Borrowed from Mrs. Valenti’s World History Class Saddleback Valley, CA Thanks Mrs. Valenti!

Maya Achievements Main Idea 3:  The Maya made achievements in art, science, math, and writing.

Maya Achievements Art  Some of the best known Maya art is their sculptures and their jade and gold jewelry.

Maya Achievements  A lot of the Mayan art was made for decorating the tombs of rulers  This Mosaic mask, which was made of jade, was found over the face of the famous Mayan ruler King Pacal

Mayans also painted on their pottery, like this cup.

Maya Achievements

Architecture  The Maya built cities without using metal tools.

Maya Achievements

Notable constructions of the Maya include…  Ceremonial platforms  Palaces  Pyramids and temples  Observatories  Ball courts

Tulum Palace

Tourists walk past a Mayan temple in the Tikal National Park

Palenque Temple

Observatory

Ball Court

Maya Achievements Science and Math  The Maya built observatories for priests to study the stars.

Maya astronomers figured out that a year is about 365 days long.  They also learned about the cycles of the moon and how to predict eclipses. Mayan Achievements

Maya Achievements Science and Math  The Mayans developed religious and agricultural calendars.  The Maya calendar was more accurate than the calendar used in Europe at that time. Notice in the picture that there are two types of calendars

Maya Achievements Science and Math  The Mayans created a number system to go with their calendars.  The Maya were among the first humans with a symbol for zero.

Maya Achievements Writing and Oral Traditions  They developed a writing system similar to hieroglyphics and wrote in bark-paper books.

Mayan Achievements Their hieroglyphs were used by priest-kings to write record books, each of which was known as a codex  The codices were often about religious ceremonies, astronomy, and the Mayan calendar

 The codices were also used record important dates and events in the lives of the rulers

Maya Achievements Writing and Oral Traditions  Maya stories were passed down orally. After the Spanish arrived, the Maya stories were recorded in book known as the Popol Vuh.

Inca Contributions to Culture