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THE MAYA CIVILIZATION

THE MAYA CIVILIZATION. Geography: A Growing Civilization. The Maya lived in the Yucatan Peninsula Spread out over 125,000 square miles The Highlands / lowlands With mountains and valleys. Geography: A Growing Civilization.

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THE MAYA CIVILIZATION

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  1. THE MAYA CIVILIZATION

  2. Geography: A Growing Civilization • The Maya lived in the Yucatan Peninsula • Spread out over 125,000 square miles • The Highlands / lowlands • With mountains and valleys

  3. Geography: A Growing Civilization • Archaeologists think the Maya began working the land as early as 1800 B.C. • They built small farming villages • By 250 A.D., some of these villages grew into cities. • Warriors fought over land and power • No ruler united the entire Mayan kingdom

  4. Cities / Temples • Mayan cities were built around religious centers. Some cities had great palaces. • The Maya built flat-topped pyramids made of limestone. At the top of these pyramids were temples. That was where the Mayan priest-kings held religious rituals. Tikal, Guatemala

  5. An Economy Based on Agriculture • As Mayan cities grew, farmers needed to produce more food. They found ways to farm in places that had not been farmed before. • They farmed the sides of hills (carved into flat terraces) • They built raised fields in the wet lowlands • They burned trees and plants in forests to clear the land for farming • They moved good soil to areas that had poor soil • They dug water systems (irrigation) to bring water to dry areas

  6. Agriculture: Terraces

  7. Agriculture • By using these techniques, they grew corn, beans and squash. • They traded their extra food between the highland and lowland people and with people in Central America and Mexico • In return, they received goods that they couldn’t produce themselves, such as jade, feathers and cacao (coca)beans. • Cacao beans held great value (used as money) and was restricted to only the most important Mayan • Obsidian – A glass like volcanic rock was also traded/used as money

  8. Products Traded Cocoa Feathers Obsidian

  9. The Rulers • Polytheism-The Maya worshipped many gods. They also worshipped their rulers. • They thought their rulers could influence the gods. • One Mayan ruler was named Pascal. He ruled the Maya for 68 years. Like other Maya rulers he was a priest as well as a warrior. • Priest-kings like Pascal killed animals and sometimes people as offerings to the gods. • The City of Palenque build a temple that was used to record his achievements

  10. The Maya wanted to keep the gods happy and prevent disaster • They believe that the gods needed blood • Priest-kings like Pascal killed animals and sometimes people as offerings to the gods.

  11. Sacrifices for the Gods

  12. Mayan Achievements: Mayan H.A.M. • H= hieroglyphs (a writing system) Each picture stood for an object and/or a sound. Some hieroglyphs stood for whole ideas, such as life or happiness. • Hieroglyphs were carved on the stone columns and record books called a codex

  13. H= Hieroglyphics

  14. A= Astronomy A= Astronomy- • They knew exact moon phases • Able to predict sun and moon eclipses • They created very precise 365 day calendars for harvesting. • They also had a 120 day calendar for religious events. • THE END OF THE WORLD in 2012 ? This phenomenon comprises a range of beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21, 2012,[1][2][3] which is said to be the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mayan Long Count calendar. Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae related to this date have been proposed, but none have been accepted by mainstream scholarship. Scholars from various disciplines have dismissed the idea that a catastrophe will happen in 2012, stating that predictions of impending doom are found neither in classic Maya accounts nor in astronomy.

  15. M= Mathematics • Mathematics- A number system. Were the first to use the symbol of zero (binary math) • The number system was based on units of 20.

  16. Recreation • The Mayan Ball Game • Players tried to hit a solid rubber ball through a stone ring by using their leather-padded elbows, wrists, and hips. • People from all levels of Mayan society watched and placed bets on the outcome of the game • Slaves, land and homes could be won and lost during a game • The losing team were sacrificed and the captain of the defeated team was beheaded.

  17. The End of the Maya • The collapse of the Classic Mayan civilization is one of the great mysteries. • The Mayan culture thrived for about 600 years. • By 900 C.E., the Maya had abandoned their cities to the jungle • Possible causes: • Populations of the cities grew to fast for the farming system • Long periods of drought (dry weather) causing crop failure • Warfare – wars were very bloody, hand-to-hand fighting with clubs and spears • Invaders from central Mexico helped to destroy the city-states

  18. Montage Clip • http://172.26.64.6/SAFARI/montage/play.php?keyindex=2759&location=local&chapterskeyindex=1292&play=1

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