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Mayan Achievements

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The Mayan civilization was amongst one of the original cultures of the New World and spanned for more than 3,000 years. The Mayans lived mainly on the Yucatan Peninsula on the eastern side Mesoamerica, present day Guatemala, and at the height of their civilization, the Mayans had one of the most concentrated populations and culturally dynamic societies the world had ever seen. The culture of the Mayans is known for its amazing art, contrastive architecture, and sophisticated mathematical and astronomical systems, which were all considered ahead of their time by many modern day historians. Factors that make this civilization so interesting are the culture’s advanced function and its abrupt downfall. Historical records say that after centuries …show more content…

Their achievements in the arts can be visually perceived in many sculptures, in the details of Mayan paintings, the historic monuments that were left in ruin (Suter, Karin). Much of the art developed by Mayans is vividly different from Westernized art and is quite recognizable. The architecture of terraced pyramids and the detailed orchestrating of their cities such as Tikal withal give notice to the Maya’s great accomplishments. The Mayans were special in that they used engineering adeptness in their building. While other indigenous groups built by setting one stone on top of the other, the Mayans took into consideration factors such as stress and strain (Suter, Karin). Mayan art is considered by many to be the most sophisticated and comely of the New World. Scientifically speaking, the Mayan civilizations were more developed socially and mentally than any other civilization in this time period and advanced far beyond their own personal needs. The calendar system the Mayans invented sanctioned them to plot time for the next 400 million years and prognosticate occurrences such as the forms of kinetics of the planets and the solar and lunar eclipses to the most proximate second. The Mayans calculated the days in the year to integrate up to 365.2420 days compared to our real value of 365.2422 (Suter, Karin). Their number system sanctioned them to make sums up into the …show more content…

These underground wells and subsequent waterways, known as "cenotes", were the lifeblood of the community. Chichen Itza was primarily a rain forest area settled on flat, porous limestone that rain seeped through to become trapped in the insolvent bedrock below. These cenotes were, therefore, the oasis of the society, full of rain and runoff water for their living needs. Chichen Itza, like most Mayan centers, was primarily a spiritual, ceremonial site instead of a commercial area. The loose arrangement of decentralized farming communities came together for offerings, sacrifices, and ceremonies in the town. Some trade, education, and recreation were also performed there. Exhumed from the sacred well were many ceremonial objects, skulls, and entire

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