One of the most fascinating deductive reasonings I have come with in the past year involves the similarities between the government of the Maya city of Chichen Itza in the northern Yucatan Peninsula, and the subsequent organization of Creek ancestral towns during our "Golden Era." There is substantial evidence that Ocmulgee was founded by non-elite refugees from the Maya city of Waka in Guatemala - or at least the children of those refugees. Waka was mostly abandoned by 880 AD after the city had been razed and its entire elite executed by an enemy city. Ocmulgee was founded about 20 years later. However, Ocmulgee seems to have been more of a massive regional trade conurbation, where many cultures blended, not the capital of a new state. Chichen Itza had a government very different than most Maya cities. Its Great Sun was not a hereditary king, but a symbolic head of state and administrator elected by a legislative body composed entirely of the elite. Therefore, its government was almost identical to that of the Old Roman Republic prior to Emperor Augustus. Commoners evidently had little or no say in the management of the city state. Slaves certainly had no rights at all. Stellae from neighboring cities in Yucatan tell of a massive rebellion by the commoners or slaves around Chichen Itza in response to droughts and famines. After the rebellion, few people lived in Chichen Itza and it was no longer a powerful influence on the region. Archaeologists long thought the virtual abandonment of Chichen Itza occurred around 1200 AD. Recently, more accurate radiocarbon dating has placed the period of the rebellion and abandonment to be in the late 900s AD. This date is important, because around 1000 AD, many, many new towns suddenly appeared in the Creek Motherland - the founding of famous places such as Ochesee and Etalwa are definitely from that period. I have a theory that waves of illiterate Maya commoners arrived in the Southeast immediately after the abandonment of Chichen Itza. They set themselves up as the elite among Muskogeans, who were disunited by centuries of clan vengeance warfare, and tried to recreate the world they had known in the Yucatan, but also incorporated the clan system as a democratic counterbalance to the abuses of the elite in the Maya world. In fact, Creek tradition remembers a time when there was much misery because of constant vengeance warfare between clans. Sun Man and Sun Woman appeared on the scene and brought peace, civilization and advanced agriculture to the people. The descendants of Sun Man and Sun Woman became the new elite. The seeds of this theory go back to many moons ago when I was 20 years old and sitting in awe in the office of the world famous archaeologist, Dr. Roman Pina-Chan. Pina-Chan was director of the Museo Nacional de Anthropologia in Mexico City, and the coordinator of my fellowship. Pina-Chan was also a Maya, and had a humility and open-mindedness about him that is often missing in contemporary anthropologists. I had just given him a Smithsonian book on the Indians of the Southeast. After first glancing at the photos of the artifacts from Etowah Mounds, he canceled his next appointment and spent another hour with me. His most poignant observation occurred after seeing the photos of the famous statues from Etowah Mounds. "Ricardo, why did your Indios make statues of slaves? The turbans they wear were the mark of a slave, farmer or laborer among the Maya. They still are. Were your people once slaves of the Mayas?" Then, fast forward to the year, 2007. I am watching the movie, "Apocalypto" and see the slaves and laborers of the fictional Maya city all wearing white turbans. "Oh my God! Dr. Pina-Chan was right!" Of course, this theory flies in the face of everything that Este-hatka archaeologists are taught these days. They are already shunning my books and me for merely mentioning it. It will take a lot more research to back up the theory. First, I must dig out of the financial disaster caused by the Fernbank Museum when I almost lost my house and car in April. However, every known archaeological fact I read, is backing up the theory. At least, I have something to keep me busy for several years! Richard T. **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )