Transcript Welcome to Ancient Maya! - Sage Middle School

WELCOME TO
ANCIENT MAYA!
The First “Americans”
• Before the arrival of Spanish explorers, the Americas were inhabited by clever people
who are believed to have migrated from Asia via Berengia ---a stretch of land 1,000
miles wide and 60 miles long that once connected Siberia with Alaska.
• These people were nomadic hunters who drifted east and south from Berengia in
search of wooly mammoths, yaks, and edible plants.
• They came in waves between 35,000 and 12,000 years ago.
• Those who settled in the middle, inhabiting the southern two-thirds of Mexico and
northern Central America, have come to be called Mesoamericans.
• Among them, ancestors of the Maya are believed to have migrated from northern
areas of the Americans around 9,000 B.C.
Mesoamerica
• The term “Mesoamerica” was coined roughly fifty years ago by anthropologist Paul
Kirchhoff. It is both a geographical and cultural term –referring to the location,
common practices and habits of the diverse Mesoamerican peoples.
• The unifying cultural traits of the high civilizations of Mesoamerica (Olmec, Maya, and
Aztec) include:
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The use of hieroglyphic writing
The making of accordion-like books made from figbark or deerskin
The use of a complex calendar
The playing of a ball game that requires a rubber ball in a special I-shaped court
Engaging in human sacrifice by head or heart removal
The building of pyramids
Eating a diet based on maize, beans, chile peppers, and squash
Practicing a religion made up of many gods
The Olmecs
• The unifying cultural practices are
explained by archaeologists with the
idea of a “mother culture” –one
culture that started it all.
• The Olmec culture is the earliest
civilization of Mesoamerica that is
believed to have been given birth to
all of the rest
• These people flourished between 1500
and 400 B.C. on the southeastern Gulf
Coast of Mexico
• The Olmecs are said to be the first
civilization of the Americas, and one of
only six original civlizations in human
history! (“Original” in this sense means
a civilization without influences or
models from the past)
The Creation Story of the Maya
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb5GKmEcJcw&list=PL9SLkANZIEtUxpN8A9BHFR6G
GFTk24Nis&index=6
• Of all of their many
accomplishments, the Olmecs
were great sculptors most noted
for their gigantic stone heads.
• Believed to be portraits of rulers,
seventeen of these colossal heads
have been discovered –some of
them as much as ten feet tall and
weigh several tons!
Chocolate at Every Meal!
• The Maya may have been the first
humans to have consumed
chocolate.
• Residues taken from a broad range
of ancient Maya vessels reveal that
all Maya –from peasant to king—
regularly drank a spicy, foamy,
chocolately brew perhaps as far
back as 2,600 years ago.
• Hieroglyphs on Maya murals and
ceremonial vessels show gods,
royalty, even animals drinking
chocolate!
• Made from the seeds of the cacao tree, Maya first
removed the seeds from their fleshy pods and
fermented them until they turned a dark rich brown.
• The fermented seeds were then dried, roasted, and
ground into a thick paste which was mixed with
water, maize, and chili.
• The cacao bean is second only to corn (or maize as
they called it) in the central role it played in Maya
culture
• Cacao beans even served as a form of currency
vital to trade among the Maya and as well as with
their neighbors.
• The cacao seeds were Maya gold, precious to the
Maya in the same way dollars are to us.
• When Columbus encountered Maya traders off the
coast of Honduras, he was astonished to see them
frantically gathering fallen cacao seeds from the
bottom of their canoes as if they were “gathering
their own eyes.”
Preclassic Period (1800 B.C. – A.D.
250)
• Preclassic Maya is defined by three principal characteristics:
1)They lived in densely populated villages in thatched-roof houses no different from those
inhabited by modern Maya
2)They farmed. Farming is the most important invention of the Preclassic period.
Agriculture and the settled life brought about improved nutrition for these people. (We
aren’t sure whether they lived principally by growing maize or cassava, an ancient root
crop)
3)They made pottery –principally thin-walled jars and bowls elaborately decorated with
as many as three different colors as well as surface carving and modeling.
Hieroglyphs
• Ancient Egyptians were not the only early
civilization to use picture-symbols to create
complex meanings.
• The Ancient Mayas had their own
hieroglyphic system, as well!
• On the following document, there is a set of
Egyptian hieroglyphs and a set of Maya
hieroglyphs. Compared to Egyptian
hieroglyphs, the meaning of which can
sometimes be guessed, Maya writing is more
difficult to interpret. Can you guess what
each symbol means? 
The Rise and Fall of the Maya
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOckLspTwGA&list=PL9SLkANZIEtUxpN8A9BHFR6G
GFTk24Nis&index=2
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkTaSiAmnwg&index=4&list=PL9SLkANZIEtUxpN8A
9BHFR6GGFTk24Nis
Stelae
• Stone pillars commemorating important
people and events can be found all over the
Maya world
• Carved or inscribed with hieroglyphic writing,
stelae describe deaths, births, battles, the reign
of kings and are the principal source of
information about the lives of Ancient Maya.
• While Maya are believed to have written
thousands of books, only four survive.
• Thus, Stelae are central to unraveling the
mystery of the Maya people.
Podcast – Ancient Maya
Language
• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/speaking-ancient-maya.html
Ten Interesting Facts about the Ancient Mayas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0Ul9_DyEOE&list=PL9SLkANZIEtUxpN8A9BHFR6GGFT
k24Nis&index=3
Fig Bark Books
• Maya books are called codices.
• The word codex (the plural is codices) comes from
the Latin noun code which can mean “tree trunk,”
“wooden tablet,” or “book,” and may ultimately
derive from the Latin verb cudere meaning “to
beat.”
• The paper used in Maya codices was made from
the beaten bark of fig trees joined in sections or
folds, accordion like.
• Many thousands of these books once existed, but
only four survive today.
• A Spanish bishop named Diego da Landa burned
as many Maya codices as he could find in 1562.
Da Landa wrote, “We found a large number of
books” but as they were full of –as he believed–
“superstition” and “lies of the devil,” all were
burned.
Pyramids
• Reading: Pyramids of the Maya, Part I
& II
• Chichen itza clip:
http://video.nationalgeographic.com
/video/ancient-mysteries/chichenitza-temples
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
kyvw6G9Max0&index=8&list=PL9SLkA
NZIEtUxpN8A9BHFR6GGFTk24Nis
• http://www.bbc.com/news/worldlatin-america-22521669
Map of Mayan Cities
• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/map-of-the-maya-world.html
Ancient Maya Medicine
• Maya medicine was a blend of religion and science.
• Surgery involved binding wounds with human hair,
setting bones, amputation, and therapeutic
bleeding.
• Maya had conflicting ideas about disease.
• On one hand, sickness was thought to be a spiritual
problem caused by the hostile actions of a god or
sorcerer or brought on by spiritual imbalance.
• On the other hand, a disease could indicate a special
relationship with the supernatural—a sign that one had
been tagged or chosen by the gods.
• If cured, the sick person was believed to have acquired
special powers and often herself became a curer or
shaman.
• Once a shaman determined the cause of an illness,
the cure usually involved bathing of streams or taking
sweatbaths.
• Sweatbathing was a purification ritual practiced
throughout Mesoamerica. As past of the ritual, the
“sick” person was struck with various herbs, grasses,
and sticks.
• Not much is known about Ancient Mayan dentistry,
but it seems to have been practiced for cosmetic
reasons only.
• Maya skulls discovered by archaeologists reveal that
Maya filed and drilled their teeth to achieve certain
artistic shapes and patterns.
• Dental inlay was also desired as Maya teeth have
been found filled with jade beds and bits of turquoise
and other stones and materials. There is no evidence
that Maya ever used dental inlay to repair cavities.
Ancient Maya Calendar
• Ancient Maya Calendar – Reading
“The Maya recorded time in a series of cycles,
including 400-year chunks called baktuns. It's
these baktuns that have led to rumors of an endof-the-world catastrophe on Dec. 21, 2012 -- on
that date, a cycle of 13 baktuns will be complete.
But the idea that this means the end of the world is
a misconception, Stuart said. In fact, Maya experts
have known for a long time that the calendar
doesn't end after the 13th baktun. It simply begins
a new cycle. And the calendar encompasses
much larger units than the baktun” (Excerpt from
Discovery News)
Let’s Play Ball!
• The Maya were among the first people to play organized
sports.
• Here is how the Maya’s ball game was played:
• Two teams composed of 2-3 members each
• Team members hit the ball using their upper arms and thighs
(hands could not be used) with the goal of bringing the ball
into contact with stone rings positioned high along the alley
walls
• It was at times played for fun and at others had a ritual
significance tied to the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. In
some cases, the winners decapitated the losers.
• The Maya of the classic period forced captives of war to play
the ball game.
• Defeated captives were bound and trussed and themselves
used as the ball which was then bounced down a flight of stairs
• The balls were as large as 12” in diameter and weigh as much
as 7 ½ pounds!
More on Maya Ball Games!
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCzhtTjzWvU
Maya Sacrifice and Ball Game:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmcnZ5lP9tg
Maya Math
• Counting all over the world is based on either ten or
twenty depending on whether fingers or both fingers and
toes are used.
• Mesoamericans, Maya included, had a base 20 system.
• Remarkably, the Maya used only three symbols –a dot for
one, a bar for five, and a stylized shell for zero combined
with a place-value system (likely invented by the
Olmecs) to record any number.
• Whereas our system is horizontal and moves from right to
left, the Maya system was vertical and moved from
bottom to top.
• Symbols occurring in the lowest position have a value of
one, in the second position a value of 20, the next
highest 400, and so on.
The Maya Today
• Despite pressures over many centuries that
continue today, the Maya people still exist.
• They continue to inhabit the land they have
occupied for thousands of years and number at
least 7 ½ million!
• To some extent, they have maintained their
culture.
• After the Spanish invasion of the early 16th century,
over 90% of the native population died due to
disease brought by the Spanish –smallpox,
influenza, and measles.
• In their weakened state, the Maya adapted to
many elements of colonial culture.
• Today, free from Spanish rule, Maya culture
remains a blend of Maya and Spanish traditions.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86F10IrvVus&li
st=PL9SLkANZIEtUxpN8A9BHFR6GGFTk24Nis