Terms / Concepts:
- cenote
- prehensil tail
- caves
Notes:
- About 4000 ybp hunters turned to farmers
- used slash-and-burn agriculture, which was the foundation of
a new way of life
- maize, beans, squash were the main domesticates
- maize eaten alone has little nutritional value
- when used with lime and water the protein intake is
increased
- by ca. A.D. 800 supported "at least 10,000,000 people"
- At their height, 1200 years ago, the Mayan astronomers could predict
an accurate calendar within 1 day / 6000 years
- 1100 ybp deforestation led to the decline of Mayan civilization
- there was little forest left to hunt
- "Water was Power"
- caves are important in Mesoamerica
- caves are the entry to the underworld
- cenotes are viewed as caves
- underground rivers flow hundreds of miles under the Maya lands
- they trap seawater from before the last ice age
Three
Worlds
were united by the ceiba (kapok) tree
(see below)
were also united by the temples which joined all three worlds
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-- the eagle is the lord of the
sky
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(the middle world)
-- has its own vertical divisions, and each layer has its
own forms of life
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-- snakes could enter the underworld,
and were considered guardians of the underworld
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- Rituals were especially important during the spring and autumn equinox
- The Maya moved into the tropical rainforest from the North
- they harvested many things from the forest: food, building materials,
medicine, chicle (world's first chewing gum)
- the cocoa bean became currency
- February to May was a period of long drought
- the life of the forest revolved around the coming of the rain
- Animals:
- animals of the forest appear in art and myth
- animals became the names of kings, cities, . . .
- the Maya worshipped animals that could cross boundaries, including
the boundary between land and water
- alligators
- turtle
- associated with the chac god (water)
- and with the maize god
- was important in Mayan diet
- were farmed
-
Maya kept bees
- honey was used to make an alcoholic during important in
ritual
-
Architecture
- built temples / pyramids out of limestone that was soft, but
which hardened over time with exposure
- Myths
- celebrate cunning and wit
- animals of the forest appear in art and myth
- in Mayan myth the bat represented the unknown, the night
- in his underworld all who entered were doomed
- The Night was a time of the unknown. It belonged to the spirit world.
- 2 / 3 of the Mayan jungle animals are nocturnal, and many of
these have developed a life in the trees
- the celestial bodies of the night were gods reenacting mythical
events from the beginning of time
- the night was the time when mortals communicated with the supernatural
- astronomers, mathematicians, timekeepers . . . were important specialists
- War, famine, greed, overpopulation . . . all of these contributed
to the downfall of the Maya
Cultures:
Sites / Locations:
Countries:
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