Name: Date:

Primary Sources Packet

Document 1
Source: Lynn V. Foster, Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World, Facts on File, Inc., New
York, NY, 2002.

Archaeologists have argued that

civilization requires urban centers and
that the measure of a civilization can be
made by the architecture of its cities
Based on its architectural remains,
Maya civilization ranks as one of the
great preindustrial cultures of the world.
By 1975, archaeologists had
catalogued more than 2,500 Maya
locations of varying size and date with
some stone construction. Numerous
cities with populations in the tens of
thousands have left a monumental record
in the preconquest era.
Masonry architecture
required central organization, craft
specialization, and political power to The Mayan City of El Mirador
command a large workforce The Maya
were able to organize the labor of masons, plasterers, and supervising architects to build and
maintain their cities of immense stone pyramids, stone palaces, and temples, ball courts, and
other ritual buildings. For the single home of a Copn nobleman, it has been estimated that at
least 80 to 130 workers would have been employed fulltime to finish it in two to three months.
The densest urban core of a city such as Tikal covered six square kilometers (more than two
square miles), so the number of workers involved in construction and reconstruction must have
been immense.
 Document 2

THE MAYAN NUMBER SYSTEM

The Maya used only three sings: the dot, (1), the bar, (5), and the shell, (0).
The first nineteen numerals were written as follows:

Just as with our decimal system (based on 10) we move one column to the left when we reach 10, so
with the Mayan vigesimal system (based on 20) they moved one rung upwards when they reached 20.

= 20

The numbers 21 to 25 were written as follows:

= 21 = 22 =23 =24 = 25
Some examples:
2 x 20= 40 5 x 20= 100 (5 x 20)
+1 = 101

In our decimal system, we move a further column to the left when we reach 10 x 10 = 100. In the same
way thee Maya moved a further rung upwards (to make three rungs) when they reached 20 x 20 = 400.

Some examples:
(2 x 400) (3 x 400)
+(2 x 20) +(5 x 20)
+5+2= 847 +2= 1302

Note: We write numbers using a system in which the value of each digit depends on its position
within the number. The digit furthest to the right stands for ones, the next digit to the left stands
for tens, and so on. This type of system cannot work without a symbol for zero to show when a
position is empty. The Maya used a positional system based on the number 20, rather than the
number 10, and they were one of the first cultures in the world to develop the idea of the zero.
 Document 3

Source: Barbara L. Beck, The Ancient Maya, Franklin Watts, 1983.

The Maya had two main calendars. One was the sacred or ritual calendar, called tzolkin.
It was a cycle of 260 days, and it marked the ceremonial life of the people. They also had a civil
calendar, based on the solar year. This calendar had eighteen months of twenty days each, adding
up to 360 days in all. To this were added five unlucky days, called Uayeb, to make a total of 365
days as in our calendar. This solar calendar was called haab The two calendar cycles were used
together. They were like two cogged wheels, revolving alongside each other, with the cogs (days)
meshing as the wheels turned.
The Maya developed the calendar further than any other New World people, and
their calendar was more accurate than any other of their time. They were masters of the science
of time measurement Observatories were built, at Chichen Itz and other cities, to use in
studying the movements of the sun and the moon, planets such as Venus and Mars, and the stars.
The Maya priest-astronomers collected information over many years in order to make their
predictions and develop their systems. So great was their knowledge that they could predict
eclipses of the moon

Source:
Eric S. Thompson,
The rise and Fall of
Maya Civilization,
University of Oklahoma
Press, 1973.

Solar
Calendar

Ritual Calendar

Note: In addition to their ritual and solar calendars, the Maya kept a
long count cycle that began in 3114 BCE and was scheduled to end
5,200 years later on December 21, 2012.
 Thinking Notes as you Read

Instructions: read the three documents. Take notes, anything that comes to mind while you read,
about what are the main ideas of the three documents.
Consider the main ideas: Author purpose
o Put one exclamation point (!) next to sentence you like.
o Put one question mark (?) next to idea that raises a question- Possible point of
discussion in class.
o Put two question marks (??) next to idea or something that is not clear or is
confusing to you- can ask about in class to be clarified and discussed.
Lastly, keep in mind MAIN IDEA as you read the documents.
o Main idea: The Maya achievement that was the most remarkable.
Note: BOLDED words are vocabulary words; see vocabulary list for definitions.

Document 1: Guiding Questions

1. Who wrote the document? ____________________________________________
When? _________________________________________
2. Do you think the document is reliable? Why or why not? _________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
3. What does the ability to build great buildings out of stone tell you about Mayan political
power? Explain. _________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. According to the document passage, what was remarkable about Mayan architecture? ___
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
5. What is the relation between population in Mayan cities and construction in those cities?
Provide evidence from reading. ______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
6. Looking at the image in the document and citing information from the text, how
remarkable is the architecture of the city of El Mirador. Why? _____________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
7. Compared to the other two achievements in the other two documents, is this achievement
more or less remarkable, why?_______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Document 2: Guiding Questions

1. Who wrote the document? ____________________________________________
When? _________________________________________
2. Do you think the document is reliable? Why or why not? _________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. On what number was the Mayan number system based? __________________________
4. Why is it relevant to have a symbol for zero in a numerical system like Mayan? Use
evidence from the note and/or graph in the document. ____________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
5. Compare and contrast: In what ways does the Mayan number system resemble number
system we use today? ______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
6. Looking at the graph in the document and citing information from the text, how
remarkable is the Mayan number system, why? _________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
7. Compared to the other two achievements in the other two documents, is this achievement
more or less remarkable, why? ______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Document 3: Guiding Questions

1. Who wrote the document? ____________________________________________
When? _________________________________________
2. Do you think the document is reliable? Why or why not? _________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. What was the purpose of each of the three Mayan calendars? Use information from the
text and the note. _________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. What are the similarities between Maya astronomers and modern day astronomers? Use
information from the text. __________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
5. Why did the Maya use 20-day segments in their ritual calendar and 20-day moths in their
solar calendar? ___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
6. What are the similarities between the Mayan calendar and the calendar we use today?
Cite information from the text. ______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
7. Looking at the graph in the document and citing information from the text, how
remarkable is the Mayan calendar, why? _______________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
8. Compared to the other two achievements in the other two documents, is this achievement
more or less remarkable, why? ______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________