•
Sedentary  lifestyle
•
Developed  farming
•
Lived  in  small  farming   communities
•
Greatest  era  of   building,  writing,   and  sculpture
Most   Mayans   lived   outside   of   city   centers   and   farmed.     Men   and
women   divided   their   labor   into   separate   domains.     Men   farmed,   hunted,  and  maintained  village  buildings.    Women  raised  the  children,   tended  to  small  gardens  outside  their  homes,  tended  to  livestock,  and   prepared  food.    Most  Mayan  families  lived  in  thatched  huts  with  their
•
Increased  warfare
extended  families  nearby.    It  was  common  for  multiple  generations  to   live  next  door  to  one  another.
Slash-­‐and-­‐burn  agriculture  technique   used  by  Mayan  farmers.
Mayan into tw society o main and com was bro groups: moners these m ain grou ken
. Each ps had of sub groups.
Farmer s were part of group.
Typical  Mayan  housing.

While  most  Mayans  were  farmers,  or  commoners,  throughout  the  Classic  Period  there  was  a  social  hierarchy
that  people  were  born  into.    It  is  as  follows
King
• was  considered  a  god-­‐king
• responsible  for  political  leadership
• mostly  men,  but  women  had  influence  over  political  decisions
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Lived  near  ceremonial  city  centers  and  helped  king  run  city
• Gathered  taxes,  supplies,  and  labor  for  construction  projects
•
Served  as  war  captains  who  led  peasant  armies  during  war
• Powerful  because  maintained  favor  with  gods
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Led  rituals,  calculated  positions  of  stars,  treated  sick
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Practiced  human  sacrifice  on  limited  scale
•
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Traded  salt,  cotton,  fish  for  obsidian,  jade,
feathers,  cocoa  beans  over  long  distances
Produced  sculptures,  codices,  murals  for  gods
•
Men  worked  fields,  women  ran  households
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Rewarded  for  loyalty  by  being  able  to  attend
special  ceremonies
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Recruited  from  surplus  children,
POWs,  criminals
•
Required  to  do  undesirable  tasks
•
Not  treated  badly
Each  major  Mayan  city  had  a  king  that  ruled  over  the  city  and  the   surrounding  farming  villages.    This  kingship  was  usually  passed   down  from  father  to  son.    Nobles  helped  the  king  run  the  city  and   the  king  turned  to  his  nobles  for  assistance  and  advice  on  a   regular  basis.    Kings  used  their  great  wealth  to  keep  nobles  loyal   to  them  so  no  one  would  try  to  overthrow  them.
Kings  increased  their  power  through  warfare.    They  were  able  to
gain  captives,  take  control  of  trade  routes,  and  take  land  from   neighboring  areas.    Mayans  never  really  formed  an  empire,   though.    They  more  formed  spheres  of  influence,  or  areas  were   they  had  a  strong  influence  or  control  over.    To  help  in  their  quest
for  more  power,  Mayan  kings  formed  alliances  with  other  strong   cities  that  could  extend  their  respective  spheres  of  influence.

Mayan  merchants  were  highly  respected  members   of  Mayan  society.    They  even  had  their  own  god,  Ek
Chaub.    These  merchants  created  vast  trade  routes,   some  of  which  went  throughout  the  Caribbean
Islands.
Through  the  interior  of  the  Yucatán  Peninsula,   merchants  used  human  caravans  of  slaves  to  carry   goods.    They  used  no  animals  or  wheeled  vehicles   in  the  trade  process.    They  also  did  not  build  a   major  road  system  to  help  with  trade.    Instead,
they  used  small  pathways  that  crisscrossed  the   land.
Mayan  mural  of  Toltec  traders  at  Chichen  Itza.
Along  the  coast,  Mayans  used  large  seagoing  canoes  to  get  through  the
Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Caribbean.    Christopher  Columbus  reported   seeing  a  Mayan  canoe  in  1502.    He  recorded  that  it  was  over  50  feet   long  and  about  eight  feet  wide,  had  a  cabin  structure,  and  a  crew  of
about  12  men.
The  Mayas  used  the  barter  system.    Goods  were  exchanged  instead  of   money.    At  the  time,  Mayans  did  not  have  money,  they  used  cacao
Cacao  beans  like  what  were  used  as   currency  in  the  Maya  civilization.
(chocolate)  beans  instead.    One  Mayan  record  showed  that  a  slave  was   worth  100  cacao  beans.
Mayans  traded  fruits,  vegetables,  salt,  honey,  dried  fish,  turtle  eggs,
deer  meat,  and  birds.    They  also  exchanged  items  such  as,  cotton  cloth,  animal  skins,  feathers,  shells,  gold,   emeralds,  and  jade.    Mayans  also  traded  slaves.
Tikal  was  one  of  the  first  major  Mayan  cities.    Archaeologists  believe  that
Tikal’s  location  was  no  accident.    The  position  of  the  temples  at  Tikal  aligns   with  the  largest  mountain  peak  in  the  region,  as  well  as  with  sunrise  and   sunset  times  of  the  solstices  and  equinoxes.    This  showed  the  advanced     astronomical  achievements  already  taking  place  in  the  Mayan  civilization     during  the  Pre-­‐Classic  era.    Tikal  continued  to  be  a  center  of  trade  and     strength  throughout  most  of  the  Classic  era,  as  well.    During  the  Classic     period,  Tikal  extended  their  sphere  of  influence  to  nearly  500,000  people,  with  an  immediate  city  center  of   almost  50,000.    They  also  created  alliances  with  other  powerful  cities,  like  Palenque.    This  made  Tikal  the  most   powerful  Mayan  city,  and  therefore  the  seat  of  government  for  the  civilization.    In  869  CE  the  residents  of  Tikal   mysteriously  left,  along  with  other  cities  in  the  region.    No  one  is  quite  sure  why  they  left,  but  the  reign  of  Tikal   was  over.