Ancient Mayan Study Guide
Building a Civilization in the Rain Forest
Challenges of the Rain Forest
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The Classic Maya settled in the Petén region of Guatemala
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Dense rain forests covered much of the land and made farming difficult
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The climate was hot and humid
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They depended on seasonal rainfall for water
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The rain soaked through limestone bedrock, leaving little surface water
City Centers
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The Mayan built immense ceremonial centers/city-states at different sites
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At the city of Tikal, built Temple I, which was a 130 foot high step pyramid
Classic Maya Adaptations

They successfully farmed in rain forest by using slash-and-burn techniques and a
system of raised fields and irrigated gardens.
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They created irrigation networks to support concentrated urban centers, like Tikal

They planted and harvested corn, squash, beans, and other crops in fields
Maya Social and Political Organization: Based on early colonial evidence about the late PostClassic period, Maya society was highly stratified and divided into several classes; the lord,
nobles, priests, artisans, and merchants, peasants, and slaves. Movement across class lines
was probably difficult.
The Lord:
The Maya lived in many independent cities, each with its own government. The
highest authority in a Maya ceremonial center was the halach uinic, a Maya word that means
“true man.” With the help of his advisors, the chiefs and priests, he handled the city’s internal
and external affairs. The halach uinic ruled for life and was considered a god-king. He was
succeeded by a son or other close relative. Rulers were invariable men, but women also seem to
have exercised considerable influence in affairs of state.
Nobles:
Below the Lord were the nobles, who served as chiefs and lesser officials and
oversaw the administration of Maya cities. Some nobles lived in hamlets surrounding the main
ceremonial centers. They ruled over hamlets that consisted of hundreds of compounds, each
housing an extended Maya family. Nobles gathered taxes, supplies, and labor for projects such as
the construction of temples and ball courts. They were also the war captains who led peasant
armies to battle during wars. During battles, they wore elaborate costumes.
Priests:
These priests conceived of a universe in which the heavens were divided into 13
compartments. A god ruled each compartment. In similar fashion, the underworld had 9
divisions, each ruled by its own god. The principal Maya gods were forces and objects that
affected the material welfare of the people; the God of Rain, the God of the Heavens, the God of
Corn, and the much-feared God of Death.
The Maya believed their world was created and destroyed by the gods several times, each time
they destroyed it because they were dissatisfied with their own handicraft.
The ancient Maya believed that since their world was a recreation of a past world, it could be
destroyed at any time. Maintaining favor with the gods thus became not simply a pious duty, but
the key to existence itself. Sacrifices and offerings were a key way the Maya appeased their gods.
Priests led ritual practices that included fasting, penance by bloodletting, the burning of incense,
and limited human sacrifice.
Along with their religious functions, priests also were the great mathematicians, astronomers,
healers, and historians.
Merchants and Artisans:
The Maya were accomplished traders and artisans. They
traveled by sea, by river, and by a well-constructed road system.
Merchants imported obsidian, jade, and other precious stones. For selling they had salt, cotton
and cotton goods, honey-dried fish, seashells, and the skins of animals. Maya artisans labored on
a large variety of projects, most designed to pay tributes to the gods. They painted books on
paper codices made from the inner bark of fig trees, created and painted beautiful pottery, they
created sculptures used to adorn temples, used both paint and stone to form decorative designs
on palace walls, and fashioned death masks out of jade.
Peasants:
The typical peasant family was about 5 to 7 members. They lived in a one-room hut
built of interwoven poles covered with dried mud. Meals of corn, squash, and beans,
supplemented with the occasional turkey or rabbit. The men spent most of their day in the fields,
while the women usually stayed closer to home, weaving or sewing and preparing food. Days
that were not devoted to agriculture might be spent building pyramids or temples.
During the dry season, peasants often served as warriors. They fought to capture rival soldiers
for sacrifice and enslavement.
Slaves:
Slaves were born into servitude, others, however, were recruited from three main
sources. A family experiencing hard times could sell off surplus children into slavery; war
prisoners of humble status were directed into slavery (those of higher rank were sacrificed to the
gods); and slavery was a legal punishment for serious crimes. Slaves were required to work for
the nobles carrying merchandise, paddling canoes, fanning flies away from their masters,
collecting noxious materials for dyeing, and grinding maize meal. Slaves were not badly treated
in general, but when an important person died, his slaves were often killed and buried with him.
Noteworthy Achievements of the Maya
Mathematics:
The Classic Maya had a particularly sophisticated system of numeration, in
some respects more efficient than that of contemporary European and other Native Americans.
They used place-value numeration, based on a sign for zero.
Calendar:
The Maya priests were obsessed with time, to which they assigned an occult or
magical content. Their calendars were complex and used several interlocking cycles of time.
Astronomy: The Maya’s calendric precision would have been impossible without very detailed
astronomical records. Maya astronomers had exact knowledge of the phrases of the moon and
the cycle of the planet Venus.
Perhaps their most noteworthy accomplishment besides the calendars was the ability to predict
the days on which eclipses of the sun or the moon would take place. Maya priests used this
knowledge to impress their followers, who viewed eclipses as extremely dangerous events.
To develop their knowledge so fully, the Maya must have had a corps of highly trained and
specialized astronomers, a long and accurate record of observations, and a system of
communication they kept observes from different sites in touch with each other’s work.
Hieroglyphics:
Maya priests invented the hemisphere’s most complex writing system. Most
of Maya writing dates from the Classic Period, traditionally defined as the period covering the era
of dated stone inscriptions. The Maya had a complete writing system and they wrote on stone,
bone, stucco, wood, shell, clay vessels, and paper. Maya writing consists of block-like
hieroglyphs, consisting of individual glyphic elements gathered into compounds that are to be
read in double column, from left to right and top to bottom.
Most of the Maya inscriptions appear to be genealogical statements about the rulers of the sites,
together with accomplishments and events pertaining to the ruler.
Theories of what may have caused the Maya Civilization to crumble
1.
Drought:
Many scientists believe that a long period without rain may have caused the
Maya culture to suffer and eventually crumble.
a.
Without a regular amount of rainfall, Maya crops would fail.
b.
When these crops failed, it led to a lack of resources for many. (scarcity)
c.
A lack of successful crops, would eventually lead to malnutrition.
d.
Malnutrition led to an increase in disease. Malnutrition lowers the body’s immune
system, which is vital to fighting off infections and diseases.
2.
Agriculture:
Many scientists believe that the Maya culture used an unsustainable
method of agriculture. When agriculture failed, this led to a lack of resources, which then
led to malnutrition.
a. Slash and Burn Agriculture: The Mayas would cut down sections of the rain forests
and then burn the cut down materials. After the burning, the ashes would add
nutrients to the soil, thus allowing them to farm for 2 to 3 years. After those years, the
field would be fallow for about a decade. This continued until the Maya’s severely
damaged their fragile ecosystem.
b. Monocropping: Monocropping is when you only grow one type of crop each year.
This causes the soil to lose nutrients, as well as an increase in pest and insects. It is
important to rotate crops to avoid these problems.
3.
Warfare:
The Maya leaders became obsessed with war. Elite members of the society
were the ones tasked to fight the wars. Eventually due to the amount of wars, they needed
the peasants to join the battles. These peasants were the most important part of their
societies agriculture. This caused neglect to agriculture, as well as irrigation. Thus a
failure of their society to produce enough food to feed everyone in society.
The Lords and Nobles then become increasingly aggressive toward their neighbors, as they
were fighting for more and more scarce resources.