Guided by their religious ritual, the Maya also made significant advances in mathematics and astronomy , including the use of the zero and the development of complex calendar systems like the Calendar Round, based on days, and later, the Long Count Calendar, designed to last over 5, years. Serious exploration of Classic Maya sites began in the s.
By the early to midth century, a small portion of their system of hieroglyph writing had been deciphered, and more about their history and culture became known. Most of what historians know about the Maya comes from what remains of their architecture and art, including stone carvings and inscriptions on their buildings and monuments.
The Maya also made paper from tree bark and wrote in books made from this paper, known as codices; four of these codices are known to have survived. They are also credited with some of the earliest uses of chocolate and of rubber. One of the many intriguing things about the Maya was their ability to build a great civilization in a tropical rainforest climate.
Traditionally, ancient peoples had flourished in drier climates, where the centralized management of water resources through irrigation and other techniques formed the basis of society.
This was the case for the Teotihuacan of highland Mexico, contemporaries of the Classic Maya. In the southern Maya lowlands, however, there were few navigable rivers for trade and transport, as well as no obvious need for an irrigation system. By the late 20th century, researchers had concluded that the climate of the lowlands was in fact quite environmentally diverse. The environment also held other treasures for the Maya, including jade, quetzal feathers used to decorate the elaborate costumes of Maya nobility and marine shells, which were used as trumpets in ceremonies and warfare.
From the late eighth through the end of the ninth century, something unknown happened to shake the Maya civilization to its foundations.
One by one, the Classic cities in the southern lowlands were abandoned, and by A. The reason for this mysterious decline is unknown, though scholars have developed several competing theories.
Some believe that by the ninth century the Maya had exhausted the environment around them to the point that it could no longer sustain a very large population. Other Maya scholars argue that constant warfare among competing city-states led the complicated military, family by marriage and trade alliances between them to break down, along with the traditional system of dynastic power.
As the stature of the holy lords diminished, their complex traditions of rituals and ceremonies dissolved into chaos. Finally, some catastrophic environmental change—like an extremely long, intense period of drought—may have wiped out the Classic Maya civilization.
Drought would have hit cities like Tikal—where rainwater was necessary for drinking as well as for crop irrigation—especially hard. All three of these factors—overpopulation and overuse of the land, endemic warfare and drought—may have played a part in the downfall of the Maya in the southern lowlands. By the time the Spanish invaders arrived, however, most Maya were living in agricultural villages, their great cities buried under a layer of rainforest green. The majority of them live in Guatemala, which is home to Tikal National Park, the site of the ruins of the ancient city of Tikal.
Roughly 40 percent of Guatemalans are of Mayan descent. The Mayan Civilization. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The Spanish brought European diseases that killed millions of Mesoamericans, including the Maya.
Nevertheless, Mayans survived to the present time and still live on the same lands as their ancestors. Over the centuries, Mayans built hundreds of stone cities, some of which were prominent in one era but faded into obscurity in later years. After a period of recovery, new Mayan cities were built and the culture continued to flourish. The Maya were not a single group of people; rather they were different tribes, clans and families of people, speaking a variety of Mayan languages who all shared strong cultural ties and traditions.
The strength of Maya culture and civilization is evidenced by the great span of time it dominated Mesoamerica, over 3, years.
Scholars debate the beginning of Maya civilization, but generally place the first settlements around B. There archeologists have dated murals to B. Around A. Trade between Maya city-states declines, and inter-state conflict increases. He defects to the Maya, tattooing his face, piercing his ears and marrying into a Maya noble family.
The arrival of the Spanish ushers in Old World diseases unknown among the Maya, including smallpox, influenza and measles.
Within a century, 90 per cent of Mesoamerica's native populations will be killed off. The Maya fight back with surprising vigour, keeping the Spanish at bay for several years. Revolt continues, however, to plague the Spaniards off and on for the rest of the century. They will continue to do so off and on until the s.
In general, life becomes more tolerable for the Maya than it had been under Spanish rule.
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