For more information
Call 1-800-351-0222
Call 1-800-351-0222
MAYAN CIVILIZATION.
Term Paper ID:24522
Essay Subject:
Origins, evolution & demise. Cultural achievements, politics, social structure, economics, religion, Spanish conquest, diseases.... More...
10 Pages / 2250 Words
6 sources, 20 Citations,
MLA Format
$40.00
More Papers on This Topic
Paper Abstract:
Origins, evolution & demise. Cultural achievements, politics, social structure, economics, religion, Spanish conquest, diseases.
Paper Introduction:
The Mayan
This paper will discuss the origin of Mayan society, and how the Mayan civilization grew. The text will analyze how the Mayan society eventually fell apart as well as some of the factors which led to the eventual collapse of this civilization.
The rise and fall of the Mayan civilizations is divided into seven major time periods. The first period is when the earliest Mayan Chiefdoms were formed, in approximately 1500 B.C. This period, called the Early and Preclassic period, extended until 400 B.C. After this came the Late Preclassic period in which the earliest statutes were found carved by Mayans in the southern Maya area. During the Late Preclassic era, the earliest monuments with Long Count dates were erected and the beautiful city of Tikal was founded by a royal Mayan leader (Yax Moch Xoc) (Sharer, xi).
Text of the Paper:
The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper.
The Mayan sharedthis land with the Inca and the Aztecs. Some of the changes were forcedand some were voluntary, but in the end the effect was widespread. .with tremendous transport and logistics problems hindering large-scaleunification in the Maya lowlands, and in the social and religiousconstructs of the Maya culture" led to the demise of Copan and all otherClassic Maya centers (Fash, 182). Hernan Cortez led the destruction of the Aztec civilization inCentral Mexico. . Tikal wasnow ruled by its 27th through 29th king, Copan had its 16th king (Yax Pac)and Yaxchilan was ruled by its third Shield Jaguar king (Sharer, xii). (Meanwhile, during the same time period, the Europeans stillburned people alive at the stake.) So, in addition to conquering through the intentional use of newfirearms, and the unintentional transfer of disease to the Mayan, theEuropeans fought to dominate the Mayan by teaching them that theircivilization was inferior to European civilization. The new merchant warriors, the Putun"meddled in the affairs of Mayan kingdoms and eventually established newhybrid dynasties that prospered at the expense of traditional Mayangovernments" (Schele, 38 ). Another destructive element which was introducedby some of the Europeans was distilled alcohol. Thus, the Europeanscriticized the religious rituals of the Mayan in an effort to belittle thempsychologically and destroy the confidence which they had in their culturalbeliefs. At first, Pedrode Alvarado led the conquest of the southern Maya, followed by the elderand younger Montejos who conquered the northern Maya from 1524 to 1546 A.D. Tribalcommunities spread out in Xmakabatun, Xultun, and Nakun. The Spanish were not the only Europeans who wanted to dominate andconquer the Mesoamerican peoples, including the Mayan, during this timeperiod. At Uaxactun,the Mayas stared building their truncated pyramids and other buildingsfaced with stucco and ornamented with the faces of their gods. New York: Gordon & Cremonesi, 1978 Finally, in1697, the last capitol of Itza Maya was captured and destroyed by Spanisharmed forces led by Martin de Ursau (Morley, 57 ). During the Late Preclassic era, theearliest monuments with Long Count dates were erected and the beautifulcity of Tikal was founded by a royal Mayan leader (Yax Moch Xoc) (Sharer,xi). By 15 the Mayanmade their first contact with visiting Spaniards, which would lead to theSpanish conquest of the Mayan, between 1524 and 1697 A.D. Whenthe Mayans began to learn the Roman alphabet, this led to the end of thepreservation of their own written language and history, which made iteasier for the Spanish to supplant the Mayan's pre-Conquest era culturalpatterns (Coe, 2 4-2 5) with those which the Spanish used to rule andovertake the cultural systems and societies of the Mayan and otherMesoamerican peoples.Therefore, many historical, political, religious and economic factors ledto the demise of the Mayan civilization. The next 2 years comprised the Late Classic period. Old trades routeswere torn apart, and old tools and methods of making things were replacedby the Spaniards new tools and technology. In other words, each area, whether it was in the highlands orlowlands, had its own king and was organized along kinship lines from theClassic period and beyond. Many of the things which were important to Mayan society were alsodestroyed by the conquistadors. The Spanish succeeded indominating the Mayan because they combined military destruction tacticswith demeaning psychological practices. The first period is when the earliest Mayan Chiefdomswere formed, in approximately 15 B.C. The Spanish forced manyMayans to convert to Christianity, and then used religion to control them.Moreover, the Spaniards used many of the cruel methods used during theSpanish Inquisition to crush the Mayan rituals and belief systems whichprovided a social support for the Mayan people. Thus, the theory that the Chinesedeveloped some contact with the Mayan by the end of the Preclassic periodcannot be ruled out.In Guatemala, the Mayan built the Uaxactun, their first religious center.This was the beginning of Mayan cities. Forexample, at Central Peten, once the crops were not maintained by anorganized system, and the people from the Late Classic ruling startedfighting the new military competition of modern lineages that were notlinked to the old Mayan royalty, the resulting social strife led to the"rapid erosion and decay" of many Mayan cities (Schele, 38 ). According to some accounts, the encroachment of the tropicalrainforest on the Mayan lowlands during the Classical period accounting forthe gradual physical disappearance of many old Mayan cities. There are a number of conflicting theories about the rise of theMayan civilization. Shortly thereafter one of Cortez' lieutenants, Pedro deAlvarado, led the first conquest of the Mayan in the southern highlands.Later, a father and son team, the Montejos, conquered many of the remainingkingdoms of the Mayan who lived in the Yucatan peninsula. . Oneof the oldest stelas in this area is dated April 11, 328 A.D. Scholars estimate thatthe conquest by the Spaniards together with the spread of disease inMesoamerica caused the death of tens of millions of native peoples (Sharer,3). The Spanishthought that they were doing the right thing, colonizing a new territoryagainst all odds, and their accounts of the wars in the New World reflectthis attitude. They developed a theocraticpolitical system where religion and state were inseparable. Thus, over the next 2 years, the Spanish conquistadors were "ableto impose their own cultural pattern on regions that had been devastated bydisease" (Coe 2 3). Also, the Spanish encouraged the Mayan to abandon their own nativewriting system which kept the old Mayan rituals and history alive. The oldMayan elite--their priests, nobles, military leaders and royalty--weredestroyed or stripped of their wealth and power. Search for the Maya. The largest ofthe Mayan cities, and the one that has endured the largest, then came intoexistence: Tikal. Daily Life in Maya Civilization. The Mayanhomes were more simple, and housed their artisans and farmers. whichwould have created new possibilities of economic organization and resolvedthe strife that grew . Scribes, Warriors and Kings: The City of Copa and the Ancient Maya. One theory is that the Mayan came into contact withChinese travelers who influenced their artwork and architecture. They had devisedelaborate mathematical systems, made complex calendars, and createdwonderful architectural designs and styles. However, asymposium organized by the School of American Research concluded thatinternal problems, including the increasingly parasitic role which theMayan elite played, combined with other problems which will be discussedlater, were among the "primary causes for the social, political anddemographical collapse of the southern lowland Mayan city-states in the 9thcentury A.D." (Fash, 173). . One way that scientists define civilizations is by their writing, andfor early civilizations, by their time keeping methodology. While they note that Copan virtuallydisappeared by the end of the Classic period, they claim that other Mayancities were also disbanding their political and social frameworks duringthis time. Sharer. Much of theartwork which the Mayans are famous for today was developed in the LatePreclassic period. .during the eighth century", each king only soughtto increase the prestige of his own ancestors and none of them thoughtabout a unified government or royal system for the future (Schele, 38 -381). According to authors Linda Schele and David Freidel, in their book, AForest of Kings, the beginning of the end of literacy for the Maya occurredwell before the Spanish conquest. This meant that Mayan kings focused on overtaking neighboringkingdoms, which led to the collapse of Teotihuacan and the consequentialstruggles for power that resulting in the other smaller cities like ElTajin, Xochicalco and Cacaxtla in the late seventh century. The Spanish took years to replace Mayan methods of running societywith colonial ideas which would eventually replace the Mayan's religiouspractices and with the Spaniard's methods of civil administration. As will later be discussed, the Spanish has theadvantage of having one rule and the tenets of Christianity which they usedto suppress the more diverse Mayan culture and communities. The Mayan practiceof taking captives and keeping them prisoner to humble them was ultimatelynot as effect as the European war methods which including killing prisonersquickly after destroying their farms and cities. New York: William Morrow, 199 .Sharer, Robert J. Moreover, author Fash points out thatbecause the Mayan religious and political systems focused on ancestorworship and royal exhaltation, local rivalries were not forestalled by anyoverall unification process (Fash 182-183). At Tikal, the pyramids are more than 2 feet tall, andfor five centuries the Mayan filled its plazas with a wealth ofhieroglyphic carvings (Von Hagen, 143-144). New York: Thams and Hudson, 1993.Fash, William L. The last three period in Mayan history were the Terminal Classicperiod (from 8 to 9 A.D.), the Early Postclassic period (9 -12 A.D.)and the Late Postclassic period (12 -1524 A.D.) During this last periodthe great city of Chichen Itza was replaced as the Mayan people's capitol.Mayapan, a more northern city, became the new capitol. When moreBarbaric Mayan tribes like the Chontal who lived in the coastlands beganasserting control and establishing new trade routes in the lowlands andhighlands, other problems followed. Theirpriests erected huge monoliths on which they carved hieractic glyphs. They domesticatedplants like maize (corn), cacao (chocolate), and chili peppers. Works CitedCoe, Michael D. These Europeans had a significant advantage: the use of firearmsand canons which could destroy and kill opponents much quicker than thebows and arrows which the Mayan were using at the time. A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya. Finally, the Mayan civilization completed collapsed with the conquest ofthe last independent Mayan state, Tayasal, by Martin de Ursua in 1697(Sharer, xiii). The text will analyze how the Mayan societyeventually fell apart as well as some of the factors which led to theeventual collapse of this civilization. It is usually "agreed amongscholars that these produced a holocaust unparalleled in the world'shistory; within a century, 9 percent of the native [Mayan] population hadbeen killed off" (Coe, 2 3). They weresupported by forests, rivers, lakes and seashores and they built famouspalaces, roadways, marketplaces, decorated temples, carved monuments andhouses. Thistheory now seems to be a bogus one because no object from the Old Worldhave been found in the New World and had the Mayan come into contact withthe Chinese, some Chinese objects should have appeared in Mayan siteexcavations. The Mayan had neverexperienced this kind of warfare from neighboring Mayan kingdoms and thus,were totally unequipped to defend themselves against this type of organizedtotal demolishment. After the interdependent political system in the area failed,the Mayan population began to decline, and they eventually abandoned thisarea. Because the Mayan "never established enduring empires . What the Maya needed was either one ruler thatcould overcome local rivalries, or some other unifying political elementwhich was not present. While it is difficult toattribute the collapse to any one particular element or factor, certainlywhen all of the factors were combined, they definitely dismantled theMayan's political and religious systems and thus, whatever hope towardunification the Mayans may have had for their civilization's future. The Mayan This paper will discuss the origin of Mayan society, and how theMayan civilization grew. The rise and fall of the Mayan civilizations is divided into sevenmajor time periods. Stanford: Stanford U. While descendants of the Mayan still live in southern Mexico, Belize,and Guatemala today, for the most part, their two thousand year old historycame to an end when they were conquered by the Spanish. The achievements of Mayan society were varied. After this came the LatePreclassic period in which the earliest statutes were found carved byMayans in the southern Maya area. placed a lot of stress on the Mayan political system and physicalenvironment. Forinstance, the Spaniards belittled the Mayan practice of human sacrifice,calling the practice a pagan ritual (Sharer, 4). Westport, CT: Greenwood P., 1996.Von Hagen, Victor W. In the case of the collapse of the Copan civilization, a dramaticincrease in population which occurred between the 7th and 8th centuriesA.D. The Maya. In addition, the faith in Mayan kings had begun to erode during thistime. This is whenthe Middle Mayan Civilization began, Copan was founded and a woman ruledPalenque. As theMayan central governments started to unravel, other problems followed. The Mayans werenot physically or psychologically prepared to deal with the adverse effectsof small pox, influenza, measles and chicken pox epidemics which theSpanish inadvertently brought with them. Moreover, the Europeans engaged in psychologicalwarfare as well as their organized and armed fighting tactics. Thisled to the permanent alteration of the Mayan economy. The Ancient Maya. Classic Mayaof the lowlands had a sophisticated writing system, pyramids and temples,limestone palaces, polychrome pottery and a unique artistic style which wasreflected in everything from their vaulted ceilings and painted walls totheir bas-reliefs and rows of stones arranged to form plazas. TheMayan landscape was ravaged for silver and gold, the best agriculturallands were seized by wealthy Spanish colonists who became plantationowners, and the Spanish recruited the best Mayan labor to work for them.(Sharer, 5). Before theirultimate collapse, the Mayan population expanded into millions of peoplewho were ruled by a succession of independent kingdoms. For example, books (called codices) wereburned, and much of the Mayan's medical writings, religious documents andrecords of commercial transactions vanished with these old codices. Since the Spanish were the firstto discover the Mesoamerican peoples, some historians have given theSpaniards most of the blame for the destruction of the Mayan civilization.A lot of the history of the Mayan is provided by the written accounts ofthe Spanish, after they had become victors in a battle. The Mayansalso constructed great reservoirs, and made great artwork (sculpture,painting, textiles, carved jade figures, pottery). They were surprised to find thousands ofpeople living in Mayan territory, called Mesoamerica, which extends intowhat is now most of Mexico and upper Central America. London: Thames and Hudson, 1991.Morley, Sylvanus G., Brainerd, George W., and Robert J. They had a 52 year calendar, with each day telling itsown fortune, which was the only annual time count that any people in whatis now Mexico had at that time (Coe, 47-5 ). Since the Maya population was now scattered, it waseasier for the Spanish to control and convert the Mayans than it would havebeen before the major seats of Mayan religious culture had been dismantledin the 7th century and disease had crippled the remaining population by thetime that Cortez arrived. Another factor which led to the downfall of the Mayan was theintroduction of many diseases which the Europeans brought. About 5 years ago, the Europeans discovered that there was a NewWorld across the Atlantic ocean. . In particular, theSpaniards introduced a strong drink called aguardiente, and many of theMayan who had lost close family members and friends to the diseaseepidemics sought refuge by drinking the product that the soon to be wealthySpanish store owners imported (Coe, 2 4). So the Spaniardspioneered the technique of destroying the self-esteem of a people andattacking their cultural practices before convincing the people to adoptSpanish ways of thinking. In times of peace the independent Mayan kingdoms traded with eachother, in time of war their kings conquered neighboring kingdoms.Individual achievements in this society were recorded on stone monumentsand scholars are beginning to decipher their complex writing system(Sharer, 1). Portugal, France and England also competed with Spain to rule thisregion. Unfortunately, scholars are still uncertain why the Maya usedthe same complex lunar and solar calculations as the Chinese, which wouldsuggest that there had been some contact between the peoples otherwiseseparated by the Pacific (Coe, 45). P., 1983.Schele, Linda and Daivd Freidel. This period, called the Early andPreclassic period, extended until 4 B.C. After the Preclassic period ended, around 25 A.D., the next periodis the Early Classic period, which extended until 6 A.D. Other Mayan kingdoms died, kings were defeated as at Dos Pilas,and many of the Mayan turned to a less complicated way of living. According to one scholar, the "lack of political unification .
If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again:
or
We can write a Custom Essay just for you.
Browse Essays by Subject