If you get a chance to visit Guatemala today, hopefully in between the times when they are slaughtering each other, there is something striking in the appearance of the people.
They either look like Mayans, or they look like Olmecs.
That is, they look like the Mayans depicted on codex scrolls, carvings and paintings, or they look much like the giant basalt stone heads left behind by the Olmecs. Rounder heads, with flatter, almost negroid noses.
Having been there, I’ve reached the conclusion that if Guatemala was managed by Germans, it would be heaven. But as it is, it is heaven in the midst of the civil war between the angels.
Having been there, I’ve reached the conclusion that if Guatemala was managed by Germans, it would be heaven. But as it is, it is heaven in the midst of the civil war between the angels.
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Huh?...you lost me somewhere. Maybe it’s the six-pack of Coors Light I’ve had to night, but I’m not understanding this.
The Mayans are very much alive; the race didn't die out when the big city-states collapsed. There are thriving Mayan cultures in Belize, Guatemala and Mexico and probably further south. They look exactly like the people pictured in the Codexes and other Mayan art. If you visit San Ignacio in the Maya Mountains, near the Guatemalan border, you'll find an entire city of Mayans.
Nobody knows for sure what the Olmecs really looked like. I've studied many images of Olmec art and the human images represent a very odd mix of Asian, Negroid and indeterminate racial types. It looks to me like Olmec culture was one of the first "melting pots" in the Western Hemisphere. How and when the various groups got there is a mystery. Blam has posted many articles speculating on that.
The Colossal Heads are suggestive of Negroid features, yet I've seen Indians from South America with those same faces. While he's not a dead ringer, take a look at Hugo Chavez. I think he carries some of those same features.
As for Guatemala, I haven't had a chance to travel much beyond Tikal and Lake Peten. But the several days we spent near the lake were some of the most pleasant and unforgettable in my life despite the guys with AK-47s hiding near the hotel entrance. They were there to protect us Gringos from being kidnapped and held for ransom.