THE MAYAN EVOLUTION

For the scientific community, reconstructing the origins of Civilization has proven to be very challenging.
Maya, since there is not enough archaeological evidence.

Only through linguistic studies have anthropologists established that proto-Mayan groups
they began the occupation of the highlands around the year 2500 B.C.; it is estimated that these first Mayans
they were linguistically related to the tribes established in the Gulf of Mexico, which makes
assume that this place was the cradle of an important immigration that headed towards Central America. This
movement, first occupied the Chiapas area, and later moved to the Pacific coast until
Guatemala to finally arrive at the Yucatán Peninsula.

The study of the historical evolution of Maya Civilization has been divided into 4 periods that derive from the
stages of prehistoric cultural development of the American continent. These periods are the Formative (2,500
from 1,000 B.C. to A.D. 250), the Preclassic (1,000 B.C. to A.D. 250), the Classic (A.D. 250 to 1,000), and the Postclassic (1,000 to...
Approximately 1.461.

Before reviewing the cultural periods of Maya development, it is necessary to point out that the main
A characteristic of the political organization of the Mayans was the independence and autonomy of the areas of
local development. Unlike the Aztec or Inca empires, the Maya Civilization did not possess an authority
central that would aggregate under its influence all the territory that encompassed the Mayan tradition, so in each
During the development period, there was a center or pole from which influence was exerted over the neighboring regions.
For example, in the Classic period, a development hub was the city of Teotihuacan, and its authorities.
they controlled the economic, commercial, and religious activities of the surrounding areas.

Another feature that we must mention about the political organization of the Mayans is that it has been achieved
establish that the different Mayan cities were frequently at war with each other for control of the
resources, which has called into question the preeminence that priests held in Maya society.

Formative (2500 to 1000 B.C.)

In Chiapas and on the coast of Guatemala, the first archaeological signs have been found that indicate
that in these areas the Mayans became a sedentary people. Around the year 1,320 B.C.E. they have
closed remnants of villages of corn farmers, but where the diet was supplemented by fishing.

The Formative period of Mayan Civilization was determined by the influence of various traditions.
cultural interactions that resulted in the flourishing of the classical period of the
Mayas. The most important is the Olmec tradition, which is presumed to be the founder of a technical development,
artistic and religious that came to extend to the Chavín culture in the Central Andes; the remains
archaeological findings indicate a deep relationship between Olmec culture and the formative Maya cultures, and their
the main evidence is the jaguar heads present in the Mayan art found in various
settlements.
Preclassic (1000 BC to 250 AD)

This period is also known as the Agricultural Period and is characterized by the definitive adoption of the
agriculture as the main economic activity. This phenomenon caused a sustained increase in the
population, thanks to the greater food possibilities provided by agriculture.

During this period, the main Mayan settlements were distributed along the coast of Veracruz.
(ancient Olmec settlement) and the plains of Chiapas and Guatemala, even reaching the territory occupied
Currently in Guatemala City.

Agricultural activities were focused on the cultivation of corn, beans, cocoa, and pumpkins.
As a consequence of the land dependency that agriculture implied for the Mayans, they left.
progressively developing religious beliefs closely linked to natural phenomena related to
field, such as rain or drought; during this period, the Mayans also began to practice the worship of the
dead.

Classic (250 to 1000)

This period extends from the year 250 to the beginning of the first millennium of the Christian era, and also
known as the Theocratic Period because in this stage a caste of priest-leaders controlled
fiercely all aspects of daily life of the Maya Civilization.

Scholars of Mesoamerica recognize the emergence of the Mayan calendar as the milestone that marks the transition to
a new stage of cultural development, from the Preclassic to the Classic, and they place its beginning in the year 250 of the
Christian era, dates marked by the inscriptions found on the oldest steles that
they have managed to decipher.

The Mayan calendar is closely related to the Mayan mathematical system, which included the
number 0, with which enormous figures expressed in base twenty units could be represented; the Mayans
they used dots and bars to write one or five, and from the combination of these symbols they could
representing quantities from 1 to 19. The 0 was symbolized with a shell.

The consolidation of agriculture sparked a marked labor specialization and caused stratification of
the Maya society.

Postclassic (1000 to 1461)

This period extends from the year 1,000, approximately, until the fall of the city of Mayapán in
the year 1,461.

The main characteristic of this stage is the progressive decline of the Maya Civilization, culminating in the
slow disappearance of her, a phenomenon that is related to the migration towards Mayan territory of
towns coming from central Mexico.
It is estimated that by the end of the 11th century or the beginning of the 12th, a wave of Toltec peoples occupied the peninsula of
Yucatán establishing itself in the city of Chichén-Itzá, whose productive activities were in decline.
Since the 9th century. The Toltecs rebuilt Chichén-Itzá from the mix of both traditions.
cultural.

The Toltecs managed to establish a relative hegemony in Yucatán until they surprisingly appeared.
the Itzaes, of which there is no information about their origin.

The Itzaes built the city of Mayapán near Chichén-Itzá in the year 1263.

As we mentioned earlier, it is estimated that the Mayan cities were in a constant state of war.
among them, what is reflected in the great defensive wall that surrounded Mayapán, a city of 4 kilometers
squares that managed to house around 12,000 inhabitants. Mayapan, during the first half of the century
XV was the setting for a revolution that resulted in the abandonment of the city.

With the disappearance of Mayapán in the year 1461, the precarious political unity of the peninsula came to an end.
Yucatán and the Maya Civilization. After the fall of Mayapán, a score of small cities emerged.
they faced each other for power, a process that lasted until the arrival of the Spaniards

Mayan religion
La religionpre-Columbian Maya was firmly connected tothe ideologyruling (ruling because there was another)
religion more adapted to the rural world, and that never aligned itself with the official or priestly one), in such a way
more than just being devoted to the worship of the gods (which it did as well), religion was concerned with
understanding the why of things, which leads us to define it as a kind ofphilosophyprecursorof the
sciencemodern. Thus, the Mayan scientific discoveries cannot be conceived separately,
ideology, and religion, since all have, even if initially, their origin in faith and belief.
It is important to highlight the great significance of religion in Maya daily life, as well as being built up
temples, and of building the cities around them, the Mayan citizens were strongly believers, and
the priests were considered part of the high social echelons, having absolute power over the
knowledge, and of course, a great number of riches. The role of the priests was marked by a series
of 'classes' that hierarchized them and divided them according to their level of action among men and gods. From this
form, there were the priests of the Sun, who presided over the ritual acts, the prophets, who had the
the quality of entering a sort of trance and predicting what was going to happen in the future. All the rituals
conducted by the Maya were programmed and directed by priests, who were easily
visible due to their jaguar skin clothing, red habit, numerous jewelry, and adorned headdresses
with flowers.
Now, all Mayan rituals had their originin mythology, por what this can be considered the
foundation of Maya culture. According to this, the worship became a framework and medium level of concretion
from mythology, and the rites in the instruments identified as the lower level, thus being the
achievement ofand the readingextracted by the priests of themythsMayans. Among the rituals that took place in
the societyMaya, we found those for the sacrifice, the dand blood, theof human sacrifices oranimals.

GODS
What we know so far about pre-Columbian Maya culture tells us that we are facing a
an ancient society in which religion, and above all, immense faith and devotion, gave meaning to everything
what then happened, and in which therefore, the gods had to be revered very well
In this way, and as can be deduced from the previous words, the Mayans were polytheistic, and furthermore, each one
of them had different attributes, so consequently, a single god can be seen represented
in various ways, and besides having both positive and negative nuances, the Mayans did not remain only in
the apparent duality of gods of life and well-being (the one of fertility, corn, rain,...), and of suffering and
pain (gods ofthe warof bad harvests, that is, of everything bad). Now, unlike the
that some may think, the gods were not divine representations in human form, but rather they were
a metaphorical representation based on myths (derived from their own culture) of Maya ideology. From this
It was the gods who attributed meaning to the hierarchy of Maya society and to existence.
of everything that surrounded them.
Next we will look at some of the most notable gods:
Ixpiyacoc and Ixmucané
Itsamná
§ Ix Chevel Yax
§ Kinich Ahau
§ Ix Chel
Vucub Caquix
§ Kisín
§ Chac

Rituals and Cults

In a religion, the rituals and beliefs are generally the reflectionconcreteand palpable of a mythology
rooted in thethoughtpopular. They constitute alanguagewhat defines and delimits the space of
communicationbetween men and their gods. Mythology is the foundation, the cult is the frame, and the rite, the
instrument.
Mayan myths justify, explain, and encompass allthe operationscultural. For this reason, the cult is
it becomes the center of gravity around which myths and rituals are organized.
Mayan religion was tied to the uncertainties of agriculture and generated a large number of
ritual interventions, which were equivalent to various intercessions before the gods to make it easier for them to
everyday life and the good harvests. It is what has come to be called official religion, alwaysabout heritagefrom
the gods.
At the same time, there was a rural religion that was never identified with the gods.
All religious practices of the Maya civilization were tied to the Creation story: since the
gods created men,in exchangethey were to worship the deities by feeding them.
The presentthe textit's just athe selectionof the original work.
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RONAL ENRRIQUE OSORIO RAMOS

CHAIR:LANGUAGE L1

Professor Juan Humberto Cuyuy Chavez

GRADE: FIRST

SECTION: "A"

THEME: MAYAN EVOLUTION

January 22, 2013