The Mayan Culture

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 collapse of the Mayan Empire is one of history’s greatest mysteries. It was one of the most advanced and developed civilizations of its time period, reining during the Pre-Classic period and into the Classic and Post-Classic Periods (2000 B.C. – 900 A.D.). The territory stretched from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, down to modern day El Salvador in Central America. Its achievements were monumental for the era, being the first empire communicating with the use of a written language having over 800 symbols and producing the first 365 day calendar. They maintained an in-depth understanding of astrological cycles that would assist in planning harvesting cycles and predicting solar eclipses. The Mayan’s

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

The Mayan civilization was a bountiful society that flourished from around 300 BCE to 900 CE and, according to some, lasted for up to 3000 years. During the height of their civilization, the Maya built a prominent society and created many inventions, some of which are used today. They are well known for creating the first writing system called cuneiform, the concept of zero, calendars, mathematics, ball-courts, and the length of the solar year measured at about 365.242 days. Having first migrated to the lowlands of Mesoamerica, where soil was weak, the Maya used many intense agricultural methods such as slash-and burn, irrigation, and terracing to their advantage; they were able to produce plentiful amounts of crops and thrive in a lush grassy area. They traded numerous luxury goods with their neighbors in Mesoamerica such as cacao beans, rare animal hides, fine artwork and jewelry, jade, and even gold. Though they often fought with nearby Mayan cities, they had strong political and economic systems and a social hierarchy, kings and high priests being the most important. It would seem that the Maya didn’t have any real obstacles to their reign, and for a long time, they lived in prosperity and peace. However, near the beginning of the 8th century CE, a large wave of abandonment swept throughout the cities, starting from the southern regions and quickly moving upward. From this point on, these abandonments would mark the ending of the long reign of the Maya. The very last

Mayas had developed between 300 and 900 AD and began to fall around 750AD, with the most important parts in the center part of southern Guatemala in the tropical forest. The Mayans were famous for their development in astronomy, they created their own calendar that even more accurate than European’s calendar once used. Mayans built their incredible city with 100,000 populations at its peak (Tikal). Their economy was built on agriculture, so their irrigation system quite developed by building canals that easier to water their fields. Their culture religious belief was included human sacrifice and self-mutilation. Today, descendants of Mayans could be found in Guatemala, Chiapas, Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, and Belize, where held tenaciously their culture. These people are keeping their culture through generation to generation by speaking Mayan’s language, wearing traditional clothes, and incorporating their beliefs.

published in Science magazine, between 820 and 870 A.D., the Maya received 40 percent less rainfall than in prior decades. Scientists surmise that the lack of rainfall tore at the social fabric of the Maya civilization. The findings are based on the research of

The Maya civilization was one of the Mesoamerican cultures that were developed by Maya people. It was highly noted for its hieroglyphic script. This was one of the best writing systems of the pre-Columbian Americas. The Maya community consists majorly of the indigenous people of Mexico and Central America. The Aztec empire was flourished between 1345 and 1521 CE and was spreading within the northern Mesoamerica. The Aztec warriors through their power were able to dominate the neighboring states, and through that, they made it possible to transfer their ideas as well as religion to many parts of Mexico. The art and architecture of the Aztec civilization were the best ranked in the continent and therefore preferable to many due to the design and techniques that were used by the architects. The Aztec territory was best documents within the states and consisted majorly of best archaeological details, native books as well as information from the Spanish conquerors. This study paper aims to describe the Maya civilization.

They ascertained that the confinement of the secondary burials, “express the importance that the memory of the dead and their physical remains played in ancient Maya ideology, probably as guardians of family lines and their living spaces” (Tiesler, et al., 2010:376). Similar mortuary practices have been described at other Mayan sites of the same period. Grave goods indicated higher social status as well. They also documented a lack of females at these burials, indicating it may have been a societal custom (Tiesler, et al., 2010:376). However, due to the poor conditions of the remains, such inferences on the customs of the Mayan and females might not be correct. Unless this same inequality is seen in male-female ratios, at other burial sites which was not indicated in this

Good morning. Today I will be telling you about the Mayan concepts of beauty, and how it affected their daily life. The Mayan people valued beauty very much, and every social class tried to meet the preconceived ideas of beauty in Mayan times. Many concepts that seem strange to us now in modern times, were considered beautiful in Mayan times. Many of the beauty concepts came from the Maize God. The Maize God was a very important god to the Mayan people, as he represented a very crucial crop to their survival – maize (British Museum, n.d.). The ideal look included an extended forehead, slight crossed-eyes, teeth filed to points, with inlays of jewels and stones, ears, nose and lips pierced and bodies tattooed and painted (Donn, L. n.d.).

The Mayan culture has always fascinated me. The complicated social structure of the Mayan civilization has always captured my interest. Unfortunately, I have never had time to conduct any in-depth research on my own. I hope to take advantage of my time while attending college to pursue my interest in Mayan Astronomy.

There are many sources I’ve been using for these past few papers, which I have found valuable information in. My topic throughout the semester is Mayan Astronomy. I have always had deep interest in Mayan astronomy, I’ve always wondered how they knew what they knew. I decided to take the opportunity form the many options I was given, to write a series of essays on the information that I have received on the Mayan culture.

The Mayan Civilization grew to become one of the most advanced civilizations in the Americas. This civilization was developed by the Maya peoples and was noted for its many advancements in all categories. The civilization was believed to have been first introduced to the world in 250 A.D. In 900 A.D. the end of the Maya civilization occurred. Even though it wasn’t the official end of the civilization, this time period is when the classical era for the Mayans ended, and many of the Maya peoples migrated toward Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula The Maya, inhabitants of the Mayan Civilization, were located in an area that encompasses southeastern Mexico, also including Guatemala and Belize. The Mayan Civilization is a very advanced

This “dehomogenization” of Maya archaeology is the aim for future work as to enhance the knowledge of the “everyday” Maya. The willingness to engage with subaltern segments of Maya society and the refusal to reify centuries of cultural practices is key to begin profound research in the diverse experiences of Maya peoples. Research undertaken by Morenhart and Helm that use archaeobotanical data which “can yield considerable social, economic, and ecological information” (Morenhart and Heml 2008:63). In addition, like Morenhart and Helm, more engagement with societal concepts such as gender, can give a better picture of Maya life. However, this research must be guided be an intersectional lens to see the cross-roads of identity that produce unique

Maya Culture being studied has proven not to be a piece of cake. But as a result of hard work, several enigmas in which it has fallen into have been solved. It may never be fully understood, but through time, important information has been built up by different classification systems.

This book comes in the context of a comprehensive study of one of the most important civilizations of Central America and Mexico: the civilization of the Mayan people; no other culture in the New World has aroused such intense interest or formed such a number of mysteries as the ancient Mayan civilization that we may have heard from Through the media or we have seen the documentary programs on some of the satellite channels deployed in our world today.