October 10, 2012

Post date: Oct 16, 2012 1:11:31 AM

On Wednesday, October 10, 2012, the Windsor Chapter members were presented with a lecture on the Mayan Ruins of the Eastern and Central Belize. Mr. Glen Boatman was kind enough to come from Ohio to present for us and enlighten us not only about the ruins but we also learned about the Mayan civilization itself.

We learned that the Mayan civilization started 1000 years prior to anything that can be found in our area. The Mayans were a hunter gather society 10,000 – 7,000 BC and then from approximately 7,000 - 2,000 BC they became more sedentary with the adoption of horticultural practices. It was the growing of maze that brought about this horticultural lifestyle. As with the beginnings of civilization itself, the sedentary lifestyle was likewise delayed in our area even though the early inhabitants also grew maze. The reason for this was that the maze itself needed the time to acclimatise to our colder climate. The other earliest domesticated Mayan grown produce were squash and gourds which show up around 3,000 - 2,000 BC.

The Mayan civilization began the agricultural practice known as milpa with the growing of corn. Milpa is the farming practice of clearing and burning of fields and then letting one part return to fallow. That fallowed land would then be burned again to return the nutrients back into the soil. This is due to the fact that corn takes large amounts of nutrients from the soil when they grow. A similar farming act happens even today in many areas around the world.

Mr. Boatman also pointed out that the Mayans were the first peoples in all of Western Society that had a writing system, theirs being a type of hieroglyphic writing. They also had an advanced astronomical knowledge.

We were shown photos of many Mayan temples that Glen had the opportunity of visiting and informed us that they were originally covered in stucco and then painted. The temples were therefore quiet beautiful and colourful.

Thanks to Mr. Glen Boatman for taking the time to speak to us!