...The Mayan civilization were one of the most important Meso american cultures. They were a innovative civilization that controlled most of the land that stretched from southern Mexico to northern Central American. The Mayan civilization started in 250 A.D and disappeared during the 1500's most likely because of Spanish invasion. “Mayan civilization not only dominated the region in pre-Colombian times, but also it has captivated world attention more than a thousand years after it has collapsed (Foster)". According to Foster, the Mayan civilization has made a lasting impression on the world. Their lingering effect on the world is due to the fact the Mayans made many achievements in the areas of architecture, trade, religion, math, and astronomy. The Mayans were skilled in the field of architecture.Their architecture would include awe-inspiring observatories, palaces, ball courts, and stelaes which were intricate and detailed statues dedicated to a specific god. Mayan pyramids were based on Mesoamerican design and similar in style to the ziggurats of the ancient Mesopotamians and pyramids of the Inca. All three buildings would have a long staircase, leading up to a temple dedicated to a certain god. Although the Mayans focused on man made features for their architecture, they would also integrate natural resources. ”Mayan architecture tends to integrate a great degree of natural features...depending upon the location and availability of natural resources such as fresh-water wells...
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...The first civilization of the Mesoamerica era was the Mayans, also making them one of the most ancient. The Mayans were a highly intellectual civilization, having knowledge in areas such as writing and literacy, mathematics, and astronomy. A big part of their lifestyle was religion. The Mayan art has been known to be richest of the new world having “great complexity of patterns and a variety of media expressions”. The Mayan civilization left an impressive history to study. Developing the only known fully written language of the pre-Columbus time goes to showed the skills of the Mayans. In addition, inscriptions showed their complex problem solving techniques in math, holding the civilization as the developers of the idea of zero. The first known scientist where among these people. One of the Mayan’s greatest accomplishments was there astronomy work with the calendar. They timed the earth’s orbit around the sun accurately, and created an accurate calendar. Art is an important part of how people study the Mayan lifestyle and culture. Their artwork is very spiritual, showing how religious they were. Also out of the Art, their architectures can be recognized as their most memorable artwork. Another great accomplishment of theirs are their structures that still stand for people around the world to admire. The Mayans dedicated their life to their gods. Although they are intelligent and hard workers, they had war-like rage. This independent city-state culture were constantly at war...
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...1 Running head: MAYAN CULTURE The Mayan Culture By Lydia Ross 2 MAYAN CULTURE Table of Contents The Mayan Background The Mayan Calendar The Mayan Mathematics The Mayan Architecture Modern Day Mayan The Mayan Prophesy of 2012 References 3 4 6 8 11 12 14 3 MAYAN CULTURE The Mayan Background The Mayan Calendar has been used to predict the end of the world. The reason for this is that the calendar ends on December, 21, 2012. Many scholars and historians have argued that there will be some type of cosmic event signaling the end of the world on December, 21, 2012. Other scholars who oppose this opinion say that it is not the end of the world but the end of an era. They predict not apocalypse but an era of bliss. In this era man will live peacefully with one another without strife. For clarity about the calendar and its intentions, a review of the Mayan people is needed. The Mayan culture came into existence around 300-400 AD. It is believed that it is a culture that is somewhat a derivative of the Olmec civilization. The Olmecs were an ancient Central American Indian tribe. The Maya seemed to appear among the Olmecs and soon took over the entire Yucatan Peninsula of Central America. The Mayan people were known for their sophisticated mathematics 1 as well as for being master builders. Their cities were beautifully built and connected by highways and streets made from tools of wood, ivory and stone. There was also a ball court built 2 in every city...
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...OF MAYAN & TAINO CIVILISATIONS RESEARCH TOPIC: ARE THERE ANY SIMILIARITIES OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE MAYAN AND TAINO CIVILISATIONS? NAME OF SCHOOL: ASJA GIRLS COLLEGE, BARRACKPORE INTRODUCTION According to archeologists, the Taino people arrived in the Caribbean islands several thousands of years ago from their ancient ancestral homeland in the South American headwaters of the Orinoco River. Based on research conducted on the ancestral people of the region, it was believed that the Tainos were largely influenced by the Mesoamerican peoples who were commonly known as the Mayans of the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. Mayan culture was believed to be one of the most advanced of all the ancestral peoples and the Tainos realizing the level of enlightenment of the Mayans and a shared basis of religious and spiritual beliefs adopted aspects of the Mayan culture, spirituality and societal structures that are quite evident when an analysis of the civilizations is conducted. Today modern archeologists are beginning to recognize that the interchange of cultural norms and ideas of the two groups are more extensive than previously thought as they go beyond the superficial aspects such as the hierarchic stratification of society and extends to the intimate connections of spirituality. Figure 1: picture of origins of Mayan Civilization Figure 2: picture of origins of Taino Civilization ORIGINS OF THE MAYAN AND TAINO CIVILISATIONS About 2000 years ago the Mayans created...
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...& Technology, Art and Crafts (i.e. Dance, Art, and Weaving). The groups of people we will be talking about will be the three major groups in the early Americas. Their names are the Mayas, Aztecs, and the Incas. Mayans Many of the Mayans greatest achievements dates back to the Classic Period (300 -900 C.E.) It was during this time that the Maya civilization achieved its greatest achievements in art, culture, power and influence. Most of their achievements were so high that hundreds of years later other groups such as the Aztecs and the Incas used them (i.e. the calendar and mathematics) The Mayans are important because they made a major breakthrough in both Mathematics and Astronomy. The Mayans were the first to calculate the number of days in a year accurately by observing how the start and planets move. Doing this, they helped create the calendar as we know it today. The Mayans also had a strong hand the Art and Crafts, they made large statue of solid rock to represent an important leader (Called a Stele). Not only did they represent important leader, but they represented a written record of his accomplishments in the formed of carved stone glyphs. Aztecs Even though the origins of the Aztecs are not necessarily clear, we know that they did adapt from the Mayan ways. One of their achievements was building their city called Tenochtitlan. The Aztecs appeared in Mesoamerica–as the south-central region of pre-Columbian Mexico is known–in the early 13th century. Their arrival...
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...as there gods or their culture system.Throughout the years, people began to learn about astronomy which caused a major change in all calendars depending on the time zone. One of the earliest group of people that we have recorded is the Egyptians. The Egyptians calendar first began to be based on the moon cycles but they later realized that the " Dog Star" was next to the sun every 365 days.(Doc 1 pg.52) Which they believed was the annual inundation of the Nile which was one of their cultural beliefs. This Means that they used their culture in combination with the sun and moon which they called the annual inundation of the Nile which became part of their culture....
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...Could you imagine the whole United States just disappearing? That is what happened to the Mayans. In a time span of only one hundred years the whole Maya population was wiped out, there are several theories about what the cause for this decline was. What anthropologists do know for sure is that the Mayans were an ancient mesoamerican civilization dating back to 250 B.C “made up of more than 19 million people”(smithsonian.com). Their empire centered in the tropical lowlands of what is now Guatemala. The Maya people reached their peak of power around the 6th century A.D. The Mayans were successful in many ways; History.com, a website dedicated to informing the public about important historical information, states, “The Maya excelled at agriculture,...
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...History of the Mayans The Mayan civilization used hieroglyphics to keep important historical records, made many advancements in mathematics, and had a highly accurate astronomy system. Throughout their years of existence, the Mayans proved to be one of the most advanced civilizations ever recorded. Their hieroglyphic writing skills have been documented to be some of the most sophisticated in all of ancient The Mayans had an amazing and accurate calendar and a complex hieroglyphic writing .The Mayans also had an amazing understanding of mathematics and the workings of the universe. Many historians and researchers to compare the Mayan civilization to those great civilizations like Egypt and Greece and Rome. In addition the Mayans have been recognized by their advanced calendar, astronomy, architecture, arts, and mathematics. The Mayans was a highly advanced civilization instead Mel Gibson chose to highlight human sacrifices and extreme violence and demonstrated a negative view about the Mayans. In the movie apocalypto Mel Gibson is misrepresenting the Mayan culture and demonstrates many inaccurate historical facts about the Mayans civilization. Mel Gibson demonstrates a civilization engaged in extreme sacrificial ceremonies a civilization seen as a bloodthirsty and extremely violent. My research is set during the time period of the Classical period. The Movie Apocalypto drama unfolds in the last days of the Mayan civilization in Central America Mel Gibson starts the movie with...
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...Agricultural Intensification The Mayans developed an intricate system of creating farmable land to plant, irrigate and harvest. Mayan terrain was not easily farmed. It was mostly uneven and swampy, due to the tropical jungle climate. To create workable land, farmers terraced the mountainous terrain, dug out the swamp land and cleared thick, forested jungle areas (Ponting 31). In higher mountain regions, terracing was used to create flat plots of land along the hillsides (Beach 391). It has been discovered that terraced portions of land hold water much better than the other Mayan ways of creating farmland (Beach 391). Terracing also contained the damaging effects of soil erosion, as the top layer of soil in the Mayan region was extremely susceptible to wearing down (Ponting 32). Raised fields were created in swampy areas (Ponting 31). The Mayans trenched around a certain portion of land and used this dug up segment to build up the elevated fields (Ponting 31). To clear thick, lowland jungle regions, the Mayans used a “slash and burn” method (Ponting 31). Mayan farmers clear-cut the existing vegetation and later set fire to any lasting remnants (“Slash and Burn”). The consequential ash provided...
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...Ancient calendars kept track of significant astrological events to mark different times of the year. For agricultural societies, this was especially important. A successful harvest was dependent on starting the planting season at the right time. After years of observations and trial and error, ancient peoples were able to predict the patterns of the sun and distinguish the timing of each season. Ancient Egyptians tracked the stars and invented a calendar that would allow them to predict when the Nile would flood. One of the best examples of an early civilization that developed an elaborate calendar system is the Mayans. They had a ritual calendar composed of 13 months, with 20 days in each month, and a 365 day solar calendar (Welser-Sherrill 2007). Their calendar was impressively accurate, and it ruled many facets of Mayan life. One particularly interesting integration of the Mayan calendar is the design of the Pyramid of Kulkulkan. The square-based temple has 365 steps total, with 91 steps on each of the four sides and one shared top step to represent the days of the solar year. During equinoxes, the position of the setting sun casts shadows down the northern stairway that appear like a long slithering snake - Kulkulkan, the Feathered Serpent God (Cline). The Mayans developed numerology and mathematical understandings that were way ahead of their time, but thankfully the end of their calendar was not a...
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...Purpose: To inform the audience on the Mayan theory of the “world ending”. Central Idea: To give information about the Mayan’s and their calendar and to show that according to them the world in fact is not ending. Introduction: Waking up in the morning you roll over look at your cell phone to see what time it is and while checking the time you also glance and the date and what date do you see but December 12, 2012. They day that many people believe will be the end of world because of one popular belief that the Mayan’s Calendar will end today and you will not wake up to see tomorrow but just wait all day in anticipation to see what happens. Preview Statement: That is what I am going to talk to you about today is the belief of the world ending according to the Mayan’s calendar that has become a very popular way to predict this. First I will you who they Mayan’s were and why they are of importance. Second I will give an overview of the three major calendars that are used to predict and what they mean. Third I will explain the solar galactic and what happened at each time this has occurred. Fourth I will explain what the Mayan’s believe will happen in 2012 so you can make your own belief’s on the Mayan’s version of the world ending. I. Who are the Mayan’s? (http://www.indians.org/welker/maya.htm) A. The Mayan’s were an Indian civilization that first began between the times Period. Of 250 A.D. to 1500 B.C. and were Mesoamerican’s. 1. They were Mesoamerican’s...
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...about the history of Maya. History: The location of Maya is southeastern Mexico; Guatemala; Belize; Honduras; El Salvador and their population is near about 8-10 million and they use different type of language such as Spanish; English; Mayan dialects and their religion is Folk Catholicism; evangelical Christianity. The Mayan civilization started in meso America about 4000 years ago and this period is known as Pre-classic period. However, from 250-900 AD Mayan culture reached on its highest point and done a great advancement in the different fields such as art, architecture, astronomy, and as well as in mathematics and they figured out the concept of zero also and Mayan People also created accurate calendar for 365 days. And they built great monuments and buildings also from their only the advancement gets started. During this period Maya human progress was framed by...
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...The Mystery behind the End of Mayan Civilization Vanessa Espinoza Professor Perry World Cultures I Strayer University Mayan Mystery Civilizations all over, rose to become strong, powerful nations and descended due to many reasons. One civilization in particular, is the Mayans. The Mayan Empire began around 1800 B.C and lasted until around 900 A.D. Located in tropical environments, in what is now known as the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize and parts of México. The Mayan people were known for their advance levels of mathematics, astronomy, and they develop a calendar system based on 365 days that we use in present day. The Mayan people also created many elaborate cities with stoned pyramids that partially remain intact today. How can a great nation, who developed a complex system, and flourish for many centuries, just disappear; leaving many questions unanswered? What happened to the Mayans? This is one mystery that has many people asking questions about what happened to a large number of people without wondering if this could ever happen again. Two theories that could explain what happened to the Mayan people are: drought and climate changes lead to the demised of the Mayan culture, and/or warfare from neighboring cities or foreign invaders caused the Mayans to become extinct. Scientist Martin Medina-Elizalde and Eelco Rohling believe that the climate changes affected the rainfall causing droughts. Many others believe that invaders from other countries...
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...to the mayan civilization before , their culture, their beliefs, how they find the source of their food and how they interact with one another. The film is the evidence of Gibson’s craft. His imagination is not simply moronic. It is like, if you do not know a small background of the mayans you will tell that the movie is just a simple movie that is created just because they want to know how the ancient people lived before. The best scene in the movie is how the people before respect their elderly and their tribe captain. None of the villagers harbour larger ambitions. They are contented , simple, one feels they would go on as they are till the end of time. They also believe in the sacrificial ritual wherein they offer a large number of people just to satisfy their religious beliefs. The arrival of the conquistadores and Christian missionaries at the film's climax completes this vision of Mayan civilization. As I have read before about the background of the Mayan civilization, there were some historical errors in the movie. First are the mayan cities and the Spanish conquistadores. Mayan cities have been abandoned for more than five hundred years before the Spanish arrived in Mesoamerica.Second is the eclipse. As far as I know, mayans have this tremendous astronomical knowledge and would not be confused by an single eclipse. The evidence for that is the one of the controversial film in our time “2012” or also known as the 12-12-12. The movie tells us that the mayan predicted...
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...The Mystery behind the End of Mayan Civilization World Cultures I Mayan Mystery Civilizations all over, rose to become strong, powerful nations and descended due to many reasons. One civilization in particular, is the Mayans. The Mayan Empire began around 1800 B.C and lasted until around 900 A.D. Located in tropical environments, in what is now known as the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize and parts of México. The Mayan people were known for their advance levels of mathematics, astronomy, and they develop a calendar system based on 365 days that we use in present day. The Mayan people also created many elaborate cities with stoned pyramids that partially remain intact today. How can a great nation, who developed a complex system, and flourish for many centuries, just disappear; leaving many questions unanswered? What happened to the Mayans? This is one mystery that has many people asking questions about what happened to a large number of people without wondering if this could ever happen again. Two theories that could explain what happened to the Mayan people are: drought and climate changes lead to the demised of the Mayan culture, and/or warfare from neighboring cities or foreign invaders caused the Mayans to become extinct. Scientist Martin Medina-Elizalde and Eelco Rohling believe that the climate changes affected the rainfall causing droughts. Many others believe that invaders from other countries or cities over powered the Mayans. Climate changes If invaders...
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