Who is allowed to build ancient Maya temples?

It has long been said that the temples of ancient Mayan stone pyramids were built by royal members. But scientists who have discovered many different social components may have built temples - from nobles, monks and even civilians.

According to Lisa Lucero, an archaeologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign, the fact that many groups only need aspirations and ability to build temples shows that the Mayans can choose which temples to worship; they have a say to the political successors.

The first temples of the Mayan people appeared about 2,000 years ago. The word for these stone pyramids is similar to the word for the mountain, and the giant terraced temples sometimes reach over 60m.

Lucero said: 'The reality of people really takes place in temples but is often rare, not like the Aztecs. These people sacrifice every day because they believe that otherwise the sun will not grow. Only a few Maya kings have the power to perform sacrifices, and they do so to kill kings elsewhere. They did not do that to bring out the good harvest but only to highlight their 'me'. '

Lucero and her colleagues surveyed the temples at Yalbac, a Maya center in the central Belize forests.'We are surrounded by howling monkeys, tu-tuo birds, spider monkeys, orchids, spiders, scorpions and snakes. Killer bees have appeared in this area, and beehives can be completed in one day. I ran away immediately but still got burned 4 times. '

The secret here is to have 6 temples close together in Yalbac, the height from 7m to 15m. Lucero found it difficult to understand: 'Why do they need 6? Do they use each temple for a different day? For different gods or different seasons? '

In the process of surveying each temple - dating back to the late Mayan period, around 550 AD - she noticed the architecture and materials of each temple were markedly different. Two high-quality temples use larger outer rock layers and use more mortar inside. 'Obviously this is much more expensive, and may be royal. But other temples may be entirely built by royalty. '

Each temple can serve a different god, such as the rain god Chak, the sun god or barley god. Building each temple can be used to record ancient power wars.

Lucero said: 'When a new king comes to power, they will probably build a place of their own, or if the authorities don't know when is the best time to plant new crops, others. may say: 'Come to my temple, the king has failed.'

The looters dug 9 trenches in the Yalbac area in search of treasure. This summer Lucero and his colleagues hope to find 'what robbers might have missed - artifacts including shells, pearls, ceramics, stoneware . provide more hints about functions and items. destination of temples. '

The results of the study are published in the latest edition of Latin American magazine Antiquity.

(Photo: LiveScience)