"The Maya peoples never disappeared, neither at the time of the Classic period decline nor with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores and the subsequent Spanish colonization of the Americas." "Many Mayan languages continue to be spoken as primary languages today; the Rabinal Achí, a play written in the Achi' language, was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2005." 馬雅文明是古代位於墨西哥東南部、瓜地馬拉和猶加敦半島等中南美洲區域的文明。和傳說相反的是,馬雅人從未消失;現在仍有三百萬馬雅人居住在猶加敦半島地區,很多人今日仍然能說馬雅語系的語言。馬雅從無一個統一的強大王國,整個馬雅地區分成數以百計的城邦,然而馬雅各邦在語言文字、宗教信仰、習俗傳統上卻屬於同一個文化圈。 為什麼一直說馬雅人已經消失了?