Lesson 26: The Maya

• The Maya civilization lasted...

  from 2000 B.C.E to 1500 C.E. (3,500 years)
• When did Maya civilization peak?


  2nd-9th century
• Who did the Mayan inherit ideas from?


  The Olmecs
• Pre-classic (2000 B.C.E.-200 C.E.)


  • farmed land
  • simple structures for living
  • adapted Olmec writing system; developed hieroglyphics
• Classic / PEAK (200-900 C.E.)


  • began study of astronomy
  • establishment of independent states
  • adapted and developed more Olmec ideas
• Post-classic (900-1500 C.E.)


  • fewer cultural achievements
  • massive migration to the North (Yucatán Peninsula)
• Maya civilization:


  city states that have separate governments but are unified by culture
• Maya


  the people of an important Mesoamerican civilization that lasted from about 2000 B.C.E. to 1500 C.E.
• Mesoamerica


  the region extending from modern Mexico through Central America
• Ceremonial center


  a large plaza in a city center surrounded by temples and palaces, where religious rituals and other public ceremonies took place
• Hieroglyphic


  writing that uses pictures as symbols
• Ruler


  "halach uinic" - true man
• Priests


  maintained favor with the gods
• Artisans


  • fueled Maya art and culture
  • their items often paid tribute to the gods
• Peasants


  • generated food supply
  • backbone of society
  • built monuments
  • battled in war
  • rewarded with events
• Enslaved people


  performed manual labor for their enslavers; their quality of life was determined by their jobs and enslavers' social rank
• Maya women:


  • cook
  • clean
  • care-for
  • weave
  • 3
• Maya men:


  • tend to crops
  • hunt
  • 4
• Marriages were...


  arranged
• Families lived in...


  small huts around a shared courtyard
• Children were commemorated with:


  • baptisms
  • the introduction of tools used later in life
  • the removal of symbols of innocence
• The Maya worshiped many gods, making them...


  polytheistic
• The tzolkin calendar was...


  260 days long
• Blood strengthened the...


  gods
• Pok-a-tok


  a human-sacrifice game where two teams of nobles tried to hit a rubber ball through a stone ring by using their leather-padded elbows, wrists, and hips
• Primarily nature-based or with animal characteristics


  the Mayan gods
• The Maya believed the gods had supreme


  influence
• Why did Classic Maya civilization fall?


  we don't know for sure
• Agricultural techniques were not enough to help prevent the downfall of the Classic period.


  True
• Slash-and-burn farmers always needed lot of land because...


  the worn-out soil needed time to recover
• Slash-and-burn agriculture


  a farming technique in which vegetation is cut away and burned to clear land for growing crops
• Theories about what led to the end of the Classic period:


  • the population grew to quickly
  • long-periods of drought
  • uncontrolled warfare
  • invaders from central Mexico
• What led to the rise, flourishing, and fall of the Maya civilization?


  the adaptation to Olmec ideas, knowledge of calendars to generate food supply, and the overgrowth of cities
• Maya civilization existed in what is now...

  Mexico and Central America
• The Maya's greatest achievements came in the...

  Classic-period
• Nobles


  served as scribes and officials and oversaw the administration of the states
• The Maya were accomplished traders.


  True
• Merchants in the lowlands imported obsidian, jade, copal (tree sap for religious ceremonies), and quetzals from the...


  highlands
• Primary Maya food:


  maize, beans, squash, chili peppers