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AD, part of the
late classic period
. (The three
periods
of Mayan civilization are
Pre-Classic
(2000 BC-250 AD);
Classic
(250-900 AD); and
Post-Classic
(900-
1500 AD).) This pyramid has representations of the rain god
Chac
. In fact, a
decryption of glyphs shows that the ruler of Uxmal took the name
Lord Chac
in roughly 900 AD. As with many other cities, Uxmal was abandoned in about
1450AD. After millennia, the Mayan civilization ceased to be, but nobody
knows why, albeit speculation abounds from natural disaster to invasions, one
of the great mysteries.
Figure 1.10: Pyramid of the Magician.
Easter Island
To close this section with another fascinating story, we head south, and west
to an isolated island 2200 miles west of Chile, now a Chilean dependency, Easter
Island. It is the easternmost of the Polynesian islands, famed for its giant stone
heads, standing three stories high, called
moais
or
busts
.
In 1722, a Dutch admiral, Jacob Roggeveen, was the first European to visit
the island. To commemorate the day of their arrival, the Dutch named it
Paa-
seiland
or
Easter Island
. However, to its inhabitants, largely of Polynesian
descent, it is known as
Rapa Nui
or
Great Rapa
, also
Te Pi te Henua
or
Navel
of the World
. Not only were the moais found, but also, tablets inscribed with a
language called
rongorongo
. This language still has not been deciphered. Ron-
gorongo is a pictographic language (such as the Egyptian hieroglyphs). More-
over, every other line is written upside down, meaning that the tablet would
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