The Mayan civilization has many mysteries surrounding it. We know that movies make
the ancient Mayan civilization seem more mystical than it really was (we're looking at you, 2012!).
However, there are still many odd, creepy, and outright baffling facts about the civilization you
may not know. Today on Nutty History, we're here to uncover the lost secrets of the Mayan Empire.
In ancient civilizations, blood sacrifices are quite reoccurring. The belief was that the gods
above wanted an offering, and they would not be satisfied until some blood spilled.
Mayan civilizations would typically sacrifice prisoners. However, the prisoners tended to be
high-class POWs. Think of a leader of a warring tribe. What about a plebeian who stole some bread?
Well, they were used as labor. Mayans participate in ritualistic sacrifice to this day,
but they now use chickens and other animals. Society's standards may have changed, but the gods
always need an offering. Now let’s move towards home furnishings with our next weird fact that
was considered normal in their civilization. Some of us love to accent our rooms with blue paint,
but the Mayans, they didn’t like it. Mayans had blue paint, but they weren’t decorating
their homes with it. Instead, they would use blue to enhance their sacrifices to Chaac,
the god of rain and storms. The color blue tends to have an association with rain,
so that makes sense. But they would not paint their ritual room blue.
Instead, the sacrifice would be turned into a giant Smurf to please Chaac!
Taking sports a little too serious is nothing new. In fact, ancient civilizations did it all the
time. However, these civilizations tended to kill the loser. You may imagine a loser of a gladiator
match being sentenced to death, for instance. However, victory may have meant death in the Mayan
civilization. Imagine the star athletes of our time like LeBron James being sent to the firing
squad for scoring one too many baskets! While the Mayans did sacrifice losers as well, their game,
Pitz, did have winners facing death. Pitz is a game that may have had similarities to
racquetball, with the modern version referred to as Ulama. As you may have guessed, no one dies in
a game of Ulama. In the Mayan civilization, death was an honor and a reward for winning a game.
As for us, we’ll just order a pizza after we win our games. How about that?What
fascinates us about beauty standards is that what is considered unattractive by the mainstream
nowadays may have been attractive back then, and vice versa. Today, people with big noses may feel
insecure and have rhinoplasties to give them the schnoz of their dreams. But Mayans loved a big,
hooked nose. You may be asking, "what's creepy about this?" And you know what, you're right.
But that's not the end of the story. Mayans who did not have the ideal nose had to wear
a prosthetic nose to be considered attractive. Modifications, in general, were popular in Mayan
culture. But, of course, we can't judge them too much. Maybe in a thousand years,
the current body modifications we have available will seem primitive.
The idea of sharp teeth being sexy is still around today. How many people are thirsty for vampires,
after all? But the Mayans, believing sharp teeth to be peak beauty standards,
took it to the whole another level. Some of them would sharpen their teeth as a way to show class
and beauty. Taking the only teeth you have and filing it down until it’s sharp is not our thing,
but they seemed to enjoy it. So besides the sharp teeth what other creepy things did they do? Well…
Like big noses, being cross-eyed is a trait that is considered undesirable nowadays,
but was considered a symbol of beauty back in the Mayan Times. One reason for their love of
cross-eyed people is that the sun god Kinich Ahau was cross-eyed. And humans wanted to become closer
to gods is nothing new. On its surface, there’s nothing wrong with this. In fact, we do love how
the Mayans embraced loving what society nowadays considers to be imperfections. But making children
cross-eyed is something we have to question. Yes, being cross-eyed was a noble symbol, and noble
families would make their children cross-eyed. How they did this was they would dangle an object in
front of a newborn’s eyes until they became permanently cross-eyed. It was very strange
but considered normal fashion statements back in the day. What other crazy things did the
Mayans do to their bodies? Well, let’s look at another creepy thing that the Mayans did.
Teeth jewelry is still seen to this day. Who hasn't seen someone with a shiny grille in their
mouths? However, the Mayans took it to the next level. One symbol of beauty and high-class was to
drill holes in someone's teeth and put jewels in those holes. A shiny mouth was a symbol of
wealth in Mayan civilization. Look, we love shiny teeth, but we are not gonna take it that far.
This was considered a fashion statement for those of a higher rank. The reason for this was because
it was used to add color and style to their lives. Some of the jewels that they used included quartz,
hematite, and cinnabar. Sometimes, they’d even pair these with the fanged teeth they also loved
to sport. You still see this in our society today. Lil’ Wayne, Tory Lanez, Lil’ Baby, and Young Thug
sported these fancy teeth adornments, which is similar to what the Mayans did in the past.
One aspect of Mayan culture that doesn't seem intriguing at first is having sauna rooms,
known as steam or sweat baths. These baths would be used for health reasons and for religious
purification as well. Sweat baths do not seem like anything that interesting. To this day,
many will agree that there are health benefits to using the sauna. However,
these baths were so interesting because the Mayans considered them a gateway to the underworld.
In other words, the Mayans would use these baths to talk to their dead relatives and become
one with the afterlife. Maybe they saw it as a form of meditation where they communicated with
their ancestors? We shouldn't have to tell you that if you have been in the sauna for so long,
you feel the afterlife pulling you in, you should probably get out!
Mayan beauty standards did not just include cross-eyes and big noses
but had skulls as well. The belief was that an elongated shape was the standard of beauty.
How did they do this though? Well, the ancient Mayans would take their babies and press their
foreheads to alter their skulls. How would they do this? By putting a plank of wood
against their skulls, of course! Like other beauty standards, this was a symbol of the
elite. According to this civilization, if you were not altering your child's head shape,
you were a plebeian. We should not have to say this, but do not press its skull if you see a
baby. The skull in their head is fine as it is. Not to mention, babies are fragile creatures.
Consuming a bunch of drugs and talking to spirits beyond the human realm is
nothing new. Psychedelics have been one way we try to escape from this plane of reality and
move on to something bigger. Just like us, Mayans had ways of being high. They would drink balche,
which comes from fermented honey. Balche can get you mildly intoxicated. However,
the weird part comes from the fact that the Mayans were butt chuggers. That's right.
The ancient Mayans would take alcohol and other psychedelics and put them through their rectum.
Having an ethanol enema is a scientifically valid way to get drunk faster. For one thing, your body
absorbs it directly through the bloodstream, and one cannot vomit it out. However, because of that,
alcoholic enemas can be dangerous. It’s much easier to have too much alcohol to the point of
death if you take this route. So please, when you have a few drinks, put them in your mouth, please.
The Mayan empire, like all empires, came to an end eventually. The weird part about it? No one knows
how it happened! When something unknown occurs, it can make the imagination run a little wild.
However, the more rational speculation is that the usual contenders such as overpopulation,
famine, and changes in the climate are the reasons for their downfall. When resources
became scarce, villages would battle each other for the sake of a few extra grains.
Now with that said, it wasn't some ancient aliens zapping them away or an apocalyptic event.
So please take off your tinfoil hats. We know it took over 200 years for the death of their
civilization to happen. In many cases, the end is not sudden. It’s gradual. In fact, you may
be living in the end times of your country and not know it yet. There’s some food for thought.
The ancient Mayan civilization was filled with odd, bizarre, and downright creepy rituals.
Unfortunately, there's still a lot we do not know about the ancient Mayans,
so all this information is subject to change at any time. So what do you think of the Mayans?
There’s a lot of strange behaviors in their culture and we tried to cover everything we could.
Is there a weird fact we should have discussed? Tell us in the comments below! And please, like,
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