How good is your knowledge of the Mayans?

In order for you to ​be able to discuss the Mayans and their civilisation with your children, here is a brief outline of the topic covered so far.

Where did the Maya civilisation exist?

The Mayans were a large group of people who lived in Mesoamerica. The term Mesoamerica literally means middle America in Greek. ​Mesoamerica no longer exists. This area of land is now made up of the countries southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador.​

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When did Maya civilisation exist?​

• The Maya first developed their civilisation in around 2000 BC (the Pre-classic period).​
• This period from 250 AD to c900 AD is called the Classic period.​
• In around 1600 AD (the postclassic period) many aspect of the Mayan civilisation were conquered and destroyed by the Spanish invaders. However, Mayan culture has survived in a few areas and around 5 million people still speak Mayan languages.​
• During the Maya civilisation, Britain went through the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages, to Roman Britain, Anglo-Saxon, Medieval and Tudor England.

The Maya lived in large city-states with huge stone pyramids and temples. 60 city-states are known of but more are still being discovered. Some of the more important Maya city-states were Tikal, Calakmul, Caracol, Copán, Quiriguá, Palenque, Chichén Itzá and Uxmal. Although every Maya city was different, they tended to share certain characteristics, such as general layout.​​

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Initially, people in all city-states shared a common language, culture and religion. As time progressed, each city was its own state with its own ruler. The city-states sometimes traded peacefully. At other times, they fought. Each city-state developed its own language.​

Each city was home to the local king who lived in a palace within the city. It was also home to large pyramids that served as temples to their gods. Typically cities were located near trade routes and good farmland.​

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Maya tended to lay their cities out in plaza groups: clusters of buildings around a central plaza. This was true of the impressive buildings in the city centre (temples, palaces, etc) as well as smaller residential areas. These plazas are rarely neat and orderly and to some, it may seem as if the Maya built anywhere they pleased. This is because they Maya built on the irregularly-shaped higher ground to avoid floods and dampness associated with their tropical forest home. In the centre of the cities were the important public buildings such as temples, palaces, and the ball court. Residential areas radiated out from the city centre, growing sparser the further they got from the centre. Raised stone walkways linked the residential areas with each other and the centre. Later Maya cities were built on higher hills for defence and had high walls surrounding most of the city or at least the centres.

I hope you have learnt enough to quiz your children and help reinforce their understanding of the Mayans and their civilisations. Maybe you’ve learnt a thing or two, also.