![]() ![]() The first published mention of that date was in the 1800s, came from the work of Joseph Goodman. The date 13.0.0.0.0 is a logical extrapolation of how the Mayan Long Count Calendar works. The most recent translation suggests that whatever they said would happen then was really just the dressing and honoring of this deity, nothing more. This deity seems to be associated with warfare and with the king of Tortuguero. It refers to celebration of a god called Bolon Yok’te K’uh. There’s some discussion about whether it’s even a prophecy, but I think it is. However, the inscription isn’t at all clear. The preliminary translation came out in the late 1990s. So it’s hard to read and it takes a lot of cleverness to decipher what the text actually says. It’s the only monument known to have the date 13.0.0.0.0-the Mayan date that corresponds to December 21, 2012-on it. As we got closer to 2012, David Stuart published the new translation. It appears in Linda Schele‘s work in 1982 and discussed at the Maya Workshops in late 1990s. Then, beginning in the 1970s you also have discussion of a monument called Tortuguero Monument #6. That’s what’s referred to as “Mayan prophecies.” The scholarly discussion of them goes back to the 1930s. Chilam Balam is a legendary prophet who made various pronouncements that are collected in these books. But they recount stories that were collected much earlier, including ones from the time of Spanish arrival. That’s really a set of different manuscripts from colonial Yucatan and it was published in the 1700s. The main real stuff are prophecies in The Books of Chilam Balam, the Books of the Jaguar Priest. JH: The real stuff behind it, it comes in several flavors. When people talk about this stuff, what artifacts and research are they building off of? MKB: Tell me a little bit about the real science that forms the backbone of this 2012 mythology. My very first research paper, in 10th grade, was a critical evaluation of the Lost Continent of Atlantis. I was an avid consumer of pseudo-archaeology in high school. I usually think about it as the ethnography of contemporary culture. Maggie Koerth-Baker: I know that you are an archaeologist, but you also have this very meta offshoot of your research that I sort of think of as the cultural anthropology of archeo-mythology. ![]() ![]() Lovecraft and Aldous Huxley as it does to the ancient Maya. I spoke with him about where 2012 myths come from, why scientists need to study and address pseudo-science movements, and why he thinks the 2012 phenomenon owes as much to H.P. But, as a side project, he’s also developed some expertise in the way archaeology-and, particularly, pseudo-archaeology-influences pop culture in the United States and Europe. Hoopes does field research, digging at archaeological sites in Costa Rica and other parts of Central and South America. One of the researchers featured in that book is John Hoopes, an archaeologist and one of my former professors when I was an anthropology student at The University of Kansas. Meanwhile, a new scholarly book, collecting essays on the 2012 phenomenon by Mayanist researchers, is set to be published soon. Last January, archaeo-astronomers held a symposium on the 2012 phenomenon and those papers were recently published in The Proceedings of the International Astronomy Union. But, until very recently, they’ve largely ignored that movement. These archaeologists and anthropologists have, inadvertently, created some of the pop culture legends that spawned the 2012 movement. Here’s the thing, though: There are actual experts in ancient Maya traditions, and actual experts who study the culture and religion of modern Maya living today. In fact, the folks promoting the 2012 movement often frame themselves as experts in Maya traditions. These speculations spring from a well-seasoned cultural melting pot, but a key ingredient is the writings and beliefs of both ancient and modern Maya people. There are 1000s of people who think that something important-if not the end or the world, then something-will happen on December 21, 2012. It’s August of 2011, do you know when your Apocalypse is? ![]()
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