Ancient Maya Flashcards
Where is Ancient Maya?
Central America (what is now Mexico)
What was the population of Ancient Maya?
5,000 to 50,000 people
What type of buildings and places were in Mayan cities?
Temples, pyramids, palaces, courts for playing ball and plazas
Who ruled Mayan cities?
Kings who were also high priest
What kind of power did Mayan kings have?
Military power and could perform religious ceremonies
How did someone become a king?
It was inherited (passed down from father to son)
What is the “slash-and-burn” method?
Cutting down trees and grasses before burning them, and then using their ashes to fertilize the soil
What foods did the Mayas produce?
beans, squash, and sweet potatoes
What was the most important crop of Maya?
maize (corn)
What foods could be made from corn?
tortillas, masa, tamales
What is a tortilla?
corn pancakes
What is a masa?
dough made of corn and water
What were temple-pyramids made for?
Pyramids-bury Mayan kings
Temples- places to observe stars
What is astronomy?
The study of the sun, stars and moon
Ball game that was a religious ritual
pok-a-tok
Pok-a-tok was a religious ritual designed to worship what God?
Kukulcan
The Mayas were the first to use what number?
zero
The calendar tzolkin was based off of what?
religious
The calendar haab was based off of what?
the sun (solar)
How many days is the tzolkin calendar?
260 days
How many days is the haab calendar?
365 days
The Maya combined their two calendars (tzolkin and haab) into an 18,980-day cycle known as ________ _________.
calendar round
The tzolkin and haab calendar coincided (happen at the same time) every ____ years.
52 years
What would the the Mayans do every 52 years when the calendars coincided (happened at the same time)?
Rebuild their temples-celebrating the beginning of a new era because they thought the world was coming to an end
This is where religious ceremonies, dances, and processions were held.
in the cities
What is the name of the number system the Mayas developed?
vigesimal (its based on 20 units)
What three symbols did the Mayas use to write number?
Dots (one unit)
Bars (five units)
Oval Shell (zero)
What did Mayan priests use their math skills for?
Chart movement of the sun, moon, planets and stars (which allowed them to create accurate calendars)
Some scholars believe the calendar is based on the cycle of the ________ constellation.
Pleiades
The tzolkin calendar was used to do what?
1) give names to people
2) predict the future
3) decide on the dates of marriages and battles
Mayan priests studied the ______.
Sund
The Mayas realized that approximately every _____ days the sun repeated a pattern.
365
How many months are in the Mayan calendar?
18 months
How many days are in the Mayan calendar?
20 days
There is one Month with only 5 days. What are these 5 days considered?
Unlucky!! (The Mayas feared the danger, bad luck, and death would occur on these days)
What is an equinox?
When the sun is directly over the equator
What is an eclipse?
When the sun and moon are in a nearly straight line with the Earth
What city had two great architectural structures used for observing the equinox?
Chichen Itza (located in the center of the Yucatan peninsula)
What is the name of the observatory at Chichen Itza used for observing the equinox?
El Caracol
What is the second structure used for observing the equnox?
The Pyramid of Kukulcan
What do the 4 sides of the Pyramid of Kukulcan represent?
the four seasons (spring, winter, summer, fall)
How many steps are on each side of the Pyramid of Kukulcan?
91 steps on each side, which add up to 365 steps (the number of days in a year)
Which stairway on the Pyramid of Kukulcan was most sacred?
The stairway facing the north
A serpent appears to crawl down the steps of this pyramid at an equinox.
Kukulcan
The Mayas thought that this planet was more important than the sun.
Venus
A calendar-round cycle is this long.
52 years
