THE

AMERICAS:

Maya

Civilization

‘THE MAYA’ KEY TERMS DEFINITIONS

• Maya – Empire that dominated Mesoamerica (Central America) from

the 200s-900s

• Olmec - Empire that dominated Mesoamerica (Central America)

before the Maya

• Mayan Calendar – symbol calendar developed by the Maya to

track the seasons

• Terrace Farming – technique to grow crops on ‘steps’ on the

sides of hills

• Meso-America: Means “Middle” America - Area in Central America

where the Mayans, Olmec and Aztecs lived

• Human Sacrifice – killing a person to please the gods

What vocab word is this?

EQUATOREQUATOR

Archeologists tend to look at the

native cultures of North America

according to these regions. Each region

contains groups of tribes that tend to

share common languages or cultures.

Great Basin

Great

Plains

Southwest Southeast

Eastern Woodlands

Arctic and Sub-Arctic

Plateau

Northwest

California

Native Americans: Introduction

In Central and South America, the native cultures were

vastly different from Native Americans of North America. First

of all, there were tropical rainforests and jungles in

Mesoamerica and South America that were not found in North

America. Secondly, the dominant civilizations of

Mesoamerica and South America were infamous for their

styles of warfare and human sacrifice.

Mesoamerica

Guess what this Mayan item was used for…

Urn: to hold a corpse

Beads: to be strung on a necklace

Mayan knives

Leaf-daggers

Knife holder

Grinding stone

Hoop used for a ball game

(use this to answer question # 8 and #14)

THE MAYA (MAYANS)They were powerful and dominant

from the 200s-900s. Although

they weren’t as powerful

after the 900s, they were still

around until the 1500s when

the Spanish arrived and

conquered the region

South or

Central

America?

use this to

answer

question

#9

Class Structure… (use this to answer questions #1, #2, #4)

Mayan Hierarchy

1 On top: Ruler, his family, Royal court, & priests

2 useful architects, merchants, and craftsmen

3 Commoners like artists, traders & minor officials,

4 Farmers (who lived outside cities in villages & fields)

5 Bottom: Slaves (Ppentacob)

Where did Mayan slaves come from?

1. Born into slavery

2. Punishment for crime (since there were no jails)

3. Captured as prisoners of war

4. Orphans became slaves also

• Slaves had to grind corn, work the most

dangerous and heaviest construction jobs, carried

goods long distances between the highlands and

the coast, or paddled canoes

• (use this to answer questions #4, #5 & #6 )

Family Life

Mayan girls were to get married at age 14 and men at age 18. These

marriages were arranged by a matchmaker and groom's parents. The

bride's family paid a dowry to the grooms' family. The wedding day was

set by the priest and the wedding was held in the brides home. The

wedding would be finished with an exchange of gifts and a feast. Newly

weds would live with the bride's family for a year before starting their own

household.

Mayans lived in extended family units in village compounds. The

extended families were combined into larger groups called lineages and

lineages usually larger units called clans.

(use this to answer question #20)

Beauty…• To the Mayans, beauty

meant looking like a cat.

Therefore, they

considered a flattened

forehead and crossed

eyes to be signs of

physical beauty.

• So infants in Mayan

society strapped

wooden frames to their

heads elongating their

skulls. Also an object

was dangled above

their eyes to cause

them to cross.(use this to answer question #10)

(use this to answer question # 13)

Blue was a

symbolic color for

the Maya since it

symbolized death,

war, & sacrifice.

Historians have drawn many comparisons between the natives

of the planet Pandora in the 2009 film Avatar and the Ancient Mayans

of Meso-America. From the cat-like features to the jungle lifestyle and

obsession with the color blue, the Na’vi are strangely similar to the

Maya.

Warfare…The most common pattern of Maya warfare was simply

a bunch of raids where they rapidly attacked and retreated. It was

usually done by relatively small numbers of nobles and was done

for ceremonial purposes, like human sacrifice (as depicted in Mel

Gibson’s film Apocalypto)

(use this to answer question # 13)

Beliefs…

The Maya were a deeply religious people. They believed in many gods. All

events centered around their religious beliefs. They wanted to stay in favor with

the gods. In their belief system, the gods would bring the rain, heal the sick,

bring plentiful harvests, and ensure the health and safety of the people if they

were honored. If the gods were angry, they would send drought, famine and

disaster to the people.

(use this to answer question # 3)

Kings would also give blood offerings

(considered very sacred). Noble

women would also practice blood-

letting by pulling a rope with broken

glass and thorns through a hole in

their tongue. Human sacrifice was

often practiced. No, they didn’t use

animals in their religious ceremonies.(use this to answer questions #21)

Beliefs…In order to keep the gods

happy, Mayans believed a

daily sacrifice of blood

was necessary. Blood was

voluntarily offered by

community members.

They would open a wound

and let the blood drip onto

a paper. The paper would

then be burned in an

offering to the gods. It was

believed that the priests

could see the spirits in the

smoke.

Art, language, Architecture…

The complex pictures of Maya glyphs are like no other writing system. All of our

words are formed from various combinations of 26 signs (Alphabet)

By contrast, all Maya words are formed from various combinations

of nearly 800 signs, and each sign represents a full syllable

so that list of signs is called a Syllabary, not an Alphabet.

(use this to answer questions #18 and #19)

= “ONE”

= “FIVE”

= “ZERO”

The Mayans

would put one finger

in clay for “one”, a

side of the hand for

“five” and a fist for

“zero” or “twenty”.

What did they eat?

They were known as people

of the corn but they also ate:

Maize (corn) berries

mangos

bananas

beans

tomatoes

avocados

cilantro

doves

monkies

rabbits

armadillos

tapirs

Fish

sea turtles

Write down

5 things

(use this to answer questions # 11 & # 12)

The Maya had many farming techniques, including

‘Terrace Farming’, where sides of hills were cultivated like

giant steps. They did not practice farming with floating

gardens called ‘Chinampas’.

(use this to answer question #16)

The Maya built

massive Temples, many

of which can still be seen

today (THEY DID NOT

BUILD MACHU PICCU)

The Mayan Calendar

(use this to answer question #17)

Were they conquered by the Spanish?

The Mayan Empire declined in the 900s, but there were still a few

Mayan colonies around when the Spanish, led by Hernan Cortes,

conquered in the 1500s. (use this to answer questions #14 & #15)

EXTRA OPTIONAL PRACTICE!!!!

Answer ONE of these questions with a paragraph response.

1) Why do you think the Mayan civilization started to fall apart

before the Spanish even arrived in the 1500s? Internal decay?

Famine? War with neighbors? Destructive Rituals?

2) In your opinion, what are the strangest ways that the

Mayans tried to please their gods? Blood-letting? Sacrifice of

non-Mayans? blue-paint? ropes & tongues?

3) Which elements of Mayan beauty do you find to be the most

fascinating? Why? Cats? Crossed-eyes? Flattened foreheads?

Tattoos and piercings? Sharp teeth?

4) Explain the methods that the Mayans used to keep track of

numbers and mathematics. How is it different from Arabic

numbers (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) or Roman numerals (I, V, X)?