Archaeologists recently discovered the remnants
of an ancient Mayan water temple at Cara Blanca, tucked away in the center of one of Belize's lush forests. The structure is situated
alongside a deep pool of water where Mayans from across the region
gathered to sacrifice bowls, pots, and jars to the water god, and to pray for
rain.
"It
was a special place with a sacred function," explained Lisa
Lucero, the archaeologist who led the discovery, in a recent National
Geographic article.
The water
temple serves as a timeline of the drought that's thought to have contributed to
the Maya's demise after A.D. 800. The Mesoamerican civilization, known for their
art, architecture, and fully developed pre-Columbian writing system, thrived
due to plentiful rainfall for centuries. During this time, sacrifices to the
water temple were irregular and seldom. But after an unexpected and dramatic shift in the climate, repeated droughts wreaked
havoc on the Mayas and their water-dependent society, making the temple quite
a busy place.
Archaeologists
also suspect that this lack of rain ignited a "drought cult" of
people who understandably became obsessed with pleasing Chaak, the
ancient Maya rain god. But despite their daily sacrifices and prayers, Chaak
and his friends in the underworld continued to withhold rain, unraveling the Maya’s intricate agriculture system.
"I do agree this was likely a shrine where ritual
practices took place that point to times getting tough for people," Holley
Moyes of University of California, Merced told National
Geographic. "When you start getting down to actual drought, we are
starting to see sacrifices picking up across the Maya world."
Want to learn more about the Maya and their relationship to water and agriculture? Check out these fascinating, free articles from the Journal of Field Archaeology:
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