Mounting Evidence of Maya-Taino Connection

tainoEvidence continues to grow that the Maya seafarers did not just control coastal trade routes in Mexico and Central America but ventured further afield including the islands of the Caribbean and the Southeastern U.S. Just as the Maya-Georgia connection is currently scoffed at by mainstream academics, the Maya-Cuba connection was also once dismissed as well. This was, of course, before hard evidence showing evidence of Mayan ball courts and Mayan gods was discovered on the island. Now the same academics who once dismissed the claims are busy trying to downplay the connections. Read below to learn more about the evidence showing contact between the Maya and the Taino throughout the Caribbean:

The Taínos were accomplished seamen and traveled through-out the Caribbean in their hand-crafted canoas. Some large canoes could carry thirty people. The caciques owned these larger canoes and were thus responsible for public transportation. The importance of the canoes in the daily lives and in the expansion of the Taínos cannot be overstated. Due to their navigating skills, the Taínos were able to travel from their land of origin, the Orinoco Valley of Venezuela, and island-hop from Venezuela to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, the Bahamas and Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and as far west as Cuba. This expansion did not occur over a short period of time, but it did guarantee a Taíno presence in the Caribbean. Another important consequence of their navigation skills and their canoes is that the Taínos had contact with other indigenous groups of the Americas, including the Mayas of Mexico and Guatemala.

 

Read the full article here: http://indigenouscaribbean.ning.com/group/archaeologyofthecircumcaribbean/forum/topics/mounting-evidence-of-mayataino

Gary C. Daniels

Gary C. Daniels is an award-winning, Emmy-nominated television, video and multimedia writer and producer. He has a M.A. degree in Communications from Georgia State University in Atlanta, a B.F.A. degree in TV Production from the Savannah College of Art and Design and an A.A. degree in Art from the College of Coastal Georgia. He has appeared on the Travel Channel, Discovery Channel, Science Channel and History Channel. His History Channel appearance became the highest-rated episode in the network's history. He has a passion for Native American history and art. He is the founder and publisher of LostWorlds.org.