Can you picture out the world around 1500 BC? It would be an unspoiled, lush green and uninhabited land wherein no one exactly knows what lies across the river or what is on the other side of the forests. Our Mayan ancestors were once in this situation wherein they wandered the Mesoamerican basin looking for a place to settle down. For a race that deemed water to generally be the most sacred of all of the elements, a cave was an excellent location to create a settlement.
The significance of caves to the Mayans
Ancient civilizations in Mesoamerica including the Mayans had a multi-pronged approach towards caves. Not only is it perceived as a fountain of water in the means of rainfall and streams, a cave acted as a temple of the Mayans, as an edge between the other world and this world and also being a place of art expression. Among the two, this world is visible and very much appreciated by those who are exploring the Mayan ruins through historical adventure tours.
The Mayans regarded the caves as the home of the Rain God Chaak hence the place was set wherein a lot of rituals are conducted to pay homage in honor of their said god. If you are one of those history lovers who wish to witness this worship, you should take on adventure tours to Peten to the Mayan site in Guatemala, whereby there's a chasm called Grieta. If you examine the cave's environment closely, you will discover remnants of the many related rain rituals. One more cave that also worked as a Mayan temple committed to the Rain God was discovered to feature a stalagmite sculpted to look like the deity and also equipped with a lightening axe.
Having deduced that a number of Mayan temples are fortified by underground passages the archaeologists realized the significance of the caves during the Mayan civilization; these passages underground also played on a seminal role in cosmology. Evidently, these subway or surface features provided as canvas for aspiring artists as well thereby affirming the fact that cave art was among the first forms of artistic expressions taken on by the human race. A great deal of the content revolved around natural surroundings on the subject of creatures coexisting with mankind, footprints, and handprints along with geometric patterns.
The walls of the Mayan temples were adorned with the most commonly used colors such as red and black while yellow and blue are rarely seen. Although charcoal was counted upon as a source of black sometimes various other elements just like manganese were furthermore resorted to for getting black pigmentation. Red was procured from inside of the cave itself courtesy of clay which comprised a high percentage of iron. Since this particular red had an orange tinge to it, artists who had been desirous of deeper and brighter shades employed hematite to be able to finish the result.
Glyphs carved out of stones, rock sculptures and objects made from precious elements such as obsidian and jade are the other constituents of the Mayan caves. Pieces of potter and altars of worship have been found by adventure tourists which have validated the fact that a cave in the Mayan era was actually thought of as sacred and the Mayan's place of worship. Worship was both individual and communal and even though the first sort entailed leaving a part of pottery in certain other part of the cave, the aforementioned needed ceremonial pottery to be utilized along with the altar of worship.
Just like other tribes in Mesoamerica, the Mayans considered caves to be associated with death and life wherein anything emerging from the cave was born into the world and anyone going into the recesses of the cave was departing from the world which means facing death. Therefore should you wish to make a journey down the memory lane plus live through the lives of our 'cave-dwelling' ancestors then you definitely embark on a tour to an ancient Mayan temple.
The significance of caves to the Mayans
Ancient civilizations in Mesoamerica including the Mayans had a multi-pronged approach towards caves. Not only is it perceived as a fountain of water in the means of rainfall and streams, a cave acted as a temple of the Mayans, as an edge between the other world and this world and also being a place of art expression. Among the two, this world is visible and very much appreciated by those who are exploring the Mayan ruins through historical adventure tours.
The Mayans regarded the caves as the home of the Rain God Chaak hence the place was set wherein a lot of rituals are conducted to pay homage in honor of their said god. If you are one of those history lovers who wish to witness this worship, you should take on adventure tours to Peten to the Mayan site in Guatemala, whereby there's a chasm called Grieta. If you examine the cave's environment closely, you will discover remnants of the many related rain rituals. One more cave that also worked as a Mayan temple committed to the Rain God was discovered to feature a stalagmite sculpted to look like the deity and also equipped with a lightening axe.
Having deduced that a number of Mayan temples are fortified by underground passages the archaeologists realized the significance of the caves during the Mayan civilization; these passages underground also played on a seminal role in cosmology. Evidently, these subway or surface features provided as canvas for aspiring artists as well thereby affirming the fact that cave art was among the first forms of artistic expressions taken on by the human race. A great deal of the content revolved around natural surroundings on the subject of creatures coexisting with mankind, footprints, and handprints along with geometric patterns.
The walls of the Mayan temples were adorned with the most commonly used colors such as red and black while yellow and blue are rarely seen. Although charcoal was counted upon as a source of black sometimes various other elements just like manganese were furthermore resorted to for getting black pigmentation. Red was procured from inside of the cave itself courtesy of clay which comprised a high percentage of iron. Since this particular red had an orange tinge to it, artists who had been desirous of deeper and brighter shades employed hematite to be able to finish the result.
Glyphs carved out of stones, rock sculptures and objects made from precious elements such as obsidian and jade are the other constituents of the Mayan caves. Pieces of potter and altars of worship have been found by adventure tourists which have validated the fact that a cave in the Mayan era was actually thought of as sacred and the Mayan's place of worship. Worship was both individual and communal and even though the first sort entailed leaving a part of pottery in certain other part of the cave, the aforementioned needed ceremonial pottery to be utilized along with the altar of worship.
Just like other tribes in Mesoamerica, the Mayans considered caves to be associated with death and life wherein anything emerging from the cave was born into the world and anyone going into the recesses of the cave was departing from the world which means facing death. Therefore should you wish to make a journey down the memory lane plus live through the lives of our 'cave-dwelling' ancestors then you definitely embark on a tour to an ancient Mayan temple.
About the Author:
Any adventurer would not want to miss the chance to discover more about the ancient Mayans. Duende Tours can take you to a guided, exciting customized Maya adventure eco tour that you will never forget.
