Mayan+Civilization

 The Mayan Civilization had three major periods of development. The beginnings of their

civilization were merely hunters and gatherers with no real settled villages or structures. This started around 20,000 BCE. Then, around 6000 BCE, the people developed agriculture. This was slow to come about but it brought people to common places to exchange crops which lead to the start of civilization around 1500 BCE.

The Mayan civilization covered over 125,000 square miles at its height and contained five mentionable major cities throughout. These were Uxmal, Chichen Itza, Tulum, Tikal, and Copan. Uxmal was a large city and it contains the only known oval-based pyramid in the Mayan land. The pyramid’s purpose doesn’t seem to have had a different purpose and remains a mystery. Chichen Itza was the capital of the 2nd Mayan empire and has a giant Castillo pyramid used for ceremony. Also, nearby the city is a cenote, a natural well that was used for sacrifices. Tulum was a seaside city which was prominent trade port in the days of the Mayan. Tikal is the largest known city in the whole Mayan history. Copan was a southern outpost of the 1st empire and it contains many hieroglyphics that have helped scientists unravel the mysteries of the Mayan Language.

=__Geography__ = The whole Mayan empire was based on Mesoamerica but spread from North Mexico all the way down to Central America. It included the nowadays countries of Mexico, including the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize, West Honduras, and El Salvador. The Mayans lived in a hot, humid climate with, marsh and swamp in the lowlands and rainforest in the highlands.

=__Culture__ = Around the time people started developing agriculture, they also started forming into villages. These small communities evolved around maize’s so that village life depended on the crops. But maize’s weren’t the only crop they grew. Others were chili peppers, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, avocados, melons, and beans. With village life and agriculture, people began to have more free time and development art forms. Many times, art and beliefs were expressed in symmetrical agriculture and pottery. Stone work was also decorated with glyphs in the shapes of gods.

Along with art, people also began to have an interest in beauty, The Mayan created a very unique identity in beauty. Common marks were tattoos and body piercings. They also would file their teeth to points or drill holes in them which would then be filled with jade or gold. Most families also practiced skull deformation on their newborns. This was where they would take two boards and tie them to the baby’s head in order to create a sloped forehead. = = =__Technology__ = The Mayans came up with many significant technological advances. They were able to create a calendar based on patterns they tracked in the stars. They also were some of the first people to grasp the concept of zero. They could also perform math using a vigesimal counting system based on the number 20. Though, their advances in technology were not all intellectual. The Mayans were able to create stone axes and similar blunt tools and instruments called dibbles which were used to make holes in the ground. They also were able to set fire to cleared land in order to restore nutrients for better crops. Among their other inventions were agriculture, states, sophisticated architecture, and a writing system. =__Religion__ = The Mayans believed that the gods created everything in an event called Popol Vuh. But the gods’ first tries at making humans were unsuccessful and only when the gods made people out of maize paste and water were they successful. This theory exemplified how much maize was a huge part of the Mayans’ daily lives. The Mayans were very ritualistic and priests frequently performed bloodletting; a ceremony where they cut a person or animal to release blood to the gods.

=__Social__ = In the very beginnings of civilization, the people who produced more food and goods got the greater respect. This soon evolved into a social structure and eventually into three major classes: the royalty, the wealthy, and the poor. Royalty like priests lived in palaces usually near the center of the city. The wealthy nobles and merchants lived in the surrounding neighborhood. The poor commoners and slaves lived on the outskirts of towns.

=__Politics__ =

Mayan government had one leader: the priest. To possess the territory and inherit leadership, one must carry out an important ritual by taking a captive in a war and use him as his victim in his accession ceremony. The priest took care of government, ruling the city, and leading ceremonies. He also usually lived in a huge palace. In smaller villages, the priests’ duties even extended to helping in births.

=__Economics__ = The Mayans has quite large trade networks for their time which extended to tribes such as the Teotihuacan and Zapotec in Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala and even reached out to many Caribbean islands. They traded maize, avocados, melons, and chili peppers for things such as jade, gold, cotton, honey, and many other commodities.

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