The Maya Civilization The Maya lived and continue to live in southeastern Mexico and northern Central America The most widely spoken are Mam, Quiché, Kekchi, and Cakchiquel Maya civilization consists of the highlands to the south and the lowlands to the north Subdivisions of the Maya Area: Pacific Coastal Plain, The Highlands, The Lowlands

Cenote Cenotes are natural formations, places where the surface limestone has collapsed and exposed the subterranean water table

Stages of Development Formative: 1000 B.C. – 250 A.D. : Formation of a social hierarchy and a form of hieroglyphic writing Classic: 250 A.D. – 900 A.D. : Rise in population, construction of ceremonial centers Maya-Toltec: 900 A.D. – 1250: Toltecs from the Central Valley region invaded Mayapan: 1250 – 1450 A.D.: Creation of independent areas controlled by chieftains

The Individual in Maya Society Personal Appearance Birth & Early Childhood Puberty Marriage & Family Life & Death

Huipil

Folklore The greatest body of Mayan tradition is contained in the Popol Vuh (Book of Council) The Maya creation myth: Tepeu and Gukumatz The Hero Twins: Hunapu and Xbalanque

Chichen Itza Ball Court This ball court measures 545 ft. long & 225 ft. wide Ball games were part of Maya political, religious, & social life Played with a rubber ball & ballplayers wore protective equipment The ball game was associated with Hero Twins The ball court was seen as the threshold between this world & Xibalba

Ideology & Cosmology All things animate or inanimate were infused with an unseen power Order was the foundation of the Maya world Human destiny was linked with the celestial beings The basic unit of order was the day, the kin Certain numbers were sacred to the ancient Maya and were imbued with special powers

Maya Deities Itzamna, a reptilian deity: means “reptile house” in Yucatec Mayan, was considered the lord of the heavens, and lord of the day and night Kinich Ahau, a sun deity: the day aspect of Itzamna, closely associated with Maya rulers Chac, a rain deity: associated with creation and life. Chac was important to farmers Ix chel, goddess of childbirth – wife of Itzamna, often buried with the dead Kukulkan, the feathered serpent, god of creation and learning

Itzamna Kinich Ahau Chac Ix Chel

Rituals and Ceremonies Rituals and ceremonies were performed to communicate with the forces that governed their lives The main purpose of rituals was the procuring of life, health, and sustenance All were preceded by fasting and abstinence, symbolic of spiritual purification Sacrifices were an important part of Maya worship

Arithmetic, Calendar, Astronomy Maya pursued these realms for both mystical and practical purposes Mayas believed that numbers, time, and the cosmos were ruled by supernatural forces Each passing cycle brought with it the possibility of repeated destiny – cyclical time 1Day = Kin, Month = Uinal (20 days) 1 baktun = 144,000 days, 1 katun = 7,200 days, 1 tun = 360 days 13 baktuns = 5,128 solar years

El Caracol - The Observatory Mayans were interested with the annual travels of the sun across the sky Several of the windows of the Observatory point towards the equinox sunset

Architecture Types of construction: ceremonial platforms, temples, palaces, towers, pyramids, ball courts, observatories The materials used for building Mayan structures included limestone and mortar To the Mayans, the outside appearance of their buildings was more important than the inside Early Classic Maya vs. Late Classic Maya

An example of early Classic Mayan architecture Temple of Masks in Uaxactun, located in the Petén Basin in Petén, Guatemala An example of early Classic Mayan architecture

This is a temple in Tikal that measures 154 ft. Located in the Petén Basin located in northern Guatemala Early Classic Maya Architecture ca. 200 to 900 A.D.

Corbelled Arch – False Arch To form a corbel, masonry walls were built to the desired height At the spring of the vault, flat stones were placed closer & closer together until they could be spanned by a single capstone

Palenque Palenque is located in southern Mexico in the state of Chiapas It dates back to 226 B.C. to 1123 A.D. Architects set corbelled vaults parallel to one another, with a light, cut –out roof comb over the central wall

The temple of Kukulcan was built between the 9th & 12th century El Castillo – The Castle Pyramid Maya Toltec Style The temple of Kukulcan was built between the 9th & 12th century Each of the sides of the pyramid has 91 steps when you do the math and add the platform it equals to 365 steps

Sculpture & Painting The Maya were known for their stone monuments carved with portraits of rulers & writing of their deeds Early paintings found depict musicians, families, bloodletting, and a meeting of important Lords Rio Azul and Bonampak paintings

Pacal the Great Upakal K'inich

Rio Azul in northeast Peten tomb paintings The side walls are marked with wavy, beaded symbols that indicate liquid, most likely the watery surface of the underworld Paintings are monochrome, a reddish brown hematite pigment

Located in Chiapas, Mexico Date ca. 790 A.D. (Maya Classic Period) Bonampak paintings depicts Mayans in a unified work celebrating the festivities and bloodshed rituals Located in Chiapas, Mexico Date ca. 790 A.D. (Maya Classic Period)

Language & Writing Ancient Maya writing system is known as the most significant achievements of the pre-Colombian New World Dresden, Madrid, and Paris codices Maya writing is built on a system of individual glyphs, grouped into glyph groups Glyph groups are organized into rows and or columns About 800 Maya glyphs have been decipher