1. The Maya

2. Lands of the Maya

3. Political Characteristics
Never form a unified political system
Do create a unified culture
Larger city-states dominated smaller city-states
Large city-states built elaborate commercial and religious centers
Chichen-Itza

4. El Castillo at Chichen Itza

5. El Castillo

6. Maya Economy Cultivated maize, cotton, and cacao
Increased agricultural production by draining swamps, terraced fields, and irrigation ditches
Led to environmental degradation
Hereditary nobility controlled most of the land
Maya merchants came from ruling class
Traded primarily in luxury products

7. Nobles: Priests & Warriors
Maya Society
King
Nobles: Priests & Warriors
Merchants
Peasants
Slaves
Elite women participated in bloodletting rituals and other ceremonies
Women rarely held any political power
Common women played a role in agriculture and textile production
Coercive labor used to build large palaces and temples

9. Maya Religion Polytheistic
Cosmos consisted of three layers: the heavens, the human world, and the underworld
Priests could communicate with residents of both supernatural worlds
Mayan developments: calendar, writing system, and mathematics
Used to determine religious holidays

10. Maya sacrifice Had to please the gods via sacrifice
Piercing of bodies with needle
Human Sacrifice
Sacrificed prisoners of war, slaves, and children

14. Maya Accomplishments Understood movement of heavenly bodies
Invented the concept of zero
Calculated the length of a solar year
Off by 17 seconds
Created an elaborate calendar
Two calendars: solar and ritual
Glyphic writing system

15. Maya Writing

16. Maya Decline
Maya city-states were abandoned or destroyed between CE
Causes for decline include:
The disruption of trade after the decline of Teotihuacan in Central Mexico
Environmental degradation caused by overpopulation
Epidemic disease