MAYA CIVILIZATION

MAYA TIMELINE

First Evidence of Mayan 2600BCEOlmec 1200-1000 BCEEarly Preclassic Maya 1800-900 BCEMiddle Preclassic Maya 900-300 BCELate Preclassic Maya 300 BCE - CE 250Early Classic Maya 250-600 CELate Classic Maya 600-900 CEPost Classic Maya 900-1500 CEColonial period 1500-1800 CEIndependent Mexico 1821 to the present

MAYA GEOGRAPHY

Lowlands– West borders Pacific Ocean,

fertile plain– Yucatan Peninsula– Cenotes (excavated caverns)

for water in east

Highlands – granite and volcanic area of

Sierra Madre (Mexican Chiapas, Guatemala, Honduras)

– Rich land, abundant water– Concentrated settlement

MAYA HISTORY

• Did not record history or daily lives, so much of what we know comes from archaeology and European (colonial) records

• Many holes in our knowledge, and educated guesses

Bishop Diego de Landa

best known for two reasons:1st – He thought the Maya books were inspired by the devil, so he had them all destroyed2nd – Recognizing his mistake, several years later returned to Yucatan and wrote ““Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan.”

This book based on the three Mayan books that survived

MAYA HISTORY

Never recognized themselves as one people Related dialects – similar language City-states (Palenque, Copan, Chichen Itza) No king or emperor but nobility/preisthood City-states tried to dominate each other

(We’ll see similar trend with Ancient Greeks)

MAYA HISTORY

Olmec lived in tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico Provided basis for Mesoamerican civilizations Bloodletting, glyphs similar to Maya Distinctive art (colossal heads)

MAYA ART

Stelae – carved stone monuments

Rulers in elaborate costumes

Often with texts that described lineage and accomplishments

Headdress, ceremonial bar

MAYA ART

Pacal death mask Love of jade Pottery popular

MAYA ARCHITECTURE

Houses of poles and thatch (cool) Tikal (left) and Palenque (right)

MAYA SOCIETY

class society Caste (membership

hereditary and movement rare)

Little known about women, but evidence of city-state queens

NobilityPriests

WarriorsCraftsmen

Traders

FarmersWorkersSlaves

MAYA CULTURE

Corn (maize), beans, squash, chilies for flavour, domesticated turkey

Loved dance, music pok-a-tuk (pok-a-tok) Maya ball game Losers (including coach) sacrificed

http://www.ballgame.org/main.asp

MAYA CULTURE

Pierced ears, tattoos, body painting, straight black hair,

Large headdress for importance (Pacal, leader of Palenque, to right)

MAYA TRADE AND ECONOMY

Salt valued from Yucatan coast (preserve food, medicine, religious ceremonies) from north

granite from low mountains of Belize Jade, volcanic glass, and obsidian from

Chiapas highlands of western Guatemala

Tikal and Copan ‘middlemen’ cities in trade

Cacao – “heart blood”

Cacao – raw bitter form of chocolate

Used in trade – prized commodity

MAYA ECONOMY/TRADE

Quetzal feathers for nobility headdress

Extensive trade over 1000 miles

Porters carry goods (no beasts of burden)

Commonly Bartered Items

Mayan Religious Beliefs

Polytheism = Belief in many Gods

Believed that Gods controlled everything

Priests had great influence because Mayans thought priests could talk to the Gods

Gods symbolized as animals: Rain God = snake, Sun God = Jaguar, Death God= bat

Food and animal sacrifices common; humans (such as defeated tribes) sometimes

Mayan Numbers

The Mayans had a number system consisting of shells, dots, and lines.  You could write up to nineteen with just these symbols. The Maya were one of the only ancient civilizations that understood the concept of zero. This allowed them to write very large numbers

MAYA TEHNOLOGY/INNOVATION

Masters of the Night Sky- known for their observatories

Accurately charted the planets by using a forked stick like implement

Created an accurate yearly calendar – tracked solar 365 calendar

Predicted eclipses of the sun

MAYA WRITING

Writing 800 glyphs (picture/symbol represents an object, idea, or sound

Read left to right and top to bottom Only elite could read as writing considered to

be gift from the gods Wrote many books (destroyed by Spanish)

Religion and Education

Human Sacrifice and Bloodletting Ritual

Religion: Importance of Agriculture

Mayan religion reflected the fundamental role of agriculture in their society

Popol Vuh, was the Mayan creation myth that taught that the gods had created human beings out of maize and water

Gods kept the world in order and maintained the agricultural cycle in exchange for honors and sacrifices

Religion: Bloodletting Rituals

Mayans believed the shedding of human blood would prompt the gods to send rain to water the maize

Bloodletting involved both war captives and Mayan royalsMayan queen holds a bowl filled with strips of paper used to collect blood.

Religion: Bloodletting

A popular bloodletting ritual was for a Mayan to pierce his own tongue and thread a thin rope through the hole, thus letting the blood run down the rope