User:Vansh Bhardwaj/sandbox

Rise of the civilization

The Mayans were the first immigrants from North America to Siberia during the last Ice Age. Then they migrated south to Central America. The Mayans became farmers who were growing maize (sweet corn), beans, squash and cassava (manioc). During the Middle of the Preclassic period, Mayan farmers extended their land because they wanted more land for crops. They moved further into the highlands and lowlands. They got their religious and well-known knowledge from the Olmec Civilization. They built pyramids and inscribed stones. There are rumours that the Middle Preclassic city of El Mirador was bigger and better than the Classic city of Tikal (Preclassic period from 1500 B.C. – 250 B.C.).

The Classic period from 250 to 900 B.C. was the golden age of the Mayans. By that time, they had libraries, schools, ball courts, palaces and much, much more other things.

Government

Each city-state had its own government. The Government was made from the theory that the leaders were God-like. They were independent of each other. They were always struggling for political power. The leaders were always descendants of one royal family unless the descendants passed away or the people lost faith in their leader. But not every leader was a male. There were cases that may need a female to be the leader of their city-state. For example, if a King is unavailable and the other sibling is a woman, that woman become the Queen or the Lady. Most of the Mayan political systems started around 300 B.C. The Ahau day was for kingly rituals. When the King gets enough honour, he gets to be on the Sacred Calendar, which is made up of 20 days in 13 months (260 days). People thought that the Classic period was made up of 72 major Mayan political units.

Religion

The Maya worshipped many gods and goddesses such as Chac, the rain god. They built huge pyramids with temples on top. They were so loyal that they even sacrificed their own blood to the gods. They even sacrificed other people by dropping them down a well. They played ball games for their lives! The losers would be sacrificed while the winner got rewards for escaping death. The Maya had special religious ceremonies to wrap their dead people. First, their bodies were painted red. Then they were wrapped in straw mats with a few of their belongings. The Mayan gods made all the important decisions like how the weather would operate and how the crops grew. If these gods were angry, everything in the Mayan civilization would fall. If these gods were pleased, everything would be good. Mayans wanted to make sure their civilization didn’t fall by pleasing the gods with sacrifices. Every decision was made by the Mayan Gods, which leaders had to pass on to the people.

Society

The Mayans had a technique of farming called “slash and burn” which involves cutting down trees and shrubs in heavily wooded areas mostly in the lowlands to create fields of crops, which in turn led to deforestation. The farmers continued to slash and burn new areas to create new fields.

The Mayan cities were not well planned and had irregular expansions by adding palaces, temples, and other buildings. Most of the Mayan cities tended to grow from the centre and upwards. The Mayan cities also featured sacred presence and sometimes separated from the nearby residential area by walls. The Maya used very old technology such as stone and other materials. They also used limestone, which was burnt at high temperatures in order to make cement plaster and stucco.

Family Life

No-one has the exact answer of how Mayan family day-to-day lives were. But with the scientific evidence, we have a prediction. Normal Mayan families had 5-7 members. If they were rich, they would show off by drinking a cup of money (or in our case, hot chocolate after waking up. If they were not rich enough, they would drink a hot corn drink. Every family ate tortillas and tamales for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They were normally married in their 20’s. The house was normally a one-room hut made of very close together poles.

Arts and Inventions

The Mayans made a lot of inventions that still survive today. The Mayans made their own limestone plaster to decorate buildings. They also made the back strap loom, which was very effective. They crafted with flint, antler punch, stone hammers and other things. The Mayans invented their own type of arch to stabilise their buildings. They went as far as making a special calendar with the big wheel showing 365 days and the little wheel, known as Sacred Round was made of 260 days.

Writing and Number System

The Maya used glyphs (picture symbols) to write and make numbers. They wrote on walls and other objects like stelae. It was like beautiful graffiti in a sense. They wrote in their own types of books, also known as codices. Codices were filled with writing and there were thousands, maybe tens of thousands of codices. But the Spaniard burnt all of them except for four. When the Russians invaded Germany, A Soviet officer named Yuriy Knorozov found three remakes of Maya codices from the old Berlin National Library.

Geography

There are volcanic highlands and limestone lowlands. The rainforest in the lowlands has an average height of 150ft. The Seas to the north and west is the Gulf of Mexico and to the east is the Caribbean Sea and to the South is the Pacific Ocean. From Feb to May is the dry season which is very hot and uncomfortable. During this season, the fields were slashed and burnt, causing it to be more uncomfortable. Dangerous animals like Jaguar and Caiman occupied the area where the Maya civilization lived. The maximum rainfall per year is known to be 160 inches per year. The Volcanic highlands is a source for precious metals like obsidian. Lowlands were a source of crops, mostly sweet corn, known as maize.

Decline of Civilization

The Decline of the Mayan Civilization is still a mystery. There are theories like exhausted land and government clashes, but this is only part of the problem. When the Spaniards came in the 16th century, the whole population and most of the history was burnt to death. It was only during the 19th century that they discovered the ancient ruins of the Mayan civilization.