Mayan Research Project

The Mayan civilization was one of the highest ruling civilizations along with the Incas
and Aztecs back in the time period. However the Mayans ruled for about 2,000 years, from 1000
B.C. until 1542 A.D. making them the longest lasting civilization of the time. The Mayans
extended all throughout northern Central America , and consisted of two types of land, highlands
and lowlands. Lowlands were rainy and hot for a majority of the year making it possible to grow
nutritious crops. Whereas the highlands were much cooler and consisted of mountains and
valleys which contained all types of valuable metals. Highlands were also exposed to volcanoes,
earthquakes, and tsunamis.
As far as a government went the Mayans obtained a hierarchical government that
consisted of ruling kings and priests. Much like other civilizations of the time era, Mayans had
independent city states which each were ruled by a king. The kings were chosen based off if the
gods believed they were worthy enough of being the middleman between the people and them.
The Mayans had a polytheistic religion consisting of over 165 gods that they worshipped. They
believed that once they died each of their souls would leave their body to go live life in the
underworld. There was one exception to this though, and that was that if you were a newborn
infant than your soul would escape the underworld. Another thing about their religion was that
they made sacrifices to their gods in order to please them.
Mayans are known today for their precise calendars that resemble the exact ones e use
today, and also their abilities to predict solar eclipses. They invented the calendar round which
consisted of two overlapping calendars, but the fault in it was that it never stopped moving.
Therefore events were never in a chronological order. In order to fix this they invented a more
modern version of the then calendar round, which was called the long count calendar. It worked
in the same way except the time periods that counted as a year were longer than the calendar
count made them out to be. Mayan architecture was very advanced as well during the time
period. For example they built two temples in such a way that when the sun touched them at a
certain point in the season they would cast a shadow on themselves making the shape of a Mayan
serpent head. They did all of this based off of their knowledge of astronomy.
In Mayan economy there wasnt any currency instead they traded goods such as cacao
seeds, gold, and obsidian. The further away these items were from their source the more
valuable they became. In the case of trading goods the Mayans wouldnt use animals to
transport, but rather theyd carry the goods on their backs all the way to wherever it was they had
to bring them. The Mayan people only had a select few jobs which included a ruler, farmers, and
priests. The women would usually take care of the house and weave blankets and such. At the
top of the Mayan social pyramids was of course the king or ruler. Next were the nobles and
priests, who were the only people who could read and write in the community, these people were
responsible for watching over the cities and making most of the decisions. After them came the
peasants who for the most part were farmers who spent most of their time each day in the fields.
Lastly came the slaves who worked all day long depending on what kind of master they had, rich
or middle class. The higher rank a slave was the more likely he was to be sacrificed to the gods.
Unlike other time periods the slaves in this era werent treated poorly, but more like a regular
human being.
Some fun facts about the Mayans are that they enhanced their childrens beauty in ways
such as pressing on their forehead to give them a flatter surface. They also liked to cross their
eyes by swinging an object back and forth multiple times in front of a newborn's eyes. One last
fact about this civilization was that the Mayans were among the first people to create a ball court
in which they played various games.

http://www.crystalinks.com/mayangeography.html
http://history-world.org/maya.htm
www.webpages.uidaho.edu/arch499/nonwest/mayan/agriculture.htm
http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp264-ss13/2013/04/24/mayans-religion-gods-animal-spirits-and-
pyramids/
http://www.history.com/topics/mayan-scientific-achievements
http://www.incamayanaztec.com/ancient-mayan-jobs.html
http://ancientmayacivilization.weebly.com/government-and-social-structure.html