In recent years there was an argument that the world might suddenly end as no Mayan calendars were found to go past the year 2012. Jokes were passed through social media platforms about the need for cool beverages as a reason for this, but there were some people concerned that a major event might take place. For those who doubted there was any reason to worry, their lack of fear proved to be correct. While the ancients might have chosen to stop their calendars at a specific date, they still created the beauty of time in their works.
Carving has long been one of the ways ancient mankind was able to preserve their art, but it was done with only hand tools. The lack of electricity gave them no easy shortcuts to completing their works of art, so it took years for some of them to complete even one piece. There are few people today able to get their mind around this concept, but the ancients knew it as a fact of life. Their art needed many years to complete, so it also needed a long wear life to be effective.
Much of what is considered art today might not have been anything more than a way to spread information back then, but longevity is the key to its beauty. Those who made calendars were aware their work would be used by at least several generations, so they took the time to create something pleasant to view. It might not have been a masterpiece at the time, but its survival guaranteed it would be cherished far into the future.
Modern time keeping methods such as calendars are now mostly electronic, and they are seldom considered works of art. Their usefulness is often derived from a lack of embellishment in today’s busy societies, but ancient man lived a slower and more thoughtful life.
