Quote:
Originally Posted by
Keeping It Simple
I've been lead to believe that archaeological records have disproved the claims coming from some quarters that the sacrifices are an invention of Western historians to paint the Mayans and Aztecs as savage races deserved of their eventual downfall rather than them being advanced civilizations.
I suspect the issue has been politicized by the Left's obsession with political correctness. Even going so far as to alter historical facts to tie in with it's political dogmas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob Instigator
this is exactly right
the latest archeological research has disproven the whole "spanisards made up the big bad stories about the maya"
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the latest archaeological research? BIASED!
and please cite some evidence if this research is so conclusive..
again lets review the evidence:
1) primary accounts written by the spanish
2) bodies in the ground
3)
archaeological interpretation of various pictographs, hieroglyphs and other ruins
BUT where is the cultural imput of LIVING mayans? These people are not extinct you know..
and further ALL of this evidence is so far circumstantial. There is no PROOF that the bodies in the ground were sacrificed, and there are no where near as many bodies as the current theories speculate would/should be there. The primary accounts of Spaniards, while may reflect a hint of truth, should be clearly seen as biased. I do not suggest that the spanish made the whole thing up, but I do accuse them and the current archeology and historiography as exaggerating. Perhaps there was SOME sacrifice, I might concede this, but I do accuse the establishment of
bullshitting the facts. Just because you read it in a book or learned it in school does not make it accurate, specifically with history. This is what I learned from going to university in the first place, history is a wonderful story we tell our children and argue with each other about, but the truth is very hard to find in the academics.
And Rob, I LOVE these kinds of discussions, I read boring books like you. Most people have gossip magz in the banyo and porn collections under the bed, I have history monographs by the toilet and a stash of journal articles and reviews
