GUATEMALA/FILE: Secret tunnels, mysterious underworlds confound experts seeking the truth behind Mayan myths

Record ID: 264783

  • Title: GUATEMALA/FILE: Secret tunnels, mysterious underworlds confound experts seeking the truth behind Mayan myths
  • Date: 21st June 2011
  • Summary: PETEN, GUATEMALA (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF GUATEMALA'S FAMOUS TIKAL RUINS, A POPULAR TOURIST DESTINATION
  • Embargoed: 6th July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Guatemala, Guatemala
  • Country: Guatemala
  • Topics: History
  • Reuters ID: LVA37AQ1UBJ9BZW9MKNIFT3VDBTW
  • Story Text: Scorpion-filled rivers, shrieking bats and houses shrouded in darkness dominated the discussions of archaeologists and experts trying work out the mysteries of ancient Mayan myths in the very heart of Mayan culture.
    Experts on Mayan archaeology and anthropology from Guatemala, the United States, Mexico, Belize and Honduras gathered on Saturday (June 18) in the colonial city of Antigua for a three-day convention titled: "The Tombs of the Sacred Lords and the Secrets of Jade."
    Archaeologists say Mayans believed underground complexes of water-filled caves leading into dry chambers were the paths to a mythical underworld, known as Xibalba.
    According to an ancient Mayan scripture, the Popol Vuh, the route was filled with obstacles, including rivers filled with scorpions, blood and pus and houses shrouded in darkness or swarming with shrieking bats. The souls of the dead followed a mythical dog who could see at night.
    Dr. Ruud Van Adderen de Vrije from Amsterdam University said the lecture offered an opportunity to learn more about the myths of the Popul Vuh.
    "Finding out, learning about the Xibalba (a mythical underworld, known as Xibalba) myths of the Popul Vuh will teach us about what Mayans thought about the ending of (...) periods. How they perceived that and how they think. If there was a continuation, if it ended and how it ended. What kind of rituals were part of this ending," he explained.
    The earliest written version of the Popol Vuh, describing the torturous journey to Xibalba, was originally written in hieroglyphic script on long scrolls and later transcribed by Spanish conquerors.
    "It's very important because we're trying to connect the Popuh Vu, which is the colonial period Maya oral tradition written by a Spanish priest and preserved to the present, miraculously, with the much more ancient past of the Maya," added Dr. Francisco Estrada from Boston University.
    Different Mayan groups who inhabited southern Mexico and northern Guatemala and Belize had their own entrances to the underworld which archeologists have discovered at other sites, almost always in cave systems buried deep in the jungle.
    In March last year, archaeologists uncovered carved stucco panels depicting cosmic monsters, gods and serpents in El Mirador, the biggest ancient Mayan city in the world, that are the oldest known depictions of the famous Mayan creation myth, Popul Vuh.
    The Mayans built soaring pyramids and elaborate palaces in Central America and Mexico before mysteriously abandoning their cities around 900 A.D.
    Folkloric dancing, marimba music, book presentations and exhibitions of jade masks and pre-classic Maya Pottery will also be featured during the three-day event.
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