WARM UP The Mayan People Stella Joey G Kai Drew James P Josiah Gabe Kris Adam The Mayan Civilization This culture was believed to have developed in the early 1000 BC They lived in what is now present day Yucatan Peninsula Mexico ID: 682635
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Slide1
If you were captured by a Mayan city, and you were about to be sacrificed to their gods, what would you do to gain their favor? Explain in 3-5 sentences.
WARM UPSlide2
The Mayan PeopleStella, Joey G., Kai, Drew, James P., Josiah, Gabe, Kris, AdamSlide3
The Mayan Civilization
This culture was believed to have developed in the early 1000 B.C.
They lived in what is now present day Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.
Their early settlements started out from villages
Their houses and temples were built from wooden poles, stones, mud, and vines.
Due to their region and geography hunting was a limited option.
The Mayans hunted deer and monkeys but relied mostly on growing crops.Slide4
Geography and Trade
The rocky terrain of Mesoamerica helped the Maya in a few significant ways
The mineral obsidian was found in huge pockets in the mountains, and was considered sacred by the Maya.
Another mineral that was sacred, and was also used for trade was jade.Slide5
The Mayan Geography
The early Mayans of Mesoamerica lived in mostly the lowlands.
Thick forests covered the entirety of the region
With the thick forest surrounding them the Mayans had to learn to adapt.
They adapted by cutting and clearing trees to make farmland
Many of Mesoamerica civilizations grew crops. These crops consists of corn, beans, squash, cacao, and fruit trees. Corn though was their main crop.Slide6
The Goods that were Traded.
As months turned into years the Mayan population began to grow.
As the population grew so did trade
The Mayans traded:
-Cloth: Ranging from animal skin to cotton
-Ores: Obsidian and Jade mainly
-Food: Meat from deer's or monkey’s, crops, chocolate, fish
-Other goods: Rubber trees, cotton, wood, and weaponsSlide7
The Classic Age
This is when the Mayan civilization hit it’s peak, between about 250 and 900 AD.
During this time, the civilization spread to about 40 cities with 5,000 to 50,000 people, per city.
One of these cities was Palenque, pictured to the left.Slide8
Palenque
(
pah
-LENG-kay)
When the Mayan civilization started to really kick off their buildings became much more grand
A fine example is the city of Palenque:
Palenque was a city built to honor their Maya king, Pascal (
puh
-KAHL).
A great and beautiful temples were built to record any and all achievements of Pascal
Artist lavished these temples with carvings and painting of their GodsSlide9
Mayan Cities
The city of Palenque was not only meant for their king but, for the improvement of lives in the city
Such as building large plazas for public gatherings mostly
Canals to control the water flow throughout the city
Had hillsides shaped into flat terraces so they could grow crops more easily
Mayan temples were considered sacred because they were believed to have allowed people to approach their Gods.Slide10
Mayan Cities
part 2
Remember the movie, “The Road to El Dorado” and the scene where they were playing with a ball on practically a basketball court? Well, Palenque had a court and designed for that!
The winners were sometimes given jewels and clothing and the losers were sometimes killed.
The Mayan cities or city-states relied on their own government.
Though the Maya’s were considered an empire each city had their own kingNot once did they unite and become an empire.Slide11
Warfare
Conflicts between neighboring cities, more often than not, resulted in warfare.
It was extremely gory. Warriors fought hand-to-hand with spears tipped in obsidian, flint knives, and wooden clubs.
The Mayan were notorious for taking prisoners of war, to sacrifice later to their gods.Slide12
Mayan Warfare
With each Mayan city having their own kings and government. War was inescapable
Most of the war and chaos happened with neighboring cities.
These wars were over petty things like land and to also gain power
The savagery the Mayan created during the war was gruesome. For example:
-Sacrificing the enemy -Burning the enemies villages down -EnslavementSome say that the cruelness and chaos from Maya warfare contributed to its down fall.Slide13
Social Hierarchy
(Lower Class)
This was most of the Mayan people.
They were mostly farming families, and craftsmen.
They had to “pay” their rulers with cloth, food, and salt.
In addition, the lower class also had to work on the construction of temples, and palaces for the nobility.
But, it wasn’t an all one way street…Slide14
Social Hierarchy
(Upper Class)
The Mayan held their rulers extremely high on their social scale, because it was believed that the rulers could communicate with the gods.
The kings wore elaborate headdresses, and capes of animal skin, usually jaguar, with elaborate feather work.
Priests were born into their role, and they had almost as much influence as the king. (Pictured left)
The warriors also had capes made of animal skin, but they also painted their bodies red and black.
Merchants were also considered high class.
They controlled the politics, religion, and economy in daily life.Slide15
Religion
The Mayans were polytheistic, or they worshipped many gods.
They believed their rulers could communicate with the gods, which is why the lower class held the higher class on a pedestal.
They also believed mirrors held magical power, and only the kings were allowed to look into them.
According to Mayan myth, the gods could either help you or harm you, depending on how they were treated.
So, bloodletting became popular. The aforementioned is the act of spilling one’s blood in a ceremonial fashion. But, there was the occasional human sacrifice too.The kings drank chocolate, with a little cinnamon in it, because it was believed to also be the food of the gods.All of the ceremonies took place at the temple.Slide16Slide17
Mayan Achievements
The Mayans were crucial to several historical achievements in modern society.
The Mayan astronomers had observatories, or buildings to study the stars, and they figured out that a year was 365 days long.
Thanks to this, the Mayans made the world’s first calendar, an example of one is to the left.
In addition, in math they were the first ones to use the number zero.
They also wrote a book on their myths, called the
Popol
Vuh
.Slide18
More Maya Achievements
The Maya people had written thousands of books but only FOUR and some are still being discovered had survived.
The Mayans had an advanced writing system and recorded their history for what is believed to be more than 800 years.
These texts were destroyed during the Spanish conquest because the priest at the time deemed them to be “lies of the devil”
The Mayan god of wind and storms was called Jun Raquan. This is pronounced as “Huracan”. Therefore the word “hurricane” derived from this God.
The Maya calendar was believed to predict sacred events. This calendar said that the end of the creation was in 2012. If this were true than 5 years ago the world should have ended.Slide19
The Decline of the Mayan Empire
The great civilization began to collapse at around 900 AD.
There is no definite answer for how the civilization ended, but there are some theories…
A) The ratio of food to people was becoming out of balance. Growing the same crops year after year may have damaged the soil, and left it too weak for farming. This, causing tension between the cities, may have led to even more warfare, and they’re going in circles until they collapse.
B) The demands of the Mayan kings may have been too much for the people, from the huge temples, to equally as large taxes, they people may have just had enough, and rebelled against their leader.
Or C) Climate change. Records show that there was a drought that lasted for about 150 years, possibly during the collapse.Slide20
Fun FactsThe Mayans believed in what is strange to us now but, beauty to them then.They thought beauty was a brood forehead and crossed eyes.
To achieve this:
-The Mayans fastened boards to the babies forehead to give it the brood shape while they were still growing.
-They also thought to have crossed eyes, PERMINETLY, was beautiful so they stuck something in front of babies until their eyes were trained into that position.Slide21
Historians can’t agree what ended the Mayan civilization, but they certainly left clues for us to find.