Mayan Art Megathread

Edit:

Here are some great videos on Mayan History off youtube, from Kings and Generals. The three-part mini series does a great job laying out the history in a quick snapshot!

Rise of Mayan Civilization:



Mayan Star War: Tikal versus Calakmul:



Fall of Maya Civilization:

 

Editted the previoius post to include all three excellent videos from Kings and Generals. Great stuff, they have a lot of other great videos on other civilizations and empires through history.

 

Did a Hurricane wipe them out?

 

For the classic Mayan collapse (~900AD) it was several factors, but here are some of the big ones I am aware of:

• Ecological collapse and soil erosion caused by constant overuse of good farmlands
• Drought, causing widespread famine and compounding the environmental issues
• Constant warfare between competing city states and the elites
• Possible rebellion, caused by all of the above factors, and further eroding the central power of the kings and elite rulers

 

It is interesting and curious that civilization seems to have had a tougher time getting going / rebuilding in the Americas.

Aztecs

Incas

Last two left standing.

 

I don't know as much about the Aztec or Incas unfortunately. Unlike either of these two groups, the Maya were never a "united empire" of the like of the other two. While this meant they didn't have a large jungle-spanning empire at the arrival of the Spanish (as they existed in small, competing tribal groups spread out over a large jungle area), this also meant they were much more difficult for the Spanish conquisadors to conquer, as they had no single ruler or center of gravity that could be easily captured, destroyed, or held for ransom.

Fortunately Kings and Generals has a few more videos!

Aztecs:



Incas:

 

Photos and artwork from the city of El Mirador, home to some of the largest pyramids in the New World

Spoiler: El Mirador

 

Aztec Xiuhmolpilli: symbolic mark for the completion of the 52 year cycle.



This one was labelled as "Naissance de Ce Actal Topiltzin Quezacoatl." Don't know if it is Aztec or not.

 

A few more cool designs.



Two Mayan pendants:





Part of the murals at San Bartolo:

 

And some moody artwork by artist Niourk, very jungle-y:

 

Found a short video on the importance of WATER to ancient civilizations. Highlighted civilizations are the Mayans and another jungle civilization, the Khmer of the 12th century.

 

Front of an Incense Burner.

 

Lots of cool articles from this website: Mayan Decipherment.

 

Another great video on the early history of the Aztecs:

 

Video on the Mesoamerican Ballgame:

 

Fall of Tenochtitlan

Epic Aztec diorama, terrain, and beautifully painted miniatures. Lots more pics here.







Rack of skulls!