The Mayans

THE MAYANS

BY SKYE LEWIS, RHIANNON GUELLA, AND RICK SUSCO

CULTURE

• Religion -Polytheistic (believe in many gods) -Examples: god of corn, god of rain, god of war. -The Maya believed that each day was a god, who's

behavior could be predicted with the help of a calendar.

-Worship included: prayer, offerings, self-mutilation, human sacrifice (usually captured ememies).

Rhiannon Guella

• Customs -Burial rituals include: the bodies would be buried under their houses, rich were buried in tombs.-The mayans would have festivals and dances on holidays and celebrations!

DAILY LIFE

• Social Structure• Trade and Agriculture -Each city was

independent, but trade kept them connected.

-Trade items: salt, flint, feathers, shells, honey, cotton textiles, jade ornaments.

-Chocolate beans sometimes served as money.

-Agriculture was big. -Maize, beans, and squash

were grown.Rhiannon Guella

ACHIEVEMENTSThough many huge monuments, sculptures, or large pieces of art the Mayans made have been lost to time, the Mayans still achieved many historical feats in invention and engineering. The Mayan pyramids, which are scattered around South America, are among the few great pieces of Mayan architecture still in existence. The Mayans were also perhaps the first civilization to make rubber from tree sap. They also had a fully developed written language. However, what they are best known for is their magnificent calendar, which was for hundreds of years the most accurate calendar available.

Skye Lewis

CALENDARThe Maya calendar may havebeen the first year-round calendar in existence. It was also incredibly accurate, having 365 days a year. It would be many more beforesomeone made a calendar better than are even equally good as the Mayan. It was so accurate that many other nations,including the Aztecs, adopted it. A popular urban legend says that the end of the cycle on the Mayan calendar, approximately December 21st, 2012; represents the end of mankind and a possible apocalypse. Scientists have debated this claim; most believe that it is untrue. 

Skye Lewis

LEADERSMayan Kings were considered to be godlike, so when a ruler died and left no heir to the throne, the result was usually war and bloodshed. King Pacals precursor, Pacal I, died upon the battlefield. The Mayan king sat at the top of this class structure. He was regarded as a holy figure and his position was hereditary. When he died, the throne was passed on to his eldest son.K'inich Janaab' Pakal ruled from 615 to 683. He is best known for his funeral monument, dubbed the Temple of Inscriptions after the lengthy text preserved in the temple. At the time Alberto Ruz Lhuillier excavated Pakal's tomb, it was the richest and best preserved of any scientifically excavated burial then known from the ancient Americas.

Rick Susco

THE FALL OF THE MAYANSThe Mayans entered a state of decline around the 8th and 9th century. There are many theories as to why the Mayan civilization declined, but none are precise. Non-ecological theories of Mayan decline are divided into several subcategories, such as overpopulation, foreign invasion, peasant revolt, and the collapse of key trade routes. Ecological theories as to why they declined include environmental disasters, disease epidemics, and climate change. Some scholars have recentlytheorized that an intense 200 year drought led to the collapse of Maya civilization.            

Rick Susco

CITATIONS

1.Textbook2.http://www.indians.org/welker/maya.htm3.www.wsu.edu/~dee/CIVAMRCA/MAYAS.HTM4.www.mayafifthsun.com/5.http://www.buzzle.com/articles/mayan-facts.html6.http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-

mayan.html7.http://www.history.com/topics/mayan-scientific-

achievements8.http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h433.html