1. Mayan Society and Environment

2. Life in Mayan Society Lower class= farmers and slaves Farm corn and listen to the nobility Nobility- priests, king and family, nobles Make policy, rule the city, check food supply Priests (well educated) Interpret stars, will of the Gods, perform sacrifices and rituals to satisfy the Gods, tell people when to plant crops

3. Purpose of Priests Communicate and Please the Gods If the Gods are happy- crop yields increase Wars are won Actions include (Sympathetic Magic) Donations/offerings Dances Visions Statues and temples Blood letting Human sacrifice

4. Burden on the People In order to build a statue/give an offering you need material and money. Priests need humans to sacrifice to the Gods. (Orphans and prisoners) Priests often bled themselves for blood offerings.

5. Problems People are used and lied to. (Weather is unrelated to human sacrifice.) If conditions get worse the solution = give more. If conditions get better solution = keep the Gods happy and keep giving. Does anyone see a problem here?

6. When the drought occurs… Had years of growth, very high population, lots of priests with temples asking for a lot Rain slows, valley soil becomes more acidic, swamps used up…crop yields decrease Priests say: More donations! People say: Good idea!

7. Drought gets worse… People become increasingly angry with priests, but they keep giving Now the people are even poorer and more hungry People snap and start revolting People snap when they can’t feed themselves or their children Target= Priests and nobility and eventually anyone with food

8. Priests Evacuate Nobility heads to Cancuen (now Cancun) Poor people raid cities looking for food, burn temples, killing fellow Mayans People run out of stealing food, attack nobles at Cancuen Society collapses and those that are healthy enough evacuate to the jungle and other Mayan cities.