9/15/2023 0 Comments Age of water maya![]() ![]() The men tended the fields and built huts. The village had thatched-roof huts made of mud. The farmers usually lived in a village outside of a larger city. This let the nutrients in the soil come back so that crops would grow well in it. After using a field for two years, the Maya let it go fallow (unplanted) for ten years. The Maya lived mainly off of maize (corn), but they also planted squash, beans, and tobacco. They cleared jungle and forests by slash and burn (cutting down the trees and then setting them on fire.) The temple at the city of Chicen Itza in Mexico was built so that at the equinoxes, an optical illusion was created that made it appear as if Quetzalcoatl (the feathered serpent god) was coming down the steps of the pyramid to Earth. Most of these temples were aligned so that at the equinoxes (first days of spring and autumn), a certain area or room of the temple would fill with light. The priests were buried with treasure offerings (statues, jade, etc.) Like Egypt, many of these pyramids were used as tombs for high priests. These pyramid shaped structures were built much like the early pyramids of Egypt. Many of the buildings that remain today are temples. Some Mayan cities were built away from fresh water sources, so underground reservoirs were built to supply fresh water during the dry season. Some of the buildings of Tikal still stand today. Tikal was home to upwards of 60,000 people and, at its height, had over 10,000 buildings. They were built sort of at random as directed by Mayan priests. ![]() Mayan cities were not planned communities like those of Ancient Rome or other civilizations of the Old World. They practice many of the same traditions of the Maya, combined with those that were brought by the Spanish after Cortes arrived in Mexico in the 1500s. Today, many descendants of the Maya still live in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. In about 1200 AD, the Mayan civilization basically merged with the Toltec people for reasons that are currently unknown. ![]() Much of Mayan history is marked by the tearing down and rebuilding of their city-states over the years. During this time, they had a powerful government and traded with distant peoples. The golden age of the Maya Empire lasted from about 200 AD to 900 AD. The Maya were skilled farmers, potters, weavers, and they knew how to efficiently clear jungles for roads and fields. The Maya are well known for their architecture as well as their scientific and mathematical achievements and their very accurate calendar. The foundation for Mayan civilization came from the Olmec-a civilization of Native Americans that lived along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico from about 1200 BC to 600 BC. The Maya Empire existed in the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico) and parts of Guatemala and Northern Belize from about 500 BC to 1200 AD. ![]()
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