Research Paper On Mayan Civilization

The Maya civilization was one of the most dominant native societies of Mesoamerica. It is known for its agriculture, pottery, hieroglyph writing, calendar-making and mathematics, and left behind a surprising amount of impressive architecture and symbolic artwork. Geographically, the Mayan civilization covered what are now Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and part of Mexico. The center of the Mayan empire which was located in Guatemala reached its peak of power and influence in the sixth century. In The earliest Maya settlements date to around 1800 B.C. or the beginning of what is called the Formative Period. The Mayan’s were agricultural, growing crops such as corn, beans, squash and cassava. They also specialized in building
cities and pyramids, roads and engraved stone monuments. In terms of religion, The Maya were deeply religious, and worshiped various gods related to nature, including the gods of the sun, the moon, rain and corn. The top of the Mayan society were the kings, who claimed to be related to gods and followed a hereditary succession. They were thought to serve as facilitators between the gods and people on earth, and performed the complicated religious ceremonies and rituals Around A.D.
250, the golden age started for the Mayan empire. Classic Maya civilization grew to some 40 cities, each city held a population of between 5,000 and 50,000 people. At its peak, the Maya population may have reached 2,000,000. The Mayan were not only advanced in agriculture, but also significantly advanced in mathematics and astronomy, including the use of the zero and the development of a complex calendar system based on 365 days. Though early researchers concluded that the Maya were a peaceful society of priests and scribes, but in further studies later concluded the harsh and violent the Mayan empire really was, including the war between rival Mayan city-states and the importance of torture and human sacrifice to their religious
ritual. By the early to mid-20th century, a small portion of their system of hieroglyph writing had been decoded, and more about their history and culture became known. Most of what historians know about the Maya comes from what remains of their architecture and art, including stone carvings and imprints on their buildings and monuments. The Maya also made paper from tree barks and wrote an impressive amount of books. Historians were also intrigued by their ability to build a great civilization in a tropical rainforest climate.
Traditionally, ancient peoples had flourished in drier climates, where the centralized management of water resources formed the basis of society. Mayan lowlands, however, there were few navigable rivers for trade and transport, as well as no obvious need for an irrigation system. Even though their location didn’t have may raid amounts of gold and silver The Maya took advantage of the area’s many natural resources, including limestone (for construction), the volcanic rock obsidian (for tools and weapons) and salt. The environment also held other treasures for the Maya, including jade, quetzal feathers (used to decorate the costumes of Maya nobility) and marine shells, which were used as trumpets in ceremonies and
warfare. In the late eighth through the end of the ninth century, something unknown happened to shake the Maya civilization to its foundations. One by one, the Classic cities in the southern lowlands were abandoned, and by A.D. 900, Maya civilization in that region had collapsed. The reason for this mysterious decline is unknown, though scholars have developed several competing theories. Some believe that by the ninth century the Maya had exhausted the environment around them to the point that it could no longer sustain a very large population. Other Mayan historians argue that constant warfare among competing city-states led the complicated military, family and trade alliances between them to break down. Finally, some think that a catastrophic environmental change happened–like an extremely long, intense period of drought–may have wiped out the Classic Maya civilization. Drought would have hit cities like where rainwater was necessary for drinking as well as for crop irrigation–especially hard.
All three of these factors–overpopulation and overuse of the land, common warfare and drought–may have played a part in the downfall of the Maya in the southern lowlands. In the highlands few Maya cities continued to flourish in the Post-Classic Period (A.D. 900-1500). By the time the Spanish invaders arrived, however, most Maya were living in agricultural villages, their great cities buried under a layer of rainforest green.