Transcript Lands of the Maya

THE MAYA
LANDS OF THE MAYA
POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Never form a unified
political system



Do create a unified
culture
Larger city-states
dominated smaller citystates
Large city-states built
elaborate commercial
and religious centers

Chichen-Itza
EL CASTILLO AT CHICHEN ITZA
EL CASTILLO
MAYA ECONOMY

Cultivated maize, cotton, and cacao
 Increased
agricultural production by draining
swamps, terraced fields, and irrigation ditches
 Led to environmental degradation
Hereditary nobility controlled most of the
land
 Maya merchants came from ruling class

 Traded
primarily in luxury products
MAYA SOCIETY

Elite women participated
in bloodletting rituals and
other ceremonies



Women rarely held any
political power
Common women played a
role in agriculture and
textile production
Coercive labor used to
build large palaces and
temples
King
Nobles: Priests & Warriors
Merchants
Peasants
Slaves
MAYA RELIGION
Polytheistic
 Cosmos consisted of three layers: the
heavens, the human world, and the
underworld

 Priests
could communicate with residents of
both supernatural worlds

Mayan developments: calendar, writing
system, and mathematics
 Used
to determine religious holidays
MAYA SACRIFICE

Had to please the gods via sacrifice


Piercing of bodies with needle
Human Sacrifice

Sacrificed prisoners of war, slaves, and children
MAYA ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Understood movement of heavenly bodies
 Invented the concept of zero
 Calculated the length of a solar year

 Off

by 17 seconds
Created an elaborate calendar
 Two

calendars: solar and ritual
Glyphic writing system
MAYA WRITING
MAYA DECLINE
Maya city-states were abandoned or destroyed
between 800-900 CE
 Causes for decline include:

 The
disruption of trade after the decline of
Teotihuacan in Central Mexico
 Environmental degradation caused by
overpopulation
 Epidemic disease