Tag Archives: Mayan

Politics tamfitronics (The Conversation) — K’ahk’ Uti’ Witz’ K’awiil knew his history.For 11 generations, the Mayan ruler’s dynasty had ruled Copan, a city-state near today’s border between Honduras and Guatemala. From the fifth century C.E. into the seventh century, scribes painted his ancestors’ genealogies into manuscripts and carved them in stone monuments throughout the city.Around 650, one particular piece of architectural history appears to have caught his eye.Centuries before, village masons built special structures for public ceremonies to view the Sun – ceremonies that were temporally anchored to the solstices, like the one that will occur June 20, 2024. Building these types of architectural complexes, which archaeologists call “E-Groups,” had largely fallen out of fashion by K’ahk’ Uti’ Witz’ K’awiil’s time.But aiming to realize his ambitious plans for his city, he seems to have found...