AT-1817

2012 and the End of the World: The Western Roots of the Maya Apocalypse

DOI · Academic research · Critical / corrective research

verifiedRetraction / correction review2 usage records

Source record

This is one canonical bibliographic record with topic-scoped research-use entries. It does not reproduce the paper, book, text, dataset, image, or manuscript and does not imply that full text was reviewed.

Canonical source ID: AT-1817
Accepted usage IDs: AT-1817, AT-1831
Types: DOI
Roles: Academic research · Critical / corrective research
Verification: verified
Archive state: unavailable-through-registered-public-or-tdm-routes
Access: unavailable-through-registered-public-or-tdm-routes
Rights: not identified; not cleared
Public reproduction: Not cleared; citation and link only.
Correction / retraction: no retraction flag in checked Crossref/OpenAlex metadata

Alternate accepted citation records

2012 and the End of the World

Recorded research uses

AT-1817

Terence McKenna

Why Ancient Inquiry uses this citation here

Matthew Restall and Amara Solari's 2011 scholarly history separating ancient Maya calendrical evidence from modern Western 2012 millenarianism; corrective context for keeping McKenna's I Ching-derived Timewave distinct from Maya prophecy.

What this usage does not establish

Bibliographic verification does not by itself establish that the full text was read.

AT-1831

Maya 2012 Cycle

Why Ancient Inquiry uses this citation here

Matthew Restall and Amara Solari's scholarly history of the Western and modern construction of a Maya apocalypse.

What this usage does not establish

Bibliographic verification does not by itself establish that the full text was read.

Topics citing it and claims using it

Topic citing this source

Terence McKenna

Topic citing this source

Maya 2012 Cycle

Supporting citation for public claim

The ancient Maya did not predict that the world would end on December 21, 2012; that doomsday reading is a modern misrepresentation of a Long Count period ending.

The calendar cycle is real, but the doomsday interpretation is not supported by the strongest ancient evidence.

Open claim topic

Supporting citation for public claim

A major cycle completed, but the calendar did not simply end.

Answer / theory: No. A major cycle completed, but the calendar did not simply end. What supports it: Long Count structure and known dates beyond 2012. What is weak or disputed: Public wording often confuses a period ending with the end of time. Evidence level: Strong Evidence.

Open claim topic

Supporting citation for public claim

No listed specialist source identifies a secure ancient Maya text predicting a 2012 end of the world.

Answer / theory: No secure ancient Maya text says that. What supports it: Specialist readings of Tortuguero and La Corona texts. What is weak or disputed: Tortuguero Monument 6 is damaged, but damage does not justify the apocalypse claim. Evidence level: Debunked or Very Unlikely for the apocalypse version.

Open claim topic

Supporting citation for public claim

The 2012 date was significant as a major Long Count period ending, not a terminal end of Maya time.

Answer / theory: Yes, as a major Long Count period ending. What supports it: The mathematical structure of the Long Count and inscriptional references. What is weak or disputed: The meaning of that importance is not the same as doomsday. Evidence level: Strong Evidence for calendrical importance.

Open claim topic

Supporting citation for public claim

A 2012 consciousness shift is a modern New Age interpretation, not a claim established by ancient Maya inscriptions.

Answer / theory: That is a modern New Age interpretation. What supports it: Modern spiritual literature and countercultural claims. What is weak or disputed: It is not strongly supported by Classic Maya inscriptions. Evidence level: Mostly Speculative.

Open claim topic

Supporting citation for public claim

The listed sources treat Nibiru and Planet X links to 2012 as modern additions with no ancient Maya textual basis.

Answer / theory: Not in Maya sources. What supports it: Only modern internet and ancient-astronaut claim networks. What is weak or disputed: No credible astronomical or Maya-text evidence supports it. Evidence level: Debunked or Very Unlikely.

Open claim topic

Limiting / critical citation for public claim

The catalog documents McKenna's I Ching-derived Timewave and pre-2012 endpoint claim, but supplies no independent validation of it as a predictive model.

The evidence does not automatically support broader causal, technological, transmission, or literalizing claims beyond the cited record.

Open claim topic

Access and actions

2012 and the End of the World: The Western Roots of the Maya Apocalypse