1. D: 11/7/12
A: Notes on the Mayans
S: How did the Mayans influence
life in Mexico’s?
H: Mayan Worksheet Due Tomorrow
w.o.d: slash & burn agriculture
Warm-up: Mayan Mystery Reading

2. Word of the Day
WORD DEIFINTION SENTENCE PICTURE
A type of Slash and
agriculture were
forest are cut burn
Slash and
and burned to agriculture
Burn clear land for
was used
agriculture planting.
by the
Mayans.

3. Race for U.S. President
Candidate Party Votes
OBAMA DEMOCRATIC 72.96%
ROMNEY REPUBLICAN 23.00%
Abstain N/A 1.28%
GOODE INDEPENDENT 1.21%
Write Ins N/A 0.92%
JOHNSON LIBERTARIAN 0.64%

4. I. Mayan Basics
a. Settled in the Yucatan Peninsula and
current day Honduras, Belize, El Salvador &
Guatemala
b. Men were 5 feet and women were 4’8” tall
c. Straight black hair with bodies painted
black, red & blue
d. Often had tattoos
e. Valued crossed eyes and flattened babies
foreheads
f. Flourished from 2,500 B.C. to 250 A.D.

5. II. Mayan Religion
a. Worshiped many gods.
i. Each day, month, city & job had a god or goddess
b. There were lots of festivals & celebrations that
included human sacrifices
c. Priests named ahkin served as religious leaders,
doctors and keepers of knowledge
d. They believed the earth was flat & they lived on the
back of a crocodile
e. There are 13 layers of heaven and 9 underworlds.
They lived on the 5th
f. People were made from corn
g. Worshiped the dead because they become one
with the gods

6. Mayan Government
a. The halach uinic which means
true or real man ruled each city-
state
b. Believed to be a living god
c. When he died his oldest son or
brother would take over, or a
council would elected someone
from the family

7. Mayan Cities
a. Ceremonial centers were the
heart of each city surrounded by
plazas, temples, palaces, and
ball courts
b. Rulers & Priests lived in the
center, wealthy just outside the
city and the peasants in huts on
the edges
c. Everything was made out of stone

8. Mayan Writing, Mathematics &
Astronomy
a. Used glyphs to write
b. Made paper out of ficus and
tree sap
c. Created codex or books
d. Mayans were the first to use
the idea of zero dots equaled
one, bars equaled five

9. Mayan Writing, Mathematics
& Astronomy
e. Observatories were built to study the
stars/gods
f. They used all this to create calendars
i. The standard calendar had 260
days
ii. The 365 day calendar was 18
months of 20 days. Las 5 were
unlucky

10. Mayan Arts & Crafts
a. Cloths, feathers & baskets were
the three Mayan crafts
b. Pottery, sculptures and paintings
were also very important

11. Mayan Agriculture
a. Slash & Burn farming where they cut
down all the trees and bushes they
burned them.
b. Ruined soil after harvest for two -
three years
c. Grew corn, beans, chilis, squash,
tomatoes avocadoes & pumpkins

12. Mayan Economy
a. The ppolm or merchants traded with other
tribes
b. They made slaves carry their goods
c. Used the river for quick travel
d. Used the bartering system not money
e. Cacao beans were most valuable
f. Salt, honey, turtle eggs, cloth, skins,
feathers, shells, gold & gems were traded
g. Slaves were a major source of “income”