1. Mayan Civilization

3. Which continent was the Mayan Civilization located on?
It is located on the North American Continent
More specifically it is located in Central America on the Yucatan Peninsula

4. Major Surrounding Geographical Landmarks
From about 400 BCE until 900 CE, the Maya civilization stretched from the highlands of modern day Guatemala to the hot coastal plain along the Pacific Coast, to the tropical rain forest of the Yucatan Peninsula.
These natural barriers helped to protect the Maya civilization for 1300 years.

5. Climate Conditions
The climate is as varied as the landscape is. In general it is hot and humid, as the area lies in the tropics, and the coast is always near. The rainfall is strongly influenced by the presence of the mountain ranges near the coast, and this creates large differences in rainfall in different parts of the land
The rainy season lasts from May to December; in the entire Maya area the relative humidity stays above 80% in this season, in the dry season it drops to about 60%. This seasonality governs the agricultural cycle, and it makes it important for the farmers to time their activities accurately
These external factors lead to a rough division of the Maya land into three areas: The lowland (the arid Yucatan peninsula), the central rain-forest zone, and the southern highlands and Pacific slope.

7. Mayan Social/Political Structure
Mayan King:
Holy figure whose position was hereditary
The Noble Class:
Priests and Leading Warriors
Bottom Ring: Peasant Majority

8. City Structures
The homeland of the Mayas stretched all the way from southern Mexico into Northern Central Mexico.
The Mayan civilization lasted from 250 A.D. – 900 A.D. Influenced by the Olmec on the Gulf Coast of Mexico, The Maya built spectacular cities such as TIKAL.

9. City Structures
Mayan city of TIKAL.

10. City Structures
Each of the independent city states were ruled by a god-king and served as a center for religious ceremonies and trade.
Mayan cities featured giant pyramids, temples, palaces, and elaborate stone carvings dedicated to the gods.

11. Class Structure

12. Mayan Agriculture Permanent raised fields Terracing Forest Gardens
Managed Fallows
Shifting Cultivation
Wild Harvesting

13. Mayan Agriculture Cont.
Mayans use slash and burn method to clear land for farming
Main food source is from farming: Mayans plant corn (maize), cacao, maguey, bananas, squash, beans, and cotton for weaving.
Used bees for honey and wax; made fermented drinks from corn, maguey and honey.
Meat was rarely eaten because it is expensive and/or hard to find.
Dogs and turkeys were the main animals kept as pets and/or food.

14. Mayan Agriculture Cont.
Underground caves called cenotes (se-NO-tes) were a vital supply of water.
Mayans learned to build underground reservoirs (chultuns) to store rainwater in places where there were no natural cenotes.
Mayans used this technique on the tropical rainforests where there was not enough ground water.

15. Mayan Religious Beliefs
Believed that Gods controlled everything
Priests had great influence because Mayans thought priests could talk to the Gods
Polytheism = Belief in many Gods
Mayan Religious Beliefs
Gods symbolized as animals: Rain God = snake, Sun God = Jaguar, Death God= bat
Food and animal sacrifices common; humans (such as defeated tribes) sometimes

16. Mayan Religion Religion = center of Mayan life
Believed in 2 levels of existence: (1) the daily physical life they lived and (2) the “Otherworld,” a spiritual world of gods, the souls of ancestors, and other supernatural creatures
Actions on 1 level could affect things on the other level

17. Mayan Religion
Mayan kings = BOTH political leaders AND spiritual leaders
Performed rituals and ceremonies to satisfy the gods
Huge temples and pyramids built where thousands could gather for special religious ceremonies and festivals

19. Mayan Religion
Images on Mayan temples, sacred objects, and pottery = tell us a lot about their religion and their gods
Human sacrifice and bloodletting rituals = HUGE part of religious ceremonies

22. Mayan Religion
Some ceremonies also included a ritual ball game = pok- a-tok  Rubber balls batted back and forth across a walled court
Symbolized back & forth struggle between this world and the next

24. Family Life
5 to 7 members
Arose before dawn to breakfast of hot chocolate tortillas or tamales
The Mayan family all lived together.
Men’s Duties include: farming and hunting
Women’s Duties include: cook and weave
Children would help Mother with chores. They only went to school if they were of a Noble family.

25. Family Life Couples would marry in their late teens or early twenties.
Marriages were arranged
Gifts were given to wife’s father as a token of respect for raising her.
The couple lived with his parents until they built their own place or they would live there their whole life.
Elderly parents if alive, would live at the same house.

26. Family Life
The house they lived in was a one room hut built with interwoven poles.
Meals were corn (maize),squash and beans. Sometimes an occasional rabbit or turkey.
Most families were farmers.

27. Maya Art, oral traditions, & architecture
Art – sculptures, jade & gold jewelry
Oral traditions – Spanish wrote down Mayan stories/legends/history in Popol Vuh (book)- became a valuable source of information about the Maya
Architecture/Buildings = most recognizable Mayan achievement: pyramids, temples, etc.

28. Mayan Achievement
The Mayan made grade advancements in the science of astronomy (the study of the stars)
The Mayans also built pyramids, much like the Egyptians did. (So did the Inca)

29. Slash and Burn Agriculture
Mayan farmers practiced slash-and-burn agriculture. They cut down and burned trees, then used the ash for fertilizer.

30. Mayan calendars
The Maya developed a sophisticated calendar. The ritual calendar that developed in Mesoamerica used a count of 260 days. This calendar gave each day a name, much like our days of the week. There were 20 day names, each represented by a unique symbol. The days were numbered from 1 to 13. Since there are 20 day names, after the count of thirteen was reached, the next day was numbered 1 again. The 260-day or sacred count calendar was in use throughout Mesoamerica for centuries, probably before the beginning of writing.

31. Mayan numbers
The Mayans had a number system consisting of shells, dots, and lines.  You could write up to nineteen with just these symbols. The Maya were one of the only ancient civilizations that understood the concept of zero. This allowed them to write very large numbers