Maya

1. Maya 200-900 AD The Mayan culture spread throughout southern Mexico and Central America. It included the Yucatan Peninsula to the north as well as today’s countries of Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, and Guatemala to the south.

2. Maya The Mysterious Chocolatiers

3. Mayan People- Physical Characteristics • Most were short • The average height for men was just over 5 feet • Average height for women was 4’8” • Straight black hair • Painted bodies black, red, or blue • Tattoos • They valued crossed eyes and tied objects from their infants’ heads to get them to cross.

4. Mayan People- Physical Characteristics

5. Mayan Government • The Maya civilization consisted of a large number of city-states. Most had majestic pyramid temples. • Each city-state had its own independent government. • A city-state was made up of a major city and the surrounding areas which sometimes included some smaller settlements and cities. • Archeologists believe there were hundreds of Mayan cities at the peak of the Mayan civilization. 

6. Mayan Government • Each city-state was ruled by a king. • The Maya believed that their king was given the right to rule by the gods. • They believed that the king worked as an intermediary between the people and the gods. • The leaders of the Maya were called the "halachuinic" or "ahaw", meaning "lord" or "ruler". 

7. Mayan Mystery • The Mayas continued to farm and trade in the region after the great cities fell. • Mayan descendants still live in the region of their ancestors. • You can visit the ruins of some Maya city-states today such as Chichen Itza and Tikal. • http://www.history.com/topics/maya/videos/seven-wonders-the-temple-of-chichen-itza (4 minutes)

8. Mayan City-State: Chichen Itza

9. Mayan City-State: Tikal Tikal was the largest Mayan city. It may have had a population of 100, 000 or more.

10. Mayan Religion • Religion was important to every part of Mayan life. • They worshipped many different gods. • Each day, month, city, and occupation had its own special god or goddess. • They had a variety of religious festivals and celebrations.

11. Mayan Religion • The Mayas’ religion taught that there were 13 layers of heavens above earth. • They believed nine underworlds were below. • They thought that they lived in the fifth creation of the world. • The previous four worlds had each been destroyed by a great flood. • At the beginning of the fifth world, the gods created humans from corn. 

12. Mayan Religion • Religious ceremonies included gifts and sacrifices to various gods and goddesses. • The Mayas believed the gods would give them favors in return for prayers, offerings, and sacrifices. • Sacrifices included: valuable gifts, their own blood, and human sacrifices.

13. Mayan Religion • Mayas worshipped the dead. • They believed the dead became one with the gods. • They worshipped their ancestors at many religious ceremonies. • They built pyramids over the sacred remains of their dead rulers.

14. Mayan Social Structures- Nobility • Maya society was rigidly divided between nobles, commoners, serfs, and slaves. • Noble status and the occupation in which a noble served were passed on through elite family lineages. • Nobles served as rulers, government officials, tribute collectors, military leaders, high priests, local administrators, cacao plantation managers, and trade expedition leaders. • Nobles were literate and wealthy, and typically lived in the central areas of Maya cities.

15. Mayan Social Structures- Commoners • Commoners worked as farmers, laborers, and servants. • It is believed that some commoners became quite wealthy through their work as artisans and merchants, and that upward mobility was allowed between classes through service in the military. • Regardless, commoners were forbidden from wearing the clothes and symbols of nobility, and could not purchase or use luxury and exotic items. • Commoners generally lived outside the central areas of towns and cities and worked individual and communal plots of land.

16. Mayan Social Structures- Serfs and Slaves • The Maya had a system of serfdom and slavery. • Serfs typically worked lands that belonged to the ruler or local town leader. • There was an active slave trade in the Maya region, and commoners and elites were both permitted to own slaves. • Individuals were enslaved as a form of punishment for certain crimes and for failing to pay back their debts.

17. Mayan Social Structures-Slaves • Prisoners of war who were not sacrificed would become slaves, and impoverished individuals sometimes sold themselves or family members into slavery. Slavery status was not passed on to the children of slaves. However, unwanted orphan children became slaves and were sometimes sacrificed during religious rituals. • Slaves were usually sacrificed when their owners died so that they could continue in their service after death. • If man married a slave woman, he became a slave of the woman's owner. • This was also the case for women who married male slaves.

18. Mayan Technology • What did they invent? • http://www.history.com/topics/maya/videos/the-mayans (2 minutes) • Developed advanced math • Astronomy • System of Writing

19. Mayan Technology- Math

20. Mayan Technology- GLYPHSSystem of Writing

21. Mayan Agricultural Practices and Products • Relied on a variety of methods to obtain food. • Earliest Mayas were hunters and gatherers. • Fished • Hunted birds, rabbits, monkeys, and deer • Picked or gathered wild fruits, nuts and vegetables • This method did not provide enough, so they began to plant crops.

22. Mayan Agricultural Practices and Products • Mayas began to slash and burn farm land. • Ashes provided fertilizer for the soil • They planted seeds, mainly maize or corn. • Droughts often destroyed crops, so they created irrigation systems and built water reservoirs.

23. Mayan Agricultural Practices and Products • The Mayas grew:

24. Mayan Agricultural Practices and Products • The Mayas grew CHOCOLATE! • They grew cacao plants which are hard to grow • The beans are made into chocolate • Mayans made the first HOT CHOCOLATE! http://youtu.be/8vC4dq69rqE (3:47)

25. Mayan Art

26. Mayan Art

27. Mayan Basket Weaving

28. Optional Instructional Resource • PBS: Lost King of the Maya • This site has video clips of the work of archeologists who are using new excavations and hieroglyphic translations to interpret the early history of Copán, a Classic Maya site in northern Honduras. Also include is a teacher’s guide. • http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/maya/