Tikal, a UNESCO World Heritage site and historic Mayan landmark, has been damaged because of apocalypse celebrations earlier this month. The AFP reported that Tikal is "the largest archaeological site and urban center of the Mayan civilization."
Many tourists came to the city for "end of the world" celebrations for the predicted Mayan Calender end of the world date on Dec. 21. "Sadly, many tourists climbed Temple II and caused damage," said Osvaldo Gomez, a technical adviser at Tikal to AFP. Gomez added that it is forbidden to climb the temples and many of the damage is irreversible.
More than 7000 people visited the site on Dec. 21, where Mayan priests held ceremonies.
"We are fine with the celebration, but (the tourists) should be more aware because this is a UNESCO World Heritage Site," Gomez said to The New York Daily News.
The Mayan Long Count Calendar has been interpreted as saying that Dec. 21 is the end of the world, while others interpreted it to mean the end of a over 5,000 year period and a beginning of a new one. The world obviously didn't end on Dec. 21 but many people gathered around historic Mayan sites like Tikal for prayers and celebrations.
"The majority of the doomsayers cite a monument from Tortugero, Mexico that mentions the 2012 date, but the main glyph that would tell us what they thought about the date is broken off," said anthropological archaeologist Sonja Schwake, to Fox News Latino."We actually have no evidence that the ancient Maya predicted or wrote down any kind of apocalyptic world-ending event associated with the 2012 date."
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