MAYA CIVILIZATION

Where
- Mayan civilization occupied much of the northwestern part of the
isthmus of Central America, from Chiapas and Yucatán- now part of
southern Mexico, through Guatemala, Western Honduras, Northern
Belize, and into Nicaragua.
Explanation:
- The beginning of Maya Civilization started with an adventure.
Around 40,000 to 50,000 BCE people started to cross over the bridge
between modern day Alaska to Siberia into North America until they
settled in modern-day Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
-
When
- As early as 1500 BCE the Maya had settled in villages and were
practicing agriculture.
- The rise of the Maya began about 250 CE, and what is known to
archaeologists as the Classic Period of Mayan culture- lasted until
about 900 CE.
Explanation:
- According to historians, the history of the Mayans’ are divided into
three periods:
a.) Pre-classical
- The Mayans are considered as one of the most powerful
civilizations in MesoAmerica.
- Different leaders were situated in different cities
- The Mayans are different from Aztec civilization because it has
a lot of cities competing against each other for during this
time they differ from a lot of aspects in life such as culture and
beliefs. In addition, there was no main leader who led all of the
surrounding cities in the main temple.
b.) Classical
- This period is much more organize
- The elite mayan have lots of tattoos in their body
- The main temple now has a king who governed all of the
surrounding cities
- They started to build monuments and irrigation systems
c. ) Post Classical
What
- Maya civilization is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only
known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian
Americas, as well as its spectacular art, monumental architecture,
and sophisticated mathematical and astronomical systems.
Explaination:
- They are also known as Mesoamerican for they are situated in the
middle of America
- One of their greatest achievements is their temples which make use
of burned limestone (in the Yucatan Peninsula there are lots of
limestone).
- They created the Maya Stuco out of limestone to have a fine effect
on their temples without any bubbles or stoney texture visible to the
eye. This creation is comparable to the plaster for houses in the
present times.
- Their calendar system is inspired by the movement of the moon, sun,
and planet Venus. They were able to develop three calendars, these
are the following:
a.) Solar Calendar - 365 days
b.) Sacred Calendar - 260 days
c.) Long Count Calendar - the longest count calendar wherein the
date started from the 11th of August 3114 BC
Who
- They are Mesoamerican Indians, in Greek this particularly means
“Middle American”.
- Settled as early as 1500 BCE after much of exploration
- Before the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Central America, the
Maya possessed one of the greatest civilizations of the Western
Hemisphere.
- Used the hieroglyphic writing system
- Brought impressive development in the field of Mathematics and
astronomy.
Why
- The exact cause of the Maya civilization's sudden disappearance is
still unknown, however there are several theories that have been
proposed. These theories include climate change, overpopulation,
warfare, and disease. It is likely that a combination of these factors
contributed to the Maya civilization's decline.
How
- The Maya civilization was created over a period of thousands of
years by the people who lived in the region of Central America and
parts of southern Mexico.
- It thrived due to their advanced agricultural and engineering
techniques, their extensive trade networks, their complex political
and religious systems, and their sophisticated writing and
mathematical systems.
- They developed an extensive irrigation system to support their
agriculture and built large cities with impressive architecture. They
also developed a complex calendar system and advanced
astronomical knowledge.
- Through their extensive trade networks, the Maya were able to
acquire luxury goods and resources from distant lands.
- The ability to build a great civilization in a tropical rainforest climate
is their specialty.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Popol Vuh - One of their greatest epic
- The Popol Vuh, or Popol Wuj in the K’iche’ language, is the story of
creation of the Maya. Members of the royal K’iche’ lineages that had
once ruled the highlands of Guatemala recorded the story in the 16th
century to preserve it under the Spanish colonial rule. The Popol
Vuh, meaning “Book of the Community,” narrates the Maya creation
account, the tales of the Hero Twins, and the K’iche’ genealogies and
land rights. In this story, the Creators, Heart of Sky and six other
deities including the Feathered Serpent, wanted to create human
beings with hearts and minds who could “keep the days.” But their
first attempts failed. When these deities finally created humans out
of yellow and white corn who could talk, they were satisfied. In
another epic cycle of the story, the Death Lords of the Underworld
summon the Hero Twins to play a momentous ball game where the
Twins defeat their opponents. The Twins rose into the heavens, and
became the Sun and the Moon. Through their actions, the Hero
Twins prepared the way for the planting of corn, for human beings to
live on Earth, and for the Fourth Creation of the Maya.
- They created animals and plants, however, they realized that these
creatures couldn’t talk and praise them thus they tried to make lots
of versions of beings out of soil, wood, and even created a storm,
however, these three failed to meet their expectations. They
eventually created a being out of corn and they were satisfied with
the result for these beings were very intellectual and has the
capability to praise them.