An Ancient Civilization

Brianna DeLeo

The Mayans

History

• culture originted in 2600 B.C.
• early Mayans were nomads
• the Olmec and early Mayans seem to have influenced each other
• the cities were the center of the Mayan life
• there was over 90 cities of Mayan culture

Accomplishments

• built the pyramids
  • two types of mayan pyramids
  • the first was used for sacrificial rituals
  • the second was holy and sacred
  • the pyramids were on average, 200 ft. wide by 150 ft. high
• invented hieroglyphics
  • Maya glyphs were like no other writing system
  • almost 800 signs through out the system
  • you could use many different signs to describe the same sound
• created a number system
  • Mayans used a base number of 20
  • used a system of bar and dots
  • a dot stood for 1 and a bar stood for 5
• made a calendar based on astronomy
  • used a count of 260 days
  • calendar gave each day a name
  • there were 20 day names
  • the days were numbered from 1 to 13

Government

• There were many classes in the Mayan Society
  1. Kings
     • known as the "Halach Uinic" meaning true man
     • ruled both household and unfamiliar affairs
     • to become a king there was a blood sacrifice
     • a king would usually be succeeded by his younger brother or son
  2. Priests/Nobles
     • known as the "Ah Kin Mai" meaning the highest one of the sun
     • under the Ah Kin Mai there was two priests under him, involved in human sacrifice
     • the "Chacs"-> who were elderly men who held down the victim
     • the "Nacon"-> who cut the living heart from the victim
  3. Land Owners/Farmers
     • known as the "Ah Chembal Unicab" or commoners
     • these people lived outside the cities in small villages
     • they usually owned a large amount of land to farm
     • maize, or corn was the main crop they grew which they used for many food items
     • they used a farming technique called milpa, meaning slash and burn
  4. Slaves
     • known as the "Ppentacob" slaves were prisioners of war
     • they usually would work the feilds, and paddled the canoes for travel
     • to become free they could claim unoccupied land and build on it
     • also if a Mayan broke the law they became a slave
     • crimes were punished with death

Everyday Life

1. Clothing
   • Men: wore a cloth around the middle part of body, with sleeveless shirt
   • Women: wore a skirt around waist, with shirt on top, and had very long hair
   • both men and female wore sandels and hand made accessories were popular
2. Marriage
   • same sex marriages and inside the family marriages were forbidden
   • priest preformed marriages
   • one could not marry out of his own class
   • around the age 20 is when males were supposed to marry
3. Family
   • the Mayan famlies lived together in the same house
   • the men farmed and hunted while the women cooked and weaved
   • children from a commoner family helped their parents and were trained to become their parents occupation
   • children from a nobel family were highly educated by the priest, in writing, music, history, war, and religion
     
     

     Mayan Hieroglyphics & Tikal Mayan Ruins

     
     

     Sources
     • http://www.michielb.nl/maya/calender.html
     • http://www.art-poster-online.com/maya.htm
     • http://emiliewood.com/photos/novembre2006/2-nov-mayan1.jpg
     • http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CIVAMRCA/MAYAS.HTM