The+Maya

=//__The Mayans__//= = = Deep within the jungles of Mexico and Guatemala and extending into the limestone shelf of the Yucatán peninsula lie the fabled temples and palaces of the Maya. While Europe still slumbered in the midst of the Dark Ages, these innovative people had charted the heavens, evolved the only true writing system native to the Americas and were masters of mathematics and calendrics. Without advantage of metal tools, beasts of burden or even the wheel they were able to construct vast cities with an astonishing degree of architectural perfection and variety. Their legacy in stone, which has survived in a spectacular fashion at places such as Palenque, Tikal, Tulum, Chichén Itzá, Copán and Uxmal, lives on as do the seven million descendants of the classic Maya civilization.

The Maya were a group of Mesoamerican people. Maya means maize, maize means corn, and corn was important to the Mayan civilization because they believed that they were made from it. Maya were unique because they had a full language. It could even be written, and it was on the calender and their walls. They even made books, some of which still exist. It was so complex that scientists only translated it into English recently, and to think, little Maya were learning it in school!

The Maya were not under one ruler; instead, they had individual city-states, each under their own ruler. All of those city-states had a calender system that consisted of five separate cycles. There was a 260 day ritual cycle and a 365 day solar calender. They did much naked-eye astronomy. They recorded movement of the planets up to Jupiter and star formations through the sky.

They had beliefs in deities whom they gave human sacrifices to. Royal blood or that of a royal prisoner was given. To them there were righteous gods above Earth and cruel ones that you faced after death below. Xibalba (shee bal bah) was the name of that "Underworld".

The Maya invented the corbel arch, or false arch. They made bricks come toward each other until they met. They would frequently build new structures over the old. The ancient equivalent of a billboard was invented, it was a series of bricks stacked and painted with the signs of their language.

There were specific social classes in Mayan life. The rulers and the laborers. There were, most likely, educated nobility that were scribes, artists and architects. Their works of stone, stucco, jade, bone, pottery, obsidian, and flint remain. There are no signs of priests left behind, so it is assumed that religious duties were made happen by the ruler.

View the [|original page.] = = =__**//Maya History//**__= = = The Mayans divided in three regions. They lived in low flat areas in Southern Guatemala. The main city is Tikal. The urban center around tropical rain forests. Most of the cities were ceremonial centers. The Mayans lived in small farming villages. The population for the Mayans is really small. They would cut down some rain forest trees and burn them. Then after that they take the fertilizer and put it on their plants so their plants can grow. The Mayans most popular food is maize. The Mayans believed that the earth was created five times and they also believed that the earth was destroyed four times. I got this information at http://berclo.net/page01/01en-hist-maya.html This is were the Mayans started their civilization (Southern Guatemala) I got this picture at http://hope-of-israel.org/img/mayaemp.gif This is the Urban Center surrounded by tropical rain forest. I got this picture at http://www.csms.ca/images/TikTINside.gifI [|]

The Mayans believed the earth was destroyed 4 times & created 5 times. I got this picture at [|http://upload.] [|wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/] [|thumb/9/97/The_Earth_seen_from][|]

=__//**Quick Facts**//__= media type="file" key="me4.ppt.mov" width="345" height="287"


 * //__The Big picture__//**

Maya had a large population. Most people lived in a large cities or small villages. Cultures in the Western Hemisphere learned how to plant seeds about 7,000 years ago.


 * //__Maya Cities__//**

Have you ever walked through a dense rain forest of what is now Guatemala 1,700 years ago. All of a sudden bright white shapes appeared. This was not a mountain range, it was the Maya city called Tikal. The city Tikal is one of the oldest cities.It was built 1,800 years ago.


 * //__The Rise Of The Maya__//**

Some of the archaeologists think that that the Maya civilization began 2,300 years ago. Stone temples were made by the Maya people and were 100 feet tall. Mayas were one of the first people in the Western Hemisphere to do so.

//__**Abandoned Cities**__//

Archaeologists that Maya had studied the Maya left behind their cities. The Maya built a lot of monuments. The other people built to ask the gods for success.


 * //__Maya Farming__//**

Maya grew lots of food for there people. The Maya farmers moved there field to a different place every year to maintain nutrition They made corn dough into cakes, like tortillas for people to eat today.


 * //__Maya Writing__//**

The Maya people were also great writers too. Mayans were good artists, scientists, and historians. Some archaeologists have found written records of some dates, times, and events.


 * //__Looking For Answers__//**

Experts think that the Maya people died from food shortages and or war. Their disappearance is still a mystery. Scholars thought that Mayan way of life was peaceful. media type="file" key="Presentation1.mov" width="630" height="630"

//**__Important Vocab__**//

Surplus-An amount greater than what it is needed.

Specialize- To spend most of one's time doing one kind of job.

Archaeologist- A scientist who looks for and studies artifacts.

Tikal- An ancient Maya city in the Guatemala 17N, 90W.

Civilization-A culture that has developed complex systems of governments,education, and religion. Civilization usually have large populations with many people living in the cities.