The Rise of Maya Civilization Building a Civilization

The Rise of Maya Civilization

Building a Civilization in the Rain Forest 2. 1 A

Challenges of the Rain Forest • The classic Maya settled in the Yucatan Peninsula in modern-day Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, SE Mexico • Dense rainforest covered much of the land made farming difficult • Climate was hot, dry, humid

Challenges Contd. • Depended on seasonal rainfall for water • Rain soaked through limestone bedrock, leaving little surface water

City Centers • Built immense ceremonial centers/city states at different sites • At Tikal, built temple one , a 130 ft. high step pyramid. • Several city states, not one united country

Classic Maya Adaptations • Successfully farmed in the rain forest by: – using slash and burn agriculture. – Raised fields – Irrigated gardens • Planted and harvested corn, squash, and beans. • Mayan Families spread out – learned to cooperate in food production

Maya Social and Political Organization 2. 1 B

Lord • Considered a godking • Responsible for political leadership • Lords, mostly men, • Women had great influence on political decisions

Nobles • Lived near ceremonial centers and helped lords run cities • Gathered taxes, supplies, and labor for construction projects • Served as war captains who led peasant armies during war

Priests • Were powerful because they maintained favor with the gods. • Led religious rituals, calculated positions of stars, and treated the sick • Practiced human sacrifice on a limited scale

Merchants/ Artisans • Merchants traded salt, cotton, fish, and animal skins for obsidian , jade, quetzal feathers, copal, and cocoa beans over long distances • Artisans produced sculptures, codices, and murals to pay tribute to gods

Peasants • Men worked in fields • Women managed household • Rewarded for their loyalty by being allowed to attend royal marriages and important religious ceremonies

Slaves • Recruited from surplus children, war prisoners, and criminals • Required to do difficult or undesirable tasks like grinding maize • Not badly treated, but were sometime killed and buried with master

Noteworthy Achievements of the Maya 2. 1 C

Legends • Legends were recorded on stelae, urns, murals, and codices • No Classic Maya literature survives, but legends in Popol Vuh, the mayan creation myth.

Hieroglyphics • Only native American people to develop a complete writing system • Represented ideas and objects with block like symbols or glyphs.

Architecture • Structures not as massive as in other cultures • Notes for its decorative stone work, graceful statues, intricate facades, and ornamental roofs • Distinctive feature was the corbeled arch

How Do We Know?

Mathematics • Sophisticated number system based on units of twenty, written with bars for 5 s, dots for 1 s, and sign for 0.

Astronomy • Had exact knowledge of moon phases • Able to predict eclipses of the sun and moon

Tikal , Guatemala http: //www. tikalpark. com/soundsbirds 02. html

Calendars • Religious obsession with time for predicting future led to development of calendars • Calendars were complex systems using several interlocking cycles of time.

Ball Game • Splendid courts still stand at many Maya sites (e. g. Tikal) • Game played both for recreation and religious purposes.

Solving the Mystery of the Lost Maya

Copan’s Glyph – a leaf-nosed bat!

Tikal

Copan

The Calendar Wheels: Used for Astronomical Predictions • Vague Year: 365 days – 18 months , 20 days per month – 5 leftover days, no leap years • Sacred Round: 260 day year – Cermonial – Based on the length of time a woman is pregnant – Based on 1 -13 repeating with 20 day names in two interlocking wheels