The Mayans How the Mayans adapted to their

The Mayans How the Mayans adapted to their environment By: Lauren Love

Who were they? �Ancient South American Mesoamerican Civilization �The Mayan civilization spread all over Southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras, and had influences in many other South American countries.

What were they known for? �The Maya are well known for the only fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, also as its art, architecture, mathematical and astronomical systems!

What where their beliefs? �Their beliefs included praising gods of sun, rain, and corn. �Supreme god was Itamna �To the Maya science and religion were the same

Healers of the Maya �Maya healers range from traditional priests or ritual specialists, called Hméen, to midwifes, bone-setters, divinors, and herbalists. � For example in Dzitas there is a healer who cures eye-infections, in Much'ukuxkab there is a healer of spiritual and metaphysical problems, in a community near Cancun there is a healer who operates without piercing the body of the patient.

Currency �The Maya did not use "money" in the modern sense: there was no universally accepted form of currency which could be used anywhere in the Maya region. Even valuable items, such as: � cacao � seeds, �salt, �obsidian �or gold tended to vary in value from one region or city -state to another, often rising in value the farther away these items were from their source.

Jobs �Priests ran governments, ruled cities, led ceremonies and performed many other jobs. Like: �Doctors (Healers) �Priests �Slaves �Rulers

Food �Vanilla, extracted from the pods of a species of orchid, was among the most esteemed flavorings. Chocolate was prepared by grinding roasted cacao beans, sometimes with parched corn, and them mixing the powder with vanilla orchid pods or sweetened with honey. Like tea and coffee, this beverage is rich in caffeine and was much prized in ancient Mesoamerica.

Shelter �The Mayans most commonly lived in Adobe houses with thatched roofs. It might have taken a long time to build and they had to have built it slowly. Also, the Mayan village of Ceren in Central America, covered in volcanic ash about 1400 years ago, was discovered in 1976 and its continuing excavation fed archaeologists with information on many details of the Mayan way of life

Natural Resources �The Mayas soon discovered that a variety of useful minerals were available beneath the surface of the hilly, sometimes mountainous terrain that they inhabited.

Language �The four largest dialects are Mam, Kekchí, Quiché, and Cakchiquel. Mam came from the Marnean language family. Mam is spoken in northern Guatemala. Both Quiché and Cakchiquel came from Quichean. Kekchí is mainly spoken in Belize, which just south of the Yucatán peninsula

Fast Facts �The Maya desired some unnatural physical characteristics for their children. For instance, at a very young age boards were pressed on babies’ foreheads to create a flattened surface � The Maya filed their teeth to make them pointy and created holes that they filled with jade �Another interesting fact about Mayan children is that most were named according to the day they were born

Sources � ajustdifference. org � www. world-mysteries. com � www. religonfacts. com � www. ehow. com � Clip Art � http: //www. osea-cite. org/program/health- healing_overview. php � http: //latinamericanhistory. about. com/od/Maya/p/Ancient. Maya-Economy-And-Trade. htm � http: //www. kidsnewsroom. org/elmer/infocentral/frameset/civi lizations/maya/gov/ � http: //www. foodtimeline. org/foodmaya. html � http: //www. incamayanaztec. com/ancient-mayan-shelter. html

Sources (continued) �http: //www. chaacreek. com/belize-travel- blog/2011/10/natural-resources-ancient-mayancivilization/ �http: //mayanarchaeology. tripod. com/id 12. html