We have enjoyed visits to a number of ancient sites. Contrary to the opinions of some (and implied by my schoolbooks as a child), the more ancient inhabitants of the americas were quite impressive in a number of ways. Despite the conquests of the Spaniards, the diseases and war of the English and the ravages of time, there is significant evidence that ancient native peoples were hard at work not only hundreds but thousands of years ago. We had the opportunity to visit one such site on a camping trip to Poverty Point Louisiana. This location is believed to date to between 3000-4000 years ago, as the docent said "about when Moses was building the pyramids in Egypt". This is not only ancient by American standards but even ancient by European or Asian standards. Despite the age and the material (earth), the mound and ring structures are still quite visible. Our theory is that there was significant cultural connection between the various inhabitants of the Americas and the mound builders likely inspired the later Pyramid builders. There is essentially no rock on Louisiana, so building with earth (an estimated ten million baskets hand carried to build the big mound) was a natural, while in Yucatan, there is so little soil that building with rock was the most appropriate.
The top image is the actual mound, some 600 feet across, the central image an artists imagination of the site at the time, similar to a pyramid, and the lower image a "small version" of the massive mound and rings (over 1 km across) which may have held houses overlooking a central plaza.
The children of course have to get into the act but notice that they are wearing warm clothing. H looked at the picture and said 'it was really cold there when we went camping".
By comparison, the Yucatecan pyramids are perhaps a bit taller but actually less massive, but made of stone. They are also significantly more recent. The strucutures at Mayapan date as recently as about 500 years ago.
Note the ring structure above. B noticed and pointed it out, comparing it to poverty point. Of course, rings or circles are fundamental geometric shapes but could there be a linkage, perhaps a kind of amphitheater? To place it in our context we asked "is Tiger Stadium patterned after the coliseum in Rome"? the initial reaction is a profound no, but after reflection, the obvious answer is yes, at least indirectly. So this could also be a distant but inspired structure. These stone pyramids are likely thousands of years more recent than the earthen mounds in Louisiana.
These structures are not as large as the large Louisiana mound.
The observatory reminds us that important angles were included in each structure, many aligned to north/south and also aligned angle-wise with sun angles at the equinox or solstices. They may also have been aligned with certain stars.
G stands in front of the large pyramid. The cenote (derived from the Maya dzonot) provides water and is to the left (note the green trees). Speaking of trees, the weather is a bit warmer, despite it being deeper into winter. We slathered the kids in sunscreen but still suffered a bit of light toasting.
More of these images to come but the images are more compelling than I expected. The chac here is a scary sculpture. the kids are emulating his expression. Are they scary? Little J scared me with his exploits on the ruins, but we had a good visit.
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