Field researches realized in 2013-2024 in Guatemala allowed to identify the causes and prerequisites for the special religious behavior of Maya-speaking communities, observed in recent decades. For the first time in historiography an analysis has been conducted of how historical events and local syncretic beliefs combined with the traditional kinship system have led Maya-speaking indigenous communities to religious, economic and social “encapsulation”, as well as the formation of a specific identity.
Galina Gavrilovna Ershova (Wed,) studied this question.