2012 and all that

Mayan prophecies about the end of the world are having quite an influence on popular culture. The film 2012 was a kind of ultimate disaster movie with a mega budget and the best special effects that money can buy. Not exactly Citizen Kane in terms of cinematic excellence, but an enjoyable couple of hours nevertheless.

At the other end of the scale is the low budget, straight to DVD film 2012: Doomsday. This latter film was interesting to me for two reasons: it featured Mayan temples; and Tesco was selling it for only a fiver. The film, however, had some interesting quirks. In one scene the camera tracks back so much that you can see the dolly track that it’s riding on. Shredded bits of paper are used for snow special effects, which almost works until it clumps together and gets stuck on the actors. There were some strong performances from the cast, but they were let down by a script that was so weighed down by its unsubtle agenda that it kept grinding to a halt. On the plus side, it was nice and short, aided by the fact that it sort of stops rather than bothering to put in a proper ending.

So did I learn anything useful for my novel from either film? Only that I can’t use ‘2012’ in the title. I don’t really want it associated with the themes of either film. Mayan prophecies do form part of the background to my novel, but I interpret them in an entirely fresh, original and more interesting way which makes my denouement totally different to all these earthquake-laden stories.

Today’s edits in the novel went smoothly – nothing new was added, and just a few minor changes to a chapter where Matt is driven in the kombi to the Guatemalan-Belize border and spots some things along the way that disturb him. I can’t reveal what those things are, but you can rest assured they are not earthquakes, volcanoes, towering infernos or any other form of doomsday-style disaster.

Mayan archaeology

The rainforests of Central America are chockablock with overgrown temples, pyramids, stelae and broken pots. Ancient Mayans believed that pottery contained spirits: they smashed their pots in order to release the spirits, which is why it’s rare to find any that consist of less than a hundred pieces.

As my rotund student archaeologist character, Charlie, puts it,

‘I reckon that belief was invented by the pot makers. Stands to reason: persuade guys to smash their pots and they have to buy more from you. There must have been a few millionaire potters.’

Mayans were partial to doing odd things in caves. They thought they were getting close to the underworld and would sometimes leave offerings deep underground. I explored such a cave in Belize, guided by a British ex-soldier (who inspired a similar character in the novel). Accessing the cave required a two hour march, constantly in and out of the water, with a final swim across to the cave’s entrance. We left our shoes inside the cave entrance so that our feet wouldn’t damage the delicate treasures inside. Another hour of marching, swimming, climbing, and crawling deep into the underworld followed. My M&S socks were ruined. Then we found this:

Smashed pots from a ceremony that took place about 1,500 to 2,000 years ago. As if that wasn’t cool enough, we crawled on for another half an hour and squeezed into an opening so tight that I could barely fit. 

But it was worth the effort, because we then found this:

The bones were calcified. The victim had a hole in his or her skull. Even more tragic was the sight of a set of baby bones in the same part of the cave. Thousands of years had passed and these bones had remained undisturbed, exactly where they were sacrificed, for that whole period. We photographed the scene, but didn’t touch anything. To this day the location of that cave remains a secret in order that those remains can be protected.