The Rise of Maya Civilization
Building a Civilization in the Rain
Forest
2.1 A
Challenges of the Rain Forest
• The classic Maya settled
in the Yucatan Peninsula
in modern-day
Guatemala, Belize, El
Salvador, Honduras, SE
Mexico
• Dense rainforest covered
much of the land and
made farming difficult
• Climate was hot, dry,
humid
Challenges Contd.
• Depended on seasonal
rainfall for water
• Rain soaked through
limestone bedrock,
leaving little surface
water
City Centers
• Built immense
ceremonial centers/city
states at different sites
• At Tikal, built temple
one , a 130 ft. high step
pyramid.
• Several city states, not
one united country
Classic Maya Adaptations
• Successfully farmed in the
rain forest by:
– using slash and burn
agriculture.
– Raised fields
– Irrigated gardens
• Planted and harvested
corn, squash, and beans.
• Mayan Families spread
out – learned to
cooperate in food
production
Maya Social and Political
Organization
2.1 B
Lord
•Considered a godking
•Responsible for
political leadership
•Lords, mostly
men,
•Women had great
influence on
political decisions
Nobles
•Lived near
ceremonial centers
and helped lords run
cities
•Gathered taxes,
supplies, and labor for
construction projects
•Served as war
captains who led
peasant armies during
war
Priests
•Were powerful
because they
maintained favor with
the gods.
•Led religious rituals,
calculated positions of
stars, and treated the
sick
•Practiced human
sacrifice on a limited
scale
Merchants/
Artisans
•Merchants traded salt,
cotton, fish, and animal
skins for obsidian ,
jade, quetzal feathers,
copal, and cocoa beans
over long distances
• Artisans produced sculptures,
codices, and murals to pay tribute
to gods
Peasants
•Men worked in
fields
•Women managed
household
•Rewarded for their
loyalty by being
allowed to attend
royal marriages and
important religious
ceremonies
Slaves
•Recruited from surplus
children, war prisoners,
and criminals
•Required to do
difficult or undesirable
tasks like grinding
maize
•Not badly treated, but
were sometime killed
and buried with master
Noteworthy Achievements of the
Maya
2.1 C
Legends
• Legends were recorded
on stelae, urns, murals,
and codices
• No Classic Maya
literature survives, but
legends in Popol Vuh,
the mayan creation
myth.
Hieroglyphics
• Only native American
people to develop a
complete writing
system
• Represented ideas and
objects with block like
symbols or glyphs.
Architecture
• Structures not as
massive as in other
cultures
• Notes for its decorative
stone work, graceful
statues, intricate
facades, and
ornamental roofs
• Distinctive feature was
the corbeled arch
How Do We Know?
Mathematics
• Sophisticated number
system based on units
of twenty, written with
bars for 5s, dots for 1s,
and sign for 0.
Astronomy
• Had exact knowledge of
moon phases
• Able to predict eclipses
of the sun and moon
Tikal, Guatemala
http://www.tikalpark.com/soundsbirds02.html
Calendars
• Religious obsession
with time for predicting
future led to
development of
calendars
• Calendars were
complex systems using
several interlocking
cycles of time.
Ball Game
• Splendid courts still
stand at many Maya
sites (e.g. Tikal)
• Game played both for
recreation and religious
purposes.
Solving the Mystery of the Lost
Maya
Copan’s Glyph – a leaf-nosed bat!
Tikal
Copan
The Calendar Wheels: Used for
Astronomical Predictions
• Vague Year: 365 days
– 18 months , 20 days per month
– 5 leftover days, no leap years
• Sacred Round: 260 day year
– Cermonial
– Based on the length of time a woman is pregnant
– Based on 1-13 repeating with 20 day names in two
interlocking wheels