Summary about the Maya, the ancient inhabitants of Mexico and Central America, known for their advanced culture and their skill in the fields of architecture, astronomy, mathematics and writing.
Summary on the Maya.
The Maya were an ancient people of Mexico and Central America, known for their advanced culture and their skill in architecture, astronomy, mathematics and writing . The Maya civilization flourished between 2000 BC and 1500 AD, and extended over a vast area that included southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. The Maya are known for their hieroglyphic writing, their highly developed calendar and their impressive architectural structures, including the famous temples and pyramids. The Maya civilization was also characterized by a complex system of government, with independent city-states that were sometimes in conflict with each other. This civilization was able to achieve a high degree of cultural and technological development, but was also subject to crises and decline, the reason for which is still not entirely clear.
Composition
The Maya are a group of American Indian populations of the Maya linguistic lineage , living in the territories currently occupied by Veracruz, Yucatán, Campeche, Tabasco and Chiapas in Mexico, in most of Guatemala and in some areas of Belize and Honduras. The population that gave the group its name, the Maya proper, inhabit the Yucatán Peninsula ; other significant groups are the Huastec of northern Veracruz; the Tzental of Tabasco and Chiapas; the Chol of Chiapas; the Quiché, Cakchiquel, Pokonchi, and Pokomam of the Guatemalan highlands; and the Chortí of eastern Guatemala and western Honduras. These groups, who, with the exception of the Huastec, occupy contiguous territories, are the descendants of populations that gave rise to one of the most advanced civilizations of the pre-Columbian era.
The economy
Agriculture formed the basis of the Maya economy , with maize being the principal product followed by cotton, beans, cassava, cocoa, and squash. Cotton weaving and pottery making techniques were refined. Domesticated animals included dogs and turkeys, but no draft animals or wheeled vehicles were employed. Copper bells and coffee beans were used as units of exchange, and copper, along with gold, silver, jade, shells, and colored feathers, were worked into ornaments. Groups were governed by chiefs who inherited the title in the male line, assisted in turn by local chiefs who distributed land among the various families, which was owned collectively by the village.
Culture and architecture
The Maya civilization was distinguished by its architectural skills , as evidenced by the impressive ruins of numerous centers built for religious ceremonies . These centers usually included several pyramids, made of earth and rubble, often faced with stone blocks and with steep stairs leading to the top, where temples or other buildings were located, around open plazas. The arch was unknown, the interiors were narrow and the windows small. The facades were painted in bright colors and decorated with painted wood carvings, stucco and stone mosaics.
Communal dwellings probably resembled the brick and brush huts that still house the descendants of the Maya today.
Writing
The Classic Maya civilization is the only culture in pre-Columbian America that used writing. The Maya developed a hieroglyphic writing system and recorded history, mythology, and rituals in inscriptions carved and painted on stone slabs or columns , lintels, stairways, or other monuments. There are also some codices – books of folded paper obtained from the fibers of the agave plant – used as divinatory almanacs and containing information on agriculture, climate, medicine, hunting, and astronomy.
Calendar and religion
The Mayan calendar , very complex, is the most accurate of those known before the Gregorian calendar. The year, which began on July 16, when the sun passes through its zenith, lasted 365 days and was divided into 28 weeks of 13 days each.
The Maya venerated a large number of nature deities. Chac, god of rain, was central to popular rites; among the supreme deities were Kukulcan, a creator god close to the Quetzalcoatl of the Toltecs and Aztecs, and Itzamna, god of the sky.
History
The various interpretations of the archaeological evidence make the origins of the Maya civilization controversial . The formative period began around 1500 BC . The classic period, between about 300 and 900 AD , is characterized by the spread throughout the Maya territories of an almost uniform culture, which is reflected in the large ceremonial centers built, for example, at Palenque, Tikal and Copán. Around 900, these centers were mysteriously abandoned; part of the population moved to Yucatán, and here the Mayan civilization of the following period had its center, whose artistic production was profoundly influenced by an invasion of the Toltecs, coming from the valleys of Mexico. Chichén Itzá and Mayapán were the most important cities, but they were abandoned after a period of civil wars. The Spanish, who arrived in the sixteenth century, easily overthrew the Mayan groups, weakened by internal wars and epidemics. Today, the Maya form the majority of the peasant population, and inhabit their ancient lands.
Curiosities about the Maya
Here are some curiosities about this fascinating civilization:
- Advanced Astronomy : The Maya were expert astronomers. Without the aid of modern instruments, they were able to accurately calculate the synodic cycle of Venus and predict solar and lunar eclipses. Their calendar, known as “Haab'”, consisted of 365 days, divided into 18 months of 20 days each, plus an additional period of 5 days considered inauspicious.
- Ball Game : The Maya were very athletic, among the games they played was Pok-ta-Pok, a ritual game in which players had to hit a heavy rubber ball using their hips, elbows and knees, trying to pass it through stone rings placed on the walls of the court. This game had deep religious meanings and was often associated with sacred ceremonies
- Use of cocoa : The Maya were among the first to cultivate cocoa and turn it into a beverage. Unlike modern sweet versions, their “chocolate” was a bitter, spicy drink, often flavored with chili peppers. Cocoa was so valuable that it was even used as currency.
- Monumental architecture : Without the use of the wheel or draft animals, the Maya built imposing pyramids, temples and palaces. A prime example is the pyramid of Kukulkan in Chichen Itza, designed so that during the equinoxes the play of light and shadow creates the illusion of a serpent descending the steps.
- The importance of corn : Corn was the basis of the Mayan diet and economy. In addition to direct consumption, corn had a profound religious significance, being at the center of myths about the creation of man.
