1. The Rise of Maya Civilization

2. Building a Civilization in the Rainforest
What do you see here?
Think about the landscape. What do you think the weather is like here?
Think about the structures. What are they made out of?
Why were they built? What were they used for?

3. Challenges of the Rain Forest
Classic Maya settled in Guatemala
Dense rain forest made farming difficult
Climate – hot & humid
Depended on seasonal rainfall for water
Very little surface water due to limestone bedrock – rain soaked right through

4. City Centers
Built huge ceremonial centers and city states at different sites
At Tikal, built Temple I – a 130 foot high step pyramid

6. Classic Maya Adaptations
Used slash & burn techniques to farm in rain forest along with system of raised fields and irrigated gardens
Created irrigation networks to support urban centers
Planted and harvested corn, squash, beans and other crops in fields

7. Pre-classic Period
Sedentary lifestyle
Developed farming

8. Classic Period
Greatest era of building, writing, and sculpture

9. Post-Classic Period
Increased warfare

10. Maya Social and Political Organization
What are these people wearing?
What might be happening?
What makes some different from others?
Why do you think their differences are important to the artist who painted the mural?

11. Lord Was considered a god-king Responsible for political leadership
Lords mostly men, but women had great influence on political decisions

12. Nobles Lived near ceremonial center and helped lords run cities
Gathered taxes, supplies and labor for construction projects
Served as war captains who led peasant armies during war

13. Priests Were powerful because they maintained favor with the gods
Led religious rituals, calculated positions of stars, and treated the sick
Practiced human sacrifice on a limited scale

14. Merchants/Artisans
Merchants traded salt, cotton, fish, and animal skins for obsidian, jade quetzal feathers, copal and cocoa beans over long distances
Artisans produced sculptures, codices, and murals to pay tribute to gods

15. Peasants Men worked in fields; women managed household
Rewarded for their loyalty by being allowed to attend royal marriages and important religious ceremonies

16. Slaves
Recruited from surplus (extra) children, war prisoners, and criminals
Required to do difficult or undesirable tasks like grinding maize
Not badly treated, but sometimes were killed and buried with master

17. Noteworthy Achievements of the Maya
What are the figures doing in this picture?
What sport(s) does this remind you of?
What do you think the rules of the game are?

18. Legends Legends were recorded on stelae, urns, murals and codices
No Classic Maya literature survives, but legends in Popol Vuh

19. What is the Popol Vuh? Only surviving (kinda) Mayan document.
We do not have the original document, but do have a copy created by a Dominican Friar in the 18th century who wrote it in both it’s original text and in Spanish
Passed down by Mayan royalty

20. What does it say?
In short, it discusses early creation of the world and early legends.
In it we find the first ball game played between two sets of twins (royal of course) and the Lords of the Underworld. One twin accidentally is decapitated but his twin is able to get his head back on. The Lords of the Underworld lose the ball game.

21. Architecture Structures not as massive as in other cultures
Noted for its decorative stonework, graceful statues, intricate facades, and ornamental roofs
Distinctive feature was the corbeled arch

22. Ball Game
Splendid courts still stand at many Maya sites (Tikal, for example)
Game played both for recreation and religious purpose
Most historians believe that when human sacrifice was involved, it was the losers or the captain of the losing team who lost his or their heads.
Carvings clearly indicate decapitation in accordance with the story from the Popul Vuh

23. Calendars
Religious obsession with time led to development of calendars
Calendars were complex systems using several interlocking cycles of time

24. Astronomy Had exact knowledge of moon phases
Able to predict eclipses of the sun and moon

25. Hieroglyphics
Only Native American people to develop a complete writing system
Represented ideas and objects with block-like symbols or glyphs

26. Mathematics
Sophisticated number system based on units of twenty (base 20). Written with:
Bars for 5s,
dots for 1s
symbol for 0