Mayan Culture

We explain what the Mayan culture was, its location, history, economy and other characteristics. Also, what remained of its architecture.

mayan culture mesoamerica pre-columbian history mexico
The Mayan culture developed in Mesoamerica and had its peak between the years 250 and 900.

What was the Mayan culture?

A Mayan culture or Mayan civilization is known as set of indigenous populations that inhabited part of Mesoamerica specifically southern Mexico (the Yucatan Peninsula and parts of Chiapas and Tabasco) and northern Central America. The Mayan civilization developed from the Preclassic period (2000 BC-250 AD) to the Postclassic period (900-1524 AD), when the Spanish conquest of the region began. Its time of splendor was during the Classic period (250-900 AD).

Was one of the most outstanding civilizations of pre-Hispanic America. He left behind an important set of architectural remains and a cultural legacy that inspired later cultures. Currently, populations of Mayan origin continue to live in the region.

The Mayans are known for different aspects of their culture. For example, they invented the only complete writing system in pre-Columbian America, which allowed all of their spoken language to be written down, and They developed sophisticated knowledge in art, architecture, mathematics and astronomy. Among other things, they are credited with the invention of zero. They also practiced war and human sacrifice.

During its heyday, were a dominant culture throughout the region. The Mayans controlled much of the territory of southern Mexico and northern Central America, and maintained dynamic exchange relations with other neighboring cultures, such as the Olmecs, Teotihuacanos, and Mixtecs.

Other Mesoamerican cultures were: Teotihuacan culture, Aztec culture, Toltec culture, Olmec culture, Totonac culture, Zapotec culture, Mixtec culture.

Key points

  • The Mayan culture developed in southeastern Mexico (especially the Yucatan Peninsula) and northern Central America.
  • Its period of splendor was between 250 and 900 AD. C., when large cities such as Chichen Itzá and Uxmal were built.
  • It was noted for its architecture, its writing system, its knowledge of astronomy and mathematics, and its calendar.
  • It did not form a unified kingdom but rather a multiplicity of States that traded and fought among themselves.

Geographic location of the Mayans

mayan culture empire map
The Mayan culture spread across a third of the Mesoamerican region.

The Mayan culture developed in Mesoamerica, one of the six regions of the world in which state and urban societies emerged independently. The Mesoamerican region extends from present-day central Mexico to Central America.

The Mayans came to encompass southeastern Mexico (the Yucatan Peninsula and parts of the states of Chiapas and Tabasco), Guatemala, Belize, and western El Salvador and Honduras. Therefore, they inhabited the highlands with a temperate climate and the lowlands with a tropical climate, and had contact with the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean coast and the Pacific Ocean.

They controlled approximately a third of the total area of ​​Mesoamerica but did not form a great empire, but rather they were organized into various chiefdoms and states that competed with each other.

History of Mayan culture

Uxmal Mayan culture classic period
In the Classic period, large ceremonial centers such as Uxmal were built.

The history of the ancient Mayan culture lasted almost 3,500 years. The first Mayan agricultural towns emerged almost 4000 years ago and its decline as an independent culture occurred at the beginning of the 16th century with the arrival of the European conquerors, although the collapse of the great Mayan cities occurred several centuries before.

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Mayan history is usually organized into three periods:

  • Preclassic Period (2000 BC to 250 AD). In this stage the first Mayan settlements arose along the Pacific and then the Atlantic fringes. Slowly these became the first cities in the region: Nakbé, Tikal, Dzibilchaltún, El Mirador, Kaminaljuyú, among others. This period is divided into three subperiods: Early Preclassic (2000-1000 BC), Middle Preclassic (1000-350 BC), and Late Preclassic (350 BC-AD 250). The first cultural flowering of the Mayans occurred in the latter, and towards the 1st century AD. C. his first collapse. Many of its large cities were then abandoned, for reasons unknown until today.
  • Classic Period (250 to 900 AD). In this period there was a renaissance of Mayan culture. It was a time of splendor in which great ceremonial centers emerged, such as Chichen Itzá and Uxmal, and the city of Tikal acquired great importance. It was also a period of great wars between Mayan cities, which caused the rise and fall of various ruling dynasties. Over time, war and other factors led to a new political collapse, which saw the abandonment of cities in favor of rural areas and a concentration of activity in the north of the Yucatan Peninsula. This period is further divided into three subperiods: Early Classic (250-550 AD), Late Classic (550-830 AD), and Terminal Classic (830-900 AD).
  • Postclassical Period (900 to 1524 AD). The Mayan culture endured after the fall of the great cities, especially in elevated territories or near water sources, where Mayan States were organized. Some abandoned cities were occupied by Toltec populations. When the Spanish conquerors arrived, there were sixteen Mayan States in the north of Yucatan, weakened by their internal struggles but difficult to conquer. The conquest began in 1524 and the last independent Mayan state fell to the Spanish in 1697.

Characteristics of the Mayan culture

Mayan culture characteristics jade art
The Mayan culture developed the work of stones such as jade.

Like many other human civilizations, the Mayan culture emerged from the abandonment of nomadism and the development of agriculture, whose products, corn, beans, pumpkin and chili, constituted the foundation of the Mayan diet for centuries.

The first cities arose around 750 BC. c and around 400 BC. C. had already reached monumental architectural proportions, especially in their great temples and ceremonial centers. During their periods of splendor, especially in the Classic period, Mayan cities covered enormous areas of influence and were connected to each other through complex trade networks.

Their artistic forms were sophisticated and left lasting traces. The Mayans used jade, wood, obsidian, ceramics and carved stone. They were also noted for their mural paintings.

The Mayans spoke various languages ​​that derived from the ancestral Proto-Mayan. The different Mayan languages ​​corresponded to the different kingdoms or regions, such as the Huastecan, Quichean, Mamean languages, among others. Most Mayan texts from the Classic period are written in the Classic Cholti language (also called Classic Maya).

Religion of the Mayans

The religion of the Mayans shared many elements with the rest of Mesoamerica. The Mayans believed in a spiritual plane inhabited by powerful deities, such as the snake god Kukulcán or the sky god Itzamná. To obtain divine favor, they had to appease their gods through ritual practices, such as human sacrifices and ceremonial offerings.

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Deceased ancestors and shamans served as intermediaries before the gods and supernatural forces. For this reason, the Mayans buried their dead under their houses with the corresponding offerings, according to their social status.

The Mayan worldview was very elaborate: He contemplated thirteen levels in the sky and nine in the underworld, and between the two was the world of the living. In turn, each level consisted of four cardinal points, each one associated with a color and different aspects of the main deities. Some myths of the ancient Mayans were included in a colonial-era book called Popol Vuhwhich compiles traditions of the Quiché Mayan peoples.

Religion was controlled by priests, a closed group whose members were part of the elite of society. During the Classic period, Mayan rulers were also high priests and they were considered descendants of the gods.

Mayan economy

Mayan culture salt economy
The Mayans controlled access to natural resources, such as salt flats.

The The basis of the Mayan livelihood was agriculture especially corn, beans, pumpkin and chili. However, trade with other peoples also played a fundamental role in their civilization. The largest and most important cities controlled access to key resources, such as obsidian mines, salt sources, and even the slave trade.

The Mayans of Tabasco built an extensive river exchange network which made them the largest merchants in the region. Elements of typical Mayan workmanship could be found in distant cities in Honduras and Nicaragua, suggesting that long-distance trade relations existed.

Social and political organization of the Mayan culture

mayan culture war
The sacrifice of defeated warriors was a common practice among the Mayans.

Mayan society was divided between a dominant elite and a majority of commoners. This order was sustained through military force and religious tradition. In any case, the sustained growth of the Mayan States led to the emergence of more complex social sectors.

A distinction was made between the ruler, his court and the nobles (who could be high officials, priests and warriors), and a wide sector of subjects that included priests and low-ranking officials, soldiers, artisans, merchants, peasants (who in addition to working the land had to provide their labor for public construction) and servants. The base of the social pyramid was made up of slaves captured in wars.

Unlike the Aztecs or the Incas, the Mayans did not form a centralized political system, that is, a single State or kingdom. Instead, various states and chiefdoms coexisted, sometimes achieving temporary regional dominance and often in conflict with each other.

However, their governments They always consisted of variants of the same form of theocratic monarchy that is, a state order in which the king was considered a descendant of the gods or imposed by divine will. The position of the king was hereditary, but intrigues and conflicts between lineages were a frequent affair.

Furthermore, the Mayans were a very warlike society and they were involved in numerous political and military conflicts throughout their history, largely due to their competition for regional predominance.

The war culture was central to the Mayan conception of the world: humiliation and sacrifice of defeated warriors were common practices. The weapons they used the most were blowguns, swords with obsidian edges and, above all, atlatla type of spear thruster.

Mayan clothing

The Mayan costume It was predominantly made with cotton. Women wore long fabrics, such as skirts and huipils. For their part, the men wore a garment similar to a loincloth called “pati”, which left the torso uncovered, although some could also wear cloaks.

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The nobles decorated their outfits with stone embroidery and showy feathers. In addition, they wore headdresses, sashes, belts and other luxurious accessories that served to differentiate them from the lower social classes.

mayan architecture

mayan culture ball game honduras architecture
Mayan architecture was characterized by buildings such as ball playing fields.

The Mayans left behind an important architectural work, one of the largest in the ancient world. They built palaces, pyramidal temples, ceremonial spaces and ball fields. In addition, they developed structures aligned expressly for astronomical observation.

However, in their cities there was no formal urban planning. Towns grew from the inside out, and buildings were added irregularly. In the center of the cities were the administrative and ceremonial buildings surrounded by residential buildings.

Mayan builders used Neolithic technology, that is, stone tools (mainly flint and obsidian). They built with stone and perishable materials (such as wood) and, through masonry techniques, they could take advantage of the resources available around them. One of his innovations was the arch with corbels.

Mayan writing

Mayan culture writing
The Mayans developed a complex hieroglyphic writing system.

Mayan writing was a complete hieroglyphic writing system the only one in pre-Columbian America that had the ability to write down all spoken language. Its first signs were dated to the 2nd century BC. c but the most important evidence began to appear between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. C. in the southern highland region of present-day Guatemala and in the 3rd century AD. C. in the lowlands of the center of the Yucatán Peninsula.

This writing is similar to the Epiolmec or Isthmian writing that was documented in the area of ​​the Tehuantepec isthmus and which consists of logograms and syllabic signs, so it is possible that they emerged in parallel. The Mayans used this writing system on vessels, murals and stelae for practical, religious, calendrical and political purposes.

Next to the writing system The Mayan calendar was developed, based on astronomical and mathematical knowledge of these towns. It was more sophisticated than the calendars of other previous cultures, from which they were surely inspired, and consisted of three calendars: a 365-day solar calendar, a 260-day sacred calendar, and a long-count calendar that allowed historical events to be placed in a single calendar. longer time scale.

Astronomy in Mayan culture

An important Mayan legacy were the records of their astronomical observations of the Sun, Moon, stars, Venus and other planets.

According to their belief, divination tools could be obtained from the sky. That is, the priests contemplated past astronomical cycles and linked them with events that could be repeated, which is why they formulated prophecies.

Although they had no modern scientific intention, the Mayans managed to measure the Venus cycle of 584 days with a margin of error of just two hours, given that they also had a remarkable knowledge of mathematics.

References

  • Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2024). Maya. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/
  • López Austin, A. & López Luján, L. (2001). The indigenous past. Economic Culture Fund-El Colegio de México.
  • Manzanilla, L. & López Luján, L. (coords.) (2001). Ancient History of Mexico. 4 vols. National Institute of Anthropology and History.
  • Mark, J.J. (2012). Mayan Civilization. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/
  • von Wobeser, G. (ed.) (2014). History of Mexico. Economic Culture Fund.