The Mayan Realm

THE MAYAN REALM
The Mayans created a great civilisation in parts of what are now Mexico and Honduras and in Guatamala. The ancestors of the Mayans were hunters but about 2,500 BC they adopted farming as a way of life. In the years from 300 BC to 250 AD organised Mayan kingdoms emerged. Then from 250 AD to 600 AD an advanced civilisation emerged. The Mayans invented writing and they made great advances in astronomy and mathematics.

MAYAN LIFE
Mayan Society
In the centre of each Mayan city was an area of palaces, pyramid temples (some of them 70 metres high) and squares, where religious ceremonies were held. In the squares were stelae (upright stones) which were carved with the dates of important ceremonies and events.
Ordinary people lived in the surrounding houses. Most of the Mayans lived in the countryside but many cities were large. Some had populations of 45,000.
Below the rulers were the nobles and priests. Below them were freemen, craftsmen and farmers. Below them were slaves who did all the hardest work.
The Mayans did not have animals for carrying loads. All goods were carried by human beings.
The Mayans did not have metal tools. All their weapons and tools were made from wood and stone.
However the Mayans invented a system of writing using pictures to represent sounds. Writing was painted onto books made from fig tree bark. It was also painted on pottery. Unfortunately the Spaniards burned many Mayan books so little is known of their history.
The Mayans also wrote numbers and they had a symbol for zero, which was very unusual among ancient civilisations. The Mayans were excellent astronomers and they could predict eclipses.
Mayan Food
The Mayans practiced 'slash and burn' agriculture. They cut down an area of forest and burned the trees. They Mayans sowed crops in May and harvested them in November. However after a few years the soil would lose its fertility. The farmers would then 'slash and burn' another part of the forest. Meanwhile the abandoned area would become overgrown again.
Mayan farmers also drained swampy areas for farming. They dug canals for irrigation.
Mayan farmers did not have ploughs but they did use digging sticks.
Maize was the staple food of the Mayans but they also grew beans, chillies, sweet potatoes and squashes. The Mayans also ate fruit like papaya, watermelon and avocados.
The Mayans ate animals like deer, turkeys, dogs, peccaries (wild pigs) and a kind of rodent called an agouti. They also fished.
The Mayans also kept bees for honey.
In the mornings Mayans ate a 'porridge' made of maize and chillies called saka. During the day they ate 'dumplings' made of maize dough with vegetables or meat inside them. The 'dumplings' were called tamales and they were wrapped in leaves from maize plants. The main meal was in the evening. Mayans ate maize 'pancakes' called tortillas. They were eaten with 'stew' made with vegetable and (sometimes) meat.
The Mayans drank an alcoholic drink called blache. Mayan nobles drank chocolate.
Mayan Houses
Ordinary Mayans lived in simple huts of wood or stone with thatched roofs. They had no chimneys or windows. They did not have wooden doors either. Instead doorways were hung with cloth screens.
There was very little furniture. Mayans slept on beds, which were low platforms made of a wooden frame filled with woven bark.
Dead Mayans were buried under the floors of their houses.
Rich Mayans, of course, lived in far more elaborate homes with many rooms.
Mayan Clothes
Living in a hot climate both sexes wore simple cotton clothes. Men wore a loincloth. Women wore a long cotton dress called a huipil. It if turned cold both sexes wore a cloak called a manta.
Mayans wore leather sandals.
The Mayans were short, stocky people with dark hair. Both sexes wore their hair long and tied back.
They believed that flattened foreheads were beautiful. While their skulls were still soft babies had wooden frames attached to them to flatten them. The Mayans also believed that being cross-eyed was attractive. So they tied a bead on the front of a child's head so it dangled between their eyes. The child would get cross-eyes by looking at the bead.
The Mayans also tattooed themselves and they filed their teeth.
Mayan nobles put clay on top of their noses to make a long ridge. Rich Mayans also wore jewellery made from jade.
The Mayans also hunted macaws and parrots for their feathers, which were used to make headresses.
Mayan Children
Mayan women carried small children on their backs. That left their hands free for cooking and weaving. Girls learned these skills from their mothers. They also learned to make pottery. Mayan boys learned farming and other trades from their fathers.
Both boys and girls got married in the early or mid teens. Their parents chose a partner for them helped by a matchmaker.
Mayan Religion
The Mayans were polytheists (they worshipped many gods). The most important god was the sun god. However almost every aspect of life had its own god. There was a maize god and even a god of tattooing.
The Mayans believed that it was important to keep the gods happy. To please them the Mayans burned incense in temples. They also practiced human sacrifice. Captives taken in war were often sacrificed. (If they could the Mayans would not kill their enemies. Instead they would capture them for sacrifice).
The Mayans built many pyramid shaped temples and they had many priests. The priest praciced divination (fortune telling) and carried out sacrifices. The Mayans also had many religious ceremonies that involved music and dancing. (The Mayans used wind and percussion instruments rather than string instruments. They played wooden flutes and trumpets and drums made from turtle shells).
One religious ceremony involved playing a ball game called Pok-A-Tok. It was played with a solid rubber ball. You were not allowed to touch the ball with your hands or feet. Instead you had to use your knees, hips, elbows and forearms. (Players wore padding as the ball was very hard). Sometimes prisoners of war were forced to play Pok-A-Tok and were sacrificed afterwards.

Class Society: The Maya had a class society. There were slaves, peasants, craftsmen, nobility, priests, and leaders. There were also warriors. At the top were the nobles and priests. The middle class had the craftsmen, traders, and warriors. At the bottom were farmers, other workers, and slaves.
Craftsmen: The Mayas wove beautiful fabrics. They made musical instruments like drums, shell horns, and castanets. Their statues were incredible and huge. Archaeologists can tell a great deal about the ancient Maya from their wonderful pottery and well crafted clay figures. The art they created honored their gods, their leaders, and their daily life.
Slaves: Slaves were people who were captured from warring tribes. Slaves worked in the homes of noble families. Some slaves cared for the children. Some cleaned the house. Still others worked in the fields.
The ‘Batab’ were rulers of small towns and had social, religious, and military duties.
. Government The role of leadership in the Mayan society was passed from a father to his eldest son. The ruler of the Mayan country was called a “Halach Uinic” The Mayan council consisted of the heads, the batab, the high priests and other people of rank. The Mayan country was governed by foreigners. The military ruler or the “nacom” played a huge role in the government. The nacom had a 3 year term. There was also a nacom for human sacrifices. The nacom would be in charge of cutting and ripping out the hearts of the victims.
Most of the Mayan people were farmers. The main staple of their diet was corn also known as maize. Other things that they grew were beans, squash, avocado pear, avocado, sweet potato, guava, chili peppers, cocoa beans, vanilla beans, papaya and tomatoes. They would also eat fruits from trees.
The Mayans used a farming technique called milpa, also known as slash and burn. They would clear the land by cutting down and burning all of the foliage in the spring before the summer rains. Then they would plant their crops by poking digging sticks into the ground and planting the seeds in the holes. The slash and burn technique means that the fields would only be fertile for a few years. The Mayans practiced crop rotation to get more growing seasons out of the field.
Another farming technique used by the Mayans was terracing. They would build stone walls to level out fields in mountainous areas.
Most of the plants grown by the Mayans were for food. Other plants were grown to make dyes for clothing and chewing gum from the Sapodilla tree. The Mayans also grew plants to make medicines to heal people. They would cut down timber from the jungle to build houses and temples.
In addition to farming the Mayans raised dogs, turkeys and ducks for food. They also used the feathers from the turkeys and ducks for clothes. The Mayans raised bees to make honey. In the wild they hunted deer, rabbits, boar, armadillos and they fished. They also ate fish, turtles, iguanas and insects. The Mayans used every part of the animal for food, clothing and tools. This is very similar to the Native Americans in our country.
The main part of the Mayans diet was corn or maize. The woman would grind the corn into flour and then make a paste. Then they baked it into a tortilla, similar to a taco shell.
The Mayan family all lived together. The men farmed and hunted. The women would cook and weave. The children helped out their mothers with the chores and only went to school if they came from a noble family.
The Mayans had a class system of people, which meant that the people at the top governed over the people at the bottom. At the top were the nobles with the King being the most powerful. The King's power was hereditary which means that the oldest son would become the King when he died. The King appointed the other people. The next most powerful were the priests who helped the king and also lead religious ceremonies. The next level of people was the commoners. Most people were in this commoner category and were farmers. The bottom of the system was the slaves. Slaves were caught during wars or if people broke a law like stealing they would become a slave.