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Mayan Civilization and Culture

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The Ancient Mayan civilization contained nearly two-thirds of Mesoamerica. The area included mostly volcanic mountains to porous limestone, also referred to as the lowlands in the more central regions. Mayan civilization extended from Belize and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula in the north, to Honduras in the south. What made the Mayans stand out to me the most, were their complex societies, which were built and modernized far ahead of its time in a tropical rainforest climate (Aissen, 1992). Normally, ancient populations lived in much drier climates, where irrigation practices served as the foundation of societies. The Mayans excelled at pottery, hieroglyphic writing, making calendars, science, and mathematics. The Mayan Civilization, which …show more content…

Also referred to as “milpa,” the Mayans would then plant in other areas while the areas that they burned, was given time to grow back. Terrace farming is the process of cutting terraces into the hillsides to make useable plots to farm. The reason behind terrace farming was so that when farming was taking place on steep hills, water and nutrients would not just flow to the very bottom causing erosion and loss of nutrients for crops at the very top. With terrace farming, Mayans were able to control their agriculture, making sure all of their crops were receiving the proper amount of water and nutrients. Most of the crops of the Mayans consisted of mainly corn, beans and squash. Aside from their immense belief in using what nature has given them for survival, the Mayans were also a highly religious culture and favored many gods. This included the god of sun, moon, rain, and corn. The people with the most power in their society were the kings. They were called “Kuhul ajaw” which means many lords. They were believed to have a connection to the gods and followed a “heredity succession.” Priests, warriors, and scribes followed these kings on the hierarchy scale, and at the very bottom of the scale were subsistence farmers and servants (Coe, 1966). As the Mayan civilization began to grow, they began trading necessary cooking items such as pottery, stone, and salt. They also began trading fish and seafood to

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