INTRODUCTION:

The Maya Civilizationalso called the Mayan civilizationis the general name archaeologists have given to several independent, loosely affiliated city states who shared a cultural heritage in terms of language, customs, dress, artistic style and material culture. They occupied the Central American continent, including the southern parts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, an area of about 150,000 square miles. In general, researchers tend to split the Maya into the Highland and Lowland Maya. By the way, archaeologists prefer to use the term "Maya civilization" rather than the more common "Mayan civilization", leaving "Mayan" to refer to the language.

MAYA HIGHLAND:
The Maya Highland is that part of the Maya civilization that thrived above 800 meters above sea level or so, in the southeastern Central American mountainous regions of Mexico (especially Chiapas), Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The environment of the highlands was quite a bit different from that of the lowlands. The area is dominated by geologically recent mountains, some volcanically active; the tallest of these rises to 14,332 feet above sea level. As a result, the soils are deep and rich, and obsidian is found in abundance. The climate is temperate, with no frost regions, and between 2003000 mm (~10120 inches) of rainfall each year. The forests are part deciduous and part evergreen.

MAYA LOWLAND:
The Maya lowlands are where the Classic Maya civilization arose. An extensive area including almost some 250,000 square kilometers, the Maya lowlands are located in the northern part of Central America, in the Yucatan peninsula, Guatemala and Belize below approximately 800 meters above sea level. There is little exposed surface water: what there is can be found in lakes in the Peten, swamps and cenotes, natural sinkholes created by the Chicxulub crater impact. But the area receives tropical rainfall in its rainy season (MayJanuary), from 20 inches a year in the southern part to a whopping 147 inches in the northern Yucatan. The area is characterized by shallow or waterlogged soils, and was once covered in dense tropical forests. The forests harbored a range of animals, including two kinds of deer, peccary, tapir, jaguar, and several species of monkeys. The lowland Maya grew avocado, beans, chili peppers, squash, cacao and maize, and raised turkeys.

TIMELINE:
Mesoamerican archaeology is broken up into general sections. The "Maya" are in general thought to have maintained a cultural continuity between about 500 BC and AD 900, with the "Classic Maya" beween AD 250-900.

Archaic before 2500 BC Hunting and gathering lifestyle prevails.

Early Formative 2500-1000 BC First beans and maize agriculture, people live in isolated farmsteads and hamlets Middle Formative 1000-400 BC First monumental architecture, first villages; people switch to full-time agriculture, Olmec contacts, and, at Nakbe, the first evidence of social ranking,beginning about 600400 BC Important sites: Nakbe, Chalchuapa, Kaminaljuyu Late Formative 400 BC-AD 250 First massive palaces are built at urban Nakbe and El Mirador, first writing, constructed road systems and water control, organized trade and widespread warfare Important sites: El Mirador, Nakbe, Cerros, Komchen, Tikal, Kaminaljuyu Classic AD 250-900 Widespread literacy including calendars and lists of royal lineages at Copn and Tikal, first dynastic kingdoms, changing political alliances, large palaces and mortuary pyramids constructed, intensification of agriculture. Populations peak at about 100 per square kilometers. Paramount kings and polities installed at Tikal, Calakmul, Caracol, and Dos Pilos Important sites: Copn, Palenque, Tikal, Calakmul, Caracol, Dos Pilas, Uxmal, Coba, Dzibilchaltun, Kabah, Labna, Sayil Postclassic AD 900-1500 Some centers abandoned, written records stop. Puuc hill country flourishes and small rural towns prosper near rivers and lakes until the Spanish arrive in 1517 Important sites: Chichn Itz, Mayapan, Iximche, Utatlan)

KNOWN KINGS AND LEADERS:

Each independent Maya city had its own set of institutionalized rulers, beginning in the Classic period (AD 250-900). Documentary evidence for the kings and queens has been found on stele and temple wall inscriptions and a few sarcophagi. During the Classic period, kings were generally in charge of a particular city and its supporting region. The area controlled by a specific king might be hundreds or even thousands of square kilometers. The ruler's court included palaces, temples and ball courts, and great plazas, open areas where festivals and other public events were held. Kings were hereditary positions, and, at least after they were dead, the kings were sometimes considered gods.

IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT THE MAYA CIVILIZATION:

Population: There is no complete population estimate, but it must have been in the millions. In the 1600s, the Spanish reported that there were between 600,000-1 million people living in the Yucatan peninsula alone. Each of the larger cities probably had populations in excess of 100,000, but that doesn't count the rural sectors that supported the larger cities. Environment: The Maya Lowland region below 800 meters is tropical with rainy and dry seasons. There is little exposed water except in lakes in limestone faults, swamps, and cenotes

natural sinkholes in the limestone that are geologically a result of the Chicxulub crater impact. Originally, the area was blanketed with multiple canopied forests, and mixed vegetation. The Highland Maya regions include a string of volcanically active mountains. Eruptions have dumped rich volcanic ash throughout the region, leading to deep rich soils and obsidian deposits. Climate in the highland is temperate, with rare frost. Upland forests originally were mixed pine and deciduous trees.

WRITING, LANGUAGE AND CALENDARS OF THE MAYA CIVILIZATION:

Mayan language: The various groups spoke nearly 30 closely related languages and dialects, including the Mayan and Huastec Writing: The Maya had 800 distinct hieroglyphs, with the first evidence of language written on stela and walls of buildings beginning ca 300 BC. Bark cloth paper codexes were being used no later than the 1500s, but all but a handful were destroyed by Spanish . Calendar: The so called "long count" calendar was invented by Mixe-Zoquean speakers, based on the extant Mesoamerican Calendar. It was adapted by the classic period Maya ca 200 AD. The earliest inscription in long count among the Maya was made dated AD 292. Earliest date listed on the "long count" calendar is about August 11, 3114 BC, what the Maya said was the founding date of their civilization. The first dynastic calendars were being used by about 400 BC Extant written records of the Maya: Popul Vuh, extant Paris, Madrid, and Dresden codices, and the papers of Fray Diego de Landa called "Relacion".

ASTRONOMY:
The Dresden Codex dated to the Late Post Classic/Colonial period (12501520) includes astronomical tables on Venus and Mars, on eclipses, on seasons and the movement of the tides. These tables chart the seasons with respect to their civic year, predict solar and lunar exclipses and tracked the motion of the planets. Intoxicants: Chocolate (Theobroma), blache (fermented honey and an extract from the balche tree; morning glory seeds, pulque (from agave plants), tobacco, intoxicating enemas, Maya Blue Maya Gods: What we know of Maya religion is based on writings and drawings on codices or temples. A few of the gods include: God A or Cimi or Cisin (god of death or flatulent one), God B or Chac, (rain and lightning), God C (sacredness), God D or Itzamna (creator or scribe or learned one), God E (maize), God G (sun), God L (trade or merchant), God K or Kauil, Ixchel or Ix Chel (goddess of fertility), Goddess O or Chac Chel. There are others; and in the Maya pantheon there are sometimes combined gods, glyphs for two different gods appearing as one glyph.

Death and Afterlife: Ideas about death and the afterlife are little known, but the entry to the underworld was called Xibalba or "Place of Fright"

MAYA POLITICS:
Warfare: The Maya had fortified site, and military themes and battles events are illustrated in Maya art by the Early Classic period. Warrior classes, including some professional warriors, were part of the Maya society. Wars were fought over territory, slaves, to avenge insults, and to establish succession. Weaponry: axes, clubs, maces, throwing spears, shields and helmets, bladed spears Ritual sacrifice: offerings thrown into cenotes, and placed in tombs; the Maya pierced their tongues, earlobes, genitals or other body parts for blood sacrifice. animals (mostly jaguars) were sacrificed, and there were human victims, including high ranking enemy warriors who were captured, tortured and sacrificed

MAYAN ARCHITECTURE:
The first steles are associated with the Classic period, and the earliest is from Tikal, where a stele is dated AD 292. Emblem glyphs signified specific rulers and a specific sign called "ahaw" is today interpreted as "lord". Distinctive architectural styles of the Maya include (but aren't limited to) Rio Bec (7th-9th centuries AD, block masonry palaces with towers and central doorways at sites such as Rio Bec, Hormiguero, Chicanna, and Becan); Chenes (7th-9th centuries AD, related to the Rio Bec but without the towers at Hochob Santa rosa Xtampack, Dzibilnocac); Puuc (AD 700-950, intricately designed facades and doorjambs at Chichn Itz, Uxmal, Sayil, Labna, Kabah); and Toltec (or Maya Toltec AD 950-1250, at Chichn Itz. Colha (Belize) The archaeological site of Colha is located in Belize about 60 kilometers north of Belize City. It is primarily known for its Maya occupation, although it was first occupied probably around 3000 BC. Copn (Honduras) The archaeological site of Copn is located in western Honduras, and represents a major Classic period Maya temple and regional center. Cob (Quintana Roo, Mexico) Cob is the name of a large lowland Maya city located between two large lakes in east central Quintana Roo, Mexico. During its heyday (AD 550-850), the city supported a population of up to 55,000 people.

Bonampak (Mexico) Bonampak is a Classic Maya site in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, occupied from about 650-800 AD. The site is probably best known for its marvelous murals, painted with a lot of the mysterious Maya blue pigment.

MAYAN PEOPLE:
The Maya peoples never disappeared, neither at the time of the Classic period decline nor with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores and the subsequent Spanish colonization of the Americas. Today, the Maya and their descendants form sizable populations throughout the Maya area and maintain a distinctive set of traditions and beliefs that are the result of the merger of pre-Columbian and post-Conquest ideas and cultures. Many Mayan languages continue to be spoken as primary languages today; the Rabinal Ach, a play written in the Achi language, was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2005.

ART:
A stucco relief from Palenque depicting Upakal Kinich.Many, consider Maya art of their Classic Era (c. 250 to 900 AD) to be the most sophisticated and beautiful of the ancient New World. The carvings and the reliefs made of stucco at Palenque and the statuary of Copn are especially fine, showing a grace and accurate observation of the human form that reminded early archaeologists of Classical civilizations of the Old World, hence the name bestowed on this era.

BUILDING MATERIALS:
A surprising aspect of the great Maya structures is their lack of many advanced technologies seemingly necessary for such constructions. Lacking draft animals necessary for wheel-based modes of transportation, metal tools and even pulleys, Maya architecture required abundant manpower. Yet, beyond this enormous requirement, the remaining materials seem to have been readily available. All stone for Maya structures appears to have been taken from local quarries. They most often used limestone which remained pliable enough to be worked with stone tools while being quarried and only hardened once removed from its bed. In addition to the structural use of limestone, much of their mortar consisted of crushed, burnt and mixed limestone that mimicked the properties of cement and was used as widely for stucco finishing as it was for mortar

NOTABLE CONSTRUCTIONS:

Ceremonial platforms were commonly limestone platforms of typically less than four meters in height where public ceremonies and religious rites were performed. Constructed in the fashion of a typical foundation platform, these were often accented by carved figures, altars and perhaps tzompantii, a stake used to display the heads of victims or defeated Mesoamerican ballgame opponents.

Palaces were large and often highly decorated, and usually sat close to the center of a city and housed the population's elite. Any exceedingly large royal palace, or one consisting of many chambers on different levels might be referred to as an acropolis. However, often these were one-story and consisted of many small chambers and typically at least one interior courtyard; these structures appear to take into account the needed functionality required of a residence, as well as the decoration required for their inhabitants stature. E-Groups are specific structural configurations present at a number of centers in the Maya area. These complexes are oriented and aligned according to specific astronomical events (primarily the suns solstices and equinoxes) and are thought to have been observatories. These structures are usually accompanied by iconographic reliefs that tie astronomical observation into general Maya mythology. The structural complex is named for Group E at Uaxactun, the first documented in Mesoamerica.

WRITING TOOLS:
Although the archaeological record does not provide examples, Maya art shows that writing was done with brushes made with animal hair and quills. Codex-style writing was usually done in black ink with red highlights, giving rise to the Aztec name for the Maya territory as the "land of red and black".

SCRIBES AND LITERACY:

Scribes held a prominent position in Maya courts. Maya art often depicts rulers with trappings indicating they were scribes or at least able to write, such as having pen bundles in their headdresses. Additionally, many rulers have been found in conjunction with writing tools such as shell or clay inkpots. Although the number of logograms and syllabic symbols required to fully write the language numbered in the hundreds, literacy was not necessarily widespread beyond the elite classes. Graffiti uncovered in various contexts, including on fired bricks, shows nonsensical attempts to imitate the writing system.

WORD ORDER:
Proto-Mayan is thought to have had a basic verbobjectsubject word order with possibilities of switching to VSO in certain circumstances, such as complex sentences, sentences where object and subject were of equal animacy and when the subject was definite.Today Yucatecan, Tzotzil and Tojolab'al have a basic fixed VOS word order. Mamean, Q'anjob'al, Jakaltek and one dialect of Chuj have a fixed VSO one. Only Ch'orti' has a basic SVO word order. Other Mayan languages allow both VSO and VOS word orders.

SUPPLEMENTARY SERIES:
Many Classic period inscriptions include a series of glyphs known as the Supplementary Series. The operation of this series was largely worked out by John E. Teeple (18741931). The Supplementary Series most commonly consists of the following elements:

Lords of the Night Each night was ruled by one of the nine lords of the underworld. This nine day-cycle was usually written as two glyphs: a glyph that referred to the Nine Lords as a group, followed by a glyph for the lord that would rule the next night. Venus cycle Another important calendar for the Maya was the Venus cycle. The Maya kings had skilled astronomers who could calculate the Venus cycle with great accuracy. There are six pages in the Postclassic Dresden Codex devoted to the accurate calculation of the heliacal rising of Venus. The Maya were able to achieve such accuracy by careful observation over many years. Venus was often referred to as both "The Morning Star" and "The Evening Star" because of its visibility during both times. This makes Venus unique. There are various theories as to why the Venus cycle was especially important for the Maya. Across Mesoamerica, Venus was often depicted as "defeating" the Sun and the Moon, perhaps because of its persistent visibility after transitions from day-into-night (and vice-versa). Most scholars agree that Venus was associated with war and that the Maya used it to divine good times (called electional astrology) for their coronations and wars. Maya rulers planned for wars to begin when Venus rose. Tzolk'in The tzolk'in (in modern Maya orthography; also commonly written tzolkin) is the name commonly employed by Mayanist researchers for the Maya Sacred Round or 260-day calendar. The word tzolk'in is a neologism coined in Yucatec Maya,to mean "count of days" (Coe 1992). The various names of this calendar as used by precolumbian Maya peoples are still debated by scholars. The Aztec calendar equivalent was called Tonalpohualli, in the Nahuatl language. The tzolk'in calendar combines twenty day names with the thirteen numbers of the trecena cycle to produce 260 unique days. It is used to determine the time of religious and ceremonial events and for divination. Each successive day is numbered from 1 up to 13 and then starting again at 1. Separately from this, every day is given a name in sequence from a list of 20 day names: Origin of the Tzolk'in The exact origin of the Tzolk'in is not known, but there are several theories. One theory is that the calendar came from mathematical operations based on the numbers thirteen and twenty, which were important numbers to the Maya. The numbers multiplied together equal 260. Another theory is that the 260-day period came from the length of human pregnancy. This is close to the average number of days between the first missed menstrual period and birth, unlike Naegele's rule which is 40 weeks (280 days) between the last menstrual period and birth. It is postulated that midwives originally developed the calendar to predict babies' expected birth dates. The deity Ix Chel is thus of particular interest due to her mythic relation to the calendar.

A third theory comes from understanding of astronomy, geography and archaeology. The mesoamerican calendar probably originated with the Olmecs, and a settlement existed at Izapa, in southeast Chiapas Mexico, before 1200 BC. A fourth theory is that the calendar is based on the crops. From planting to harvest is approximately 260 days. Haab The Haab' was the Maya solar calendar made up of eighteen months of twenty days each plus a period of five days ("nameless days") at the end of the year known as Wayeb' (or Uayeb in 16th C. orthography). The five days of Wayeb', were thought to be a dangerous time. Foster (2002) writes, "During Wayeb, portals between the mortal realm and the Underworld dissolved. No boundaries prevented the ill-intending deities from causing disasters." To ward off these evil spirits, the Maya had customs and rituals they practiced during Wayeb'. For example, people avoided leaving their houses and washing or combing their hair. Bricker (1982) estimates that the Haab' was first used around 550 BC with a starting point of the winter solstice. As a calendar for keeping track of the seasons, the Haab' was a bit inaccurate, since it treated the year as having exactly 365 days, and ignored the extra quarter day (approximately) in the actual tropical year. This meant that the seasons moved with respect to the calendar year by a quarter day each year, so that the calendar months named after particular seasons no longer corresponded to these seasons after a few centuries. The Haab' is equivalent to the wandering 365-day year of the ancient Egyptians.

CALENDAR ROUND:
Neither the Tzolk'in nor the Haab' system numbered the years. The combination of a Tzolk'in date and a Haab' date was enough to identify a date to most people's satisfaction, as such a combination did not occur again for another 52 years, above general life expectancy. Because the two calendars were based on 260 days and 365 days respectively, the whole cycle would repeat itself every 52 Haab' years exactly. This period was known as a Calendar Round. The end of the Calendar Round was a period of unrest and bad luck among the Maya, as they waited in expectation to see if the gods would grant them another cycle of 52 years. Not every possible combination of Tzolk'in and Haab can occur. For Tzolk'in days Imix, Kimi, Chwen and Kib' the Haab' coefficient can only be 4, 9, 14 or 19. For Tzolk'in days Ik', Manik', Eb' and Kab'an the Haab' coefficient can only be 0, 5, 10 or 15.

LONG COUNT CALENDAR:

Since Calendar Round dates repeat every 18,980 days, approximately 52 solar years, the cycle repeats roughly once each lifetime, so a more refined method of dating was needed if history was to be recorded accurately. To specify dates over periods longer than 52 years, Mesoamericans used the Long Count calendar.

The Maya name for a day was k'in. Twenty of these k'ins are known as a winal or uinal. Eighteen winals make one tun. Twenty tuns are known as a k'atun. Twenty k'atuns make a b'ak'tun. . The Long Count 0.0.1.0.0 represents 360 days, rather than the 400 in a purely base-20 (vigesimal) count. Since the Long Count dates are unambiguous, the Long Count was particularly well suited to use on monuments. The monumental inscriptions would not only include the 5 digits of the Long Count, but would also include the two tzolk'in characters followed by the two haab' characters. Misinterpretation of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is the basis for a New Age belief that a cataclysm will take place on December 21, 2012. December 21, 2012 is simply the day that the calendar will go to the next b'ak'tun. Sandra Noble, executive director of the Mesoamerican research organization FAMSI, notes that "for the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle". She considers the portrayal of December 2012 as a doomsday or cosmic-shift event to be "a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in. The 2009 science fiction apocalyptic disaster film 2012 is based on this belief.

MATHEMATICS

Maya numerals In common with the other Mesoamerican civilizations, the Maya used a base 20 (vigesimal) and base 5 numbering system (see Maya numerals). Also, the preclassic Maya and their neighbors had independently developed the concept of zero by 36 BC. Inscriptions show them on occasion working with sums up to the hundreds of millions and dates so large it would take several lines just to represent it. They produced extremely accurate astronomical observations; their charts of the movements of the moon and planets are equal or superior to those of any other civilization working from naked eye observation.

MAYAN LOANWORDS:
A number of loanwords of Mayan or potentially Mayan origins are found in other languages, principally Spanish, English and some neighboring Mesoamerican languages. Equally, there are words in both historical and modern Mayan languages that are known or suspected to ultimately derive from some non-Mayan language. According to Breaking the Maya Code: Revised Edition by Michael D. Coe, 1999, the English word "shark" comes directly from the Yucatec Maya xoc for "fish". The OED print edition describes the origin of shark as "uncertain", noting that it "seems to have been introduced by the sailors of Captain (afterwards Sir John) Hawkins's expedition, who brought home a specimen which was exhibited in London in 1569". Another word is "cigarette". "Zik" is Maya for "smoke" and "zikil" is Chol Maya for "smoked", which in Chorti Maya is "zikar", the origin for cigar and thus cigarette.

SACRIFICE:
Sacrifice was a religious activity in Maya culture, involving either the killing of animals or the bloodletting by members of the community, in rituals superintended by priests. Sacrifice has been a feature of almost all pre-modern societies at some stage of their development and for broadly the same reason: to propitiate or fulfill a perceived obligation towards the gods. Animal sacrifice and bloodletting were a common feature in many Maya festivals and regular rituals. Human sacrifice was far less common, being tied to events such as ill fortune, warfare and the consecration of new leaders or temples. The practice was also far less common than in the neighboring Aztec societies. The Maya people would sacrifice their prisoners. The prisoners were most often from neighboring tribes.

HUIPIL:
The most prevalent and influential aspect of womens clothing in ancient Maya is the huipil, which is still prominent in Guatemalan and Mexican culture today. The huipil is a loose rectangular garment with a hole in the middle for the head made from lightweight sheer cotton. The huipil is usually white with colorful cross-stripping and zigzag designs woven into the cloth using the brocade technique still commonly used today. The huipil could be worn loose or tucked into a skirt; this depends on the varying lengths of the huipil. Huipils were important displaying ones religion and tribal affiliation.

TRADE IN MAYA CIVILIZATION:

Trade in Maya civilization was a crucial factor in maintaining Maya cities. The economy was fairly loose, and based mostly on food like squash, potatoes, corn, beans, and sometimes chocolate drinks made of ground cocoa beans and water. They also traded almost any other basic necessities such as salt and stone because there was a large need for trade in order to bring such

basic goods together. The types of trade varied greatly, from long-distance trading spanning the length of the region, to small trading between farm families.

PURIFICATORY:
Purificatory measures such as fasting, sexual abstention, and (especially in the pre-Spanish past) confession generally precede major ritual events. In 16th-century Yucatn, purification (exorcism of evil spirits) often represented a ritual's initial phase. The bloodletting-rituals (see below) may also have had a purificatory function. More generally, purification is needed before entering areas inhabited by deities. In present-day Yucatn, for example, it is customary to drink standing water from a rock depression at the first opportunity upon entering the forest. The water is then spat on the ground, and thus renders the individual 'virginal', free to carry out the business of humankind in the sacred forest.

PRAYER:
Maya prayer almost invariably accompanies acts of offering and sacrifice. It often takes the form of long litanies, in which the names of personified days, saints, angels (rain and lightning deities), features of the landscape connected with historical or mythical events, and mountains are particularly prominent.These prayers, with their hypnotizing scansion, often show a dyadic couplet structure which has also been recognized in Classic period texts.The earliest prayers recorded in European script are in Quich, and are embedded in the creation myths of the Popol Vuh. Some Maya communities in the northwestern highlands of Guatemala have a specialized group of 'prayermakers'.

MAYAN MYTHOLOGY:
Mayan mythology is part of Mesoamerican mythology and comprises all of the Mayan tales in which personified forces of nature, deities, and the heroes interacting with these play the main roles. Other parts of Maya oral tradition (such as animal tales and many moralising stories) do not properly belong to the domain of mythology, but rather to legend and folk tale. Creation and end of the world The Popol Vuh describes the creation of the earth by the wind of the sea and sky, as well as its sequel. The Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel relates the collapse of the sky and the deluge, followed by the raising of the sky and the erection of the five World Trees. The Lacandons also knew the tale of the creation of the Underworld. Creation of mankind The Popol Vuh gives a sequence of four efforts at creation: First were animals, then wet clay, wood, then last, the creation of the first ancestors from maize dough. To this, the Lacandons add the creation of the main kin groupings and their 'totemic' animalsThe creation of humankind is concluded by the Mesoamerican tale of the opening of the Maize (or Sustenance) Mountain by the Lightning deities.