Mesoamerican Lifestyles

Throughout the humanities course, I have been intrigued by a vast amount of information on different cultures. However, there was a particular section that truly caught my attention, and has piqued an interest in me that has caused me to do my own research aside from this paper. The culture of the Mayas, and the Aztecs has been extremely fundamental in understanding my ancestry, being that I am Mexican American. I took an interest in their beautiful architecture, their ritualistic and sacrificial religious practices, as well as their history and how they began. Throughout this paper I will outline the similarities and differences of these two cultures, as well as articulate an understanding of the humanity disciplines outlined above.

“In the Western Hemisphere, no early culture was more remarkable than the Mayans” (Background Essay). The Mayans were an adept civilization and accomplished many exceptional things during their time. Their deeds include things such as a number system, immense cities, and a vast trade network but there is no Mayan achievement more remarkable than their calendars. The Mayans created three calendars: a sacred calendar called tzolkin, a solar calendar called haab, and a long cycle calendar.

The Mayans were a civilization that lived in modern day Central America, also known as Mesoamerica, for around 3,000 years. They survived by growing corn, beans and squash by using slash-and-burn agriculture, cutting down and burning old crops. Over time, the Mayans created the most intellectually innovative cultures known to mankind. Using the criteria of genius, scale, effort, and genius, what was the most significant Mayan achievement? Of the four leading achievements such as their number system, trade system, calendars, and the creation of the Mayan city, the building of the Mayan city was the most significant.

Due to isolation, communication and trade was difficult for the Mesoamerican cultures. However, they still managed to succeed in math, agriculture, engineering, and calendrical advances, and although they didn't have the influential ideas in advancement from Europe and Asia cultures, expansion of ideas still existed within the Mesoamerican cultures itself. The Mesoamerican culture can be explained as appeared, spread, and then decayed along the years of development. Likeliness, to Europe and Asia, Mesoamerica was developing naturally from their own perspective, resulting in a huge similarity between the countries. For example, the Olmec's are famous upon archeologist for their art work specifically with the human face. Or the famous corn that

Ancient Maya civilization has long held a certain draw and air of mystery for American and European audiences. Its largest stone-hewn cities, punctuated by pyramid-temple constructions that dominate the landscape like mountains, often sit abandoned in overgrown jungles untouched for centuries. This mix of spectacular material culture and engineering accomplishments, combined with a sense of wilderness, decay and lack of historical knowledge of the Maya, has created a special sort of romanticized interest with roots that go as far back as the Antiquarian period. However, this interest and myth remain just as strong in the contemporary. These “lost” cities and civilizations have become the romantic subject of many a National Geographic special.

The Mayans were hardworking people who lived in Mesoamerica. A thousand years ago before the spanish arrived, the maya built a great civilization. What many seem to question is what was so remarkable about what this group did.The four criterias scale, genius, physical effort and significance will be examined to see which was actually remarkable. People today argue over which Mayan achievement was the greatest - the trade network, numbers, calendars, and city-buildings , however true to say is that the building cities was the achievement that set the group off to great contributions.

The Maya civilization is a renowned part of history, as it is remembered for its delicate and detailed culture filled with alluring architecture and arts. Not only this, but the Maya civilization is also memorable for their astronomical and mathematical skills (Demarest 2004, Sharer & Traxler 2006, Houston & Inomata 2009). Yet, despite their flourishing agriculture, economy and political state, the Classic Maya society met their demise in the 9th century (Willey et al. 1967, Culbert 1973). Paleoclimatologists and archaeologists come together to better understand the circumstances which brought the end of the Classic Maya civilization, creating a variety of arguments which would explain so. Although many reasons are presented to explain the

Mesoamerica lies in the northern tropical latitudes. From the slopes of Pico de Orizaba, it is the 3rd highest mountain in North America that has dramatic gradations of altitude, temperature and rainfall. Mesoamerica’s earliest urban society was built by the Olmec. These centers include modern Mexico City. Another was in the fertile Oaxaca Valley in the mountains of southern Mexico. Finally another came to the low lying Yucatan Peninsula and upland areas of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. This population mostly spoken a language in the Maya family. Mesoamerica became a zone of dynamic intercommunication. The exchange soon tapered off to the north. The rainfall was much lower and farming was smaller. In 1800 years, people did not migrate

In the early 8th century, the Maya city-state of Tikal were known to eclipse all rivals, becoming the most populous polity in the Americas. As many as 62,000 Maya nobles, artisans, and others squeezed into Tikal’s crowded residential districts in what is now Guatemala. During the century that followed, however, Tikal fell on hard times. Its building boom collapsed, its artists ceased to carve hieroglyphic inscriptions and paint murals, population plummeted, and its kings vanished. The author in this article argues that Tikal was not alone to suffer such horrific disintegration. Because elsewhere 324,000-square-kilometer area spanning southeastern Mexico and upper Central America dozens of other city-states also crumbled between 695 and 1050

The Mesoamerican society of the ancient Maya was one of the most dominant civilizations of its time. Centered in what is now Guatemala, this empire reached its peak around the sixth century CE. The Maya excelled in a variety of fields such as agriculture, pottery, writing, and mathematics, just to name a few. Many of their accomplishments can be traced back to their deeply religious way of life. Understanding the Mayan religion gives us insight into their values and traditions; it allows us to see the world through the eyes of the ancient Mayans. Astronomical discovery is at the heart of Maya religion and culture. Without the advent of modern technology such as telescopes and computers, they were able to successfully track cycles of celestial

pretty big dent in history, the time period from 300BC until the 1500’s. Some of you are

The breathtaking splendor of ornate cites, the beautifully constructed grand temples, and the ingeniously developed and advanced caledretics, mathematics, and astronomy easily mark one of the most interesting and prosperous periods in Latin American history. Over period spanning approximately six centuries, the Maya of Central America reached artistic and intellectual heights that no other group in the New World had seen

Mesoamerica is the area in which the ancient Maya had lived, and is the area where modern Mayans are still reside. According to Coe, the Mayan geographic can range from Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Yucatan Peninsula, and the Mexican States of Chiapas and Tabasco (1966:17). Yet these areas are not limited to just Mayan. Many structural architecture remains today has proven the complexity of the Mayan culture in Mesoamerica.

Mayan culture existed a thousand years ago, in what is now part of Central America. Its ruins were almost entirely abandoned by 600 A.D, and were not rediscovered until the early 1500’s, by Spanish settlers. Mayan architecture astounded the early conquistadors, and continues to be of great interest to modern archeologists as well. These scientists have labeled a certain period of Mayan architectural history as the “Classic” period.

Before certain archaeological findings revealed the role that warfare played on Maya civilization, many believed that the Maya were a more peaceful and compassionate civilization. We are now able to see that warfare played a part in the development of of the Maya civilization and we can see this through murals, hieroglyphics, and through epigraphic records of warfare events. One of the Bonampak murals that is located in Mexico, depicts the violence used by Mayans in battle and the capturing of the enemy. In addition, Another part of this mural, reveals how the Maya captured their enemy in order to sacrifice these individuals as part of ritual warfare. Four major hieroglyphics exist that were very common in the maya civilization and these reveal how Maya warfare changed over time in Caracol Belize. This paper is going to talk about Mayan warfare and how it changed over time. The most significant type of Maya warfare, is the type that deals with capturing the enemy because it not only dealt with territorial expansion, but it could also be related to ritual warfare.