Mayan elder denies his culture predicted 2012 end of the world doomsday
Last updated 14/10/2009 12:53:12
Mayan elder denies his culture predicted 2012 end of the world doomsday
If you heard the world is going to end in two years' time, don't worry. That's the message from a Mayan elder, who's rubbished suggestions that his culture predicted an apocalypse in 2012.
Apolinario Chile Pixtun says he tired of being asked about the end of the world during a trip to the UK. Doomsday was supposedly predicted by the Mayan people, the indigenous population of parts of Mexico and Central America.
"I came back from England last year and, man, they had me fed up with this stuff," he explained, adding that such theories originate from Western folklore, not Mayan tradition.
He's been backed by Yucatan Mayan archaeologist Jose Huchim, who said: "If I went to some Mayan-speaking communities and asked people what is going to happen in 2012, they wouldn't have any idea. That the world is going to end? They wouldn't believe you. We have real concerns these days, like rain."
Experts say the doomsday theory probably derives from a partially-eroded monument ruin in southern Mexico. The structure is said to mention the Mayan equivalent to the year of 2012 and the god Bolon Yokte K'uh, who is liked to war, conflict, and the underworld.
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