How ancient Maya brought sharks to the jungle

[Still Waters]

The peoples of Classic Maya civilization were obsessed with sharks. Images of shark-like monsters appear in Maya cities throughout the regions known today as Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala—even deep in the continent's interior, where people never saw the ocean. Now one archaeologist has suggested these mythic symbols may have been based on real experiences Mayans had with sharks, as well as a brisk trade in shark jaws and giant shark tooth fossils.

Shark teeth have been found in some of the earliest Maya sites in the interior, going back to 100 CE. Some are perforated, as if they were worn as jewelry. Others seem to have been attached to weapons or used in bloodletting rituals. Sea monsters with shark-like features appear on pottery and the walls of ceremonial buildings.

The question is, how did sharks become such an important part of the culture in landlocked cities?

http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/12/how-the-ancient-maya-brought-sharks-to-the-jungle/

[back to earth]

is this related to the whale draggers of the Nazca desert culture ? 

[Tatetopa]

The Chontal or Putun Maya originated on the Gulf Coast and may have displaced lowland Maya rulers in the late classical period.  Reportedly they were seafaring traders that constructed large canoes or rafts.  Their trade routes extended along the Central American coast and may have reached Caribbean islands and the North American gulf coast. (evidence is questionable at this point.)

They would have been very familiar with sharks, and likely adept at catching them.  If they did supplant rulers in  inland cities, they might have brought the shark deity with them.  Or the fearful shark might have been the personification of the Chontal power as seen through the  rulers being supplanted.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

21 hours ago, Still Waters said:

The peoples of Classic Maya civilization were obsessed with sharks. Images of shark-like monsters appear in Maya cities throughout the regions known today as Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala—even deep in the continent's interior, where people never saw the ocean. Now one archaeologist has suggested these mythic symbols may have been based on real experiences Mayans had with sharks, as well as a brisk trade in shark jaws and giant shark tooth fossils.

Shark teeth have been found in some of the earliest Maya sites in the interior, going back to 100 CE. Some are perforated, as if they were worn as jewelry. Others seem to have been attached to weapons or used in bloodletting rituals. Sea monsters with shark-like features appear on pottery and the walls of ceremonial buildings.

The question is, how did sharks become such an important part of the culture in landlocked cities?

http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/12/how-the-ancient-maya-brought-sharks-to-the-jungle/

Jet skis.

[Harte]

Obvious sharknado.

Harte