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Maya Civilization


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Questions | Bibliography

Chapter Reference: The Encounter

Mayan civilization peaked too early to impress the Spanish in the manner of the Inca and Aztec empires. The great Mayan ceremonial centers visited by modern tourists were all in ruin when the Spanish arrived in the 1500s. In fact, the highpoint of Mayan imperial organization was almost a thousand years earlier. Mayan city states were located in high mountains, in densely forested tropical lowlands, and on the arid Yucatán peninsula. Like the Mexicas (and other indigenous people of central Mexico), the Maya built stone pyramids, but they did not dedicate any to human sacrifice. A paper on the Maya will naturally linger, not on empire building but on Mayan culture. Mayan cities contained ball courts where opposing teams tried to get a rubber ball through a stone hoop. The game was not a sport, but a ritual, and often a matter of life and death, too. Mayan writing, composed of symbols called glyphs, was the most elaborate created by any indigenous civilization. In an attempt to eradicate Mayan indigenous religious belief, the Spanish conquistadors burned large collections of Mayan writings. The Mayan language lives on today, but its linguistic fragmentation mirrors the political fragmentation of the city states. Modern Mayan is a family of languages, rather than a single language. Quiché and Mam, two modern Mayan languages, are no more alike than English and German or French and Italian.

Questions for Analysis and Further Reflection:

  1. What was Mayan social structure like, and how did it compare to social hierarchies of the Aztec and Inca empires? What factors accounted for the early peak and decline of Mayan imperial organization?


  2. The monumental architecture built by the Maya is still visible today in pyramids and massive stone sculptures. The Maya also engaged in other forms of artistic production that included the crafting of ornate jewelry and developing a system of writing. What meanings and functions did these various types of cultural production have during the highpoint of Mayan civilization and in the renaissance of Mayan city states just before the arrival of the Spaniards?


  3. Despite the highpoint of Mayan civilization and political cohesion ending around 900, Mayan culture continued to thrive, and is still alive in much of Guatemala, as well as areas of Mexico. Language is one illustration of Mayan culture that survived the trials of time. What are others, perhaps still visible today, and what arguments can be made to explain how they survived the encounter?

Bibliography: (Titles with ** are good starting places.)

** Adams, Richard E., ed. The Origins of Maya Civilization. School of American Research
           Advanced Seminar Series. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1977.

Though dated, this collection of essays provides an introduction to various aspects of Mayan civilization, from Olmec and Mayan connections to the warfare of the Maya and Mayan art.

** Restall, Matthew. Maya Conquistador. Boston: Beacon Press, 1998.

Restall offers a concise overview of the encounter between Spaniards and indigenous populations in Mexico, and then provides a valuable collection of Maya primary sources, translated into English, that give Maya perspectives of the encounter.

________. The Maya World: Yucatec Culture and Society, 1550—1850. Stanford: Stanford
           University Press, 1997.

This book is a scholarly treatment of the Maya following the encounter. Some chapters may be helpful for students who already have an understanding of Mayan society and who are interested in the ways colonization challenged Mayan ways of life.

Rice, Prudence M. Maya Political Science: Time, Astronomy, and the Cosmos. Austin:
           University of Texas Press, 2004.

Rice's recent monograph focuses on the classic period of Mayan civilization, from the mid-100s through the mid-900s, highlighting the role of the Mayan calendar and conceptions of time in political organization.

** Sharer, Robert J. The Ancient Maya, 5th ed. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994.

The Ancient Maya is the most thorough account of pre-Columbian Mayan civilization in English, with multiple sections on culture. Its more than seven hundred pages will require students to select readings from its chapters, but the book is a good starting point.


Other Resources:
Guatemala
Mexico
The Aztec Empire
The Inca Empire