Monday, October 18, 2010

Ancient Maya Buried Relatives, Artifacts Under Homes




The Ancient Mayan commoners may have been illiterate, but they discovered ways to record their history without writing it down. They did so by burying their life underneath their homes. In Central Belize, an area where Mayan civilizations once were, two houses uncovered about a dozen human remains, along with artifacts, bones, rocks, and other symbols of their daily life. In the Maya, the burials were an important event. When a death has occurred, the house and everything in it is burned down. This provides a base for building a new house, and this process is repeated after major family member’s deaths. Many bowls and art were found in perfect condition, and they were symbolically arranged for the ceremonies. Although we don’t have written material from the Mayans, they have provided us an artistic way to discover and interpret their lifestyles, which still astound us today.


http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/maya-burial-homes-histories.html

by Madi C., period 8

2 comments:

DianaD said...

That was really interesting! It's pretty neat that it all started as a joke in a little factory and soon everyone in the U.S. recognized "Uncle Sam" as a patriotic symbol!

Taylor Hedblad said...

Delicious food for thought. The aspect of this article that interests me is the fact that such an iconic american symbol is the product of a workplace inside joke. I can see why "The Office" is such a socially influential tv show. I also cant help but notice interesting parallels can be drawn between Uncle Sam and Michael Scott. This "average joe" form of propaganda seems to be very effective.