Ask the Experts (Maya)!

From 2018... We’ve now expanded our longstanding ‘Ask the Experts’ service that for many years focused on the Aztecs to cover the ancient Maya as well. So the Maya now have their own service! Enjoy...

It always seems a shame to us that some of the questions we receive from pupils during our in-school team visits/workshops on the Maya aren’t shared with wider audiences, and given more ‘polished’ and considered answers. So... our plan is to publish the best questions, together with brief but expert answers. We hope that, as the service develops, schools - and everyone - will find this a unique resource - authoritative, balanced, interactive and genuinely accessible.

Autumn 2020: we are privileged to have an expanding team of - over 90! - world-class and distinguished scholars on our Panel. Honorary President Professor Miguel León-Portilla received in 2009 from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) its greatest distinction, the Eagle Warrior Award, a sculpture that represents a Mexica fighter, presented to academics and researchers that have made important contributions to Mexican history.

A brief appraisal of Miguel León-Portilla’s achievements

How did they carry the heavy stones

to build their temples?

If you were an Aztec under 52,

were you ever allowed chocolate?

Once dead as an Aztec, could you

move between levels or heavens?

What does the hand gesture

of the Maya maize god mean?

How many people lived

in an Aztec house (2)?

Would pieces of obsidian

have been worn as jewellery?

Were there any lady

Maya rulers?

How long did it take

to build Chichen Itza?

Did the Aztecs ever fight

against the Maya?

How many Maya books existed

before the Conquest?

Why isn’t Mexico named after the Maya

instead of after the Mexica/Aztecs?

Why did houses

have no windows? (2)

Did the Maya and Aztecs take feathers for headdresses

from other birds [other than quetzals]?

Why did [Maya] houses

have no windows?

Did the Aztecs know about the Venus cycle

from the Maya?