Before the eastern part of ancient Atlántepec (Mexico) became the bottom of what are now at least part of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, the present narrow strip of swamps and the river Chimalapán connecting Southern Veracruz and Oaxaca, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, was a wide waterway uniting the Gulf of Mexico with the Pacific. About four thousand years ago, sailing vessels could and did easily cross from the east coast of Mexico to the Pacific in a few hours.

The pre-conquest Meso-Americans claimed that their primordial founding city was Tollán. The original name of the Toltec ruins of Tula, Hidago, on which the Mayan city of Chichén Itzá was modeled, is also Tollán. However, researchers point out similar place names omitting the “O” exist all over Mexico: Atlán, Autlán, Mazatlán, Cihuatlán, Cacatlán, Tecaltitlán, Tihuatlán, Atitlán, Zapotlán, Minititlán, Ocotlán, Miahuatlán, Tecaltitlán, Tepatitlán, Tihuatlán, and Texiutlán – and that the Nahuatl Tlán root of these place names is exactly like the Tlan in “Atlantis.”

Episode Treatment:

The Mayan civilization is an obvious target when contemplating the historical significance of this region, while requiring us realistically to extend the show into Belize, Guatemala and Honduras to examine several other important structures located throughout Central America.  More importantly, we will examine Moctezuma and his revenge – and, a cornerstone in our on-going search, the Mayan Calendar that utilizes the Long Count – and its implications – minimally.

Furthermore, we will look at the Olmecs.  Well, not in the traditional sense, but take a look at who they might have been… relative to our earlier segment on North Africa.  Notwithstanding, these queries, we’ll puzzle ourselves with the nagging question of jade – why was it so precious to the Shang Dynasty?  In terms of one country, other than Egypt, that really needs help defining itself in terms of an incredibly rich but misunderstood history, it’s Mexico.

Keep in mind, it was here that the slate was wiped clean 65 million years ago when an asteroid upon impact created the Gulf of Mexico and snuffed the dinosaurs.

• Traditional history: Pagans, Magicians and The Spaniards
• Legendary history: Quetzalcóatl, Kukulkán and The Popol Vul
• Mythological history: Jade, Prophecy and The Crystal Skull
• Alternative history: Astronomy, Olmecs and The Long Count

The most famous and most tested crystal skull in the Americas is the skull previously owned by Frederick Albert Mitchell-Hedges.  This skull is thought to be over 100,000 years old. This figure (100,000) was given by a Mayan priest, who said that the skull could talk.  The Mayan said that it was a healing skull and thought to have come from Lubaantan, Belize.  These skulls are mentioned in the Popol Vul.

The legend says that there were originally thirteen life-size human skulls of solid crystal with movable jaws that were said to speak and sing.  There are thirteen Mayan gods of the upper world.  These skulls held the greatest mysteries of life and the universe. Apparently, they told the past history of this planet and the evolution of mankind.  The legend says that at a time of great crisis, for humanity, that the skulls will be rediscovered and brought back together to reveal their knowledge.

The Mayan Calendar ended on December 24, 2012.  It uses three different dating systems in parallel, the Long Count, the Tzolkin, and the Haab. Of these, only the Haab  (civil calendar) has a direct relationship to the length of the year.  Although they are not part of the Long Count, the Mayan priests had names for larger time spans:

• 1 pictun = 20 baktun = 2,880,000 days = approx. 7885 years
• 1 calabtun = 20 pictun = 57,600,000 days = approx. 158,000 years
• 1 kinchiltun = 20 calabtun = 1,152,000,000 days = approx. 3 million years
• 1 alautun = 20 kinchiltun = 23,040,000,000 days = approx. 63 million years

The alautun is probably the longest named period in any calendar.  After all, even a cycle of catur yugas lasts for only 12,000 deva years or 4,320,000 human years.