Amazing Maya Inventions You Can Build Yourself (Build It Yourself series)

129 Pages·2007·38.8 MB·English

by  Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt

LEARN SOME HANDS-ON HISTORY
AAMMAAZZIINNGG
M AY A
INVENTIONS
YOU CAN BUILD
YOURSELF
SHERI BELL-REHWOLDT
AMAZING
INVENTIONS
YOU CAN BUILD YOURSELF
SHERI BELL-REHWOLDT
To my twin sister, Jeri,
the “craftiest” person I know.
Nomad Press
A division of Nomad Communications
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Copyright © 2006 by Nomad Press
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AMAZING
Pok-A-Tok . . . 57
Numbers . . . 62
INVENTIONS
Calendars . . . 67
Majestic Builders . . . 75
YOU CAN BUILD YOURSELF
Hieroglyphs . . . 87
Introduction . . . 1
The Maya Codices . . . 93
Uncovering an
Artistic Flair . . . 100
Ancient Legacy . . . 3
Jewelry . . . 105
Kings . . . 13
Pottery . . . 109
Priests & Healers . . . 20
Glossary . . . 112
Merchants . . . 26
Resources . . . 115
Farming & Food . . . 30
Index . . . 116
Women & Weaving . . . 37
Maya Children . . . 43 TABLE
Gods & Sacrifices . . . 48 OF
CONTENTS
TIMELINE MAYA
OF THE
OF THE
The ancient Maya civilization lasted about 3,000 years. Their history is divided
into three main time periods: the pre-classic period, the classic period, and the
post-classic period. Descendants of the Maya still live in Central America.
3114 BCE: h e creation of the 400 BCE: h e earliest known Teotihuacán, which becomes
world, according to the Maya solar calendars are carved in very dominant. Other cities
Long Count calendar. stone. merge together into larger
cities called city-states. h ese
2600 BCE: h e i rst Maya 300 BCE: h e Maya adopt the
city-states i ght over land,
settlements appear on the idea of a hierarchical
slaves, and victims for human
Pacii c and Caribbean coasts society, which is a society
sacrii ces.
of what is now Mexico, with upper and lower classes
Guatemala, and Belize. ruled by nobles and kings. 500 CE: Teotihuacán is in
trouble and many of its citi-
2000 BCE: h e rise of the 100 BCE: h e city of
zens fl ee to Tikal, which be-
Olmec civilization, which Teotihuacán is founded and
comes the i rst great Maya city.
infl uences the Maya in math, becomes a religious and
architecture, and astronomy. cultural trading center. 600 CE: A mysterious event
destroys Teotihuacán. Tikal
2000 BCE–250 CE
pre-classic
becomes the largest city in
Mesoamerica.
period
683 CE: At age 80, the great-
est Maya king, Pacal dies.
Cities based on farming spread
He is buried in the Temple of
across Mesoamerica, into the Teotihuacán
Inscriptions at Palenque.
lowland rainforests (what
is now Mexico, Guatemala, 100 CE: For unknown
and Belize) and the highland reasons, the Olmec civilization
mountains (what is now Gua- begins to decline.
temala and Honduras).
250 CE–900 CE
classic
700 BCE: h e Mayan written
Temple of Inscriptions
period
language is developed.
751 CE: Trade between Maya
Known as the Maya’s “golden city-states declines and confl ict
increases.
age.” Maya kings rule great
cities. 869 CE: In Tikal, construction
stops and the city begins to
400 CE: Cities in the Maya
decline.
highlands are taken over by
899 CE: Tikal is abandoned.
900 CE–1600 CE 1502 CE: Christopher Colum-
post-classic
bus learns of the Maya when
period he captures a Maya trading
canoe near the Gulf of Hondu-
ras. Word soon spreads across
h e classic period ends as
Spain about the riches of Me-
the Maya fl ee their southern Tikal
soamerica. Conquistadors set
lowland city-states. Possible
out to claim the resources of 1697 CE: h e last ancient
reasons: drought, too many
the land and people, especially Maya city, Tayasal, set deep
people, too little food, war,
their gold, for Spain. inside the rainforests of what
and disease. Maya cities in the
is now Guatemala, falls to con-
northern Yucatán continue to 1517 CE: h e Spanish arrive
quistador Martin de Ursua.
thrive. From as many as on the shores of the Yucatán.
13 million people at its height 1843 CE: John Lloyd Ste-
1519 CE: Hernán Cortés
in 750 CE, by 950 CE more phens and Frederick Cather-
begins ex-
than 90 percent of the Maya wood explore Central America
ploring the
population have died. looking for Maya ruins. h ey
Yucatán
publish a book of their travels,
1200 CE: Northern Maya cit- and the
igniting world interest in the
ies begin to be abandoned. Spanish
ancient Maya.
begin their
1224 CE: h e city of Chichén
conquest 1886 CE: Mayan hieroglyphs
Itzá is abandoned, and its
Cortés
of Mexico. begin to be catalogued.
people settle outside the city.
1541 CE: h e Spanish con- 1952 CE: Pacal’s tomb is
quer the Maya and establish discovered at Palenque.
a capital city at Mérida in the
1973 CE: Scholars make
northern Yucatán.
breakthroughs in understand-
Chichén Itzá
1562 CE: Diego de Landa, a ing the Mayan written lan-
1263 CE: h e people of Spanish bishop, begins to bru- guage. Previously only some
Chichén Itzá begin building tally force the Maya to accept of the hieroglyphs describing
the city of Mayapán, which Catholicism. He tortures and numbers, astronomy, and the
becomes the capital of Yucatán. kills and orders the burning of Maya calendar were inter-
all Maya books. preted. Today, 90 percent of
1441 CE: h e people of
the glyph meanings are under-
Mayapán start to leave and it 1695 CE: h e ruins of Tikal
stood.
is abandoned by 1461. After are discovered by a Spanish
this, warring groups compete priest, who had become lost in 1992 CE: A Maya woman wins
to rule over the others. the jungle. the Nobel Peace Prize for i ght-
ing for human rights for the
Maya.
NAMES KNOW
TO
Pacal II, also known many other cities under his Charles V, King of Spain
as Pacal the Great, or control. Shield Jaguar died in (1500–1558) Approved the
K’inich Janahb’ Pakal 742 CE at the age of 92. Spanish conquest of the Amer-
Ruler of the great Maya city- icas, after taking the throne in
state of Palenque for 68 years, 1516. Charles gave the throne
Lady Xok of Yaxchilán
from 615 to 683. h e name to his son, Philip II, when he
h e most prominent wife of
Pacal translates to “shield.” Pa- decided to enter a monastery.
Shield Jaguar the Great, Lady
cal II may be the most famous He died 2 years later.
Xok is shown in many Yax-
Maya king. He took the throne
chilán stone carvings. In one
at age 12 and died at 80. Dur-
well-known doorway panel, Diego de Landa
ing his reign he built Palenque
into an important Maya city. she is shown pulling a thorn- (1524–1579) A Spanish priest
studded rope through her who tried to convert the Maya
He is buried in a tomb deep
tongue for a blood sacrii ce as to Christianity. He did so in
within the Temple of Inscrip-
Shield Jaguar holds a torch a brutal way. He ordered the
tions, a huge memorial pyra-
over her head. Lady Xoc died burning of the Maya codices,
mid. After his death he was
in 749 CE. the torture of Maya people,
worshipped as a god.
and the demolition of Maya
buildings.
Waxaklajuun Ub’aah
Kan Bahlam II, Snake
K’awiil, also known as
Jaquar h e son of Pacal II,
18 Rabbit He was the 13th John Lloyd Stephens
he inherited the throne at the
age of 48. He continued to ruler of Copán and one of the (1805–1852)
add to Palenque’s architecture, city’s most famous kings. Frederick Catherwood
including three small pyramid He ruled from about 695 to (1799–1854) Stevens was an
738 CE, when he was captured American travel writer and
temples: the Temple of the
and sacrii ced by a king called Catherwood was a British art-
Sun, the Temple of the Cross,
Cauac Sky. ist. h ey teamed up to locate
and the Temple of the Foliated
Maya ruins. During their two
Cross. h ey were designed to
expeditions to Mesoamerica,
echo the shapes of distant
Hernán Cortés
they visited 44 ancient cit-
mountains.
(1484–1547) h e conquista-
ies before returning home
dor who left Spain in 1519 to
in 1842 to write Incidents of
capture Mesoamerican gold
Shield Jaguar the Great Travel in Central America. h e
for Spain. Since the Maya
King of Yaxchilán, a rival city book generated much interest
had no gold, except for small
of Palenque, from 681 to among archaeologists, schol-
amounts they had acquired
742 CE. h e powerful family ars, and the general public.
through trade, he and the
of his most important wife,
Spaniards focused more on the
Lady Xok, helped to keep him
Aztec, neighbors of the Maya.
on the throne for 50 years. A
powerful warrior, he brought
PLACES KNOW
TO
Yucatán Peninsula: h e pen- Its greatest power came during Mayapán: A pre-Columbian
insula in Mexico that was once the long reign of King Shield Maya city that was the politi-
the heart of Maya civilization. Jaguar II, who died in his nine- cal capital of the Maya in the
h ere are many Maya archaeo- ties in 742 CE. Today, Yaxchilán Yucatán Peninsula from about
logical sites throughout the is known for its large quantity the late 1220s to the 1440s.
peninsula and many Maya of excellent sculptures. Today the site of Mayapán is
descendents still live there. not one of the most impres-
sive Maya sites. h is is partly
Copán: A strong kingdom because architecture on the
Teotihuacán: A city founded established in 159 CE. At scale of Chichén Itzá and other
in 100 BCE that became a its height, it had an unusu- Maya cities was never attempt-
religious and cultural trading ally wealthy citizenship. As a ed there.
center. It was the largest city in result, the carvings and sculp-
the Americas. Around 500 CE, tured decorations on the build-
for unknown reasons, many of ings of Copán are some of the Tayasal: Located in the
its citizens began to fl ee to Ti- i nest in Mesoamerica. southern Maya lowlands, it
kal. In 600 CE it was destroyed was the center of the last in-
by a mysterious event. dependent Maya city-state to
Uxmal: For generations Ux- be subdued by the Spanish, in
mal was the most powerful city
1697. Unfortunately, most of
Tikal: h e i rst great city of in western Yucatán, and for a the archaeological treasures of
the Maya civilization. It be- while it was allied with Chi- this city were lost when it was
came important between 500 chén Itzá and dominated all of destroyed and rebuilt by the
and 600 CE, as Teotihuacán the northern Maya area. Not Spanish after its fall.
weakened. Today it is the larg- long after 1200 CE, construc-
est of the ancient ruined cities tion at Uxmal stopped, and the
of the Maya civilization. city began its decline. Mérida: h e modern capital
city of the Yucatán state in
Mexico. It is located in the
Palenque: A great city ruled Chichén Itzá: h is was a northwest part of the penin-
by Pacal the Great. Palenque major city during the Maya sula in between the ruins of
contains some of the i nest ar- classic period, around 600 CE. Chichén Itzá and Uxmal. It was
chitecture, sculpture, and carv- It reached its height after the founded in 1542 and was built
ings the Maya ever produced. Maya sites of the central low- over the Maya city of T’ho.
lands to the south had already
Some carved Maya stones from
collapsed. Revolt and civil war
ancient T’ho are still visibly
Yaxchilán: h is was an impor- among the Maya in 1221 CE
reused in Spanish colonial
tant city throughout the classic led to the city’s decline and
buildings, and some Maya still
era. Yaxchilán waged war with authority over the Yucatán
use the ancient name T’ho
its rival, Palenque, in 654 CE. Peninsula shifted to Mayapán.
when referring to Mérida.
mesoamerica
the heart of the
maya civilization
YUCATÁN PENINSULA Mérida
Chichén
Uxmal Itzá
Mayapán
Tulum
NORTHERN
LOWLANDS
Teotihuacán
Tenochtitlán
Palenque
BELIZE
SOUTHERN CHIAPAS Tikal
MEXICO HIGHLANDS
Yaxchilán
Tayasal
SOUTHERN
LOWLANDS
GUATEMALA
HONDURAS
HIGHLANDS Copán
GUATEMALA
EL SALVADOR
NICARAGUA
INTRODUCTION
H
ave you ever thought about what life would be
like if you had lived during the time of the
ancient Maya, long before the fi rst European
explorer set foot in the New World? The ancient
Maya people were the most advanced civilization
of their time: they were accomplished mathematicians, master
builders, and they developed a complex written language. They
also created some of the world’s most
impressive art, in the form of jewelry,
carvings, paintings,
and ceramics.
1