Los antiguos mayas descubrieron dos ideas fundamentales en matemáticas: el valor posicional y el cero. Sólo otra gran cultura de la antigüedad llegó a encontrar, cerca de 300 años después que los mayas, estos conceptos: la cultura hindú. Estos dos elementos, el valor posicional y el cero, pudieran parecernos simples y básicos hoy en día. […]
Continue ReadingThere is no truth in the words of foreigners. Chilam Balam of Chumayel The news arrives every day: accusations of menacing maneuvers by the Mexican army in Chiapas, proclamations and declarations from different groups and leaders, peace commissions that grow and die like wild flowers in the fields. Violence and killings. Injustice and oppression. Articles […]
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For the thousandth time, the automobile was stuck in the road. Damn! Things were much worse than we’d imagined. I opened the car door and stepped down to see how to get us out from the hole in which we had fallen. Not without difficulty, my wife and I managed to find enough rocks to […]
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Tucked away between the towering hotels of Cancun’s sparkling shores is a cultural treasure known as La Casa del Arte Popular Mexicano. Perched atop the pier on Kukulcán Boulevard in Cancun’s hotel zone, the tiny museum is brimming with handcrafted pieces that reflect Mexico’s rich artistic legacy. Careful thought went into the creation of La […]
Continue ReadingBasado en Mystery of the Maya PERSPECTIVA A.C. 1200-1000 Olmecas 1800-900 Maya Preclásico Antiguo 900-300 Maya Preclásico Medio 300 A.C. – D.C. 250 Maya Preclásico Tardío A.D. 250-600 Maya Clásico Antiguo 600-900 Maya Clásico Tardío 900-1500 Maya Postclásico 1521-1821 Período colonial 1821- hoy El México independiente CRONOGRAMA A.C. 11,000 Los primeros cazadores-recolectores se establecen en […]
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Para el extranjero, la palabra ‘Maya’ conjura imágenes de ruinas arqueológicas y de una cultura perdida y desaparecida. Hoy en día, la palabra ‘Chiapas’ trae a la mente ideas de rebelión, el nombre del Sub-comandante Marcos, y confusión generalizada. Lo que muchos no conocen es la relación entre los antiguos mayas y la expresión viva, […]
Continue Reading El esplendor físico de la cultura maya se aprecia sobre todo en la arquitectura y decorado de sus ciudades. Estas ciudades-estado constituían la sede del poder de los reyes-sacerdotes que administraban la obediencia, el tributo y la fuerza de trabajo del pueblo que creía en ellos. Se han identificado muchas ciudades y centros ceremoniales mayas, […]
Continue ReadingThe ancient game of amalla was not mere sport. The ballcourt was a “middleworld” between gods and humans, a battleground for the cosmic tension between life and death, good and evil, sacrifice and rebirth. After all, the Maya Hero Twins — Hunahpu and Xbalanque — had outsmarted the Lords of Death on the ballcourt by replacing a […]
Continue ReadingFor an exotic place and a surprising destination, I strongly recommend The Instituto Cientifico de Na Bolom, the Scientific Institute of Na Bolom (House of the Tiger). It is located in the State of Chiapas, 8000 feet high in the breathtaking mountains. It was established in the ironically-named San Cristobal de Las Casas, the fastest growing […]
Continue ReadingMexico is a country of color, diversity, grand differences in geography, climate and perspective. The same is true of her people. From the mysterious origins and fates of her earliest inhabitants; the current indigenous peoples; to the history and influence of immigrants from Spain and other areas of the world, Mexico has developed an intricate […]
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