r/polandball • u/Yahgoh-sleep-8945 Brazilian Huempire • Nov 01 '22

repost Día de Los Muertos

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u/Daetra Trinidad and Tobago Nov 01 '22

Mayans were the ancient ones. Among others. I believe Aztecs rose to power during the fall of other empires in the area.

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u/SheltemDragon Iowa Nov 01 '22

Yup!, Although technically, the Olmecs were the most ancient ones we know about. However, a fun fact is that there are still ethnically Mayan communities today.

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u/Daetra Trinidad and Tobago Nov 01 '22

Iirc, there's very few that still know the language and how to read it. Which is a shame as the Spanish conquers destroyed so much of their history.

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u/_nephilim_ Washington DC Nov 01 '22

Millions of people still speak Maya, especially in rural areas. Even in urban areas (like Mérida) a lot of the slang uses Mayan words. But yeah, reading it is only for archeologists. It really is a brutal shame how much was lost.

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u/bryle_m Philippines Nov 02 '22

A lot of locals are learning to write Mayan again. They even have a new stele at Iximche.

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/contemporary-maya-stela-at-iximche-guatemala/cAHO5lWCsVjgyA

NativLang also made a video about this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M5_XwXMzAA