The Mayans
The Mayans were an ancient American Indian civilization in what is now southern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize and the Western Honduras. It was the most advanced civilization in the pre-Columbian New World. It was distinguished by massive stone pyramids, temples and structures. Complex mathematical and astronomical achievements were recorded on a unique hieroglyphic written language. This civilization declined by the 10th century, but was revived under Mexican influences and continued until the Spanish conquest in the 16th century.
The early Mayans were farmers living in scattered settlements of pole and thatched houses. They cultivated communal fields with the main crops being beans, squash, avocados, chili peppers, melons, papayas and cacao. Grain became the staple food in the diet. The women prepared it by grinding it between stones and mixing with ground meal to form cakes baked in pottery dishes. Meat consisted of rabbit, deer and turkey and the villages along the coast included fish in their diet.
The men worked the fields and made stone tools, carved figurines jade carvings, ropes, baskets and mats. The women made pottery vessels and wove cotton fibers for clothing from the leaves of the maguey plant. Men wore loincloths and women wore skirts, but both genders wore ponchos.
Every clan had a leader and each village had a mayor. A high priest conducted the ceremonies and was in charge of the education of the priests and nobles. Merchants were important to the society because of the flourishing trade that developed between the villages and clans. There were trade routs along which houses and warehouses were built for storing the goods.
Mayans worshipped a collection of nature gods. The chief god, Hunab Ku, was the creator of the world and was too far above men to be worshipped. The people believed his son Itzamma was responsible for rain and was worshipped mainly by priests. There were four rain gods worshipped by the common people and women worshipped Ixchel, the goddess of birth and weaving. Ceremonies focused on making sacrifices to honor and appease the gods. These sacrifices took place on altars on great pyramids that rose above the villages.
The chief center of knowledge in science and astronomy was Copan. One of the greatest accomplishments of the priests in this center was the development of the Mayan calendar. These priests also used the concept of zero. They recorded observations of the heavenly bodies, which are amazingly accurate.