OLMEC & MAYA

The Olmec civilization was the earliest civilization in Mesoamerica. Olmec, means “people of the land of rubber”. Lived in southern Mexico, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico Were at their height about 1200BC-400BC

“Mother-culture” of Mesoamerica, that is, they started many of the cultural traditions that were passed on to the later Mesoamerican cultures. Ball game; written symbols; tall pyramid- shaped temples; human sacrifice & blood-letting

Had a simple written symbols: Earliest known written language in the Americas, but it has not been translated. It was probably not a full written language; it did not have symbols to express in writing everything that could be said.

Society included a small upper class- rulers & warriors & priests and large lower class of farmers. The Olmec had 3 major centers or cities, Tres Zapotes, San Lorenzo, La Venta

Sculptures include large stone heads wearing helmets. About 17 have been found to date. May be rulers? May be ballplayers?

Chief god appears to be half jaguar – half man.

Numerous rubber balls have been found in Olmec sites.

MAYA Most advanced people in the Americas History divided into 3 periods – Pre-classical: 2000BC-250AD – Classical 250AD-900AD. – Post-Classical: 900AD-1500AD The height of Maya culture was about 100BC-900AD Occupied the “Yucatan Peninsula

GOVERNMENT & SOCIETY Composed of a number of independent “city- states”, each with its own ruler. These city-states included Tikal, Palenque, Chichen Itza, Copan. Cities had large pyramids, palaces, ball courts, other buildings

Government & Society Each city state had: King, noble warriors & priests, merchants & artisans, farmers (majority) There were powerful rulers, such as King Pacal of Palenque. Jade death mask of King Pacal

No coins as money, but sometimes used cacao beans as money

Temple Pyramids Large temple pyramids Step-shaped, with stairs up the side. Shrine at the top for worship of a god. Chichén Itzá Yucatan, Mexico Chichén Itzá is the largest of the ancient Mayan ruins on the Yucatan Peninsula. A center of Mayan pilgrimage for over 1,000 years, it is now one of Mexico's most-visited tourist destinations.

Temple at Uxmal

Temple of the Inscriptions-Palenque This is where King Pacal was buried

Farming Raised Field Farming In the wet lowlands, it could be too swampy to farm. Farmers dug up the mud and shaped it into raised fields that rose 2 to 4 feet above the water canals that surrounded them. Fish swam in these canals and provided fertilizer via their droppings. They filled these raised beds with soil dug out of swampy areas.

Farming Techniques Slash and Burn: Used in forested areas. They would cut the trees, burn the trees & stumps, and spread the ash for fertilizer. The soil would loose its fertility in a few years, and a new area would have to be slashed & burned. Terraces: Used in mountainous areas. Terraces would be cut into hillsides to create a space for planting.

Writing Highly developed written language consisting of about 800 symbols called “glyphs”. It has been translated. Some stood for whole words and some stood for syllables. They were shaped sort of like squares or rectangles with rounded corners and a picture inside.

Writing was carved on stone, or written in a “codex”, a folding book made of fig bark-paper. There are only 4 known to be still in existence. Most of the codices were destroyed by the Spanish in the 1500s, who believed them to be demonic

“Dresden Codex” Bought from a private owner by the museum of Dresden in the 1700s. 39 folding “pages”

Astronomy & Mathematics Highly developed astronomy & mathematics, including the number 0. Observatory at Chichen Itza has window openings that align with the sunset at the spring and autumn equinoxes.

Dot and dash number system

Very complex CALENDAR 365 day solar calendar-Haab 260 day lunar calendar – Tzolkin 13 numbers & 20 day names Numbers & day names work together like gears. Example: numbers 1-13; Days A-T 1-a, 2-b, 3-c, 4-d, 5-e, 6-f, 7-g, 8-h, 9-I, 10-j, 11-k, 12-l; 13-m; 1-n, 2-o, 3-p, 4-q, 5-r, 6-s, 7-t, 8-a

The Haab (365 days) & the Tzolkin (260) were used together and the days were paired. It took 52 years for a whole cycle. They also had a cycle of 5, years, which they called the Long Count Calendar. This one ended in December, 2012

The Mayan pyramid in Chichen Itza was a physical calendar. Each side has a staircase with 91 steps and a platform, for a total of 365 steps. The dates inscribed into the pyramids all were written in the Long Count format.

RELIGION Many Gods, including God of Sky, God of Rain, God of Maize (Corn), Gods of Death, Hero Twins (ball players who tricked the Gods of the Underworld). Creation story called the “Popul Vuh”

RELIGION Importance of sacrifice of blood. People would pierce themselves (often the tongue), catch the blood on a piece of bark, and burn the bark as a sacrifice, an offering of blood to the Gods. Sometimes human sacrifice was offered.

Many layered universe Like many peoples, the Maya pictured a universe consisting of heavens above and underworlds below, with the human world sandwiched between. The heavens consisted of 13 layers stacked above the earth, and the earth rested on the back of a turtle or reptile floating in the ocean. Four brothers called the Bacabs, possibly the sons of Itzamná, supported the heavens. Below the earth lay a realm called Xibalba, an underworld in nine layers. Linking the three realms was a giant tree whose roots reached into the underworld and branches stretched to heaven. The gods and the souls of the dead traveled between worlds along this tree. Hero twins: Hunahpu and Xbalaque

The ball game was at least partially religious, and sometimes the losers were sacrificed. They used a rubber ball, and hit it with their hips. You won immediately if you got the ball through the hoop Sometimes called pok- a-tok.

Mystery of the Maya Decline By about 900AD, most Maya began to leave their cities, and return to a simple life of farming. Some moved north. The population declined sharply, the cities disappeared. By the time the Spanish arrived in the 1500sAD, the Maya lived in weak communities, and there was no trace of their former glory.

Decline and disappearance of Mayan Civilization Causes include: – Severe period of drought from about 800AD-1000AD. – The drought was the result of natural and man-made causes. Manmade contributing cause was the cutting of too many trees, which caused less moisture to be returned to the atmosphere. – The drought caused famine, which caused people to die or relocate. – The famine also caused wars, which caused more people to die or relocate.