10 Unknown Facts About the Mayans

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The Mayans were an ancient and advanced civilization that lived in southeastern Mexico and northern Central America. Similar to the Incas, they have an interesting and complex history. In fact, they were one of the most advanced ancient civilizations, with advanced astronomy, math, architecture, and system of language. However, there are still a lot of things not know about this mysterious civilization. With that in mind, check out below for 10 unknown facts about the Mayans.

#10. Flat foreheads

Similar to other civilizations, the Mayans appreciated beauty. In fact, they had many interesting beauty tricks and secrets. However, one of the most interesting facts about the Mayans was their standards of beauty were much different then you would expect. For example, Mayans thought that long heads were attractive!

They would go to extreme measures in order to implement this beauty standard. When a baby was young, and their skull was still soft and malleable, they would strap boards onto the baby’s head in order to create a flat forehead.^[1]IP Factly – 9 Cool Facts On Mayans And Mayan Civilization… However, this beauty standard was most common in the Mayan upper class.

#9. Pyramids

The Mayans are well known for their pyramids. However, one of the most interesting facts about the Mayans is that we are still discovering new pyramids every day! In fact, in 2015, archiologists discovered Toniná in Chiapas.^[2]Multicultural Kids Blogs – 10 Fun Facts about the Maya It is now the tallest pyramid in Mexico at 246 feet tall. The previous tallest one was the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan at 213 feet tall.

The reason that researchers are still finding new ones even today is due to the thick vegetation from the jungles completely covering up the ruins of these ancient Mayan pyramids and cities.

#8. The Mayans Ate Chocolate

Chocolate has become one of the most important desserts in western cultures. In fact, it is almost part of every celebration from Halloween to Christmas! However, long before it became popular in the west, the Mayans were already perfecting the art of making chocolate. In fact, archaeological research shows that the Mayans were already working with cacao beans as early as 2600 years ago!

Mayans would consume the chocolate in a type of chocolate drink. However, the way they prepared it was very different than anything you have probably had before. Mayans would mix the ground cacao beans with water, cornmeal, chili peppers, and honey in order to make a spicy drink.^[3]Mental Floss – 15 Facts About the Maya Civilization

However, chocolate was more than just something tasty to eat and drink in Mayan culture. In fact, it held a very important part in Mayan rituals and celebrations. For example, there are images of the Mayan god of sustenance K’awil holding a container with cacao beans.

#7. Mayans Had a Sophisticated Hieroglyphics System

One of the most interesting facts about the Mayans is the sophistication of their writing system. For example, in English, words are made by combining letters from a 26 letter alphabet. However, in Mayan, words are made by combining more than 800 different hieroglyphs.^[4]FAMSI – MAYA HIEROGLYPHIC WRITING It is one of the most advanced writing systems in Mesoamerica. In fact, not only until recently were archaeologists able to start being able to read the full Mayan writing system.

The writing system dates back to at least 300 BCE. It can be seen on many different Mayan artifacts including pottery, books, monuments, and buildings.

#6. Mayans Took Ritual Enemas

In Mayan culture the best way to talk with the spirits was through intoxication and hallucination. While they did drink things to help them achieve this state, they also developed other ways in order to get them inebriated quicker as well as to avoid vomiting. In fact, one of the most interesting facts about the Mayans was that they would perform enemas with alcohol and psychoactives in order to get to an intoxicated state quicker!^[5]NEUROLOGÍA There are even pottery drawings that show this practice.

#5. Mayans Played Extreme Sports

The Mayans had a fascination with the ball sport “pitz”. In fact, the courts for the games took up important spots in the big Mayan city of Chichen-Itza. In the game, competitors would pass around a big rubber ball about the size of a soccer ball without using their hands. The goal was to shoot the ball through a high stone hoop. The players would also wear equipment to protect their arms, knees, and ribs.

However, one of the most interesting things about the Mayans was that playing “pitz” wasn’t really something you did for fun. Rather, it was part of a larger Mayan ritual.^[6]Maya – Ballgame In fact, if you lost, you would become a human sacrifice! The game took after the Mayan creation story where two brothers defeated supernatural lords in the game.

#4. The Mayan Writing System Was Discovered by Accident

One of the most interesting facts about the Mayans was that their system of writing was deciphered by accident by Tatiana Proskouriakoff. In fact, originally, she was training to be an architect. However, as she could find a job, she started making sketches for the Penn Museum in Philadelphia in the 1930s.

Because of her position, she got to go to Guatamala to a Maya archaeological site. Without any formal training, she started to decipher the Maya glyphs. In 1960, in a historical important paper “Historical Implication of a Pattern of Dates at Piedras Negras, Guatemala” she relized that “upended frog” glyph represented birth and that the “toothache” glyph represent when a king came to power.^[7]Penn Museum – MARVELOUS MONDAY ARCHAEOLOGIST OF THE WEEK – TATIANA PROSKOURIAKOFF With these, the rest of the system quickly started to come into place!

#3. Mayans Painted Human Sacrifices Blue

The Mayans used a special pigment known as Maya Blue. This pigment is very fascinating because despite time and the harsh weather conditions of the jungle, it has still managed to last on many different Mayan monuments and artifacts. However, despite the color looking very nice, one of the most interesting facts about the Mayans is that they actually used this color in human sacrifices. When the Mayans wanted to please the god of rain, they would paint the human sacrifice in Maya Blue and then cut out their heart.^[8]The New York Times – The Grim Story of Maya Blue

#2. The Mayan Calendar Doesn’t Actually Predict the End of the World

You may have heard about the Mayan’s prediction of the end of the world. The date was supposed to be December 21, 2012. However, that day came and went and nothing happened. However, one of the most interesting facts about the Mayans is that they didn’t actually predict the end of the world. Rather, that date corresponded to the end of a full cycle on their Long Count calendar which was 5,125 years.

In reality, the Mayans actually had multiple calendars to keep track of different things. For example, they had a 260 day calendar called Tzolk’in. This one kept track of religious ceremonies. They also had another 365 day calendar called Haab’ that kept track of the solar year.^[9]Live Science – Does Anyone Really Believe in the Mayan Apocalypse?

One of the most amazing things about Mayan calendars was that they were one of the earliest to use the mathematical concept of zero.

#1. Mayans Liked to Sweat

One of the most interesting facts about the Mayans is that they actually head a sauna culture. In fact, the oldest Mayan saunas are around 3,000 years old. This makes them even older than the famous Roman saunas!^[10]The New York Times – Before Rome’s Baths, There Was the Maya Sweat House

The Mayan saunas were made out of adobe or stone. They used them for both health as well as ritual cleaning purposes. Some of the most famous ones are in Tikal, Joya de Ceren, and Cuello.