The Maya Civilization, which stretched across modern day Mexico and Central
America for thousands of years, is well known for its complex writing system, architecture,
and of course, calendar. Remember when we thought the world was ending in 2012? Hmm,
maybe we switched up the last two digits...But the Maya also had some super intense ideas of
beauty - and for them no pain meant no gain. From skull shaping to tooth sharpening, today on Nutty
History we’re covering what beauty was like in the Maya Civilization - with excruciating detail.
Have you ever looked at an ear of corn, and thought “Man,
what a good looking vegetable!” Corn, AKA Maize, was incredibly important to the Maya, both in
terms of diet and religion. Maize was a staple crop, but also held deep spiritual significance.
The Maya believed that humans themselves were created from corn. Thus, it’s thought that
looking more corn-like was a driving factor in the Mayan practice of cranial deformation.
Yeah, in order to get the long sloping forehead that the Maya considered to be peak hotness,
they would attach two boards to their newborn baby’s heads, pressing them into the forehead at
an angle to elongate and slant the skull. This was apparently a pretty common phenomenon across all
social classes, since 90% of later discovered and studied Mayan skulls were elongated.
The bad news is that this practice might kill the infant, the good news is that baby brains
are so malleable that skull molding doesn’t seem to have any long-lasting effect on brain function.
Still, let’s leave artificial skull shaping as a thing of the past.
Remember trying to cross your eyes as a kid and being warned they’d get stuck that way? For Mayan
parents, this was kind of the goal. Slightly crossed eyes were also considered beautiful to
the Maya, so aside from molding their baby’s head shape, they’d try to achieve the coveted
inward facing irises for their kids. To do this, they’d fasten a headband to the child and hang a
stone from a string in front of their face, hoping to pull their gaze inward and cross their eyes.
Life as a Mayan baby seems stressful! Another facial feature considered attractive to the Maya
was a prominent, beak-like nose. But this fix was a tamer affair. If you weren’t blessed with
a super schnoz, you could wear a nose bridge - an artificial and removable attachment that gave the
nose a distinctive hook shape. So while modern Western society shaves and slims their noses,
Ancient Mayans were doing the opposite. Beauty standards really make nose-sense.
While pointed teeth today might bring to mind Translyvania rather than the Maya civilization,
sharpening your fangs was a Mayan beauty must. Another probably painful part of
the beauty regime, the Maya filed down their teeth to a pointed or T-shape,
possibly forming a pattern. How fancy! Another add-on to their pearly whites? Not pearls, per se,
but other precious stones or jewels like pyrite, jade, or obsidian.
The Maya had some pretty advanced dental work for their time, and while they didn’t generally
use this knowledge toward healthcare, they did use it to make purposeful cavities which
wealthy members of society would inlay with colorful minerals. One possible reason for
this decked out grill is the corn connection. It all leads back to corn. Ancient Mayans may
have considered their teeth to be the kernels of the corn, and adorned them with according
importance. Speaking of important things, please like this video if you’re enjoying it so far!
The Maya were pretty big fans of body modifications, and tattoos and piercings
(specifically of the ears, nose, and lip) were popular among both men and women.
These tats probably weren’t the kind you’d get at your neighborhood shop, though.
The tattoo artist would paint their masterpiece on the skin using body paint,
and then cut along the lines of the design. The resulting scar was your tattoo, along with
a bonus - the infection it might have caused! Ouch. Because it was such a painful process,
tattoos were seen as a sign of courage. I think I’ll just be known as the village wimp, thanks.
The Maya also used body paint to less permanent ends. Different members of societies used
different colors. For instance, priests were often painted blue, warriors had bands of red and black
paint, and unmarried men were likely to be painted black. I see a lone man and I want to paint him
black. Anyway, it kinda seems like the Maya had their own historic version of the stoplight party.
Overall, the Maya didn’t really lean into the rhetoric of “you’re beautiful just the way you
are.” But really, what historic civilization did? Being beautiful in the Ancient Maya civilization
required money, and a high pain tolerance. Let us know in the comments whether you could hack it,
along with what nutty beauty customs you’d like to hear about next. But first, we just wanna say,
we think you really are beautiful just the way are - thanks for watching!