The Maya civilization flourished in the eastern part of Mexico (including the Yucatan Peninsula) and northern Guatemala and Belize. The civilization reached its pinnacle between 250 and 900, and slowly declined, and eventually were conquered by the Spanish in the 1500s and 1600s. The Mayans ruled through a series of small kingdoms, built urban settlements with stone palaces and observatories, and developed a writing system. Like the Aztecs who came later, the Mayans practiced human sacrifice.
The modern-day indigenous peoples of the region are descended from the Mayans, and speak languages derived from the Mayan language.
Adventures with Mayan archaeologyEdit
In March 1933, Jones was involved in an excavation of the Mayan site of Cozan, and was later accused of being a grave robber by the authorities of British Honduras for the theft of the Crystal Skull of Cozan from a sacred well. He kept a newspaper clipping about being wanted in his journal.
In August 1941, Jones discovered a set of four Mayan figurines in the ruins of an Incan Shrine in Peru, before getting hired to find the Akashic Hall of Records. He found that the Hall's current location was at the Mayan ruins of Uxmal, and he and Bert Brodowski flew to the site to find the Hall's entrance at the Pyramid of the Sorcerer. Opening the door required using the four figurines Jones had unearthed in Peru. After his Nazi opponent, Nichols had been defeated, Jones was able to save three of the four figurines before the Hall vanished.
In 1957, Indiana Jones spent several weeks in the central coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, and had been excavating a coastal Mayan ruin with George McHale, when he discovered a secret entrance to an underground temple. Inside the temple he discovered a Mayan calendar wheel with stories of the K'iche Maya tribe, normally found in Guatemala. Jones climbed into a stone snake depicting Kukulkan and fell into an underground river. After being shot out of the river when it reached the coastal cliffs, Jones returned to camp only to be kidnapped by a group of unmarked soldiers led by a giant of a man.
After escaping from Soviet forces in Nevada, Jones received a letter from Harold Oxley via Mutt Williams. Oxley had written the letter in Koihoma, but in order to translate it, Jones had to compare it to the glyph language of the Mayans.
Later, when Oxley reached the interior of the Temple of Akator, and Irina Spalko placed the Crystal Skull of Akator in its proper place, the skeletons of the Interdimensional beings used Oxley to speak to Jones and Spalko, and Oxley spoke to them in Mayan.
- Camozotz mask
- Shield of Camozots
- Crystal Skull of Cozan
- Four Mayan Figurines
- Mayan Statue
- Funeral Mask
- Mayan Stele
- Mayan calendar stone
Behind the scenesEdit
- Indiana Jones and the Pyramid of the Sorcerer
- Indiana Jones and his Desktop Adventures
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Language mentioned)
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull comic (Language mentioned)
Notes and referencesEdit
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones
- ↑ Indiana Jones and his Desktop Adventures
- ↑ Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings Scavenger Hunt
- ↑ Indiana Jones and the Pyramid of the Sorcerer
- ↑ Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull novel
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull