history and as items of the occult in general.

There have been many books written about the 13 largest skulls and they have also appeared in many movies such as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

In Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, a year of time wasn’t measured in the same way that a year is measured in the 21st century. Instead, the Aztecs used several calendars to measure time in the sense that marked periods were devoted to specific deities. The tonalpohualli was a calendar whose name meant “count of days”, and marked out a 260-day sacred period.

The tonalpohualli was not based on either a lunar or solar rotation, but instead was composed of twenty 13-day periods called ‘trecena’/ Each trecena was devoted to a particular deity, and was directly associated with a specific feast for that god or goddess.

Due to its rather ancient place in Mesoamerican history, the origins of the tonalpohualli calendar remain unknown – however, some historians have postulated theories about its meaning, such as: that it is representative of the human gestation period; that it reflects a time of year relative to the sun’s position in the tropics; or that it is a primitive Venusian cycle. Opponents to these theories suggest that perhaps its creation had nothing to do with natural phenomena at all, and instead may simply be related to the importance the Aztecs gave to the numbers 13 and 20.

Complementary to the tonalpohualli is the Aztec xiuhpohualli, a solar calendar that divides the year into 18 months consisting of 20 months each. Each xiuhpohualli year was named after the first tonalpohualli day that it fell on, since the two calendars only coincided with each other once every 52 years.

Other Mesoamerican cultures also kept similar calendars – for example, the Mayan equivalent of the tonalpohualli was called the Tzolk’in, while the Mayan version of the xiuhpohualli calendar is known as the Haab’.

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Tomorrow: Prehistoric Goddess

In the grave of an elite member of the Mayan Empire, archaeologists discovered a vase situated next to the skeletal remains – and oddly enough, the vase still contains some remains of food that was placed inside the vase at the time of burial. The vase itself is the first among its kind to be discovered archaeologically in modern times, and it may actually be able to shed some light on the ancient rituals practiced by the Mayans.

The food remains inside this intricately carved “death vase” reveal more about the ancient Mayans’ practice of ancestor worship than was previously known – the vase included remnants of corn pollen, cacao, and something called ‘false ipecac’ which is known to induce bouts of severe nausea when ingested.

These trace remains may suggest that “death vases” such as this one were used in the ancient rites that produced trance-like states through an intense form of physical purging – the Mayans communicated with their ancestors through visions, which they would induce by such practices as bloodletting, taking a powerful chocolate enema, or by drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and then repeatedly throwing up.

All evidence points to whatever drink was inside of the vase as having contained ipecac, which would have made the person ingesting the drink throw up – and throw up a lot. Then through this, they would have had ‘visions’ wherein they could talk to their ancestors.

What kind of drink would have contained this nausea-drug? The white-marble death vase probably held a gruel primarily made with corn, with cacao added for flavor, and the drug added for the… ‘religious’ experience.

Prior to the discovery of this vase in its context, other Mayan death vases existed in museums only due to looters having taken the intricately carved pieces out of tombs and selling them on the black market or to museums for their own profit – this is the first of the death vases to be scientifically excavated.

The place where the grave was located is slightly perplexing, however – it was found underneath a palace in a small settlement inside of Honduras’ Palmarejo Valley. The palace and the vase point to a higher level of prestige than should have been prevalent at an otherwise typical and unimportant farming village – so why was a high status burial located inside of a residential building in a tiny settlement?

The likeliest explanation is that the person who was buried here was an important historical figure for the people of this town – perhaps someone whose death marked the end of an era, such as a community founder or original member of the town’s ruling lineage. Interestingly enough, the vase itself isn’t as old as the burial – the vase was added to the grave about a hundred years later, likely in commemoration for the individual.

The decoration on the death vase is made up of sculpted scroll images and tiles that look like snake scales, with handles that were carved to resemble a leaf-nose bat’s head.

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Tomorrow: Nehemiah’s Wall?