Download - Latin America Unit Lecture 1
The Maya
Chichen Itza - approx. 80 feet high
Mayan Cities
The Mayans lived in the dense, lowland rain forests of Central America
Only major ancient civilization to live in dense jungle
From 300 A.D. to 900 A.D. the Mayans reached their peak
Ruled under a government of city-states
Mayan Government
There was no single unified empire, only multiple city-states
Bulk of population was urbanized (lived in cities)
Mayan cities all shared a common language and culture and thus would trade together
Mayan Farming
Mayans used a complex system of farming
A system of raised land platforms caught rain water.
Then used gravity to redirect the water and trap nutrients
Corn or maize was their main crop (65% of diet)
Corn is world’s first genetically altered plant
• Mayans built terraces to trap silt as it flowed down river –Increased agricultural yields (maize, cotton, cacao)
• Population growth due to agricultural strength leads to growth of Mayan cities or increased urbanization.
Mayan ReligionBelieved in multiple gods (polytheistic) that controlled the forces of nature.
Priests preformed the rituals
Pyramids were the site of religious worship and sacrifice
People were killed in the thousands during ceremonies
Spanish told of 80,000
killed in 4 days
Mayan Achievements•Mayans were the most advanced astronomers of the ancient world•Created the most accurate calendar of the ancient world–365.242 days–17 seconds shorter than the figure reached by modern astronomers
Mayan priests also developed advanced mathematics, including the number zero and the symbol to represent it.
And of course...the Mayan Architecture
Examples: Tikal, Chichen Itza
Mayan Achievements
Mayan Writing • Codices –Mayans recorded all of their knowledge in books made of tree bark paper or animal skins
–stored these in massive libraries • All but 4 were burned by the Spaniards making Mayan history relatively unknown
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Mayan game of pok-a-tok• Objective: to score points by
propelling a rubber ball through a hoop without using your hands and feet
• Two teams • Goal is to keep ball in play without
using hands and feet • If ball goes through hoop game ends • Losing team is killed/sacrificed • Extremely popular • Played for several reasons
–Sport –Politics –sacrifice
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Mayan Predictions
Mayan calendar ends 12/21/2012
Cosmic alignment between the Sun and Earth and Milky Way Galaxy (polar re-alignment)
Nostradamus predicts end of world!
Fin