London, Jan 2: An expert on Mayan civilisation Leonzo Barreno, of Saskatchewan, Canada, says, 2012 will not mark the end of the world, but it would mark the beginning of a new era, reports The Mail.
Barreno says the ‘apocalypse' concept is a false interpretation of the Long Count calendar.
The University of Regina journalism professor said Mayan elders taught him that December 21 this year simply marks the start of a new calendar.
Barreno, who immigrated to Canada from Guatemala 23 years ago, was trained by Mayan elders to read the calendars, reported CBC News.
‘There are two sides to the story,' he told CBC. ‘The one that we know is this apocalyptic meaning that has been given to the Long Count.
The other side of the story is the Mayan side, which you rarely see on media articles, because they never interview my own people.'
He said Mayan people are featured for just five seconds of the film 2012, starring John Cusack, which is loosely based on their 'predictions'.
"When I grew up during my training I never hear the word “end of the world” from the elders or spiritual leaders,' Barreno added.
"For them it's a joyous event, not an apocalyptic event. What is coming is the end of a calendar and the beginning of a new one."
‘It's cyclical,' he told CBC. ‘This has happened before. According to the elders it's the fifth time it's happened.'
Inscriptions in Tortuguero, Mexico, refer to Bolon Yokte 'descending from the sky' in 2012 - a god associated with war and the underworld.
Last month German expert Sven Gronemeyer said it may be a misreading and added he also believes it is simply a calendar change.
Gronemeyer said his decoding of a Mayan artefact with a reference to a 2012 date shows a transition to a new era in the 5,125-year calendar.
Bolon Yokte is a figure also associated with change. Many Mayans also dismiss the apocalyptic predictions as largely a Western idea.
In November Mexican anthropologists said a second inscription with the 2012 date was found on a brick at the Comalcalco ruin, near the Tortuguero site.
But experts doubt the second inscription was a definite reference to the date cited as the possible end of the world, as it has no future tense.
