[Aztlan] GOOD MAYA COLLAPSE RESEARCH

[Bryan R. Just]

While I do think it valid to critic the generalization of 'no wheels' in
Pre-Columbian times, the main point of that comment seems to be to highlight
the impressiveness of constructing monumental structures and such without
using wheeled vehicles (and the related domesticated labor animals).

 

The examples of specific wheel and axle artifacts listed by Mr. Evans, while
perhaps technically accurate, are really distinct in kind from vehicular
uses of the wheel.  Also, I think Mr. Evans' first example is inaccurate --
to my knowledge, there is no Pre-Columbian evidence that Mesoamerican
peoples envisioned their calendars as 'interlocking gears' - this seems
instead a Western imposition.

 

Bryan

 

Bryan R. Just, Ph.D.

Pre-Columbian Art History