STS MESO AMERICA

• Mayan

  -method of shifting cultivation to produce staples such as maize, beans, squashes.
• Mayan - domestication of dogs for hunting
• What did Mayans look like?

  Short with straight black hair, painted bodies, tattoos, crossed eyes, flattened foreheads.
• Mayan Social Pyramid (highest to lowest)
• Mayan Social Pyramid (highest to lowest)

  • Ruler
  • Nobles and Priest
  • Merchant and Artisans
  • Peasant
  • Slave
• Mayan - used stone, bone, and wood tools to build hundreds of magnificent cities
• Cities were centers of religion and learning
• Two largest cities were (1): Tikal, located in the present-day country of Guatemala
• Two largest cities were (2): Copan, located in the present-day country of Honduras
• Mayan - developed system of mathematics and numbers
• Mayan - created an accurate calendar with 365 days that could accurately predict eclipses
• Mayan - had exact knowledge of phases of the moon and cycle of Venus
• Maya - invented of the idea of the number zero
• The Mayan priest used two calendar; one was sacred, and the other was for planning
• The Mayan Calendar - divided into 18 months of 20 days each, following by a five-day period that was unlikely unlucky
• The Mayan Calendar - divided into 18 months of 20 days each, following by a five-day period that was unlikely unlucky
• The Maya - worshiped the Gods of nature
• The priest decided when to plant crops and when people could marry and to whom
• The Mayan- fully developed writing system of glyphs and symbols, the book is called codex
• Aztec - believed that human sacrifice was necessary to feed their hungry gods