Welcome to info about the Ancient Mayan Culture! =]

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GEOGRAPHY

The Maya had many methods of food production. It is believed that agriculture provided most of their food. Permanent raised fields, terracing, forest gardens, managed fallows, and wild harvesting were also crucial to supporting the large populations. In the Lowands dangerous animals like pumas, spider monkeys, jaguar, tapirs, the caiman (a deadly crocodile), and poisonous snakes. Many spieces of monkeys and over 340 different kinds of birds lived in this fertile area. The climate of the Highlands was much cooler and drier. The Mayan people grew squash, beans, chili peppers, cocao, and cotton because of their warm climate. The Mayans lived in the eastern third of Mesoamerica. Their land was over 125 000 square miles with 200 feet high pyramids.

Political Map

Geographic Map

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS

The first written Mayan hieroglyphs date from 250 BC to 900 AD. Calligraphic and pictorial style of Maya heiroglyphs are like no other writing system. Maya words are formed from many combinations of over 800 signs, and each sign represents a full syllable. The words are read horizontally with letters and vertically with numbers. The reading order would be A1, B1, A2, B2, etc, until you hit the bottom. Then you start at C1, D1, C2, D2, etc. There are three basic symbols for numbers. A dot was a value of 1, a horizontal bar represented 5, and a shell represented 0. Maya calendar was based around the Long Count calendar. Their date started on the equivalent to 11th of August in our time. The calendar consisted of a solar year of 365 days like our year today but it was divided into 18 months with 20 days each. There was also a 260-day sacred year divided into days named by the combination of 13 numbers and 20 names.

ART

The artistic culture of the Mayans started in the Preclassic period from 1500 BC to 250 AD. They show scenes of nobility, battle, and sacrifice. The colours were very subtle. Some different forms of art included painting on paper, plastering, stucco models, and terracotta figurines. Carving wood, bone, shells, jade, stone, and clay was also very popular for the Mayans. Metal work was also developed but the resources were hard to obtain so they only engineered little ornaments. Mayan Kings memorialized themselves by creating inscriptions and architecture to ensure their rememberance in history. The Ahau, a sun god, seated with his legs folded receives visitors. The names of the visitors are given in hieroglyphics.

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

The Mayan's worshipped Nature Gods. They believed in rituals of human sacrifice. Astronomy and Astrology influenced what the Gods did and what they did for the gods. They built elaborate pyramid temples for the burial of royalty. The main Gods were: Itzamna, Kukulcan, Bolon Tzacab, and Chac. Itzamna means "Lizard House." Images of Itzamna often contain snakes or mussels. He was shown as an old man with a flower headdress or sometimes shown as a giant bird. He ruled over maize, cocao, writing, drawing, calendars, divination, medicine and healing. He was the founder of Mayan culture. Kukulcan was one of three gods that was thought to have created Earth. He is a serpent in his natural form and was responsible for teaching the Mayan's about how to run a civilization, agriculture, and medicine. Kukulcan returned to the ocean telling the Mayans that he would return at some later date. Bolon Tzacab's image is a God with a long nose that has a leaf hanging out of his nostril. He is the God of agriculture. Chac is long nosed. He is the rain, vegetation, fertility and agriculture God. Chac is also known as Ah Hoya "he who urinates." Ah Tzenul translates to "he who gives food to others" and Hopop Caan means "he who lights up the sky." 

http://www.jacksbromeliads.com/mayancivilizationii.htm

GOVERNMENT

Priests ran the maya government, ruled cities and led all ceremonies. Only priests, rulers and kings were allowed in the temples. The priests and other supreme members of the government lived in huge palaces. Priests also had the role of assisting in births and they became the god fathers of the child. The most famous Maya ruler was Lord K'inich Janaab Pacal. He was born 23 March 603, and died 28 August 683. He became a king at six years of age. Pacal took the throne legally when he turned twelve. When his tomb was discovered he was wearing a jade death mask. 

ECONOMICS AND TRADE

Trade in the Mayan cities was crucial for keeping the economy going. Goods like salt, maize, honey cocoa, pottery fine ceramics, jade, pyrite and textiles were often traded because they were easily transported and were wanted in other places. Trading was mainly between Olmec and Teotihuacan. Small towns didn't need to trade long-distance. Most trading was local and near by because the area was rich in resourses. The Mayan didn't have many ways to transport goods because they didn't need to very often. Most people carried their products on their backs because they didn't have wheels or animals to carry supplies for them. They relied on rivers and small boats for their long-distance travelling.

MYTHS 

The death mask was used so that when the dead went to the afterlife they would have a face and be reconized by the gods. They were made from the finest jade. The beauty of the stone made the mask more of a welcoming object. They also believed that the Mayan mask shows a never ending circle of life and the afterlife. This meant that when you died it wasn't the end of your life, but a new beginning. The mask has three layered faces, each representing one particular stage of life. The inner face represents the beginning of life at birth, the middle face represents the adult stage of life, and the outer face represents death.

Pacal's Mask

HISTORY

This was the peak of large-scale construction, urbanism, the recording of monuments, and artistic development. The Mayans developed a city-centered empire consisting of many independent city-states. This includes the cities of Tikal, Palenque, Dos Pilas, Uaxactun, and others. The Maya had the only fully developed written language of era. Mayan art, architecture, and astronomical systems were first developed in the preclassic period 2000 BC - 250 AD. Many Mayan cities achieved their highest state of developmental progress during the Classic Period from 250 AD to 900 AD. The Mayan culture was one of the most extremely populated cultures in the world in their time.

MARRIAGE

There was a ceremony for all children known as the "Descent of the Gods" that marked puberty in a childs life. Boys and girls wore special jewelry. The boys had white beads in their hair and girls has red shells in their belts that represented virginity. When it came time to get married the groom's parents would hire a professional atanzahab, "matchmaker" to find a suitable wife. The wedding feast would usually include turkey, cornmeal dumplings, beans, potatoes, and tortillas. The mother of the groom would embroider a loincloth decorated with parrot feathers for her son, and a dress or skirt with a blouse for the bride. Most couples were faithful to each other, but men could have many other relationships outside of his marriage. Divorce was allowed if they weren't satisfied with each other.

REFERENCES

http://www.astronomy.pomona.edu/archeo/yucatan/maya.html

http://www.google.ca/

http://www.famsi.org/mayawriting/

http://web.bryant.edu/~ehu/h453proj/planets1/mars.html

http://www.kidsnewsroom.org/elmer/infoCentral/frameset/civilizations/maya/gov/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_mythology

http://www.mayadiscovery.com/Ing/notes/marriage.htm

http://www.authenticmaya.com/maya_trade_and_economy.htm