Chapter 14 notes Mayan Civilization

Section 1– Geography and Early cultures By Matthew Emerson

Geography of the americas -The northern continent, North America includes high mountains, deserts, plains, and forests -In the South, the climate is warmer  -Mesoamerica lies in the Southern part of North America, this region includes Mexico and parts of Central America

The First People arrive -No one is sure where the first people came from -Some historians think that the first people got to Mesoamerica on a land bridge from Asia -The first people were hunter-gatherers -Early people gathered fruit, nuts, wild grains, and hunted -Eventually people settled across the coasts of North and South America to increase population

Farming and Settlement  -Early people eventually learned to farm, and this allowed people to stop following animal herds and settle in one place  -The most popular crop grown in the farms were maize, or corn, later they grew squash and beans

The olmec -The Olmec were the first urban civilization in Mesoamerica -Most lived in small villages, but some had more established larger villages Towns were religious Included government centers, temples, and plazas Sculptures throughout the temple usually represented Olmec gods

Section 2-   The Maya By Emma Adams

Geography and Mayan Civilizations -Civilization developed in Mesoamerica and early Mayans lived in the lowlands -Thick forests made farming hard but they provided resources -Forest provided monkeys and deer for food and trees and plants for building

Early maya -Lived in small villages around 1000 BC -Trade started, and cloth and obsidian was traded -Obsidian was valued for it's sharp edges and because it was considered sacred -By AD 200 Maya had been building large cities due to trade

Trade -Mayan cities in the highlands traded with lowland cities -Lowlands- cotton, rubber trees, cacao beans -Chocolate was thought to be food of the Gods -Lowland crops did not grow well in highlands -Highlands- obsidian, jade

Mayan Cities -Had many grand cities with buildings, large stone pyramids, temples, and palaces -The city of Palenque honed the kind Pacal -Mayan artists decorated temples and palaces with carvings and colorful paintings

Warfare -Mayan cities battled for land -Warriors fought with spears, flint knives, ad wooden clubs -Warfare tore up land and destroyed crops

End of the mayan civilization -Around the 900's Mayans stopped building temples -Multiple theories historians have that led to Mayans decline -Cities grew to big and there were not enough crops, warfare destroyed crops and killed many, king's demands led to people rebelling against him

Section 3- Religion, hierarchy, and achievemnts By Jason Lee

Social hierarchy- Upper Class -People who were part of the upper class were kings, priests, warriors and merchants -Maya believed that their rulers were related to the gods -Kings wore feather headdresses, capes of cotton, and jaguar skins -Priests were born into their roles -Priests were educated and used their knowledge of astronomy and math to plan religious ceremonies

Social hierarchy- Upper Class cont. -Warriors fought battles against other Mayan cities -Wore animal headdresses, jade, and jaguar skins, and painted their bodies red and black -Merchants traded goods, organized transportation, and supervised goods carried between cities

Social hierarchy- lower class -People who were part of the lower class were farmers and slaves -These people lived outside the cities in small houses -Farmers had to give some of their crops to rulers, and had to pay them with clothes and salts -Farmers had to build temples, palaces, and other buildings -Along with all of this, farmers had to serve in a time of war

Social hierarchy- lower class cont. -The lowest class was slaves -Had to serve the upper class as farmers of household servants

Mayan religion -Mayan people were polytheistic which means they believed in more than one god -Most important god was the creator -Other gods include, sun god, moon goddess, and maize god -Believed the gods needed blood to prevent disasters -Everyone pierced their tongue or skin for this

Mayan religion cont. -The Mayans made human sacrifices

Mayan achievements -Carved stone sculptures of kings and gods -Used obsidian tools to cut into limestone -Used heavy rocks with locks and lifted them with ropes to build temples -The Mayan people built observatories so that people could study the stars -Learned a year was 365 days -Developed calendars to plan religious events -Were the first people to have a symbol for zero

Mayan achievements cont. -Their writing was similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics -The Mayans used symbols that represented both objects and sounds -Wrote in bark paper books