News on
Second chance for the victims of the illegal trafficThe last refuge for the Scarlet macawLegal consumption eggs of turtlesSustainable management of forest resourcesThreats on the monkey-spiderEfforts for the slothsVolunteers in support for the marine turtlesSoon: Galapagos, the blackberry in sightsPortrait of a Shiwiar The forest pharmacy: welcome in the universe of healing plantsGold organic green and fairThe jungle in the Mayan civilizationYasuni, the garden of Eden Arthropods to understand the Mayan lifeScientific inventory of the butterfliesSoon: mangrove swamps, when forests walk on the waterThe jungle in the Mayan civilization
Mexico, Guatemala
For nearly 3000 years, the Maya dominated Mesoamerica, choosing current Guatemala and the South of Mexico as cradle. This civilization is one of the rare to have settled in an environment so inhospitable as the rainforest. For centuries, the Maya tamed this wild nature while respecting it. By placing elements and the living to the rank of divinity, they paid him tribute, making sacred the quetzal, the jaguar or the snake. The representation of the Mayan world is nothing but a tree, the kapokier. Since, the forest has took back its rights and a big part of it bequeath cultural disappeared under the vegetation or was destroyed during the Spanish conquest. Nevertheless, discoveries of Mayan cities such as Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Tikal and Palenque, brought to light incredible representations of animals, real or imaginary, helping the archaeologists to understand little by little the link which united Man and Nature in these ancient times.
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