The Mayans’ history is unlike any other ancient civilization in many ways, one being that their history is disputed among many historians and archaeologists. Mayan history is very controversial and very complex. The first known settlement of the Mayan dates back to 10,000 BC. There is some evidence that this date could be 18,000 BC but it is not proven to be true yet. One thing that most historians and archaeologists can agree on is that the Mayan were incredibly smart and advanced. Their math and building skills were impeccable and beyond what everyone else could do. In this introduction I will be talking about their hunting and agriculture, the tools they used, and their cities.
The ancient Maya were hunters and gatherers just like Native Americans in Northern America. They hunted mammoths, fished and gathered plant foods from the wild. After the ice age it was difficult to find the plant foods and the mammoths migrated and died off because of the lack of food. With all of this happening they had to find a new source of food or risk starving to death. They started to plant beans, corn, chili, tomatoes and squashes. They also started domesticating animals such as turkeys and dogs to eat. The ice age had them take use of agriculture and domestication as their main sources of food.
The tools that the Maya used were not conventional or used by many people of their time. Most civilizations had their tools made of metal; Mayans used stones and bones to make their tools. Mayans are known for their math skills as well; they used the concept of zero before anyone else. They used their fingers and toes as a means of counting while most other people only used their hands. Their number system was in 20’s instead of 10’s like todays’ math. The symbols that they used are a shell, dot and solid horizontal line. The line represents 5, the shell represents zero and the dot represents one.
Ancient Mayans had beautiful homes, architecture, and buildings. They even had roads that went through the forests from town to town and building to building. They are also known for their beautiful art and scriptures. They had churches and sporting courts for public use. The ball game that they played is called Pitz. This is the first sport known to humanity and is associated to their mythology and had important ritual aspects to it.
The ancient Maya were hunters and gatherers just like Native Americans in Northern America. They hunted mammoths, fished and gathered plant foods from the wild. After the ice age it was difficult to find the plant foods and the mammoths migrated and died off because of the lack of food. With all of this happening they had to find a new source of food or risk starving to death. They started to plant beans, corn, chili, tomatoes and squashes. They also started domesticating animals such as turkeys and dogs to eat. The ice age had them take use of agriculture and domestication as their main sources of food.
The tools that the Maya used were not conventional or used by many people of their time. Most civilizations had their tools made of metal; Mayans used stones and bones to make their tools. Mayans are known for their math skills as well; they used the concept of zero before anyone else. They used their fingers and toes as a means of counting while most other people only used their hands. Their number system was in 20’s instead of 10’s like todays’ math. The symbols that they used are a shell, dot and solid horizontal line. The line represents 5, the shell represents zero and the dot represents one.
Ancient Mayans had beautiful homes, architecture, and buildings. They even had roads that went through the forests from town to town and building to building. They are also known for their beautiful art and scriptures. They had churches and sporting courts for public use. The ball game that they played is called Pitz. This is the first sport known to humanity and is associated to their mythology and had important ritual aspects to it.