HIST 214 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Maya Calendar, Uxmal, Chichen Itza
Document Summary
People arrived to the americas ~16,000 years ago. The land bridge was cut off ~12,000 years ago. Origins of maya civilization in the new world: Classical maya centers: guatemala, belize, honduras, and southern mexico. Chief centers: tikal in guatemala, palenque in chipas (s. mexico), copan in. Tikal: temple height was sign of power. Classic maya died out before europeans came. Best writing, but figured out how to read only decades ago. Economy based on corn (plain corn doesn"t have sufficient amino acids) The importance of trade in maya civilization. Maya calendar (solar 365, lunar 260 days, days repeat every 52 years) Ritual blood letting (elites cut themselves, form of sacrifice) Chichen itza: human sacrifice at the ball court. Decline and abandonment of the classic maya. The rise of the cities of yucatan (post-classic maya) peninsula: uxmal, mayapon,
