this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2024
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I studied ancient Mesoamerican cultures in college and did a photo series on the destruction and disappearance of their cities and cultures by European colonists. At Dzibilchaltun, Spanish settlers dismantled a Mayan temple stone by stone and rebuilt it as a Catholic chapel literally feet away. Fuckin' shame.
It's all so terribly crude and savage. The conquistadors regularly acknowledged the complexity and grandeur of the accomplishments of American civilizations, and then went and destroyed it all anyway. Not even in the course of conquest, just as a goal in and of itself. It's so absurd.