1. Chapter 14 notes
Mayan Civilization

2. Section 1– Geography and Early cultures
By Matthew Emerson

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. Section 2-   The Maya
By Emma Adams

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

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

13. 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

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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

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

19. 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

20. Mayan religion cont.
-The Mayans made human sacrifices

21. 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

22. 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