The Maya

Chichen Itza - approx. 80 feet high

Mayan Cities

The Mayans lived in the dense, lowland rain forests of Central America

Only major ancient civilization to live in dense jungle

From 300 A.D. to 900 A.D. the Mayans reached their peak

Ruled under a government of city-states

Mayan Government

There was no single unified empire, only multiple city-states

Bulk of population was urbanized (lived in cities)

Mayan cities all shared a common language and culture and thus would trade together

Mayan Farming

Mayans used a complex system of farming

A system of raised land platforms caught rain water.

Then used gravity to redirect the water and trap nutrients

Corn or maize was their main crop (65% of diet)

Corn is world’s first genetically altered plant

• Mayans built terraces to trap silt as it flowed down river –Increased agricultural yields (maize, cotton, cacao)

• Population growth due to agricultural strength leads to growth of Mayan cities or increased urbanization.

Mayan ReligionBelieved in multiple gods (polytheistic) that controlled the forces of nature.

Priests preformed the rituals

Pyramids were the site of religious worship and sacrifice

People were killed in the thousands during ceremonies

Spanish told of 80,000

killed in 4 days

Mayan Achievements•Mayans were the most advanced astronomers of the ancient world•Created the most accurate calendar of the ancient world–365.242 days–17 seconds shorter than the figure reached by modern astronomers

Mayan priests also developed advanced mathematics, including the number zero and the symbol to represent it.

And of course...the Mayan Architecture

Examples: Tikal, Chichen Itza

Mayan Achievements

Mayan Writing • Codices –Mayans recorded all of their knowledge in books made of tree bark paper or animal skins

–stored these in massive libraries • All but 4 were burned by the Spaniards making Mayan history relatively unknown

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Mayan game of pok-a-tok• Objective: to score points by

propelling a rubber ball through a hoop without using your hands and feet

• Two teams • Goal is to keep ball in play without

using hands and feet • If ball goes through hoop game ends • Losing team is killed/sacrificed • Extremely popular • Played for several reasons

–Sport –Politics –sacrifice

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Mayan Predictions

Mayan calendar ends 12/21/2012

Cosmic alignment between the Sun and Earth and Milky Way Galaxy (polar re-alignment)

Nostradamus predicts end of world!

Fin