3. Cultural Complexity
A society with the many or all of the following 11 criteria are described as a
civilization:
• Permanent formal institutions used to centralize and legitimize power
• State religion with public ceremonies and festivals
• At least a three-tiered settlement pattern where political, economic, and religious
institutions are centralized in a large administrative center
• Social stratification with class distinctions
• Marked differential access to key resources between elites and commoners
• Complex division of labor with craft specialization
• Food surpluses produced by agriculture, intensive cultivation of staple crops, with
the surplus used as tribute
• Long-distance trade with other societies
• Writing and other achievements such as arithmetic, astronomy, and calendrics
• Monumental public architecture
• Distinctive and sophisticated art style
7. 12.18.16.2.6, 3 Cimi, 4 Zotz
12.18.16.2.6 is the Long count
– 1 kin = 1 day
– 1 uinal = 20 kin = 20 days
– 1 tun = 18 uinals = 230 days = ~1 yr
– 1 katun = 20 tun = 7200 days = ~20 yrs
– 1 baktun = 20 katun = 144,000 days = ~394 yrs
3 Cimi is the Tzolk’in date
4 Zotz is the Haab’ date
