This youtube channel is super underrated. It covers a niche, but fascinating and under represented part of the history of the Americas. I think everyone is fascinated by Pre-Columbian America. Thank you for your hard work.
Meaning the chronological overwhelming majority of history of the Americas, that we mostly neglect because it isn’t about us? We should have way more of this.
I'm from Guatemala, and I appreciate the work you put in making these videos about the history of our region. I remember hearing from my history professor in University that in a section of the Popol Vuh, the one about the destruction of the second world and of the wooden men, she taught us that when the tools of the wooden men attacked them as punishment for being ungrateful, it probably was a historical recollection of what happened during this time. The tools (common people) were tired of the wooden men (monarchs) for their ungratefulness and they attacked them, making them flee to the trees and forests becoming the monkeys. As you say, it is only one of multiple posible causes for the collapse, but interesting non the less.
Don't the Books of Chilam Balam also reference the inevitable downfall of rulers who claim more importance than the gods? Or am I miss-remembering that? J
@ancilodon The Cham Balam books speak of the coming of Christianity and has followers known as the Máasewáal. I am K'iche/Akateko Maya, been doing a dive into the culture and decolonizing.
@@ravagesatoru5094 Does it speak ot christianity? Or is that what spanish missionaries told them to turn them away from their native faith and make them easier to colonize? Was the mass murder not enough to show them the christians dont give a horses ass about them?
I was just at Tulum a couple of weeks ago (my first Maya site visit) and was in awe at the construction of the site. Seeing the restored carvings in the sides of the buildings and small bits of color still hanging on despite the erosion, it was breathtaking. The tour guide made sure to hammer home that Maya culture never crumbled and still had 15 million speakers in the Yucatán and many still practicing their cultural beliefs. Needless to say this video came at a perfect time!
Still, if You compare architecture of Tikal and Tulum, You may think it crumbled ;-) Just as You may compare Lacandon god pot with Classic period incense burner (google both), both designed for the same purpose ;-)
The parallels with the Bronze Age Collapse are striking! In both cases we originally hypothesized a single devastating cause (drought and "sea peoples", respectively), but (unsurprisingly, IMO) as we learn more it's starting to look like in both cases it was a combination of multiple devastating effects, all at once, amplifying one another.
I think what this video is making me think about is how define a civilization as "thriving" by entirely measuring how the royalty and nobility were doing, so if the royalty collapsed, then society must've collapsed. Looking at what you said hear, it almost doesn't even sound like the maya truly "collapsed" as much as progressed past the need for kings, which is an interesting reality to think about. Honestly sounds more like an upgrade if anything!
With using the measurement of the higher strata's of society it might come down to the fact that. If these people are tightening their belts you know its bad.
Tlaxcala has a very fascinating history. They were dispersed all over Mexico post Spanish conquest which is interesting, as they served as soldiers and in government offices. Really one of the most prominent Nahua groups.
@@DM5550ZYup! We fought beyond Mexico's borders on behalf of the Spanish, the Tlaxcaltecs won against the Mayans in Guatemala, the Pipils in El Salvador, the Nicaraos and Chorotegas in Nicaragua, the Incas in Peru and the Samurai in the Philippines. I feel kinda bad tho because the Central American tribes did nothing to us and we basically attacked them unprovoked, deep down our fight was with the Aztecs not them. Tlaxcala was also a republic which is interesting because it was previously thought that republican forms of government were exclusively European.
@ The Tlaxcala were probably viewed in Central America as another Nahua flood from the north, as even in pre Aztec times the Nahua were dreaded for their conquests. Tlaxcala though some actually accompanied the Spanish north to New Mexico to protect the new colony from Pueblo attacks, and some Maya even accompanied them. Interesting they were a democracy though, even before the Spanish got to that point. I could see the appeal of an alliance with the Spanish, as even throughout the colonial era Nahua were given priority even Nahuatl as a co official language of New Spain.
@@DM5550Z Yup, Nahuatl was basically the "lingua franca" of Mesoamerica for 2 reasons. 1, the mass migration of Nahuas into Central America made it a de facto language. 2, The Aztec empire became the largest trade market and economy in North and Central America. Tribes as far north as the American southwest and as far south as Costa Rica did business with the Aztecs through the pochtecas (Aztec traders). Plus the fact that Spain's most loyal ally (Tlaxcala) spoke Nahuatl made it VERY convenient for the Spaniards to keep Nahuatl as the "lingua franca" of indigenous languages in New Spain.
@ Yes, it essentially gave the Tlaxcala a special correspondence with the Spanish crown. Furthermore the House of Moctezuma became nobility. Many Uto-Aztecan languages were spoken across New Spain, making it perfect as an intermediary to learning Spanish. Though I am not sure how intelligible it would be with Paiute or Comanche, or Takic languages of California like Tongva. I wonder if New Spain existed for longer Nahuatl would become more prominent,
This guy always fails to disappoint, and I always end up binge watching the rest of your videos. Top tier history channel, you deserve way more subscribers.
Another rock solid video! You are truly one of the best channels on this platform and I don't say that lightly. I've always been fascinated by prehistory and archeology but for some reason I've neglected the very continent I live on. Your channel has dramatically changed the way I think about the precolonial past of our Americas. Thank you so much! Last year, I went on a vacation to Belize and Guatemala saw sites like Tikal and Xunantunich and we even flew from the end of the precolonial Mayan urbanism (Flores) to the beginning (El Mirador) in a helicopter. We meet plenty of Mayans and they were all lovely people.
@@AncientAmericas El Mirador was one of the major cities in the Mirador Basin a low-lying area on the present day Campeche-Petén border. What made this area unique was its mix of low-lying, marshy areas between hills. During the dry season the people would dig-out the organic-rich muck from the marshes and place it on nearby soil - greatly increasing its fertility and also creating better catch-basins for water storage. This is the first place in the Maya world where stone structures are found, pushing the date of the “classic” back several centuries. I also think that this was the first area where maize was finally developed sufficiently to be the basis of a society. The Olmecs in La Venta y San Lorenzo had maize, and it probably predated these cities by several millennia in the central Balsas River area of Guerrero. But in the late Olmec period, as in La Venta, the corn cobs were only 4 in. long, thin, and with 4 rows of grains - pretty pathetic and definitely not the basis of feeding a society, but more like a supplement. But the Mirador Basin was far from fish and shellfish such as San Lorenzo, La Venta, and Aguada Fenix, but they were still able to feed the manpower sufficient to build large stone structures - I only think that it could be by maize agriculture. Sometime in the centuries between the last Olmecs and the first great cities in the Mirador Basin, developments must have been made in maize strains and agricultural techniques that allowed then to grow enough grain to produce these marvelous stone temples and palaces. Amaizing, don´t you think?
@@AncientAmericas It was amazing. There were only a handful of other people there. The site is overgrown with vegetation and we saw a lot of wildlife. Our group ate lunch on top of the great pyramid even though the wind was threatening to blow us off. The sight from up there was probably the most incredible thing I saw during my trip. Since El Mirador was abandoned so early on in Mayan civilization I couldn't help but wonder if some Mayan band in the classical period might have done the same thing and seen basically the same sight. Maybe they wondered just like I did about the people who built it and why they left. Later we saw the famous frieze depicting the Hero Twins swimming into the underworld (the oldest depiction of a story known from the Popul Vuh). I strongly recommend!
Oh man, your timing is impeccable. I've been obsessed with the Maya for weeks now, and in particular the mystery of their collapse. I've been watching multiple lectures on the topic (and have seen you posting in their comments, lol).
4:30 "Living in the cities, but have stopped erecting monuments" it's a strange feeling to compare this to Europe and the buildings that had been build in the past and what is being build now.
I mean the Maya stopped erecting buildings when the people got fed up by monarchs. And nowadays in the west the only monuments are again built by rich stuck up people. I cant tell you why communities dont build huge opulent monuments on their own, they'd probably just rather spend it on something with benefit and use. And that can be beautiful too. Here in my corner in Austria theres a Sea-Theater for example. And every year they build huge ass props and perform plays over the Lake. Its insanely impressive, especially when at sea and at night. (Look up "Bregenz Festspiele" if you're curious.) But in terms of straight up monuments...In my little town of 10k people theres a few monuments. Theres a roundabout leading into the town and in the middle of it theres a big circular metal monument featuring the towns crest in the middle, surrounded by guild shields all arround it, celebrating the towns origin as a trade and manufacturing place. Its not opulent or appealing to a higher deity, but its a monument nontheless, right? A more proletarian one and less flashy maybe.
I'll admit this realisation did strike a cord with me, and I wish it didn't 😞. I definitely feel like I'm living in a lesser era of history than 100 years ago, despite standards of living and human rights objectively being better today. Hopefully, this is just a reflection of modern architecture being awful, and there's a future where we can build great monuments that uplift people again... but that feels unlikely. Something has to change
@@Power-G My comments been weirdly deleted but I did say, theres still plenty of monuments and beauty being made! Just nothing big like in the days of God-Monarchs (and maybe thats good.) I gave examples of monument dedicated to the workers guilds of old, leading into my town. Theres alsoa beautiful walkable town square that was built out of an industrial area that went defunct some decades ago. Its not your usual monument but I think it hits the same marks, of being a beautiful social space and hallmark of the town. And Im sure wherever your from has some fancy stuff too if you just look! Maybe a small community project is all you'll find, but those are worth a ton too I feel. At least to me, its uplifting ❤️ But never feel like this era is lesser please. Or that something "needs to be done". Its why I brought up smalltown projects and community projects. Monuments in history only became opulent because rich god kings had more ressources. But the first monuments were literally just stone circles. But it didnt matter, because people built something that had meaning for them and it uplifted them. And thats the same today. ❤️
Before I subscribe to a new history youtube channel, I always do a quick spot check for a source list. I’m so happy that you have one and a robust one at that! You got a new subscriber!
Incredible as always. I'm amazed at how much you packed into under an hour(!) & yet you were able to not just share the history BUT ALSO address many of the worst assumptions academia & the media have put forth about Maya "collapse." Love the focus on chronology you keep in all these videos--it's very interesting to know what was going on in other parts of the continent compared to what my folks were doing! I don't want to encourage people to make undue comparisons to Moundbuilding Cultures, but it is interesting that the "collapse" phase of the Mississippian metropoles follows essentially the same pattern--the commoners decided they'd had enough and decamped to different settlements (with a remnant remaining in or near the former metropole). It wasn't social collapse--rather that people adjusted to a new political system that was less top-heavy & prioritized an adaptable, more democratic structure that could handle external and internal stressors much better than the Supreme Chiefdom. Very interested in hearing more about that newfangled council house you mentioned being built...I have always been under the impression that Maya politics retained a much greater degree of stratification than we did after rejecting a monarchical style of rule.
@@rmdvto never been! I will have to come by. When i wrote the comment I wasn’t even thinking about the modern mayan people that still live there all these thousands of years later
Love this channel. It's a breath of fresh air to have a channel that simply summarizes the findings of other experts rather than bullshit up a narrative and act like their word is the final word on the subject. Too many "history buffs" on youtube that simply do the latter.
Your channel feels like learning about ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt as a kid all over again. Ancient Americas are so fascinating, I'm so glad to live in this era of rediscovery!
To me it feels like learning about ancient Americas as a kid, with more info and context. 😁 We had a great encyclopedia as Czech kids in the 90s - published by a children's publishing house but written by an actual academian, with a long bibliography et cetera. It's still been long enough since then that there indeed are new discoveries!
You just so happened to come across my recommended, and I'm totally astonished at the detail! I've binged your playlist over the last day and I can't wait to see more.
I am thrilled to watch it. I hope you are in contact with Ed Barnhart, who has been very active on the ground. For the real measure of collapse, you need to see falling nutrition in evidence in skeletons... if any can be found. What is being called a drought looks like a return to normal, as if the heights were products of temporary overabundance.
Man, I love this channel. I love learning about the parts of history that just get drowned out usually. Its so fucking interesting, and I appreciate all the work you do as a Science Communicator. You're doing the work the world needs.
I appreciate the way you push back against the "collapse" narrative. there may well be more Maya alive today than during this time period. It's remarkable going around the Yucatan and seeing the vibrancy and independence of the local culture 1,200 years after this "collapse". I like the explanation that lower classes were tired of their kings - it would be hard for us to know for sure with so much Spanish destruction of their books, but it fits the experience of other civilizations during crisis. Why do we think the Mayan peasants and craftspeople would want to support those priest-kings with their massive and ornate pyramids?
He doesn't 'push back' against it, he endorses it. Did you not pay attention to the video? The number of Maya who are alive today has no bearing on whether their civilization collapsed or not. As he explains in this video, 'collapse' does not mean 'extinction'. That said of course, we don't even know to what extent the Maya alive today are the same people as the ancient Maya - they may well have absorbed, and been absorbed by, other ethnic groups in the succeeding centuries.
There must have been reasons that the Maya supported their kings for nearly 1000 years. They must have seen it as beneficial or at the least, tolerable. Whatever that relationship was, it began to break down at the end of the classic.
@@AncientAmericas yes, I didnt mean to suggest there weren't periods where class hierarchies were supported by the wider public. But the fact that they could and did break down eventually would just be normal for any society. I think there's a danger that we presume social stability when we're basing our information about a civilization from the official statements of the ruling class because of a lack of evidence. In the case of Egypt, we have the documents of labor strikes and class conflict, but they're not described to my knowledge on the temple walls built by Ramses III. Every ruling class risks decadence, and when we see a ruling class disappear it's probably a good idea to consider the possibility that they were overthrown, not that the civilization as a whole just vanished.
@@patavinity1262 I did watch the video. what he made clear is that it wasn't the Mayan civilization that collapsed but a certain political order of certain city states. Which means it wasn't Mayan civilization as such that collapsed, but the political hierarchy and system that existed in a particular area.
let's be honest, we've all been waiting for Ancient Americas to drop a video on the Mayan Collapse for some time. it's currently 2am here but now I'm so excited to watch this tomorrow after work
Thanks. Making „crude“ monuments does not mean the dont know how to do it..just a different idea…like in late rome when the view of showing humans changes…or late gothic. I love that you show a different view
@@AncientAmericasPost as often as you can make good videos! I find that more important than churning them out for our convenience, we're all here first and foremost because they're good. 🙂
I love the insistence on talking about the Maya as a living culture. So many people I talk to or watch online immediately assume they're fully in the past
I remain stunned that this channel has fewer than a million subs. Perhaps it’s for the best to keep a lower profile (to keep the wolves from the door) but this is the best content this platform has to offer.
Bravo. Really good balance. Use of map references. Love it. P.S. I thought nitrogen in soil was a good thing, like NPK fertilizer. Just wondering. Thanks again.
It's great to start the year with a new video from this channel. Hopefully there'll be more videos about Mesoamerica, Aridoameria, Oasisamerica and the Andes soon.
Thank you for another fantastic documentary! I feel like I've not ever gotten to listen to a non- sensational and comprehensive examination of the possible causes of the Maya decline. This was excellent! God be with you out there, everybody. ✝️ :)
This is the kind of topic+creator combination video you never thought of before, but once you see it, the few seconds it takes to load feels like an eternity.
This is an amazing video that puts into context the Maya "collapse". Limited aspects of culture were affected like the type of political organization to support the building of monumental architecture while other aspects of culture continued like language and religion.
TYFV, great video as always. 1. the trade links/collapse half reminds me of the trade city's rise after ROME collapse. 2. farming techniques/food could have also played a role they could have also had to trade old foods that let/had needing of large cities/allowed large citys to succeed while the small amount of drought caused them to move away from X food to Y food/farming, example X food you need to spend 3 months farming/tending to the crops but Y food you need 9months to tend to it,
Hey great video!!! It was really fascinating to learn about the foreign influences from different parts of the Americas on Mayan culture. Nice pronunciations too!
If only I’d discovered you a month or two ago! I teach 7th grade geography and wish I’d had these videos to help me educate myself more on Pre-Colombian Latin American civilizations. Just know you are helping me to better educate myself and my kiddos!
This 33:32 reminds of temple reliefs in Egypt during the reign of Ramesses IX where the Priest of Amun-Re Amenhotep was depicted as tall as the King, who only appears taller due to standing on a slightly raised platform. This was during the decline of the New Kingdom of Period. Interesting to see a similar depiction in another civilization nearly 2,000 years later.
Very cool video, Please make a videos on the highly underrated Zapotec* Civilization and Mixtec City-States such as Tutupec and Tilantongo or make a video on Eight Deer Jaguar Claw.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! This feels like such a gift to me- A whole hour of information on the Mayas!! Only like, 5 days after my birthday :D Your videos have also inspired me so much to dwelve into the history and culture of past and present mesoamericans, it even inspired me to pick up on a bit of Nahuatl, so id just like to say thank you! Ps. Who voices your quotes? Their voice is amazing!
I love your videos man. I'm trying to write a fantasy series and a couple of my cultures are based on ancient American people so you have been great for my research
You definitely noticed a couple of days ago when I commented on your Potatoes video, but I recently discovered your channel and spent parts of several days going through every video you have. Needless to say, more than earned my and everyone else's attention and sub. As for the Classic Maya Collapse and the civilization's tradition into the Post-Classic, I've seen in a different channel's documentary (one that I've seen you posted to your community page for your fans to check out (good taste, btw)) that some scholars have suggested a possible cause for the Collapse being something refered to as Systems Collapse, something famously postulated as the reason and process of the Late Bronze Age Collapse for example. In this case, while not explicitly stated in where I got this from, I imagine this Maya Systems Collapse most likely proposes that all the factors mentioned and covered in your Maya Collapse video probably acted in tandem, especially as each individual factor and even all factors together don't seem to have hit each area equally. Then again, while I have recently become a professional historian, with regards to pre-Columbian America, I am probably even more of an amateur than you are.
Thank you! I was aware of the systems collapse but I've never seen any studies that have really synthesized a systems collapse for the Maya so I didn't feel comfortable mentioning it. I do think that it does have merit though.
I can with an honor say that you've managed to provide a better explanation for the Maya Collapse than my beloved Fall of Civilizations podcast, even if that podcast still does an amazoing job with what it does
Thank you for your videos and the hard work you put in them. I love watching from France even if I do not have any prior knowledge about this topics it really makes me happy to understand more due to you ❤️
Where Civilization collapses are concerned, I can’t help but be reminded of the Late Bronze Age Collapse in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean. Certain causes tend to be overemphasized by the media/pop culture, chicken-and-egg style debates over whether interruption of trade caused collapse or vice versa, debate over the role environmental factors played, decentralization and a somewhat more egalitarian society (from the emergence of city-states in the Levant and Greece to the development of the first alphabets making writing more accessible), and ultimately how some societies were more resilient and capable of adapting than others. Civilizations and their transformations are wonderfully complex things.
Love your videos! Keep it up! Would really like to to see more info on the sites around Cancun, ie El Rey, El Meco, Coba, Tulum. There is nothing out there on how these interacted with each other and Chichen Itza. Great work!
Very excellent video. I really liked the examination of all possible factors and their relative geographic specificity. There is no single, simple answer. And it's a tribute to the Maya that could adapt so well to what was, at first, a post-apocalypse world, and gradually made it home. What really gets me, however, is how fast it happened, within a single human lifespan. Everybody in authority when it started well-remembered the "good ol' days" of, you know, last week, and they got to see their entire social system come crashing down around them, then perhaps living to see the dawn of the new age. Folks born during the collapse lived to play leading roles in the new order, with memories of their parents tales of the "good ol' days" contrasting sharply with their apocalyptic situation. And they knew their parents weren't lying because all around, hard evidence in the form of abandoned great cities were inescapable parts of the local landscape. I imagine everybody in the region emerged from the collapse with some serious mental trauma.
This youtube channel is super underrated. It covers a niche, but fascinating and under represented part of the history of the Americas. I think everyone is fascinated by Pre-Columbian America. Thank you for your hard work.
Meaning the chronological overwhelming majority of history of the Americas, that we mostly neglect because it isn’t about us?
We should have way more of this.
Thank you!
1000000000000 percent man it’s a great channel
Most actually educational channels are. Sad but true.
Dude is a woke BETA ... BCE and CE?? WOKE101 It is and ALWAYS will be BC and AD.
I'm from Guatemala, and I appreciate the work you put in making these videos about the history of our region. I remember hearing from my history professor in University that in a section of the Popol Vuh, the one about the destruction of the second world and of the wooden men, she taught us that when the tools of the wooden men attacked them as punishment for being ungrateful, it probably was a historical recollection of what happened during this time. The tools (common people) were tired of the wooden men (monarchs) for their ungratefulness and they attacked them, making them flee to the trees and forests becoming the monkeys. As you say, it is only one of multiple posible causes for the collapse, but interesting non the less.
Thats a lovely story ❤ Thank you for sharing that.
Don't the Books of Chilam Balam also reference the inevitable downfall of rulers who claim more importance than the gods? Or am I miss-remembering that?
J
@ancilodon The Cham Balam books speak of the coming of Christianity and has followers known as the Máasewáal. I am K'iche/Akateko Maya, been doing a dive into the culture and decolonizing.
@@ravagesatoru5094 Does it speak ot christianity? Or is that what spanish missionaries told them to turn them away from their native faith and make them easier to colonize? Was the mass murder not enough to show them the christians dont give a horses ass about them?
@@ravagesatoru5094what period was this book written?
I was just at Tulum a couple of weeks ago (my first Maya site visit) and was in awe at the construction of the site. Seeing the restored carvings in the sides of the buildings and small bits of color still hanging on despite the erosion, it was breathtaking. The tour guide made sure to hammer home that Maya culture never crumbled and still had 15 million speakers in the Yucatán and many still practicing their cultural beliefs. Needless to say this video came at a perfect time!
Still, if You compare architecture of Tikal and Tulum, You may think it crumbled ;-) Just as You may compare Lacandon god pot with Classic period incense burner (google both), both designed for the same purpose ;-)
Something something aliens 😂👽
cant believe we get to watch this for free
i can
RUclips has always been free
You don't.....there's ads.
The parallels with the Bronze Age Collapse are striking! In both cases we originally hypothesized a single devastating cause (drought and "sea peoples", respectively), but (unsurprisingly, IMO) as we learn more it's starting to look like in both cases it was a combination of multiple devastating effects, all at once, amplifying one another.
No it was iron.
I think what this video is making me think about is how define a civilization as "thriving" by entirely measuring how the royalty and nobility were doing, so if the royalty collapsed, then society must've collapsed. Looking at what you said hear, it almost doesn't even sound like the maya truly "collapsed" as much as progressed past the need for kings, which is an interesting reality to think about. Honestly sounds more like an upgrade if anything!
Yes!!
With using the measurement of the higher strata's of society it might come down to the fact that.
If these people are tightening their belts you know its bad.
How does not having a king sounds like an upgrade?
@@seananthony7494 ... wrote George III to Washington.
That’s true but the subsequent abandonment of many of the large cities does show that something bigger was happening
This is the content that makes youtube fantastic still
Thank you!
I love it when I see a blue and tan map thumbnail pop up in my sub feed. Means I'm getting an amazing video to watch!
Mesoamerican history is one of the most fascinating in the world, coming from a Tlaxcalteca myself. Thanks for the video, time to grab my popcorn 🍿
Tlaxcala has a very fascinating history. They were dispersed all over Mexico post Spanish conquest which is interesting, as they served as soldiers and in government offices. Really one of the most prominent Nahua groups.
@@DM5550ZYup! We fought beyond Mexico's borders on behalf of the Spanish, the Tlaxcaltecs won against the Mayans in Guatemala, the Pipils in El Salvador, the Nicaraos and Chorotegas in Nicaragua, the Incas in Peru and the Samurai in the Philippines. I feel kinda bad tho because the Central American tribes did nothing to us and we basically attacked them unprovoked, deep down our fight was with the Aztecs not them. Tlaxcala was also a republic which is interesting because it was previously thought that republican forms of government were exclusively European.
@ The Tlaxcala were probably viewed in Central America as another Nahua flood from the north, as even in pre Aztec times the Nahua were dreaded for their conquests. Tlaxcala though some actually accompanied the Spanish north to New Mexico to protect the new colony from Pueblo attacks, and some Maya even accompanied them. Interesting they were a democracy though, even before the Spanish got to that point. I could see the appeal of an alliance with the Spanish, as even throughout the colonial era Nahua were given priority even Nahuatl as a co official language of New Spain.
@@DM5550Z Yup, Nahuatl was basically the "lingua franca" of Mesoamerica for 2 reasons. 1, the mass migration of Nahuas into Central America made it a de facto language. 2, The Aztec empire became the largest trade market and economy in North and Central America. Tribes as far north as the American southwest and as far south as Costa Rica did business with the Aztecs through the pochtecas (Aztec traders). Plus the fact that Spain's most loyal ally (Tlaxcala) spoke Nahuatl made it VERY convenient for the Spaniards to keep Nahuatl as the "lingua franca" of indigenous languages in New Spain.
@ Yes, it essentially gave the Tlaxcala a special correspondence with the Spanish crown. Furthermore the House of Moctezuma became nobility. Many Uto-Aztecan languages were spoken across New Spain, making it perfect as an intermediary to learning Spanish. Though I am not sure how intelligible it would be with Paiute or Comanche, or Takic languages of California like Tongva. I wonder if New Spain existed for longer Nahuatl would become more prominent,
Guess who's back back again. Ancient Americas is back. Tell your friends
I do tell my friends but they just look at me weird 😞
This guy always fails to disappoint, and I always end up binge watching the rest of your videos. Top tier history channel, you deserve way more subscribers.
Thank you!
Would absolutely love a collaboration on a history between you and Stefan Milo. A boy can dream.
Thanks for all the great content and the Maya finale!
Thank you! Maybe someday we'll collaborate.
I agree. It would be awesome!
Another rock solid video! You are truly one of the best channels on this platform and I don't say that lightly. I've always been fascinated by prehistory and archeology but for some reason I've neglected the very continent I live on. Your channel has dramatically changed the way I think about the precolonial past of our Americas. Thank you so much! Last year, I went on a vacation to Belize and Guatemala saw sites like Tikal and Xunantunich and we even flew from the end of the precolonial Mayan urbanism (Flores) to the beginning (El Mirador) in a helicopter. We meet plenty of Mayans and they were all lovely people.
Thank you! What was El Mirador like? That site fascinates me to no end.
@@AncientAmericas El Mirador was one of the major cities in the Mirador Basin a low-lying area on the present day Campeche-Petén border. What made this area unique was its mix of low-lying, marshy areas between hills. During the dry season the people would dig-out the organic-rich muck from the marshes and place it on nearby soil - greatly increasing its fertility and also creating better catch-basins for water storage. This is the first place in the Maya world where stone structures are found, pushing the date of the “classic” back several centuries. I also think that this was the first area where maize was finally developed sufficiently to be the basis of a society. The Olmecs in La Venta y San Lorenzo had maize, and it probably predated these cities by several millennia in the central Balsas River area of Guerrero. But in the late Olmec period, as in La Venta, the corn cobs were only 4 in. long, thin, and with 4 rows of grains - pretty pathetic and definitely not the basis of feeding a society, but more like a supplement. But the Mirador Basin was far from fish and shellfish such as San Lorenzo, La Venta, and Aguada Fenix, but they were still able to feed the manpower sufficient to build large stone structures - I only think that it could be by maize agriculture. Sometime in the centuries between the last Olmecs and the first great cities in the Mirador Basin, developments must have been made in maize strains and agricultural techniques that allowed then to grow enough grain to produce these marvelous stone temples and palaces. Amaizing, don´t you think?
@@AncientAmericas It was amazing. There were only a handful of other people there. The site is overgrown with vegetation and we saw a lot of wildlife. Our group ate lunch on top of the great pyramid even though the wind was threatening to blow us off. The sight from up there was probably the most incredible thing I saw during my trip. Since El Mirador was abandoned so early on in Mayan civilization I couldn't help but wonder if some Mayan band in the classical period might have done the same thing and seen basically the same sight. Maybe they wondered just like I did about the people who built it and why they left. Later we saw the famous frieze depicting the Hero Twins swimming into the underworld (the oldest depiction of a story known from the Popul Vuh). I strongly recommend!
Oh man, your timing is impeccable. I've been obsessed with the Maya for weeks now, and in particular the mystery of their collapse. I've been watching multiple lectures on the topic (and have seen you posting in their comments, lol).
Ooo! Hope you caught the one by Simon Martin. His new book was used a lot in this episode.
@@AncientAmericas the Penn Museum one? Oh yeah.
you and your channel has made me appreciate all current and past histories of the people here in the Americas. thank you for a new love.
aww yeah!!
as a Chicano studies phd student, you are a wonderful way to teach others about history!
thank you for more badass work
Thank you!
4:30 "Living in the cities, but have stopped erecting monuments" it's a strange feeling to compare this to Europe and the buildings that had been build in the past and what is being build now.
Hey! Let's not sell that cringe statue of Ronaldo short.
I mean the Maya stopped erecting buildings when the people got fed up by monarchs. And nowadays in the west the only monuments are again built by rich stuck up people.
I cant tell you why communities dont build huge opulent monuments on their own, they'd probably just rather spend it on something with benefit and use. And that can be beautiful too.
Here in my corner in Austria theres a Sea-Theater for example. And every year they build huge ass props and perform plays over the Lake. Its insanely impressive, especially when at sea and at night. (Look up "Bregenz Festspiele" if you're curious.)
But in terms of straight up monuments...In my little town of 10k people theres a few monuments. Theres a roundabout leading into the town and in the middle of it theres a big circular metal monument featuring the towns crest in the middle, surrounded by guild shields all arround it, celebrating the towns origin as a trade and manufacturing place.
Its not opulent or appealing to a higher deity, but its a monument nontheless, right? A more proletarian one and less flashy maybe.
Come to North America... there's no more classic a shape than a Sphere🤣
I'll admit this realisation did strike a cord with me, and I wish it didn't 😞. I definitely feel like I'm living in a lesser era of history than 100 years ago, despite standards of living and human rights objectively being better today. Hopefully, this is just a reflection of modern architecture being awful, and there's a future where we can build great monuments that uplift people again... but that feels unlikely. Something has to change
@@Power-G My comments been weirdly deleted but I did say, theres still plenty of monuments and beauty being made! Just nothing big like in the days of God-Monarchs (and maybe thats good.)
I gave examples of monument dedicated to the workers guilds of old, leading into my town. Theres alsoa beautiful walkable town square that was built out of an industrial area that went defunct some decades ago. Its not your usual monument but I think it hits the same marks, of being a beautiful social space and hallmark of the town.
And Im sure wherever your from has some fancy stuff too if you just look! Maybe a small community project is all you'll find, but those are worth a ton too I feel. At least to me, its uplifting ❤️
But never feel like this era is lesser please. Or that something "needs to be done". Its why I brought up smalltown projects and community projects. Monuments in history only became opulent because rich god kings had more ressources. But the first monuments were literally just stone circles. But it didnt matter, because people built something that had meaning for them and it uplifted them. And thats the same today. ❤️
I've wanted a Maya Collapse video for a long time. Thanks for making it!
Thank you for watching it!
Before I subscribe to a new history youtube channel, I always do a quick spot check for a source list. I’m so happy that you have one and a robust one at that! You got a new subscriber!
Thank you!
(I do the same thing too.)
I’m from Honduras and I have learned so much about Copan from this video. Thank you so much.
I gotta learn more about Honduras, as that's where my meemaw's family came from (well, Honduras and Mexico)
Copan is a beautiful and key Mayan site. A must see!
As an American watching this in Mexico on a vacation is a perfect way to end my trip👌🏻 thank you sir for another amazing production
Incredible as always. I'm amazed at how much you packed into under an hour(!) & yet you were able to not just share the history BUT ALSO address many of the worst assumptions academia & the media have put forth about Maya "collapse."
Love the focus on chronology you keep in all these videos--it's very interesting to know what was going on in other parts of the continent compared to what my folks were doing!
I don't want to encourage people to make undue comparisons to Moundbuilding Cultures, but it is interesting that the "collapse" phase of the Mississippian metropoles follows essentially the same pattern--the commoners decided they'd had enough and decamped to different settlements (with a remnant remaining in or near the former metropole). It wasn't social collapse--rather that people adjusted to a new political system that was less top-heavy & prioritized an adaptable, more democratic structure that could handle external and internal stressors much better than the Supreme Chiefdom.
Very interested in hearing more about that newfangled council house you mentioned being built...I have always been under the impression that Maya politics retained a much greater degree of stratification than we did after rejecting a monarchical style of rule.
The last time i was this early to a Ancient Americas video the maya civilization was still thriving.
It still is thriving my man.
You are early.😅
My brother in Kukulkan, come to Yucatan and see for yourself
Let me fix this.
Last time I was this early Kʼinich Janaab Pakal I was still alive.
@@rmdvto never been! I will have to come by. When i wrote the comment I wasn’t even thinking about the modern mayan people that still live there all these thousands of years later
Love this channel. It's a breath of fresh air to have a channel that simply summarizes the findings of other experts rather than bullshit up a narrative and act like their word is the final word on the subject. Too many "history buffs" on youtube that simply do the latter.
Thank you!
Your channel feels like learning about ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt as a kid all over again. Ancient Americas are so fascinating, I'm so glad to live in this era of rediscovery!
To me it feels like learning about ancient Americas as a kid, with more info and context. 😁 We had a great encyclopedia as Czech kids in the 90s - published by a children's publishing house but written by an actual academian, with a long bibliography et cetera. It's still been long enough since then that there indeed are new discoveries!
You just so happened to come across my recommended, and I'm totally astonished at the detail! I've binged your playlist over the last day and I can't wait to see more.
Thank you!
It was a blessing to have found this channel. It has provided such high quality over the past few years.
I am thrilled to watch it. I hope you are in contact with Ed Barnhart, who has been very active on the ground. For the real measure of collapse, you need to see falling nutrition in evidence in skeletons... if any can be found. What is being called a drought looks like a return to normal, as if the heights were products of temporary overabundance.
Thank you! Dr. Ed is a treasure but I have yet to collaborate with him directly.
First video of the new year! Very excited for more to come. That’s why I got here so early
I wrote about Maya religion in my anthro undergrad. I love this.
Really grateful for your work, AA! Every upload is a blessing
Thank you!
I just discovered your channel recently and I've watched all your videos, so I've been eagerly awaiting this video. Thank you for all your work.
I love this channel. It's rare to find such a good and in depth analysis on anything.
Thank you!
I love nothing more than a Sunday evening to sit back eat popcorn and watch a new Ancient Americas, You’re the Best!
Thank you!
How much time I waited for this! My favourite channel of Ancient American History! Keep up the good work and happy new year!
ancient americas uploading a 50+ minute video is considered a hallmark moment in my life
Great series! Spent the day watching the playlist
Man, I love this channel. I love learning about the parts of history that just get drowned out usually. Its so fucking interesting, and I appreciate all the work you do as a Science Communicator. You're doing the work the world needs.
Thank you!
Ready to watch this many many times this year for my knitting projects.
those patterns from the Puuc style (16:36) would look sick on a scarf
Instant sub, this is awesome the style and delivery reminds me of Revolutions podcast perfect for relaxing before bed.
I appreciate the way you push back against the "collapse" narrative. there may well be more Maya alive today than during this time period. It's remarkable going around the Yucatan and seeing the vibrancy and independence of the local culture 1,200 years after this "collapse". I like the explanation that lower classes were tired of their kings - it would be hard for us to know for sure with so much Spanish destruction of their books, but it fits the experience of other civilizations during crisis. Why do we think the Mayan peasants and craftspeople would want to support those priest-kings with their massive and ornate pyramids?
He doesn't 'push back' against it, he endorses it. Did you not pay attention to the video? The number of Maya who are alive today has no bearing on whether their civilization collapsed or not. As he explains in this video, 'collapse' does not mean 'extinction'.
That said of course, we don't even know to what extent the Maya alive today are the same people as the ancient Maya - they may well have absorbed, and been absorbed by, other ethnic groups in the succeeding centuries.
There must have been reasons that the Maya supported their kings for nearly 1000 years. They must have seen it as beneficial or at the least, tolerable. Whatever that relationship was, it began to break down at the end of the classic.
@@AncientAmericas yes, I didnt mean to suggest there weren't periods where class hierarchies were supported by the wider public. But the fact that they could and did break down eventually would just be normal for any society. I think there's a danger that we presume social stability when we're basing our information about a civilization from the official statements of the ruling class because of a lack of evidence. In the case of Egypt, we have the documents of labor strikes and class conflict, but they're not described to my knowledge on the temple walls built by Ramses III. Every ruling class risks decadence, and when we see a ruling class disappear it's probably a good idea to consider the possibility that they were overthrown, not that the civilization as a whole just vanished.
@@patavinity1262 I did watch the video. what he made clear is that it wasn't the Mayan civilization that collapsed but a certain political order of certain city states. Which means it wasn't Mayan civilization as such that collapsed, but the political hierarchy and system that existed in a particular area.
let's be honest, we've all been waiting for Ancient Americas to drop a video on the Mayan Collapse for some time. it's currently 2am here but now I'm so excited to watch this tomorrow after work
Thanks. Making „crude“ monuments does not mean the dont know how to do it..just a different idea…like in late rome when the view of showing humans changes…or late gothic. I love that you show a different view
Great work as always. I feel like indigenous American history is neglected on youtube, thank you for giving it the recognition it deserves!
Thank you!
Please keep posting often 🙏
I post as often as I can but after this episode, I'm take a few weeks off to recharge. Should have a new episode late February.
@@AncientAmericasPost as often as you can make good videos! I find that more important than churning them out for our convenience, we're all here first and foremost because they're good. 🙂
I love the insistence on talking about the Maya as a living culture. So many people I talk to or watch online immediately assume they're fully in the past
I remain stunned that this channel has fewer than a million subs. Perhaps it’s for the best to keep a lower profile (to keep the wolves from the door) but this is the best content this platform has to offer.
Thank you!
Bravo. Really good balance. Use of map references. Love it.
P.S. I thought nitrogen in soil was a good thing, like NPK fertilizer. Just wondering. Thanks again.
Thank you! Nitrogen is great in soil but you don't want too much of those in your drinking water.
It's great to start the year with a new video from this channel. Hopefully there'll be more videos about Mesoamerica, Aridoameria, Oasisamerica and the Andes soon.
Thank you!
I am in fact thrilled to watch! Your videos are always very well done and informative, thanks for all your hard work!
Thank you!
Once again a super presentation orderly, well narrated, enthusiastic speaker. Bravo!
Thank you!
Thank you for another fantastic documentary! I feel like I've not ever gotten to listen to a non- sensational and comprehensive examination of the possible causes of the Maya decline. This was excellent!
God be with you out there, everybody. ✝️ :)
Thank you!
It's been a long year but at last here is a bright spot. Cheers
This channel is such a gem
Thank you!
@@AncientAmericas no, no. Thank _you!_ lol
Bless the Maya. I had a brief visit to the community in Cozumel, and really want to do a bigger trip through Belize, Guatemala and Mexico.
Thank you for spreading the truths that were almost lost to history. You are a scholar and great influence on the world.
Always happy to see a new video from you.
I grew up in Africa, I am grateful for the work you do
Thank you!
I LOVE YOUR CHANNEL 🎉 HAPPY NEW YEAR ❤
Thank you! Happy New Year to you too!
This is the kind of topic+creator combination video you never thought of before, but once you see it, the few seconds it takes to load feels like an eternity.
This is an amazing video that puts into context the Maya "collapse". Limited aspects of culture were affected like the type of political organization to support the building of monumental architecture while other aspects of culture continued like language and religion.
This is my favorite RUclipsr right now
Thank you!
It makes me very happy to see this familiar map again:) Great content as always.
"Yeah no sorry babe, new Ancient Americas video just dropped"
Brilliant video. I'd been looking forward to this for a long time. Your videos are so enjoyable to learn from 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Thank you!
TYFV, great video as always.
1. the trade links/collapse half reminds me of the trade city's rise after ROME collapse.
2. farming techniques/food could have also played a role they could have also had to trade old foods that let/had needing of large cities/allowed large citys to succeed while the small amount of drought caused them to move away from X food to Y food/farming, example X food you need to spend 3 months farming/tending to the crops but Y food you need 9months to tend to it,
I will always enjoy these deep dive videos into the ancient Americas and the peoples who inhabited them 🙏
Hey great video!!! It was really fascinating to learn about the foreign influences from different parts of the Americas on Mayan culture. Nice pronunciations too!
Thanks! I'm looking forward to tonight's podcast! Hopefully I'll be able to catch it live!
@ Thanks man! That would be great! I plan on making one next week if not. Hope you’ve been well!
If only I’d discovered you a month or two ago! I teach 7th grade geography and wish I’d had these videos to help me educate myself more on Pre-Colombian Latin American civilizations. Just know you are helping me to better educate myself and my kiddos!
Thank you!
Thanks for this video and all your work creating these history lessons.
Your channel is one of a kind
Thank you!
This 33:32 reminds of temple reliefs in Egypt during the reign of Ramesses IX where the Priest of Amun-Re Amenhotep was depicted as tall as the King, who only appears taller due to standing on a slightly raised platform. This was during the decline of the New Kingdom of Period. Interesting to see a similar depiction in another civilization nearly 2,000 years later.
If you want the the viewer to know who the big cheese is, you need to make them stand out some way.
Very cool video, Please make a videos on the highly underrated Zapotec* Civilization and Mixtec City-States such as Tutupec and Tilantongo or make a video on Eight Deer Jaguar Claw.
Great video, you are wayy underrated!
Thank you!
Incredible work again. Clear, detailed and engaging.
Thank you!
Starting off the new year with an Ancient Americas video -- excellent! It almost makes up for having to go back to work 😂
HAPPY NEW YEAR! This feels like such a gift to me- A whole hour of information on the Mayas!! Only like, 5 days after my birthday :D Your videos have also inspired me so much to dwelve into the history and culture of past and present mesoamericans, it even inspired me to pick up on a bit of Nahuatl, so id just like to say thank you!
Ps. Who voices your quotes? Their voice is amazing!
Thank you! In regards to the voice over, the other lines are read by a buddy of mine that has a way better voice than I do.
I love your videos man. I'm trying to write a fantasy series and a couple of my cultures are based on ancient American people so you have been great for my research
Thank you! If you finish that series, shoot me an email so I can read it.
@AncientAmericas thank you. It's probably going to be a while bit I definitely will.
In a world of idiocy like “history channel” aliens and exploitive conspiracies, thank you for making thoughtfully reviewed content.
Ive been to Xunantunich and its honestly incredible. No picture will do it justice just how massive the buildings were there
My new favorite YT channel
Spectacular video about a puzzling time - THANK YOU
New Ancient Americas video let's gooooooo
You definitely noticed a couple of days ago when I commented on your Potatoes video, but I recently discovered your channel and spent parts of several days going through every video you have. Needless to say, more than earned my and everyone else's attention and sub.
As for the Classic Maya Collapse and the civilization's tradition into the Post-Classic, I've seen in a different channel's documentary (one that I've seen you posted to your community page for your fans to check out (good taste, btw)) that some scholars have suggested a possible cause for the Collapse being something refered to as Systems Collapse, something famously postulated as the reason and process of the Late Bronze Age Collapse for example. In this case, while not explicitly stated in where I got this from, I imagine this Maya Systems Collapse most likely proposes that all the factors mentioned and covered in your Maya Collapse video probably acted in tandem, especially as each individual factor and even all factors together don't seem to have hit each area equally. Then again, while I have recently become a professional historian, with regards to pre-Columbian America, I am probably even more of an amateur than you are.
Thank you! I was aware of the systems collapse but I've never seen any studies that have really synthesized a systems collapse for the Maya so I didn't feel comfortable mentioning it. I do think that it does have merit though.
Fantastic work as always! Thanks for what you do!
Thank you!
I love this channel and how comprehensive research and presentation is
Thank you!
Fantastic work. Worth your time and all viewers.
Thank you!
I can with an honor say that you've managed to provide a better explanation for the Maya Collapse than my beloved Fall of Civilizations podcast, even if that podcast still does an amazoing job with what it does
Fall of civilizations is a great podcast. I'm very flattered that you compared me to them.
Yessss!! I squealed when I saw you posted a new video! 🤩😍
Never clicked so fast
Thank you for your videos and the hard work you put in them. I love watching from France even if I do not have any prior knowledge about this topics it really makes me happy to understand more due to you ❤️
Thank you!
Thanks AA for another exciting documentary!
Love your demeanor and presentation. Great video. Thanks.
Fascinating, id been saving this video for coffee on a saturday
Great video! Thanks for all of your work keeping this history alive and as accurate as possible! Happy new year and God bless
Thank you!
Where Civilization collapses are concerned, I can’t help but be reminded of the Late Bronze Age Collapse in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean. Certain causes tend to be overemphasized by the media/pop culture, chicken-and-egg style debates over whether interruption of trade caused collapse or vice versa, debate over the role environmental factors played, decentralization and a somewhat more egalitarian society (from the emergence of city-states in the Levant and Greece to the development of the first alphabets making writing more accessible), and ultimately how some societies were more resilient and capable of adapting than others. Civilizations and their transformations are wonderfully complex things.
So hypeeeee, been waiting for the new vid ❤
Love your videos! Keep it up! Would really like to to see more info on the sites around Cancun, ie El Rey, El Meco, Coba, Tulum. There is nothing out there on how these interacted with each other and Chichen Itza. Great work!
Thank you! We'll get to those sites eventually.
Very excellent video. I really liked the examination of all possible factors and their relative geographic specificity. There is no single, simple answer. And it's a tribute to the Maya that could adapt so well to what was, at first, a post-apocalypse world, and gradually made it home.
What really gets me, however, is how fast it happened, within a single human lifespan. Everybody in authority when it started well-remembered the "good ol' days" of, you know, last week, and they got to see their entire social system come crashing down around them, then perhaps living to see the dawn of the new age. Folks born during the collapse lived to play leading roles in the new order, with memories of their parents tales of the "good ol' days" contrasting sharply with their apocalyptic situation. And they knew their parents weren't lying because all around, hard evidence in the form of abandoned great cities were inescapable parts of the local landscape. I imagine everybody in the region emerged from the collapse with some serious mental trauma.
Always enjoy and learn from your videos. Thanks