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Mayan Civilization

Introduction to the Mayan civilization

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20 views

Mayan Civilization

Introduction to the Mayan civilization

Uploaded by

rozykharoub
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Mayan

Civilization
Lesson One: History and Geography
What is the
Mayan
civilization?
• The Maya civilization was one of the most
dominant indigenous societies of Mesoamerica.
• Mesoamerica is a term used to describe Mexico
and Central America before the 16th century
Spanish conquest.
Where did
the Mayans
exist?
The Ancient Mayan lived in the Yucatán around
2600 B.C. Today, this area is southern Mexico,
Guatemala, northern Belize and western
Honduras.
What’s the difference?

Nile Gulf of Mexico


River

Civilization was North


Pacific
built around a Ocean
fresh water
How did they survive without a fresh
water source?

• Even though it
rained for six
months a year, this
area was prone to
drought. Why?
•The land in Yucatán is
composed of limestone
with a thin layer of dirt
on top.
•Limestone is a type of
rock which is soft and
highly porous.
What happened to the
rain?
• All the rainwater would
pass through the
porous limestone land
and store itself
underground.
• How would that help
them?
The Maya water management system
relied mainly on harvesting and storing
rainwater. This allowed the Maya to
survive the dry season.
How did they harvest and store
rainwater?
As the rainwater
passes through the
limestone, some of it
comes to rest in
underground caves.
If the limestone on the
surface breaks, the water-
filled cave is exposed and
forms what is called a
cenote. The Maya took
advantage of these
cenotes as water sources
wherever possible.
Where natural caves were
unavailable, the Maya turned
to man-made cisterns. These
cisterns, known as chultuns,
were bottle-shaped
underground water storage
chambers that were lined
with lime plaster to prevent
water from seeping out.
Connected to the cisterns
was a system that harvested
and transported rainwater,
and the design varied
between different cities.
The cisterns then stored
rainwater from the wet to
the dry season.
The Maya also dug
canals to collect the
rainwater either to
store for drinking or
to create an irrigation
system.
They managed to
transform their
environment into
wet lands used
for agriculture.
Some canals were
dug underground.
It’s believed that
their purpose was
to give collected
rainwater enough
pressure to push it
upwards as a
fountain.
This is how a Mayan water system
looks like
Who were the Maya?
• The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization,
noted for Maya script, the only known fully
developed writing system of the pre-
Columbian Americas, as well as for its art,
architecture, and mathematical and
astronomical systems.

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