THE MAYA CIVILIZATION

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 200 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 places they had not farmed before. • They farmed the sides of hills (carved into flat terraces) • They build 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 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. The 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 eclypses • They created very precise 365 day calendars for harvesting. • They also had a 120 day calendar for religious events.

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.

17. 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.

19. 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