ArchaeoBlog

Archaeologist to talk Mayan mythology, 2012 calendar

“I love mystery stories,” she said.

Her specialty is the epiclassic era, A.D. 100-900 in Mexico, which includes the Mayans and their infamous calender that ends in 2012 and has caused some consternation around the world.

“They had a specific time they started their calender and all their time is calculated from there,” Garing said. “The Mayans were one of the first to make use of the concept of zero. Their base was not 10 but 20.”

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Mexican Archaeologist Debunks Alleged Maya Prediction of 2012 Apocalypse

Contrary to the apocalyptic prophecies for 2012 attributed to the Maya civilization, a Mexican archaeologist says that the Mayas were predicting a “strictly cyclical phenomenon,” not a planetary catastrophe.

In the books “Chilam Balam,” which relate the history of the Maya people, prophecies concerning the end of the first era of humanity are mentioned and it is from those references that certain scholars have drawn their conclusions about “seven alleged predictions,” Alfonso Morales told Efe.

Not much new but a couple of other links.

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Just because I haven’t done one in a while.

This is it! Three years from today!!!!

Wait, is there a leap year in there? Hmmmmmmm.

Anyway, SyFy (hate that new moniker) has a new program (well, since Nov. 8 I guess) called 2012: Startling New Secrets. All I saw of it was some guy hauling around a PC and some goofy device around Tikal measuring “torsion energy” or some such.

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This time from a Canadian:

Canadian archaeologist Kathryn Reese-Taylor, who teaches at the University of Calgary, says in a statement that although the monument, called the Tortuguero Monument Six, refers to the date Dec. 21, 2012, it is not an end-of-the-world prophecy. She says the translation of the text essentially says that something will occur on Dec. 21, 2012 and that it will be similar to something that occurred on another date in the past.

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This time from USA Today: 2012 fears are down for Maya ‘Long Count’ calendar

Fears about the year 2012 rest on just one of at least three Maya calendar systems unearthed by scholars, the “Long Count,” which began on Aug. 13, 3114 B.C.

The Long Count tracks the duration of what the Maya called “great cycles” of time. The cycle we’re currently in ends on 13.0.0.0.0, what we non-Maya call Dec. 23, 2012.

“I tell my students it is similar to an odometer,” says archaeologist Lisa Lucero of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “After it hits 100,000 miles, it starts again – but there is no new car, nor does the car self-destruct.”

Not really much there, although there’s a nice graphic illustrating the Long Count system.

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In case anyone is about to get freaked out by the coming apocalypse on Dec. 21, 2012, a handy list of 10 doomsday predictions that (obviously) didn’t come to pass. Including the Prophet Hen of Leeds.

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2012: Six End-of-the-World Myths Debunked

he end of the world is near—December 21, 2012, to be exact—according to theories based on a purported ancient Maya prediction and fanned by the marketing machine behind the soon-to-be-released 2012 movie.

But could humankind really meet its end in 2012—drowned in apocalyptic floods, walloped by a secret planet, seared by an angry sun, or thrown overboard by speeding continents?

And did the ancient Maya—whose empire peaked between A.D. 250 and 900 in what is now Mexico and Central America—really predict the end of the world in 2012?

At least one aspect of the 2012, end-of-the-world hype is, for some people, all too real: the fear.

I liked this bit: “I’ve had two teenagers who were considering killing themselves, because they didn’t want to be around when the world ends,” he said.

Good thing I’m not on the hotline.

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An archaeologist debunks Hollywood

Two new movies, two rewrites of ancient history. So what’s wrong with that?

It’s only bad when people take it seriously, she argues. And some theorists are pushing these ideas publicly, along with accusations of a government cover-up.

“They’re preying on the fears of people: 9/11, the crash of the stock market, all that. It’s a way to make a quick buck.”

There’s a bit in there about the The Fourth Kind too, which I haven’t seen or heard much of except for the trailer.

In the comments: “Why would an archaeologist feel the need to debunk a Hollywood film anyway? I dont see Stephen Hawking getting his knickers in a twist over Doctor Who……”

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Balloon Boy Dad Richard Heene Thinks World Will End in 2012; Will He Be Out of Jail by Then?

Will Richard Heene, the father of the now-infamous balloon boy, be out of jail in time to see the world end on Dec. 21, 2012—a fear he discussed on his YouTube web show, “Psyience Detectives?”

Heene and his colleagues Barbara Slusser and Scott Stevens, a meteorologist, had a lengthy panel-style conversation about the ancient Mayan prophesy which states the world will end on Dec. 21, 2012.

In the video, Heene says he is going to explain the phenomenon to the “laymen out there,” and goes on to read a list of over fifteen reasons why the prediction will prove to be true.

I did a quick check on YouTube for the channel, but didn’t really look at anything (might have all been deleted, too). But, eh, I thought I’d pass on the weirdness. I wonder if this will end up being like the millennium stuff again. Not the Y2k stuff obviously, but all the end-of-the-world junk. I didn’t do much for Y2k as far as computer stuff was concerned (the software I used did not have a date problem) but a bunch of my then-colleagues did. Matter of fact, a bunch of the data I was pulling off a mainframe at the time was indeed in 2-digit year format. Another friend of mine who was a mainframe financial industry programmer did a lot of work with it and on new year’s eve his company spread out a huge (non-alcoholic) buffet while they waited until midnight to monitor everything.

Me, I drank some champagne and then couldn’t sleep and greeted the new year sitting in a chair in the dark feeling like crap and wondering if anything weird would happen. It didn’t.

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