For the first time on the Survivor series, the setting for a show is a realistic one of ruins. Mayan ruins, to be exact. And while ruins of everyday homes, villages and mundane things like markets or schools haven’t survived the ravages of climate and time, the massive stone pyramids and temples the ancient Mayas constructed centuries ago are still on site.
The contestants of Survivor 11 set in the El Petén region of Guatemala will have shelter from the rain amid some of the less well known ruins in the Yaxha area, but most of what people know today about the Mayan temples and ceremonial pyramids comes from study of such archaeological treasures as Tikal, perhaps the greatest Mayan site in Guatemala. See these photos of Maya Ruins and maps for more sites in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize and Honduras.
No doubt one of the questions the Survivor contestants will share as they view these awesome relics is why? What made the Mayans construct these temples and pyramids? What purpose did they serve? The simple explanation is that the temples were built for ceremonial purposes. They house altars of stone, platforms for the priests to celebrate ritual sacrifices to their multiple gods.Hmm, not so different from the Tribal Councils in which the contestants will sacrifice one of their own in ritual regularity to appease the god of one million dollar prizes…. Viewers have cast their votes for the first man and first woman to be sacrificed, er, voted off. As you see by the results of Who will be the first ones voted off? poll, every contestant received a vote. We’ll have to wait until the first episodes to see who they are.
While the beliefs of the Mayan Religion demanded huge temples, how were they built? How were they designed?
To the Maya, having a specific area for ceremonial rites, public celebrations and political events was important. The bigger, the better. Competition between the various cities of the ancient Maya depended on having monumentally-sized cities, ritual centers and huge temples.For the homes of the elite, and the administrative and religious structures, certain guidelines existed. These buildings were built on top of mounds elevating them above a plaza, like the main plaza at Tikal.Built of stone and masonry on the tops of mounded earth, the palaces, pyramids and temples were adorned with bas-relief carvings and wall paintings, many of which are still extant.
An important architectural feature is the corbel vault or arch. Some experts suggest the lack of a keystone in the arch was deliberate, citing that using one would have altered the nine stone layers representing the nine layers of the underworld.
The consistant feature of architecture was the temple pyramid. Using handcut limestone blocks, the pyramids topped by temples rose majestically high over the rain forest canopy. Some temples had several internal rooms, but they are too small to be used as residences and were probably used for ceremonial purposes.Along with the corbel arch, the temples had carvings thought to be of their gods and goddesses on doorways, walls and facades. Outside the temples, heavily carved stelae or pillars placed in the stucco floors of plazas led to the temples.
Cities grew as they were needed, without a predetermined grid, but astronomical alignment was important. Palaces and temples were torn down and rebuilt as the nobles and their gods rose or fell in importance.
The Survivor contestants will be busy with strategies, alliances and ploys to keep themselves "alive" in the game. Their accommodations won't run to the luxurious, although ancient palaces abound. They won't be living like ancient nobles even though they face some of the same things the ancient Maya did: heat, humidity, plentiful rainfall and wild animals.
Once jaguars roamed this area in great numbers. Along with howler monkeys whose noise fills the air, there are colorful birds, spiders, and the curious pizotes who roam freely through the temple ruins of Yaxha that will remind the contestants that they face the same survival issues that the ancients did. Unlike the ancients, they cannot hunt wild game for survival. They don't have time to plant crops. How will they survive?
The Survivor contestants are in the wilds of El Petén for only 39 days. They can leave and go back to "civilization" when their time on the show is up. No one knows why the ancient Mayan civilization began to fade centuries before the Spanish arrived.
Some experts claim the decline of the city states like Tikal was due to overpopulation, environmental problems, drought and the Maya's long history of warfare. Over timne, the of lagoon and forest covered the buildings, palaces and temples alike, and only archaeological investigation prompted the clearing and restoration of many of the ruins. Who knows how many are still hidden under the lush green canopy of the rainforest? How much is hidden under trees and mounds?
Be here in September to read the recaps of each Survivor episode!
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