Ancient Maya Civilization
Reviewed Resources for Students and Teachers
Calendopaedia - Mayan Calenders __ An overview of the Maya calendar system. "There were two Mayan Calendars which later influenced the Aztec Calendars. One had 260 days and was a sacred calendar used for worship. The other one consisted of 365 days and was a
seasonal calendar used for farming and normal daily life." - From Calendopaedia - http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/7671/mayan.htm
Classical Mayan Civilization __ "The earliest Mayas are thought to have migrated from the northwest coast of California to the Guatemalan highlands during the third millennium B.C." - broad history of Maya and the region - http://www.emayzine.com/lectures/classical maya.html
Head Shaping and Dental Decoration Among the Ancient Maya __ You will need an Acrobat Reader. the paper is about cosmetic deformity among the Maya. You can reach a photo without downloading to PDF. - From Mesoweb.com - http://www.mesoweb.com/features/tiesler/index.html
An Introduction to the Classic Period Maya III ~*Politics*~ __ "There were three main Maya centers, circa 800 BC: Kaminaljuyu, which is buried under Guatemala City, in the highlands, Dzibilchaltun, in the Yucatan, and Tikal, in the central lowlands/Peten. It is
said that the Tikal Metropolis was perhaps the most politically powerful of all Maya centers." Learn about the social classes and the political process of the time. - from ancientworlds.net - http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Post/117526
Journey Through Tikal __ "This interactive site explores the ancient Mayan ruins of Tikal, a city that flourished over 2,000 years ago in Central America." - illustrated - From Studio 360 - http://www.destination360.com/tikal.htm
Maya Calendar Round __ "While the Maya are known for their phenomenally accurate, complex, calculations of the orbits of stars, planets and moon, and precise reckoning of the solstices and eclipses, there is also an effective, but much more ordinary, almost easy to understand calendar. It wasn't too easy, though: Only
shamans could calculate it." You will find a good explanation of what is known as the Calendar Round. - From About.com - http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa101700a.htm
Maya Creator Gods __ You will need Acrobat Reader for this. An excellent paper dealing with Maya Creator Gods including over 60 illustrations - From Mesoweb.com - http://www.mesoweb.com/features/bassie/CreatorGods/CreatorGods.pdf
Photo Archive - Science Museum of Minnesota __ Dozens of 'titled' photos dealing with the ancient Maya civilization. Excellent resource for illustrating any reports or projects you may be doing. - From Science Museum of Minnesota - http://www.sci.mus.mn.us/sln/ma/teacher.html
Reconstructing Maya and Zapotec Political Organization __ "Forms of archaeological evidence used to reconstruct Maya and Zapotec political organization include: 1) settlement information such as building size, building function, number of hours to construct,
number of occupants, population size, spatial position and what buildings are closest to the central plaza or central ceremonial district e.g. the large elite houses/administrative buildings at Monte Alban; 2) artistic representations which frequently portrayed political symbols, propaganda, conquests of neighboring polities, and..." Much, much more actually. You will find a good
article and click-to-read resources. - illustrated - From Kevin L. Callahan - http://www.angelfire.com/ca/humanorigins/political.html
