Theme Tuesday Bellwork What is an example of Interaction Between Humans and the Environment in Mali Empire? Answers Vary What is an example of State-Building, Expansion and Conflict in Kingdom of Ghana?

Objective WWBAT: Discuss the major characteristics of Mayan civilization

Interactive Notebook Set Up 12/13/2017 Ancient Mayan Society This will be on one page

Background Economy and Culture

Background Settled the Yucatan Peninsula of present-day Mexico Mayan ruins have been found throughout the area The height of Mayan civilization dates from approximately 250-900CE

Background Decentralized patchwork of 50 city-states & kingdoms Connected by trading, marriage, and warfare All city-states shared common language, culture, and so on Most important city was called Tikal

Economy and Society Most Maya were farmers They supplied resources for an elaborate trading network These farmers were relatively poor, but owned their land

Economy and Society Economy was based on agriculture and trade Farmers grew: maize, beans, squash, pumpkins, chili peppers, tomatoes Farmers traded surplus crops to open markets  traded for cotton, jade, pottery, fish, deer meat, and salt

Economy and Society Would trap rich river silt with terraces to replenish the fertility of the thin, poorly drained topsoil of southern Mexico Found other ways to trap and store rainwater to cover droughts

Economy and Society Merchants traded throughout Mexico & Central America Canoes used to trade along rivers Goods were carried by humans overland no wheels yet; no large domesticated animals

Economy and Society Mayan priests were excellent mathematicians and astronomers Developed very complex math The Mayan independently invented “Zero”

Economy and Society Mayans developed accurate calendars Calendar of 365.242 days (17 seconds off) These were used to predict eclipses, schedule religious ceremonies, and determine times to plant and harvest

Economy and Society One of the first Native American cultures to develop a writing system Only within the past 25 years have we made any breakthroughs in translating Mayan writing Maya recorded: genealogy of their kings & royal families, mythology, history, ritual practices, and trade

Economy and Society Religion was the center of Mayan life Mayan kings was BOTH political leaders AND spiritual leaders Performed rituals and ceremonies to satisfy the gods Huge temples and pyramids built where thousands could gather for special religious ceremonies and festivals

Economy and Society Believed in 2 levels of existence: (1) the daily physical life they lived (2) the “Otherworld,” a spiritual world of gods, the souls of ancestors, and other supernatural creatures Actions on 1 level could affect things on the other level

Mayan Religion Images on Mayan temples, sacred objects, and pottery are our best sources on Mayan Religion Human sacrifice and bloodletting rituals was HUGE part of religious ceremonies

Mayan Religion Some ceremonies also included a ritual ball game This games is called pok-a-tok  Rubber balls batted back and forth across a walled court Symbolized back & forth struggle between this world and the next

The Maya Ball Game High-ranking captives, prisoners of war contestants Execution of losers immediately follows the match Most Maya ceremonial centers, towns and cities had courts

Chichen-Itza - Ball Court

A Goal in the Ball Court at Chichén Itzá, Mexico

Collapse of the Maya Unclear as to why the Maya collapsed Political disunity? Agricultural breakdown  from warfare? From over-farming? Long-term drought? Malnutrition, sickness, famine, high death rates Probably a combination of all of these factors

Collapse of the Maya Though the Maya dominance began to falter in around 900 CE it is debatable whether the Maya “collapsed” There are still millions of people descended from the Mayans living in the Yucatan Peninsula