Life after dark in the ancient world | Dr. Nancy Gonlin | TEDxBellevueCollege

What did our ancient ancestors do after dark? From the light of our cell phones to the digital clock on the wall, from street lights to auto headlights, we are subjected to light night and day. Dr. Nancy Gonlin, archaeologist and senior associate professor of anthropology at Bellevue College, sheds light on that question and explains why we should care about light pollution.

Gonlin is co-editor of "Commoner Ritual and Ideology in Ancient Mesoamerica," "Ancient Households of the Americas," and "Human Adaptation in Ancient Mesoamerica." Gonlin is a registered professional archaeologist and a former Dumbarton Oaks Fellow of Harvard University. Her specialization is the Classic Maya (AD 250-900) civilization of Mexico and Central America.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Many years ago,
when I first moved to Seattle,

my husband, Vishy,

my eldest brother, Rich,

and his wife, Karen, and I

all went to Olympic National Park.

We wanted to experience

the natural beauty
of the Pacific Northwest.

We thoroughly enjoyed our daytime activity
of hiking through the rainforest,

but at night, it was so dark

that it seemed like there were
a million twinkling stars

shining down upon us.

It was stunning.

This experience reminded me
of my childhood nights

when my siblings and I
would venture outdoors

to identify planets and constellations
from our very own backyard.

Gazing at the stars

has always made me feel
at one with the universe

and very humble for the tiny part
that I play on this planet.

This humbling experience is one
that I think we share with each other

and all the humans
who have gone before us.

Seeing the stars
makes my troubles dissipate,

and life is good.

For me, the night is essential

because it provides balance
and perspective to my daily routine.

As an archaeologist,

I look to such experiences
to find connections with people

who have lived in other times
and other places.

There are a lot of misconceptions
about what archaeology is.

The main goal is to understand
and reconstruct

the vast array of human cultures,

some of which have disappeared.

We can do that better
by studying ancient nights.

Think about all of the things
that you do at night

and how they differ substantially
from what you do during the day.

Sleeping, sex, socializing,
partying, sneaking around -

all of those things come to mind.

If we don't study the night,

we're missing out on all
of those activities and much more.

If you think of tourists,
they typically visit sites during the day,

and archaeologists typically
excavate sites during the day.

And all of that allows us to envision

what it's like to live
during the day in the past.

We typically do not experience
archaeological sites at night,

so we typically do not think about
what ancient people did at night either.

This imbalance is analogous

to archaeologists including only men
in their reconstructions of the past

and no other genders.

What about everybody else?

The archaeology of the night is essential

to provide balance and perspective
to our reconstructions of the past.

But this idea is a radical one

because it previously has not been done
in archaeology before.

I have spent a good deal
of my professional life

researching the everyday lives
of the common people

who lived in ancient Maya societies
of Central America and Mexico.

They left behind a remarkable
record of their life way.

They built grand temple pyramids
and palaces and ball courts,

monuments and altars
and thousands of houses

in their cities in the tropics

during the time period

that we archaeologists
refer to as the "Classic."

The Classic period is dated
from about AD 250 to 900.

Until now, our reconstructions
of a Classic Maya have favored the day.

So how did the Classic Maya
experience the night?

And how do we as archaeologists know?

Artifacts and architecture will tell us

as well as art

and the ancient writings
of the Maya themselves

and their descendents.

The Classic Maya simultaneously
feared and revered the night.

Their nightscape was full
of tropical, fantastical beings,

real and imagined,

where jaguars roamed

and fantastical beings populated the dark.

Darkness was not just the absence of light

but represented the time before creation.

The night was wild and untamed.

The Classic Maya are well known
to have been expert astronomers.

Today, the field of cultural astronomy

attests well

to their sophistication in such matters.

What happened in the night sky
did not just stay in the night sky

for there were dire
consequences on this earth.

Seeing the stars, the planets,
the constellations,

the Milky Way, the moon,

one could tell whether it was time
to plant crops or wage war

for it was written in the stars.

[Household Archaeology]

Like us, most of the classic Maya

would have spent
most of their nights at home.

So we need to examine
the remains of their houses.

This focus is called
"household archaeology."

The factors of age and gender and class
affected one's housing

but also one's experience of the night.

Your time spent at home at night

was moderated by whether
you were a child or an adult,

a man or a woman,

a commoner or a noble

for their was inequality
in the ancient night.

The privileged few spent their nights
in grand palaces built of stone

that securely kept them
tucked away from the dangers of the dark

and offered a reprieve from the public.

Once inside, they could
safely light indoor fires

contained in ceramic vessels

that warded off the dampness of the dark
and any beings that roamed around.

The nobles reclined on built-in benches

made more comfortable for them

with finely woven cloth
and curtains for privacy.

The Classic Maya
also wrote about the night.

They ritualized the night,
and they sanctified the night.

A precious offering of blood
was made by Lady Xooc,

Queen of Yaxchilan.

Her husband, King Itzamnaaj Bahlam III,

assisted her by wielding
a large, heavy torch

that illuminated the darkness.

On the evening of this performance,

on Sunday, October 24, AD 709,

the waxing moon was 90% illuminated,

lending additional brightness
to this act of devotion.

The Classic Maya
also celebrated the night,

and one way to do that is with chocolate.

They recorded the ceremony
of King Kʼan Ahk II,

ruler of Piedras Negras
and a member of the Turtle dynasty.

In AD 749,

this turtle lord celebrated
the 20th anniversary of his reign

by dancing at midnight

and imbibing a hot,
inebriating chocolate drink.

What about the commoners?

How did they experience the night?

Their residences were far more common

on the landscape,

but they were constructed
of perishable materials

like the one featured in this photograph.

The commoners are the ones
who built the temples

where the royal people
worshiped and buried their dead.

The commoners are the ones

who built the palaces
where the rich lived.

The commoners are the ones
who built everything else in their society

and nourished the nobles
with the food that they grew.

There is no writing
to tell us about this, however,

nor whether these activities
occurred during the day or the night.

However, this constraint
should not limit us.

Evidence for ancient nights
has always been there,

but our perception of it has not.

We can use everyday artifacts and features
to tell us about the night.

A hearth during the day
is essential for cooking,

but at night, it's transformed
for socializing and warmth.

The earthen floor of a humble house
was a work platform by day,

but at night,

bringing out the sleeping mats,

it became a place for sleep.

We can also use the present
to tell us about the past.

I'm thinking of the numerous studies

that anthropologists have conducted
on contemporary Maya agriculturalists.

And if you know anything about farming,

a farmer's work is never done.

Day or night, there are tasks
to be accomplished.

We can envision Classic Maya women

involved in the laborious process

of preparing maize and beans
for the next day's meals

and settling in infants and children

for the night.

Likewise, men would have been involved
in provisioning the household.

Perhaps they were in the milpas,

the cornfields,

but darkness was ideal for deer hunting.

Once performing the appropriate rituals
to ensure their success,

men would set out on the hunt.

The moon goddess, astride her deer,
watched over them.

There are many similarities

that we modern humans have
with the ancient Maya

in terms of the night,

but there are also
some very serious differences,

and one of them is the degree
of nighttime darkness.

In the tropics,

night seems to come very quickly

as the sun sets abruptly
below the horizon,

and in the tropics,

night and day are nearly
equal length year round.

The Classic Maya would not recognize
our modern nights.

We have learned a lot
about the Classic Maya

by looking at the night

because it has added
balance and perspective

to our reconstruction of their life way,

but we should be concerned
about our modern nights.

So bright and intense are the city lights

that they drown out
the wonder of the nighttime sky.

These lights are so abundant

that they can be seen
from deep, dark outer space.

We need our nighttime stars
as much as we need our daytime star

to provide balance
and perspective to our lives.

The visibility of the stars symbolizes
our connections to each other,

to the past and to the future.

So when you leave here tonight,

go outside,

seek out a place
where you can see the stars

and think about
what the night means to you.

Thank you.

(Applause)