The Maya created a great civilisation in parts of what are now Mexico, Honduras and Guatamala. The ancestors of the Maya were hunters but about 2,500 BC they adopted farming as a way of life. In the years from 300 BC to 250 AD organised Mayan kingdoms emerged. Then from 250 AD to 600 AD an advanced civilisation emerged. The Maya invented writing and they made great advances in astronomy and mathematics.

Mayan civilsation was at its peak from 600 AD to 900 AD. However after 900 AD it declined. In the central rain forest cities were abandoned. We are not sure why. Perhaps there were ecological changes and famines occured. Or perhaps warfare between the different Mayan kingdoms caused disaster. At any rate in the far north and south people continued to live in cities. Mayan civilisation did not die completely.

Then in the 1520s Spanish conquistadors invaded and conquered the Maya. However the descendants of the Maya continue to live on today.

MAYAN LIFE

Mayan Society

There was no single Mayan state. Instead there was a people with a single culture and religion divided into many city states. (Areas of countryside ruled by a city). Each city state or kingdom was ruled by an autocrat (a man with absolute power). However, although although they had unlimited power Maya rulers usually had a council of important men to advise them. Warfare between Mayan kingdoms was common.

In the centre of each Mayan city was an area of palaces, pyramid temples (some of them 70 metres high) and squares, where religious ceremonies were held. Inthe squares were stelae (upright stone) which were carved with the dates of important ceremonies and events.

Ordinary people lived in the surrounding houses. Most of the Maya lived in the countryside but many cities were large. Some had populations of 45,000.

Below the rulers were the nobles and priests. Below them were freemen, craftsmen and farmers. Below them were slaves who did all the hardest work.

The Maya did not have animals for carrying loads. All goods were carried by human beings.

The Maya did not have metal tools. All their weapons and tools were made from wood and stone.

However the Maya invented a system of writing using pictures to represent sounds. Writing was painted onto books made from fig tree bark. It was also painted on pottery. Unfortunately the Spaniards burned many Maya books so little is known of their history.

The Maya also wrote numbers and they had a symbol for zero, which was very unusual among ancient civilisations. The Maya were excellent astronomers and they could predict eclipses.

Mayan Food

The Maya practiced 'slash and burn' agriculture. They cut down an area of forest and burned the trees. They Maya sowed crops in May and harvested them in November. However after a few years the soil would lose its fertility. The farmers would then 'slash and burn' another part of the forest. Meanwhile the abandoned area would become overgrown again.

Mayan farmers also drained swampy areas for farming. They dug canals for irrigation.

Mayan farmers did not have ploughs but they did use digging sticks.

Maize was the staple food of the Maya but they also grew beans, chillies, sweet potatoes and squashes. The Maya also ate fruit like papaya, watermelon and avocados.

The Maya ate animals like deer, turkeys, dogs, peccaries (wild pigs) and a kind of rodent called an agouti. They also fished.

The Maya also kept bees for honey.

In the mornings people ate a 'porridge' made of maize and chillies called saka. During the day they ate 'dumplings' made of maize dough with vegetables or meat inside them. The 'dumplings' were called tamales and they were wrapped in leaves from maize plants. The main meal was in the evening. People ate maize 'pancakes' called tortillas. They were eaten with 'stew' made with vegetable and (sometimes) meat.

The Maya drank an alcoholic drink called blache. Maya nobles drank chocolate.

Mayan Houses

Ordinary Maya lived in simple huts of wood or stone with thatched roofs. They had no chimneys or windows. They did not have wooden doors either. Instead doorways were hung with cloth screens.

There was very little furniture. Maya slept on beds, which were low platforms made of a wooden frame filled with woven bark.

Dead Maya were buried under the floors of their houses.

Rich Maya, of course, lived in far more elaborate homes with many rooms.

Mayan Clothes

Living in a hot climate both sexes wore simple cotton clothes. Men wore a loincloth. Women wore a long cotton dress called a huipil. It if turned cold both sexes wore a cloak called a manta.

Maya wore leather sandals.

The Maya were short, stocky people with dark hair. Both sexes wore their hair long and tied back.

They believed that flattened foreheads were beautiful. While their skulls were still soft babies had wooden frames attached to them to flatten them. The Maya also believed that being cross-eyed was attractive. So they tied a bead on the front of a child's head so it dangled between their eyes. The child would become cross-eyes by looking at the bead.

The Maya also tattooed themselves and they filed their teeth.

Maya nobles put clay on top of their noses to make a long ridge. Rich Maya also wore jewellery made from jade.

The Maya also hunted macaws and parrots for their feathers, which were used to make headresses.

Mayan Children

Mayan women carried small children on their backs. That left their hands free for cooking and weaving. Girls learned these skills from their mothers. They also learned to make pottery. Boys learned farming and other trades from their fathers.

Both boys and girls got married in the early or mid teens. Their parents chose a partner for them helped by a matchmaker.

Mayan Religion

The Maya were polytheists (they worshipped many gods). The most important god was the sun god. However almost every aspect of life had its own god. There was a maize god and even a god of tattooing.

The Maya built many pyramid shaped temples and they had many priests. The priest praciced divination (fortune telling) and carried out sacrifices. The Maya also had many religious ceremonies that involved music and dancing. (The Maya used wind and percussion instruments rather than string instruments. They played wooden flutes and trumpets and drums made from turtle shells).

One religious ceremony involved playing a ball game called Pok-A-Tok. It was played with a solid rubber ball. You were not allowed to touch the ball with your hands or feet. Instead you had to use your knees, hips, elbows and forearms. (Players wore padding as the ball was very hard). Sometimes prisoners of war were forced to play Pok-A-Tok and were sacrificed afterwards.

To read about The Aztecs click here.

To read about The Olmecs click here.

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