Maya Civilization

Geography and Landscape

The ancient Maya civilization occupied the eastern third of Mesoamerica, primarily the Yucatan Peninsula. The topography of the area greatly varied from volcanic mountains, which comprised the highlands in the South, to a porous limestone shelf, known as the Lowlands, in the central and northern regions. The southern portion of the Lowlands were covered by a rain forest with an average height of about 150 feet. Scattered savannas and swamps, or bajos, appeared sporadically, interrupting the dense forests. The northern Lowlands were also comprised of forests but they were drier than their southern counterparts, mainly growing small thorny trees. February to May was the dry season characterized by air that was intensely hot and uncomfortable.

The Maya Culture

Contrary to popular beleif, the Mayan civilization was not one unified empire, but rather a multitude of separate entities with a common cultural background. Similar to the Greeks, they were religiously and artistically a nation, but politically sovereign states. As many as twenty such states existed on the Yucatan Peninsula, but although a woman has, on rare occasions, ascended to the ruling position, she has never acquired the title of 'mah kina'.

Mayan Art

The art of the Maya, as with every civilization, is a reflection of their lifestyle and culture. The art was composed of delineation and painting upon paper and plaster, carvings in wood and stone, clay and stucco models, and terra cotta figurines from molds. The technical process of metal working was also highly developed but as the resources were scarce, they only created ornaments in this media. Many of the great programs of Maya art, inscriptions, and architecture were commissioned by Mayan kings to memorialize themselves and ensure their place in history. 

Mayan Writing

An elaborate system of writing was developed to record the transition of power through the generations. Maya writing was composed of recorded inscriptions on stone and wood and used within architecture. Folding tree books were made from fig tree bark and placed in royal tombs. Unfortunately, many of these books did not survive the humidity of the tropics or the invasion of the Spanish, who regarded the symbolic writing as the work of the devil.

Four books are known today:

The Dresden Codex
The Madud Codex
The Paris Codex
The Grolier Codex.

RELIGION

SACRIFICE TO THE GODS

The Mayans concept of the cosmos is more complex than the western religion. Benson reminds us that the only evidence of the Maya religion is the ruins left to tell the stories. The Maya religion seems to have been made up of thirteen heavens and nine underworlds ruled by the nine lords of the nights, whose names are not known. Apparently, there was warfare between the sky gods and those of the underworld. As their society grew more complex, their religious pantheon also grew more complicated with new gods being added and old gods taking on new functions. Their ceremonies grew more complicated too. Not only could the Maya gods change their appearance, but they could also change their goodness or evil. Benson explains that the sky god was the most important at all periods because he is frequently noticed in the art. The Maya worshipped hundreds of different gods. It is apparent that religion was an important part of all Mayan life, and confirmation proves that religion and the Mayan calendar were so inter-woven because of the ceremonies that were held regularly in connection with the Mayans advanced calendar.

MAYAN ADVANCES IN SCIENCE

The Mayans were an advanced group of people who made many advancements in math and astronomy, which they used to calculate an accurate calendar. The Maya came up with an advanced calendric system. First, they came up with a calendar that consisted of 260 days each with a specific name and symbol. The days were numbered 1 to 13 and since there are 20 day names, after the 13 day count the next day is numbered 1 again. Secondly, the Maya also had a calendar that tracked a solar year of 365 days. This calendar contained months that are given names, and these names also had symbols. There were 18 months that were given names, and these months were composed of 20 days as their previous calendar. In each year was a special five day month called Wayet. These five days had no names and were considered unlucky. The Maya used special glyphs to indicate time periods.

KIN = 1 day

WINALS = 20 days or 1 month

TUN = 360 days or 1 year

K'ATUN = 20 years of 360 days each

BAKTUNS = 400 year 

CALENDER:

COLLAPSE OF MAYAN CIVILIZATION:

The ancient Maya once occupied a vast geographic area in Central America. Their civilization extended to parts of what is now Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador, and most of Guatemala and Belize. From the third to the ninth century, Maya civilization produced awe-inspiring temples and pyramids, highly accurate calendars, mathematics and hieroglyphic writing, and a complex social and political order. Looking at the impressive remains of ancient Maya civilization, it's hard to imagine how such a society could collapse.

The causes for the Maya's decline are numerous, but one of the central causes is that the demands they placed upon their environment grew beyond the capacity of the land. At it's peak, there were about 15 million people occupying the Mayan world. Over-population of Mayan metropolises are suspected to have gone beyond levels that the Mayan political and social networks were able to support, resulting in social unrest and revolution. Frequent skirmishes by warring clans, such as the Toltec invasion of Chichen Itza, are suspected to have forced the Mayan populace to flee their cities. Recent studies have discovered evidence of severe droughts, deforestation, and a decline in large game animals that began around 800 A.D., coinciding with a sharp drop in new construction. Human bones found from this time show signs of severe malnutrition, which would have been a driving factor behind raids. While Maya civilization did go through a brief renaissance after this period, ongoing environmental constraints played a large role in their eventual decline.

By the time the Spanish Conquistadors arrived, most of the large Mayan sites had been all but abandoned for hundreds of years. Most of their cities had fallen into ruin and were being overtaken by jungle. The Maya people had splintered into small villages and towns, losing the complex social strata and rituals that supported this great civilization at its apex.