Every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas, millions of people around the world sit around the table to eat turkey. Located at the center of the table, Turkey is so important that it has created a large industry.
Time magazine claims that, while 45 million turkeys are consumed for Thanksgiving, about 22 million are consumed each year for Christmas in the United States alone. But, did you know that 2000 years ago, the ancient Mayan civilization believed that turkeys were messengers of the gods?
The turkey is a brilliantly colored bird with bronze, blue and green feathers, a bright blue head with orange wart-like bumps. Eye-like markings are present on the dark red feet and tail.
In an article published in the journal Pari, Maya historians Anna Luisa and Maria Elena argue that their striking appearance is the reason why the turkey was endowed with supernatural powers by the ancient Maya. In fact, the humble turkey, which we see as a duck, was worshiped in the Mayan civilization as early as 300 BC, as were the leopard, snake, and quetzal (another multicolored bird), all of which feature in Mesoamerican mythology. I play an important role.
The ancient Maya civilization is remembered for its advanced culture and complex Maya pantheon, numbering in the hundreds of gods. The turkey is ubiquitous in Maya archeology and iconography, as evidenced by its depiction in painted vessels and Maya pre-Columbian hieroglyphic texts.
There is even a glyphic compound to represent the wild turkey, first identified in the 1880 Madrid Codex.
Excavations have also revealed remains of turkeys within ceremonial contexts, such as those discovered at El Mirador in northern Guatemala. Although the turkeys in question were originally of the domestic variety originally from central Mexico, the sacrifice of turkeys was an important aspect of New Year's celebrations to bring fertility to the natural world.
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