The Maya
The Maya
Classic Period
Either 250 BC to 950 AD
Or 10 AD to 1190 AD
The Mayas
We know they were not called Mayas
 When Spaniards arrived, the major city
was MAYAPAN (thus the name the
Mayas)
 The only great civilization to be located
in the “jungle”
 Primarily the Yucatan peninsula and
northern central America

MAYAS
MAYA
KINGDOM
Bishop Diego de Landa
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Bishop Diego de Landa is best known for
two reasons:
1st – He thought the Maya books were
inspired by the devil, so he had them all
destroyed
2nd – Recognizing his mistake, several years
later returned to Yucatan and wrote
““Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan.”
This book based on the three Mayan books
that survived
Maya Civilization

Expert Astronomers
Astronomers

Calculated Lunar and Solar Eclipses
– Used that information to have “Festivals”

Understanding of the Solar Position in
the sky
Maya Civilization
Expert Astronomers
 Great Mathematicians

Mathematicians
Had a system based on 20
 Recognized the zero (unlike the
Romans for instance)
 One
two
 three
four
five
 six
eight
nine
 ten
nineteen
twenty

Maya Civilization
Expert Astronomers
 Great Mathematicians
 Good architects though were not able
to complete the arch

Maya Civilization
Expert Astronomers
 Great Mathematicians
 Good architects though were not able
to complete the arch
 Great warriors

Maya Civilization
Expert Astronomers
 Great Mathematicians
 Good architects though were not able
to complete the arch
 Great warriors
 Active Merchants (Used Cocoa as currency)

Mayan Economy



A trade system existed through which salt,
obsidian, jade, cacao, animal pelts, tropical
bird feathers, luxury ceramics and other
goods flowed.
Goods from the highlands were traded
with those of the lowlands. Obsidian
was made into tools and weapons.
People either bartered goods directly
or exchanged them for cacao beans
Commonly Bartered Items
Maya Civilization
Expert Astronomers
 Great Mathematicians
 Good architects though were not able
to complete the arch
 Great warriors
 Active Merchants (Used Cocoa as currency)
 Social Structure

Social Structure

Priest
The Social
Pyramid
– Priests
– nobles wealthy
– commoners and
low-level govern
officers
– slaves and servants
Maya Civilization
Expert Astronomers
 Great Mathematicians
 Good architects though were not able
to complete the arch
 Great warriors
 Active Merchants (Used Cocoa as currency)
 Advances In Medicine

Maya Medicine

1. ULCERS,
GASTRITIS Mineral
crystal stone. Put in
water and drink the
water every day. For
sores in the mouth, put
directly on affected
area. No side effects.
For thousands of years
the Mayan elders have
been using this
practice. Prepared by
thegreat grand niece of
H'me Elijio Panti.
$7.50 (US)
Maya Medicine


9. DIABETES,
HYPOGLYCEMIA,
BLOOD SUGAR
STABILIZER Billy
Webb Bark Tea. Boil
one hand full of bark.
Drink 1/2 cup of tea
twice daily, until blood
sugar stabilizes.
$7.50 (US)
10. DIARRHEA
Traveler's Tonic. Take
3 tablespoons every
hour for as long as
condition persists.
$7.50 (US)
Maya Civilization
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
Expert Astronomers
Great Mathematicians
Good architects though were not able to
complete the arch
Great warriors
Active Merchants (Used Cocoa as currency)
Advances In Medicine
Games
GAME



The Maya had a ball
game called Pok-ATok. It was played on
an odd shaped field.
The object of the game
was to move a hard
rubber ball without the
use of hands or feet
through a hoop.
There is debate
whether it was the
losing team or the
winning team that was
sacrificed.
GAME
Decapitation
scene at ball
court,
GAME
Mystery Question:

Debate over why several sites are
shown to have been abandon?
– They left site due to Natural Disasters
– They left site due to over crowding
– They abandon Commercial and Religion
sites but did not move
Architects

Build Magnificent Temples and Places
for Commerce and Games
Demise of the Mayas

Natural
– Ecology
 Soil
Exhaustion (Cook and Sanders)
 Water Loss and Erosion (Cooke and
Ricketson)
 Savana Grass Competition (Cook and
Morley) (Continual burning of soil led to end
original forest and converted into man-made
grass land. Problem, Mayas did not have toil
equipment).
Demise of the Mayas
(continuation)
– Catastrophism
 Earthquakes
(Mackie)
 Hurricanes
– Evolution (Meggers)
 Main
idea was that social collapse occurred
due to over population and lack of food
supply
– Disease (Meggers)
Demise of the Mayas
(continuation)

Social
– Demography (Cowgill and Hutchinson)
 Higher
rate of female to male ratios led to a
collapse of social order
– Social Structure (Thompson, Altscheler,
and Kidder)
– Invasion (Adams, Cowgill, Sabloff and
Willey)
Abandon Commercial
and Religious Centers
Various Households
New CRC
Commercial
and Religious
Center (CRC)
New CRC
Demise of the Mayas
(continuation)
Demise of the Mayas
(continuation)
Economic Trade Collapse led to Rebellion and Invasion
Towns in Buffer Zone
Maya Buffer Zone
Maya Core
Teotihuacan Core
Teotihuacan Buffer Zone