How Did The Mayan Civilization Spread

1. Where did the Mayan civilization begin and how far did it spread?

It was built deep in a jungle. It started in Palenque, and continued to expand all over the southernmost part of Mexico, including El Salvador, Belize and Honduras.

2. What was the name of the great temple city?

Palenque was the name of the temple city.

3. Describe the Temple of Inscriptions.

The temple had many writings on the walls that recorded important events. It was also the burial tomb of the famous Mayan king Pacal. The corpse of the deceased ruler was buried in a sarcophagus with a beautiful jade mask that resembled a human’s face.

4. What famous archeologist is most associated with the Maya civilization?

Alberto Ruiz is linked with the Maya civilization.

5. What Mayan ruler

built the Temple of Inscriptions?
Pacal built the temple.
6. What do scholars know about that ruler?
He contributed to information about astronomy. As a kid, he was most likely led to a dark dungeon, and was forced to give blood and wait in the darkness until he was visited by the gods.
7.

When and why did the Maya abandon their cities?

The Maya left their city a century after Pacal’s reign. There was some type of catastrophic event that led to the people fleeing. One theory is that the peasant class rose up and revolted. It is known that the building were not destroyed because there was no war, or the invaders revered their architecture.

8. What are some important questions that archeologists and other scholars still have about the Mayans?

An important question is about why the Mayans evacuated their city abruptly, so far, archaeologists and scholars can only guess. People also do not know why December 21, 2014 was the last date on the Mayan calendar.

9. What are some popular misconceptions about the Mayans?

The belief that Maya is similar to Ancient Egypt is incorrect. The two societies are very different if a person were to look closer. Another misconception is that people, now, do not know how to read the ancient Mayans writing. In reality, archaeologists are currently able to translate the complex writings. Furthermore, people beloved that the Mayans were peaceful. This is definitely false. The Mayans were very violent people. They played games in which the loser was sacrificed to the

gods.
10. Write 3 paragraphs describing the Mayan society.
The Mayans were very religious. They believed that there were several gods. Furthermore, they believed that the gods created humans out of corn and blood. Because of this, corn was very important in everyday life. To thank the gods, the Mayans made blood sacrifices to thank and appease the gods. Specifically, Mayan queens drew blood from their tongue with a needle and rope. As long as blood was being given to the gods, peace and prosperity would continue.
Astronomy and mathematics were very advanced in Maya when compared to other ancient civilizations. The Mayans created a sun-based calendar that was 365 days. They also had 24 hour days. They recognized planets, such as Venus, as well as constellations. Furthermore, the Mayans calculated that the synodic period of Venus was 583.92. This was very close to the actual time, which is 584 days.
The Mayans heavily relied on math to make all of their calculations. It is said that the Mayan counting was revolved around the number twenty. In Maya, a shell stood for zero. A dot was equal to one. A line was used to represent 5. And a shell with a dot on top was counted as a twenty. Around this time, Europeans were still struggling to understand the Roman numbering structure.