The Mystery and Majesty of the Mayas
Global History and Geography I Name: ______
E. Napp Date: ______
Complete the following activity using the word bank on the right:
The Well of Sacrifice was a well that men were thrown into to appease the gods. In the beginning, scientists thought that Mayan temples were used just for ceremonial rituals. In Tikal, the largest of the cities, the temple of the Giant Jaguar was found to be a tomb for a ruler named Double Comb. This city was thought to have a population of over 100,000 people. Copan, the second largest Mayan city, had a great staircase, thirty feet wide with sixty-three steps. Each step is covered with hieroglyphs.
Word Bank:
Cultural Diffusion, Isolated, Olmecs, Maize, Sculptures, Classical, Mayas, Mesoamerica, Slash and Burn, Writing, Zero, Astronomy, Number
“By the Late Pre‐Classic Period (250 BCE–250 CE), simple villages had grown into city‐states, spurred by advances in agriculture. The Maya hieroglyphic writing system of 800 glyphs, the base‐20 mathematic system, which included a zero, and the 365‐day calendar permitted scribes to record historical and astronomical events and to predict future eclipses.
To maintain stability, a ruler was chosen to intercede with the gods on the people’s behalf, to organize farming duties and distribution, and to lead the people in warfare with other city‐states. An early jade pendant represents a highland chief carrying a jaguar cub on his shoulder. This connection between high rank and Mesoamerica’s most powerful feline continued throughout the Post‐Classic Period.”
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The Mayan Counting System:
“The Maya Empire, centered in the tropical lowlands of what is now Guatemala, reached the peak of its power and influence around the sixth century A.D. The Maya excelled at agriculture, pottery, hieroglyph writing, calendar-making and mathematics, and left behind an astonishing amount of impressive architecture and symbolic artwork.”