When I was down there, one of the things I remember very well is that most of the pyramids and other structures were intentionally buried. The burying hid them in the jungle because they were covered in large trees and looked like forested hills. Instead, they were ancient structures that were intentionally buried by someone and time/succession has made them look like natural hills in the flat landscape. Back in the day, the tour guides said they had no idea why the people would intentionally bury these structures.

I thought so...

But near as I can tell the answer to that depends on who you ask.

Mike

Seems like they said in school or a book they supposedly disappeared mysteriously

There has been a lot of evidence, including artifacts like ax heads, stone carvings and genes found in some isolated native peoples, that the Vikings also went to South America, long before the Spanish. I speculate that diseases carried by the Vikings killed off the Mayans, before the Spanish arrived.

Keith

I believe there was far more Pre-Columbian contact than we know about or are told about.

Mike

What about gods from the stars. As they were called. Don't laugh it is possible with how little we know about the past. And all the resent discoveries.

Chancey, you are very welcome but the credit goes to my grandson Ryan, who put me on to that book. Hope you enjoy the read.

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My son said they found a crusaders cross dated after the Vikings came to south America

I won't laugh at all about that wetdog; I am a firm believer in the super natural. There are a lot of questions regarding ancient civilizations, and many times the answers just don't seem to add up. Like MichiganTrappin said, it would not surprise me at all if their was another civilization that pre-dated what we "consider" the Mayans today.

Hippie, made an interesting point about drought that I had not thought about. Either it was much drier when the Mayans and mega fauna were going into those caves or the water table has risen drastically since that time! Either way, if the Mayan civilization is as young as they say it is then I think they would have faced serious challenges in acquiring enough fresh water from rain alone in order to sustain a population that size. The Yucatan does have crazy convectional thunderstorms there everyday during the summer, but it is also very prone to drought as well.

Gobekli Teppe is another ancient structure out there that really upsets the dominant paradigm. This temple area was intentionally buried as well, and using carbon dating the scientists have dated it to 10-12K years old. If the dating is correct, then it means hunters and gathers were building some amazing things and also carving stone in 3D. I think it would be very interesting if they could uncover some of the buried pyramids in the Yucatan and date them using the same technique thye used in Turkey. It could possibly mean that whoever built those "Mayan" structures, did it thousands of years earlier than what the history books teach.

I don't know for sure, but I've heard before that there are a lot of caves worldwide that are submerged today. I think the use of those caves was at the time of the glacers, that had much of earths water locked up in ice. Same time that they thought the indians migrated accross the Bearing Sea land bridge. It is interesting that if that were the case, the Mayan culture was thousands of years older than what they thought. Interesting stuff!

Not to change the subject, but personally believe the greatest crime ever committed against humanity was the burning of the library of Alexandra. All that knowledge lost forever.

Read the book City of the Monkey Gods. It is about the discovery of ancient cities in Honduras. I enjoyed it very much. The area is disease ridden and half the researchers developed a terrible disease. Leesh Moniasis (sp)

Maybe covered because of disease

Probably, it sure hurt the native north Americans

I do wonder how much European diseases affected the native population. If the population under that LIDAR was truly in the millions, then I find it difficult to believe that European diseases brought them to their demise. In this day, it seems that it is the Europeans that are getting sick as a dog or infected with a parasite every time they visit the tropics.

According to the Smithsonian scientists (link below), it was climate change due to the Mayans farming and sivicultural practices that brought about their downfall.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-n...hange-30863026/

Some could say the Mayan's demise could have been a combination of a one-two punch...., both diseases from the Europeans and climate change due to their cutting of trees which led to a terrible drought and global warming caused their demise.

Giving the timing of it all, I just don't buy it. Whoever built those pyramids, knew their stuff. They understood precession, the rising of the moon and sun, seasons, and also how to deal with drought and other natural catastrophes. I don't think it was European disease that took them out. I also think that the idea of them being wiped out due to climate change is crazy and ill-informed.

Very entertaining what a lot of you are saying but a little quick fact checking would reveal that the mayan golden age came and went long before the Europeans got to the new world...so european diseases twarnt the issue. Vikings in central america? Nope.

Drought and agricultural declines are what the experts say. And I believe 'em.

But the Mayans didn't completely disappear. Their descendants still live there.

My son says Viking artifacts and genetis we're found there

Not only do they live there, but also here in WNY. I work with several Mexicans that say they are Mayan, and they speak a language they call místico witch is a native Mayan language although a google search found very little about this particular language. They say that as kids they were taught místico at home but had to learn spanish when they went to school. They also claim that they are not welcome in northern Mexico and if they go there they have to be very carful to not be noticed.

I have suspected since I was kid that we humans were world travelers long before Columbus. Sometimes by accident. Beaverpeeler, how would you know where the Vikings went? Ever think that maybe a few got lost? Didn't know how or were afraid to try, to sail back where they came from? Of all the coastal fisherman who never came home how do we know they all died? I think its not only possible but probably likely a few crossed the ocean. Read some of the modern sea survival stories. People have stayed alive in small rafts for some incredible amounts of time.