“Surprise, surprise; we’re still here,” Mr Waight said as a large group of guests, staff members and their families, Chaa Creek’s owners and local villagers prepared for the procession to the ancient Maya temple of Tunichilen and an exuberant celebration to, as Mr Waight said, “Mark the end of one long cosmic cycle and the beginning of another.”
The Lodge at Chaa Creek’s resident Mayanist said that recent reports from a noted University of Texas scholar are an important addition to our understanding of the true history of the Maya. Speaking from Chaa Creek’s Natural History Centre, anthropologist Joe Awe said that he praised Dr David Stuart for an announcement he made June 28 that not only once again debunked Maya 2012 doomsday theories, but offed a unique interpretation of the significance of the December 21 2012 Winter Solstice date.
On Wednesday March 21st was the spring equinox in the final year of the current cycle of the Maya long count calendar, which ends on December 21, 2012. To commemorate the ending of the 13th Baktun, as it is called, the Institute of Archaeology hosted a night of camping, cultural presentations and history at the ancient Mayan city-state of Caracol in the Cayo District.
It’s remotely possible the world will end in December 2012. But don’t credit the ancient Maya calendar for predicting it, say experts on the Mesoamerican culture.
The ancient Maya civilization’s many achievements include a written language, advanced mathematics, sophisticated surgery, and astrological calculations that continue to astound scholars… and the list goes on.
But for many people, the Maya’s greatest achievement is something loved all over the world today—chocolate.