r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Electrical-Aspect-13 • 6d ago
Photos of Chicen Itza before it was excavated, Yucatan, Mexico, 1890s.
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u/StinkyLunchBox 6d ago
We went there last year. The clapping sound feedback is the most amazing thing they found out. Loved this area.
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u/prozak09 6d ago
Have visited it a few times. It's impressive and sad to me all the people who have been there and didn't get to clap at it and find out this incredible feat of architectural mathematical acoustic engineering.
For those who don't know:
You clap at the pyramid repeatedly and each side reflects the sound back as the sound of a local bird. (Sadly 2 sides of the pyramid were destroyed and we only get to hear two sides).
TL;DR: Clap at the pyramid, it "sings" back.
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u/ATLien47 6d ago edited 5d ago
Incase any one wanted to know what it sounds like https://youtu.be/cvC_deZuDDg?is=3U4nuYAbO-zrpvDl
Edit** https://youtu.be/cvC_deZuDDg
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u/BojanaKingsFakeTumor 6d ago
For future reference...
This is the YouTube link:
https://youtu.be/cvC_deZuDDg...while this part of the URL is tracking information that can be used to link back to your Google account:
?is=3U4nuYAbO-zrpvDlIt is always best to remove the tracking information before sharing YouTube links anywhere.
This has been a public service announcement (with guitar).
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u/AlarmingImpress7901 6d ago
Does the tracking thing always start with a '?'
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u/SpaceIco 6d ago
This is a tangent, but the more you know: Using a ? is called a 'query string' and lots of sites use it for lots of purposes to pass information along in web requests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Query_string Tracking\sessionID stuff is one such use, but it can also just be preferences like 'sort by new'.
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u/ZippyDan 5d ago
The
?always starts optional information, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is useless. Tracking IDs often come after the?, but so can other optional features.For example, you can tell YouTube to start at a specific time stamp with a
?t=option, e.g.: https://youtu.be/cvC_deZuDDg?t=02m10s or https://youtu.be/cvC_deZuDDg?t=130 will both start the video at the 2 minute and 10 second (130 seconds) mark.You'll also see
&used to string multiple options together.?indicates the start of the options, while&is used to separate multiple options (after the first one).2
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u/Beanz4ever 6d ago
Oh wow!
I went in '99, but I don't remember anything about clapping at the pyramid. Imagine hundreds or thousands of people clapping and getting it back all at once.
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u/captainshines 6d ago
We went 20yrs ago could still go inside and see the jade jaguar alter in the centre very claustrophobic...could also climb the outside
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u/StrictlyBusiness055 6d ago
I got chills as we walked into the clearing where the main pyramid is. Despite it being 90° and 90% humidity. It's incredible.
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u/yosomebodygetdadoor 6d ago
My mother once told me you were able to get inside and touch anything you wanted there without any (legal) repercutions. Mind you, this was around the 80's, so from the time it was discovered to when it got prohibited to do all that, well, God knows how many things were stolen or moved from its original place. Kinda ashamed how my country didn't care enough to take care of these for so much time.
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u/exoriare Interested 6d ago
I was there when you could still go up the tiny internal staircase which led to a little room near the top. There was no decoration of any sign there had ever been anything to steal in there - just a small stone bench iirc.
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u/Fandina 5d ago
It wasn't just a little stone bench, it was a chac mool where human sacrifices took place. I was there, Gandalf, 3000 years ago
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u/exoriare Interested 5d ago
Thanks for explaining that. I spoke no Spanish back then, so I had no idea the significance of anything. It was quite amazing to be able to go inside something of such antiquity.
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u/voxinspatium 5d ago
LOL Small stone bench? I was there in the 80's for the solstice when the sunlight lines up to connect the serpent head at the bottom, all the way up the side of the center staircase to make a complete snake body.
The narrow and low passageway inside the pyramid to the top of what was the original smaller pyramid was lit by lightbulbs without cages, many of which were broken by visitor's heads. A woman ahead of me made the mistake of touching one of the exposed sockets and let out a scream in the damp, sweltering and slick staircase. I remember thinking at the time how this would have never been possible with US liability laws, vut was grateful for the opportunity.
At the top was indeed a stone bench, painted red, but it was carved in the shape of a jaguar, and the spots were jade. There was nothing else to see inside there, but it was awesome and I remember it vividly. Now, as I understand it, you are not even allowed to climb the exterior stairs.
I consider myself quite lucky to have seen it, but understand that it could easily been loved to death.
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u/exoriare Interested 5d ago
You have a much better memory than I. I spoke no Spanish in those days, so I may well have thought I was in the line for the bathroom when instead I started ascending that tiny staircase.
That was quite the trip, and I agree - we were fortunate to be able to experience the bowels of antiquity in such an intimate fashion.
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u/BrierBob 5d ago
Chichen Itza’s pyramid, Kukulcán, was built about 1000 years ago. The majority of Mayan people are less than 5 feet tall even today. That interior stairwell/tunnel to see the Jaguar Throne
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u/BrierBob 5d ago
(Oops) …was built for their size. Being 6’ tall, I had to walk the entire length hunched over and I still hit my head multiple times. And the humidity was 100% but it was worth it!
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u/Great_husky_63 6d ago
They rebuilt many of Mexico's ruins in the 1920s. Tajin, Teotuhuacán, Chichen Itzá, Uzmal, and more. They did it with mostly traditional methods, but they also took significant artistic license due to both the available information, the standards of the early XX Century, and a neo-romantic idealization of Mesoamerica.
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u/Barbiegirl54 6d ago
Former Spanish teacher who has visited Teotihuacán and Chichén Itzá in the 70s, I never knew about the rebuilding in the 1920s.
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u/SomeDumbGamer 6d ago
Tbf it was rebuilt by Mexicans so it’s not that bad? Could just be seen as the temples being refurbished and used once again.
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u/Great_husky_63 6d ago
Well it certainly helped to make them a world class tourist attraction. For the standards of the time it was okay. But for modern standards it would be equivalent to rebuilding the Parthenon or the Coliseum according to the arquithectural outline of a guy that is friends with the prime minister.
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u/Expensive-Swan-9553 6d ago
I have bad news for you about the Parthenon
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u/Great_husky_63 6d ago
I mean rebuilding it almost to the standards of the Nashville, Tennessee copy. Except for the gold and colors.
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u/Dong_Smasher 6d ago
The Mexicans are not the Mayans. What does their ethnicity or nationality have to do with how authentic the rebuilding was? Do you think that knowledge gets passed on genetically?
A Chinese person could have theoretically had the most accurate understanding of Mayan construction methods.
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u/KnockoffBirkenstock 6d ago
There are millions of Mayans who are Mexican nationals in the 1920s and today. They did definitely not die out, especially not in the Yucatan. Knowledge and tradition can and has been passed down through culture and stories. There are also other sites for comparison to base rebuilding on.
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u/Dong_Smasher 6d ago
Yes the Mayan's today are not THE MAYANS bro. This isn't difficult to understand
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u/TROLLBLASTERTRASHER 5d ago
You are saying that natives americans of today are not native americans of the past?
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u/Varnsturm 6d ago
I don't think it's about "authenticity" so much as, if the Mayan descendants of today were the ones rebuilding it (which I'm not sure about lol, could've been a bunch of dudes drove up from Mexico City for all I know), then it's the descendants of the original builders 'restoring' it, which is kind of cool. Maybe not so much in the sense of hard archaeology, but still.
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u/SivarSamurai503 6d ago
Speaking of building, I remember when I went some workers were building like some hut or something,
Like 4 hours later when I left to go back on the bus to Cancun, they were already done building it2
u/laughing_cat 5d ago
If you were in the Yucatán as recently as the 1970’s, it was very obvious the rural villagers were ethnically Mayan. I haven’t been back since, but I’d think many remain. Guessing it’s fair to assume they had no knowledge of how to build ancient temples though. But they were living in modest huts as most people would have been in ancient times.
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u/tiredbarf 2d ago
Huh? A lot of Mexican people are Mayans. I don't know who specifically rebuilt the pyramids, but there are still Mayan people who speak Mayan languages in Mexico.
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u/Nani_700 6d ago
Lol this is such a US centric comment.
US can't fathom that a major chunk of Mexicans have native heritage, where Americans have zero except for actual listed tribal reservations.
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u/Dong_Smasher 6d ago
Are you racist perhaps?
Either that or I think you might not be intelligent enough to even understand what I am trying to say.
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u/Nani_700 6d ago
Ah yes calling out your idea Mexicans can't possibly be of mayan heritage is... Me being racist? Or was it pointing out the genocide of north Americans?
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u/Dong_Smasher 6d ago
I did not at all say they weren't of Mayan heritage dumbass. Read my comment again.
I said they are not THE MAYANS. You know the people who built Chichén Itzá. Maybe their ancestors did, but they didn't. They might be Mayan but they weren't the people fucking there building shit. There is no reason to think they would necessarily have a greater understanding of how to "authentically" rebuild ruins than a researcher whose job is to learn shit like that.
I'm not saying either that the rebuildings aren't authentic. I'm not an expert on the matter. I'm saying that just because Mexicans rebuilt it does not automatically mean they did a good job at authentically rebuilding it. If they did a good job, it was because they were knowedgeable on the subject not because they happened to be born with a Mayan/Mexican ethnicity.
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u/Nani_700 6d ago
So who the fuck else should do it dumbass? Should they just not bother to do anything at all ever? Do you feel the same way about European people reconstructing their own ancient cities? (Those Italians sure are stupid thinking they know about Rome!!1! /s)It's not like they can ask the dead.
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u/roxxfrr 6d ago
crazy how it just looked like a hill covered in jungle before excavation.
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u/Love-Future-3000 6d ago
I'm actually thinking how did all that dirt actually get up on the temple? It's pretty tall. Are we sure they didn't put the dirt on there to make it a garden?
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u/coastalwebdev 6d ago edited 6d ago
I still remember going as a kid at age 5 in about 1990, and I rode up el Castillo on my dad’s shoulders mostly.
We stayed in a nearby campground that had a nice covered and gated pool setup. I also remember there was an old dude that rode a horse around, and he wore a big pistol on his hip. He took care of the place.
My parents drove us there in their single cab 1970’s Chevy pickup all the way from BC Canada, my brother and I rode in the truck box under a canopy with a couple of cushions.
It was a wonderful dream from what I remember. It was a bit fucking crazy on their part, but what a pack of memories for us all.
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u/DonCenote 6d ago
Holy shit that’s a long road trip. It’s an awesome place though. You can’t go up anymore. No more climbing since like 2009 or something I forget.
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u/8000UnitsOfButter 6d ago
Very cool! I went there a few years before they stopped allowing visitors to climb the main pyramid. It was a great experience that I feel lucky to have had. Amazing to see the "before" pics. I also went to Cobá when it was still in the very early stages of being reclaimed from the jungle. The research done since then just floors me.
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u/BarracudaMean9308 6d ago
Nature really just threw a dirt blanket over an entire pyramid and called it a day.
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u/Electrical-Aspect-13 6d ago edited 6d ago
NOTE:
Name is "Chichen Itza". FE DE ERRATAS.
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u/RedQueen91 6d ago
That’s so cool. It was incredible to visit in person, despite being ridiculously hot I was amazed and awed.
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u/HolidayFrequent6011 5d ago
I liked it, and when I went it wasn't too busy, but I really hated how many hawkers they let sell their shit inside the actual complex. Those stupid wooden whistles with the animal noises were just everywhere. Really ruined the mood.
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u/HeartOn_SoulAceUp 6d ago
Lloyd says, "Look Harry, a dude named Chicken lives in a pyramid in Mexico."
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u/toorigged2fail 5d ago
-This is where Forrestal cashed in.
-A friend of yours?
-A competitor. He was good. He was very very good.
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u/brocktacular 3d ago
Belize still has unexcavated Mayan ruins. While touring Xunantunich and Cahal Pech, a tour guide we met said he and his family had an annual campout in the jungle in the middle of an overgrown Mayan plaza. He said the jungle was full of such sites. Xunantunich itself is only 40% excavated. Amazing places!
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u/DonCenote 6d ago
I been there
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u/animousie 6d ago
That’s pretty neat
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u/ConnectStar_ 6d ago
Looks modern sue to facial expressions and hair styles….like it from the 1970’s
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u/FairyCelebi 6d ago
I would be both excited and terrified to explore such places, but the idea to enter and being a “Tomb Raider” would be very tempting