Open AccessGeophysics could explain Ancient Maya Myth
Author(s) -
Bruchez Margaret Sabom
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2005eo130002
Subject(s) - maya , mythology , serpent (symbolism) , natural phenomenon , demon , osiris , ancient history , tribe , poetry , art , archaeology , history , natural (archaeology) , literature , anthropology , ecology , sociology , biology
According to Maya mythology, the splendor of the principal entity, the Feathered Serpent, is exalted at Lake Atitlán in southwestern Guatemala. A chance look at a phenomenon in the natural environment reveals the possible geophysical basis of this myth. More than poetic fancy, the flight of the Feathered Serpent could refer to the dissipation of a soliton wave formed in the 130‐km 2 caldera lake. In the myth, recounted in the sixteenth century document los anales de los caqchiqueles , the newly acceded leader of the Kaqchikel‐speaking Maya tribe rises from the lake transformed as the Feathered Serpent [ Recinos and Goetz , 1953, p. 76]. Residents claim a gigantic serpent, Xocomil, still lives in the waters.