Chapter 2: Maya Science and Daily Life

​Wisdom in the Sky

The Maya believed that their gods gave them an unclear view of the world that was “like breath on a mirror.” But we also know that the Maya understood some things very well.

​ Their knowledge of astronomy, for example, was impressive. The Maya, of course, did not have telescopes, computers, or satellites. They didn’t even have the wheel. All they had were their own eyes. Yet they were able to make very precise observations of the stars.

Multiple Choice

What did Maya used to make their observations about the stars?

• eyes

• ears

• nose

• tongue

Multiple Choice

Which of the following planets in our solar system is NOT named by the Ancient Romans?

• Venus

• Mars

• Jupiter

• Earth

​Maya Calendars

We all know that there are 365 days in a year, plus an extra day every fourth year, or leap year. These numbers are the result of years of study of the sun and the seasons. The Maya, working without scientific tools, calculated ​that there were 365.2420 days in a year. Modern astronomers used

modern technology to measure the year at 365.2422 days! The Maya created a solar calendar, or calendar based on the movement of the sun. This calendar is similar to our calendar, but there are some differences. We divide our year into twelve months. The Maya divided their year into eighteen months with names like Pop and Zip. A special five-day “month” completed the 365-day year.

Besides their 365-day solar calendar, Maya astronomers created another calendar called the Sacred Round. This calendar was 260 days long and was used to keep track of religious holidays and other important events. Because the Maya had two calendars, each day had two names. One name came from the Sacred Round and the other from the solar calendar. This also meant that all Maya people had two birthdays.

Multiple Choice

A _______ year is a 365 days in a year, plus an extra day every fourth year.

• complete

• leap

• partial

• century

Multiple Choice

In what ways is the Maya solar calendar different from the one

we use today?

• It has seventeen months made up of twenty days, plus one extra

  five-day period

• It has eighteen months made up of twenty days, plus one extra

  five-day period

• It has nineteen months made up of twenty days, plus one extra

  five-day period.

• It has twenty months made up of twenty days, plus one extra

  five-day period

​Astronomy at Work

We can see the results of Maya astronomy in the placement of their temples and pyramids. These structures were built so the sun would shine directly on key areas on certain days. In Chichén Itzá, for example, the sun of the spring and fall equinoxes casts the shadow of a serpent statue onto the pyramid steps. As the sun rises, the shadow slithers down the stairs.

Inventing Zero

The Maya were also skilled at mathematics. They developed a system of number symbols. A dot stood for one. A bar stood for five. A shell stood for zero. We all know that zero can stand for “nothing.”

​

But when it comes to a system of numbers, zero means a lot! Think, for example, of the difference between the numbers twenty and two hundred. The Maya symbol for zero worked the same way ours

does. In fact, the Maya were among the first people in the world to

develop the concept of zero.​

Multiple Choice

In what replacement can we see the results of Maya Astronomy?

• temples

• pyramids

• Both A and B

• houses and buildings

Multiple Choice

The Maya developed a system of number symbols. A shell stood for _______

• zero

• one

• five

• ten

How They Lived​

​ Most Maya people made their living as farmers. Their main crop was corn. One of their main foods was something you may have eaten—a flat bread called a tortilla (/tor*tee*uh/). Farmers also

grew beans, squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and pumpkins. Maya farmers lived in one-room huts made out of mud and grass.

Families lived in walled areas that had several huts. Men and boys did the farming. Women and girls took care of the house, cooked, and made clothing and pottery.

Every culture has practices that seem odd to other people. The Maya did two things that may seem a little strange to you. They considered crossed eyes to be beautiful. So mothers would hang something in front of a baby’s nose to help the baby develop crossed eyes. The Maya also viewed a flat head as a symbol of beauty. They would strap a long board to the backs of newborn babies. As the babies’ heads rested against the board, the board gradually flattened the back of the babies’ soft skulls.

Multiple Choice

What was the most common job held by the Maya people of

the past?

• fisherman

• trader

• farmer

• builder

Coming of Age

​ Before age five, Maya children were cared for by parents and other relatives. At age five, they took on new responsibilities, such as helping with farming and household chores. A boy had a white bead braided to his hair. A girl had a string tied to her waist with a red shell attached.

These symbols remained in place until the children reached the age of fourteen. At this point, an initiation ceremony was performed to mark their passage to adulthood. A priest would pick a day

when the stars were favorable. Then the priest would cut the bead from the boy’s hair. A girl’s mother would cut the string from her daughter’s waist. Then the parents would have a celebration with family members and neighbors.

After these ceremonies, boys moved into a house for unmarried men. There they would remain until they got married. Marriages were arranged. In the hard life of Maya farmers, marriages were

not romantic affairs. They were more like business deals between families.

As with the initiation ceremonies, priests picked marriage dates.

They checked with the stars and the gods to find a day that would bring good fortune. However, no Maya couple expected married life to bring only good fortune. The Maya believed that every aspect of life was controlled by the gods. Because some gods were good and some were bad, they expected life to include both joy

and sorrow.

Multiple Choice

At what age did Maya young people enter adulthood?

• eleven

• twelve

• thirteen

• fourteen

​Where Did Everybody Go?

The ancient Maya were amazing people who built a great civilization. That fact alone is a reason to find them interesting. But one of the most fascinating questions about ancient Maya civilization (200–900 CE) is what happened to cause it to end.

Archaeologists believe that the Maya left their cities sometime between 800 and 900. It’s possible this event happened over just a few decades. Until the 900s, the Maya kept careful historical records. They used their hieroglyphs to carve names and dates on pyramids and temples. Then in the 900s, the writing mysteriously stopped. The temples and pyramids began to fall into disrepair.

So what happened? Archaeologists have theories, but they can’t find clear proof for any one of them.

​Where Did Everybody Go?

​ One theory holds that farmers rose up against the priests and nobles. But this raises another question: what happened to the farmers? There is no evidence of a new group of people replacing the old ones in power.

Some have guessed that disease wiped out the Maya population. But no mass burial grounds have been found. Archaeologists have found signs that some people in this area did die from diseases. Almost all of these deaths, however, seemed to have occurred after 1500, when the Spanish brought new diseases to the Americas. The Maya had been gone for years before that.

Did disaster strike the Maya? Did drought or heavy rainfall bring famine? Was there an earthquake? Did shifting trade routes affect the lowland Maya rulers and their settlements? Could invaders have toppled the civilization?

No one knows for sure. We only know that the once-great Maya cities were abandoned and swallowed up by the rain forest. The Maya scattered. But the people themselves did not disappear. Today, millions still speak languages related to ancient Mayan. These ancestors of the pyramid-builders have lived in villages, towns, and cities in southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras for centuries. They have a rich heritage, one that we are learning more about with each passing year.

Multiple Choice

What evidence suggests to archaeologists that the Maya

abandoned their cities sometime around 900?

• They stopped carving names on their pyramids and temples

  as they had done before.

• They stopped carving dates on their pyramids and temples

  as they had done before.

• The structures began to fall into disrepair.

• All of the above

Multiple Choice

The Maya did not write down information about the event or events

that led to the changes affecting their civilization around 900.

• TRUE

• FALSE

• MAYBE

• NOT SURE