MAYA CIVILIZATION

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MAYA CIVILIZATION
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MAYA TIMELINE

• Olmec 1200-1000 BCE
• Early Preclassic Maya 1800-900 BCE
• Middle Preclassic Maya 900-300 BCE
• Late Preclassic Maya 300 BCE - CE 250
• Early Classic Maya 250-600 CE
• Late Classic Maya 600-900 CE
• Post Classic Maya 900-1500 CE
• Colonial period 1500-1800 CE
• Independent Mexico 1821 to the present

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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

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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

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MAYA HISTORY

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

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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)

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MAYA ART

• Stelae carved stone monuments
• Rulers in elaborate costumes
• Often with texts that described lineage and
  accomplishments
• Headdress, ceremonial bar

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MAYA ART

• Pacal death mask
• Love of jade
• Pottery popular

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MAYA ARCHITECTURE

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

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MAYA SOCIETY

• class society
• Caste (membership hereditary and movement rare)
• Little known about women, but evidence of
  city-state queens

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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

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MAYA CULTURE

• Pierced ears, tattoos, body painting, straight
  black hair,
• Large headdress for importance (Pacal, leader of
  Palenque, to right)

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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

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MAYA ECONOMY/TRADE

• Quetzal feathers for nobility headdress
• Extensive trade over 1000 miles
• Porters carry goods (no beasts of burden)

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MAYA TEHNOLOGY/INNOVATION

• Calendar 260 days
• Also tracked solar 365 calendar

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MAYA TECHNOLOGY/INNOVATION

• Math based on multiples of 20
• 0, 1, 2
• 5, 6
• 10, 11
• 15, 16

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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)

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MAYA RELIGION

• Driving force behind every aspect of life
• Public temples and household shrines
• Organized religion
• Established schedule for agriculture
• Polytheistic and revolved around nature (eg. Chac
  Rain God)

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MAYA RELIGION

• Priestly blood sacrifice
• Human sacrifice later in Post classic Period
  (Mexican influence)
• Religious festival every 20 days
• World 3 layers Heavens, Earth,
  Under(Other)world
• Priest dressed as jaguars , scary masks to scare
  demons of Underworld
• Belief in afterlife