Scientific Achievements of the Mayans
The Mayan civilization last for about 2000 years. It was from the centuries of 300 Ad to 900Ad known as the Classic period. It was one of greatest and most successful periods. The Mayans "Devolved a complex understanding of astronomy." They figured out how to grow corn beans squash and cassava in some of the worst places for farming and found out how to build a modern city without modern tools or machinery. They create the world first written language to be able to communicate with others and create a "calendar" to measure time.
The Mayans written language was comprised up of about 800 symbols. Each of these symbols represented a syllable or a word. You could combine many of the symbols to create a extraordinary
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Because of this their understanding of the universe and celestial bodies was increased. They knew how to predict when a solar eclipse would come. They also used the cycles of the sun and moon the help them with their growing of crops. They create two calendars that were as precise ad the ones we use today.
The first calendar called the Calendar Round was "based on overlapping annual cycles: a 260-daty sacred year and a 365-day secular year" Which is a year that has no religious base. Each day had a special 4-part identification: day number and a day name in the sacred calendar and a day number and a month name in the secular. Every 52 years was an interval, which they called a calendar round. The calendar would "reset its self like a clock" after every 52 years.
There was another calendar system called the Long count system. This system would "identify each date by counting forward from a fixed date in the past." The date they based this calendar off of was August 11 of August 13. This system grouped dates into cycles or sets there was the
Baktun: 144,000
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A temple known as the Chichén Itzá in Mexico, has a pyramid when the spring and fall equinoxes come at sunset the pyramid "casts" a shadow the head of a serpent god slithering down into the earth.
The Mayans were able to build elaborate temples and huge cities without any modern technology or tools like metals. But they did use some of what they called modern technologies, innovations and tools. They created things that help with the making of weaved clothing, and discover how to make paints made of a mineral called mica.
Many histories think that the Mayans were using rubber well before the Americans. One day at a religious ceremony they mixed "the rubber tree and the morning glory plant" and created a durable and strong new material. They used it for things like "water proof clothing, glue, and binding for books, figurines and a large rubber balls used in ritual game known as pokatok."
In the 11th century the decline of the Mayan civilization started. May people feel that it was war that wiped them out but there are many other suspicions like the agricultural practices resulted in deforestation. The Spanish explorers took what was left of this great civilization. These amazing advances in science still influence us
The Mayan calendars were also very significant and even have a lasting impact today. The haab, “... had eighteen months of twenty days each, adding up to 360 days in all. To this were added [five days] to make a total of 365 days…” (Document D). Our current calendar might not be divided the same day the Mayans was but the total number of days is the same which shows the impact their calendar has on the present
| The development of the calendar was based on their observations and studies of the stars, moon, and sky. They also established a number system; a year was cut into 12 months, a month into 30 days, a day into 12 hours, an hour into 60 minutes, and a minute into 60 seconds. They also divided a circle into 360 degrees of the 60 arc minutes. Settlement patterns were based on the environment of the area and the need for a stable water supply.
The culture of the Mayans gradually uplifted, and the peak of their civilization appeared during the Classic Age of 250 to 900 CE. During this time, The Mayans created an abundance of art and amazing architecture that still inspire the architects of today. This civilization was on the road to greatness, but this greatness came to an end quickly. The Mayan city-states were in a constant feud and violence was constantly raging. Because of this, The Maya never became a single government unlike other major societies. Despite this, The Mayans achieved many remarkable accomplishments such as their calendar, architecture, marvelous trade system, and genius numerals that continue to be a template for the people of today.
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.
That need for structure is probably the reason that the Mayans developed such an amazingly accurate calendar. They also developed a complex style of hieroglyphic writing that we have not fully deciphered. Through their knowledge of astronomy and mathematics they calculated the lunar cycle, predicted eclipses, and formulated a unique calendar system was very accurate. Their calendar was only one day off every 6000 years. That makes it more accurate than our calendar today (Hooker 6). Two fundamental
The Mayan priests studied their measurement of time. The Maya had a calendar with 18 months each containing 20 days, plus 5 unlucky days that made up the Mayan year. They also had a religious calendar that had 260 days in it. Each day was given a name and a number. They believed that each day was a god that carried the weight of the day on its back.
In some ways the Mayan people were very advanced. In other ways they seemed to be very primitive. What was their most remarkable achievement? In my point of view there remarkable achievement was the Mayan calendar because of my 3 reasons and I would also include ethos, pathos, and logos and an counter argue. First, there was two main calendars which had an impact in the Mayans world. There was a ritual calendar and a solar calendar which the solar calendar we use today and in fact we still use those guidelines. Second , they were advanced when the Maya priests-astronomers took the time to put in predictions and to develop their systems. Saying, “ So great was their knowledge that they could predict eclipses of the moon. ” This was a
What happened to the Mayan civilization before it mysteriously collapsed is still a mystery, but heart-stopping achievements were made. Throughout 3000 years the Native tribe of the Maya inhabited México, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras until the Spanish arrived. They were so secluded from anyone else, that they could not learn information from other tribes and they came up with all ideas themselves.(BGE) Trade routes, the creation of beautiful cities, establishing the number system and developing three calendars we all breathtaking achievements accomplished by the Mayan culture. Using scale, effort, genius, and significance four achievements will be argued about which was the most remarkable. Obviously the development
The Mayas: Developed approximately two thousand years ago. On the Yucatan Peninsula, in today’s eastern Mexico, the Mayas built urban centers containing tall pyramids and temples. They studied astronomy and created and
The ancient Mayan civilization settled in the Yucatan Peninsula in around 900 AD. This civilizations was one of the most advanced of its times. They created their own religion, language, mathematical structure, a very precise calendar, and many other things.
The calendar was based on the sun it tracked the 365 day year and would tell when seasonal events would likely occur. The mayans also created a ritual calendar which was a calendar that was a cycle of 260 days, and it marked the ceremonial life of the people.This two
In hieroglyphic writing, astronomy, and mathematics, the Mayan Indians were far ahead of any other people in the New World.(Foley 20) The Mayan invented a solar “civil” calendar including three hundred sixty- five days.(Ivanoff 86) The accuracy of the Mayan calculations is all the more extraordinary in view of the fact that they had no
The Classical Maya was lost to the archaeological records until the last 200 years due to it’s abandonment. When the Mayans left there great cities, thick vines and jungles overtook the great monuments they once built. But in the last 200 years, in depth research has lead to breakthroughs into what the Classic Maya was like. The earliest Mayans were agriculturalist, growing crops such as corn (maize), beans, squash and cassava. The Mayans also invented a very accurate calendar, a math code using 0’s, constructed buildings still intact today, and a writing system that took decades to decode. The Mayans were situated in one geographical block covering all of the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico), modern-day Guatemala, Belize, parts of the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas, and the western part of Honduras and El Salvador. Due to their location on the
The most remarkable achievement of the Maya is their number system. However from all of their achievements I feel the less but still important ones was the cities and buildings they built, their trade network, and their calendar.
The Mayan calendar has a starting date of 3113BC that is given the year 0. It used their base 20 numbering system to represent periods of time. There