How Did The Olmec Influence The Mayan Civilization

​Many of the cultures that we have today have evolved from past events. Such as language it was something that became known throughout the years. Some of the languages that came from that were English, Spanish, German, and Latin to name a few. These languages were derived more past civilizations. One important civilization that is known for having great success is the Mayan civilization. The Mayan civilization is known for many things like they fully developed written language, art, architecture, math and some other factors. Historians have said that they don’t know an exact date of when this civilization rose up but they do mention that it flourished for about 2000 years. Although staring in 250 AD it is said that it was the start of their high point and it continued until the arrival of the Spanish in 1524. The Maya area covers southern Mexico and northwestern Central America. According to Sharer the area is divided into three regions: the Pacific coastal plain to the south, the highlands in the center, and the lowlands to the north. Even though these three regions were under the same civilization they all practiced different religious rituals. Religion plays a big role in every civilization. Some civilizations tend to praise more than one god and they always mention that what they have is thanks to their god. When they see things going wrong they often say that their god is punishing them because they did something that the god/s did not like. This tends to be the same

The Olmec religion was very influential on areas like the Mesoamerican, both in the mythological world and social development. For a lot of reasons, the Olmec culture is the mother of all Mesoamerican cultures. There is no direct proof of the Olmec religion, unlike the Aztecs or the Mayans. Archeologists used techniques to find out how the Olmec religion worked by comparing it with pre-Columbian cultures that were documented better. When the Archaeologist 's were using their techniques, they assumed the religion of the Olmecs was consistent and unbroken to the present Mesoamerican religions. Researchers were able to find a number of gods that had the features of many animals. The shamans, priests and rulers did all of the activities that were associated with the Olmec religion. Rulers were considered the relatives of supernatural beings and of the Olmec gods. Archaeologist 's also say that there is evidence of the existence of shamans in their culture. Specific details in the Olmec religion were not always found by the researchers. At first, historians thought that the Olmec religion was based around a Jaguar god. Joralemon Peter David

Throughout time, there are many instances of early civilizations accomplishing breathtaking feats that we find awe worthy even today. These cultures helped shape humanity as a whole, and paved the way for people everywhere. Of these early cultures, one of the most remarkable was undoubtedly the Mayans. The Mayans lived in Mesoamerica, around Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize. They were an isolated group of people that thrived on farming and raised crops such as Maize, Beans, and Chili Peppers. They also Fished often and hunted Deer and other woodland creatures.

The Maya were a people from Middle America, which includes modern Guatemala, Southern Mexico, and Northern Belize (Editors). The Maya civilization was considered to be “one of the most dominant indigenous societies of Mesoamerica,” (Maya). “The Maya excelled at agriculture, pottery, hieroglyph writing, calendar-making, and mathematics, and left behind an astonishing amount of impressive architecture and symbolic artwork,” (Maya). They also gave mankind the modern calendar (Jarus, Maya). The Mayans were a very advanced people, but one of the most important things in the Mayan culture was their religion/god worshipping rituals.

The ancient Maya once occupied a vast geographic area in Central America. Their civilization inhabited an area that encompasses Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and parts of the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, as well as Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. "From the third to the ninth century, Maya civilization produced awe-inspiring temples and pyramids, highly accurate calendars, mathematics and hieroglyphics, and a complex social and political order" ("Collapse..." 1). Urban centers were important to the Maya during the Classic period; they offered the Mayans a central place to practice religion.

Credited as one of the first ideas of civilization, including their precisely designed lunar calendar, the Maya considered the world as an ordered home. Maya believed the cosmos to be in cycles, which humans are part of, with the rest of the cosmos continuing with its functioning. The ideology of order was the foundation of the Maya world, stemming from movements of the sun, planets, moon, as well as stars, marking time passage. Even when catastrophes occurred, they held on to their belief that the earth functioned in a logical order. In the astronomical studies, the Mayans could not only give explanations to occurring events, but could also explain the restoration of the order alongside the premonition of change.

The gods were modeled after animals for sacrificial purposes and religious ceremonies. The ancient Maya had many beliefs. They had possessed an in depth understanding of astronomy, engineering, and mathematics. The Maya believed that the Sun, Moon, and other planets, had been journeys of the gods.

The Maya were also a farming society like the Aztecs. They too, worshiped many gods, whom they felt were responsible for their survival. Gods of rain, wind, and sun were among the ones most worshiped. Mayan leaders went to war to try and capture the ruler of another city. If they did they would sacrifice the prisoner, again much like the Aztecs (Mexico).

The ancient Maya believed in recurring cycles of creation and destruction because, The largest cycles were thought to be recurrent cycle of creation and destruction, and the Maya believed that each of the named says within their cycles contained a destiny which was relieved in each of the many eras of a cyclic universe. The Maya believed in many gods. They believed their gods could help or hurt them. They worshiped their gods every day. Religion was at the heart of everything they did. Human sacrifice was performed on prisoners, slaves, and particularly children, with orphans. Before the Toltec era, however, animal sacrifice may have been far more common than human - turkeys, dogs, and squirrels being among the species considered suitable offerings to Mayan gods.

                The Olmec culture is found through Mexico City. The spread of their religion influenced a lot of what their art that was found. Symbolic traditions, as well as artistic and architectural complexes. Were found Chiapas were the civilizations was formed around 1500 BCE. During this period the first true Mesoamerican writing and language were developed right after the Mayan civilization was formed the Olmec had a huge influence in them. Writing they had a lot of adventures epic poems about the gods that were from religion that were the explanation of the nature they saw, the stars they saw. All the natural situation that happened they wrote it down creating poem influenced by their religion there's different kinds of gods.

The Mayan way of life revolved their religion. They had a polytheistic religion praising many gods. Each god had a certain thing that they would rule over or take care of. Chac was the god of rain, Kinich Ahau was the sun god, and Yum Cimil was the god of the underworld. There were many gods and goddess for almost every reason one could think of, there is even a goddess of suicide. They would perform human sacrifices, bleeding rituals, and dances to praise and to

The Mayans lived in Central America on the yucatan peninsula. They separated cities by making states. They had 40 cities in their empire, and each state had a king. Today you can see temples and pyramids.

The Olmec are believed to be the first great Mesoamerican civilization. The city known as San Lorenzo existed around 1200BC and declined in 400 B.C. It is considered to be the first major city in ancient Mexico.

The ancient Maya were a group of American Indian peoples who lived in Southern Mexico. Their descendants, the modern Maya,live in the same regions today.

The Mayan Civilization at its height was one of the greatest civilization to ever reign on the planet. Their advances in astronomy and mathematics well in advance has helped present civilizations to prosper. But one of the great questions is what happened to the Mayans? Why did they collapse? What caused them to collapse? It is a question that had gone unanswered for decades until some of the worlds great historians and scientist finally concluded to three reasons why the Mayan Civilization collapsed. The Mayans Collapse was fast and occurred due to Deforestation and Climate Change, Overpopulation, and Internal and Exterior Rivalry.