Mayan Advancements Aim How did the Mayan achievements

Mayan Advancements Aim: How did the Mayan achievements show that they were an advanced civilization?

DO NOW: Read Introduction • The Americas are made up of two continents, North America and South America. Within these two geographic regions is a cultural region that historians call Middle America includes Mexico and Central America (Latin America) was home to several early civilizations. One group of people that lived in the area of Central America was the Mayas. This civilization is what is now Mexico, Honduras, el Salvador, and Belize. Mayan civilization lasted from the third century to the 9 th century. They created impressive temples and pyramids, calendars, mathematics, writing, and government.

Mayan Mathematics, Language, Calendar

• Mathematics: Instead of ten digits like we have today, the Maya used a base number of twenty. They also used a system of bar and dot as “shorthand” for counting. A dot stood for one and a bar stood for five. • Calendar: A Mayan Calendar: the 20 months of circle on the right fit together with the days of each month, shown by the circle on the left. • Writing: Mayan hieroglyphic writing is made up of symbols that represent whole words or syllables consisting of constant vowel pairs (cv) or vowels. It is the only writing system of the Pre-Columbian New World which is known to completely represent the spoken language of its community. In total, the script has more than a thousand different glyphs, although a few are variations of the same sign or meaning, and many appear only rarely or are confined to particular localities.

Mayan Architecture

• Mayan architecture the layout of the impressive houses, courtyards, and temples where the kings resided, characterized by the immense horizontal floors of the plazas located at various levels, and the broad and often steep stairs connecting these. Dam-like causeways spread from these ceremonial centers to the centers of the cities. Without metal tools, beasts of burden, or even the wheel the Mayans were able to construct vast cities across a huge jungle landscape with an amazing degree of architectural perfection and variety. They were noted as well for elaborate and highly decorated ceremonial architecture, including temple-pyramids, palaces and observatories, all built without metal tools.

Mayan Art

• Many pieces of Maya art are spiritual in nature, designed to appease or curry the favor of the gods. Most Maya art that survives today is in the form of funerary and ritual objects. The Maya did not have metal tools or potter’s wheels; however they managed to create highly detailed and beautiful pieces of art. Most Mayan art depicts Gods, great rulers, legendary heroes, religious scenes and, occasionally, daily life. The focus of Maya art pieces is on human figures (whether gods or mortals). Animals and stylized designs were used as decoration on pottery and other objects. The Maya script, which could be considered an art form itself, is featured on most statues and carvings. Maya art takes many forms, from tiny pieces of carved obsidian to gigantic pyramids. The dominance of the Maya religion can be seen through all of these art forms; most objects have a spiritual or religious purpose.

Part II: Short Response - Were the Mayans an advanced civilization?