Cool!
PING
I just adore archaeology. I had a double major in college of Spanish and archaeology until I discovered that you really cannot pay the mortgage, or any other bill, with archaeology. I was blessed to participate in some archaeology in San Mateo, CA, and then Mayan in the Yucatan Peninsula. Recent Lidar exploration is revealing what I already knew about the area. There is sooooo much under the jungle and soil.
When I very young, I remember reading about the peaceful, noble native populations. Then you read about the Aztecs, not so much. They were about as ‘peaceful’ as the ‘mostly peaceful’ BLM / Antifa / DemoKKKrat riots.
Later, some people tried to state that, well, yes, the Aztecs warred, pillaged, and cut out quite a few living hearts, but the Maya, now there was a peaceful people. Over the centuries, large Mayan City States were established in many areas. There was significant amounts of trading. There were observatories where Mayan astronomers tracked the stars, and especially the planets. Eventually, some of the young City State leaders wanted to expand. I will never forget some wacko discovering that some of the City-States eventually constructed walls around themselves, to protect and defend.
Two of the best books ever written are The Hummingbird and the Hawk, and The Discovery And Conquest Of Mexico.
The Discovery/Mexico was written by Bernal Diaz De Castillo. Castillo was with Hernan Cortez from the beginning, and survived it all. Much later in life, and almost blind, he wanted to leave something of value to his family. He provided an amazing account of it all.
Hummingbird/Hawk is one of my all time favorite books. When Cortez arrived, Montezuma the 2nd was in charge. This book describes the history starting with Montezuma the First, and the Aztec generals that pushed for much more bloodshed.
Awesome!
Forgotten leader K’awill Ch’ak Chéen
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K’awill Ch’ak Chéen translates as Jo Ro’Bidet Biden