MAYAN ART

ENGLISH 4

STUDENTS:
KANTUN CANCHE JARLI MISAEL
ESPAÑA MEDINA KEVIN ALEXANDER
DATE: 27/1/2023
TEACHER: ALEJANDRA CABRERA
 HISTORY

The term "Maya" refers to both a modern-day group of people who live across the globe
and their ancestors who built an ancient civilization that stretched across much of Central
America. The Maya civilization reached its peak during the first millennium A.D., and Maya
ruins can still be seen across Central America.

The Maya civilization was never unified; instead, it consisted of numerous small states,
each centered on a city ruled by a king. Sometimes, a stronger Maya state would
dominate a weaker state and demand tribute and labor from it.

Nomadic hunter-gatherers had a presence in Central America for thousands of years.

However, permanent village really took off when these people began cultivating maize in
what archaeologists call the Preclassical period (1800 B.C. to A.D. 250). This led to the
creation of early Maya cities.

"Effective farming, as expressed by densely inhabited villages, was an innovation of the

Preclassic period," wrote Michael Coe, the late emeritus professor of anthropology at Yale
University, in his book "The Maya" (Thames and Hudson, 2015).

According to Coe, farming became more effective during this period, likely because of the
breeding of more productive forms of maize, and perhaps more importantly, the
introduction of the "nixtamal" process. In this process, maize was soaked in lime, or
something similar, and cooked, which "enormously increased the nutritional value of
corn," Coe wrote. Maize complemented squash, bean, chili pepper and manioc (or
cassava), which were already being used by the Maya, researchers reported in 2014 in
the Journal of Archaeological Science(opens in new tab).

During this time, the Maya were likely influenced by the Olmecs, a civilization to the west
of them in the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. The Olmec people
may have initially devised the long-count calendar that the Maya would become famous
for, Coe wrote. However, the discovery of a ceremonial site dated to 1000 B.C. at Ceibal,
an ancient Maya site, implies that the relationship between the Maya and Olmecs was
more complicated than previously thought. The ceremonial compound dates back 200
years before similar structures that were built by the Olmecs, suggesting that they did not
inspire the Maya.

Archaeologists have found that early Maya cities were sometimes carefully planned.
Nixtun-Ch'ich, in modern-day Petén, Guatemala, had pyramids, temples and other
structures arranged using a grid system, which demonstrates urban planning. The city
flourished between 600 B.C. and 300 B.C.

MYTHICAL ORIGINS

The ancient Maya had a lengthy and complicated mythical origin story that was recorded
by the Quiché, or K'iche Maya (who lived in what is now Guatemala) in the Popol Vuh, the
"Book of Counsel," Coe wrote in his book. The Popol Vuh was written between 1554 and
1558, according to Britannica(opens in new tab), during the protracted conquest of the
region by Spanish forces. The stories in the Popol Vuh tell how the forefather gods Tepew
and Q'ukumatz "brought forth the earth from a watery void, and endowed it with animals
and plants."

Creating sentient beings proved more difficult, but eventually humans were created,
including the hero twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, who embarked on a series of
adventures, which included defeating the lords of the underworld. Their journey climaxed
with the resurrection of their father, the maize god. "It seems clear that this whole mythic
cycle was closely related to maize fertility," Coe wrote.

HUMAN SACRIFICE

According to Sharer, human sacrifices were made

on special occasions. "Among the Maya, human
sacrifice was not an everyday event but was
essential to sanctify certain rituals, such as the
inauguration of a new ruler, the designation of a
new heir to the throne, or the dedication of an important new temple or ball court,"
Sharer wrote. The victims were often prisoners of war, he noted.

At Chichén Itzá, victims would be painted blue, a color that is believed to have honored
the god Chaak, and cast into a well. Additionally, near the site's ball court, there is a panel
that shows a person being sacrificed. This may depict a ball-player from either the winning
or losing team being killed after a game.

WRITING & ASTRONOMY

The movements of the planet Venus appear to have played a particularly important role in
ancient Maya religion. Two Maya books, called the Dresden and Grolier codices, contain
detailed records of the movements of the planet. The ancient Maya "were probably doing
large-scale ritual activity connected to the different phases of Venus," said Gerardo
Aldana, a science historian in the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at the
University of California, Santa Barbara.

Research reveals that at least some of the writers of Maya codices were part of "a specific
cohort of ritual specialists called taaj," a team of researchers wrote in a 2015 article for
the journal American Anthropologist(opens in new tab). The team studied a room
containing murals with inscriptions on them at the Maya site of Xultan, Guatemala, and
found that the writing of codices took place in the room and that the "taaj" wrote them.
 MAIN CHARACTERISTICS

One of their characteristics that distinguished the

Mayas from other cultures was how they were
divided between: royal family, servants of the
state and their farmers, since the Mayan economy
was based on agriculture as their main activity,
among their most productive crops were corn,
beans and tubers, they were perfect irrigators of
the soil and their trade with other neighboring peoples kept them with a very strong
economy.

another main characteristic is their construction techniques and architecture of all their
temples, palaces and towers, demonstrating an architectural and mathematical
superiority, which can be seen in their main pyramids, another activity that dominated
was in the crafts highlighting their weaving of threads and use of dyes for clothing.

the mayas were a polytheistic people since they believed in several gods related to nature
with the god of rain (chaac) and the god of corn (Ah mun) among others.

they were a very smart culture since they were able to develop their own complex
calendar that managed to establish with accuracy the 365 days of the year, among other
mathematical contributions they developed a system of symbols that they used as writing
and numerical system with an important contribution when they invented the 0.
 HOW DOES ART REFECT THE HISTORY AND CULTURE OF THE MAYAS?

the mayan culture has a lot of influence

nowadays especially in the culture of
Yucatan, Campeche and Quintana Roo
since they are direct descendants of
this culture, and we see it reflected in
their culture, their gastronomy and
their language;

It is indisputable that many of the great architectural monuments of Mesoamerica, such

as colonial churches, are impregnated with the same knowledge of physics and
engineering that made possible the great pyramids built by the Mayas, as many of the
builders were indigenous heirs of such knowledge But above all, there remains a large
population that, In addition to preserving the genetic heritage of their ancestors, they
continue to keep much of the cultural tradition, in very adverse contexts, of societies that
despise their own past and Beyond this, the Mayas made very significant contributions to
architecture, mathematics, topography, textile art, cuisine, which have been projected
through the centuries to the current Mesoamerican culture, which includes part of
Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador.
References:
J. salvador. "La cultura maya sigue beneficiando al mundo". Cubadebate.
http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2012/12/18/la-cultura-maya-sigue-beneficiando-al-
mundo/#:~:text=Más%20allá%20de%20esto,%20los,Belice,%20Honduras%20y%20El%20S
alvador. (accedido el 28 de enero de 2023).

M. dolores. "El mosaico étnico del Mundo Maya". University of Delaware.

https://www1.udel.edu/leipzig/texts1/munmaya7.htm (accedido el 28 de enero de 2023).

M. Desconocido. "La herencia de un glorioso pasado: los mayas de hoy - México

Desconocido". México Desconocido. https://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/los-mayas-

de-hoy.html (accedido el 28 de enero de 2023).

E. S. Aguirre. "10 APORTACIONES de la cultura MAYA más destacadas - [con VÍDEO!!]".

unprofesor.com. https://www.unprofesor.com/ciencias-sociales/aportaciones-de-la-

cultura-maya-4687.html (accedido el 28 de enero de 2023).