The Mayans were an advanced civilization in Mexico and Belize dating back to 1800 BCE. They had sophisticated architecture, agriculture, and many gods they worshipped through human sacrifice. The Mayans peaked around 250 AD with many city-states vying for power. While they had a developed calendar, writing system, and astronomical understanding, Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes conquered the Mayans in the 1500s, greatly reducing their population through warfare, disease, and slavery. Today around 6 million people can trace their descent from the Mayans and still practice aspects of the traditional culture.

1. The Mayans
By Rosalie Sanderson-smith

2. Who were the Mayans?

3. Who were the Mayans?
Dating back to 1800 BCE,
the Mayans were a
civilization of Mexico and
Belize in Central America,
who are still surviving
today. They were people
very advanced in
architecture and agriculture
(food and farming), with
many different gods to
worship.

4. The rise of the Mayan
civilization

5. The Mayans rose to their
peak of power at roughly
250 AD, and, although
many places were fighting
for rule over the almighty
Mayan kingdom, they
managed to retain their
hold over it.

6. As the Mayans rose to
power, many people were
sacrificed to the gods in
order for others to keep a
healthy lifestyle. It was also
a very humid place, often
covered thickly by jungle,
rock, sand or cleared to
build temples.

7. Mayan Worship

8. The Mayans worshipped
many different gods,
including Chaac (god of
moon) and Ix Chel (god of
rain). They also had a
maize god, as maize was
an important and sacred
food to the Mayans, as it
was the centre of their food.
There were three levels-
kind of like heaven, earth
and hell. They also created
many ceremonial
structures, painted red to
represent blood, such as
pyramids, temples, palaces
and observational buildings.

9. They had sacrificial
games as well, including
Pok a Tok, which is a bit
like football without your
feet and if the opposing
team scored a goal you
would be dead. Harsh.
The Mayans kind of ‘paid’ the gods, with
sacrifices to keep their land healthy and
wealthy. Some said that if you didn’t sacrifice
anyone, the sun would stop moving and we
would be left with eternal darkness!

10. Farming and trading

11. Farming and trading
• The Mayans didn’t have
any money. This meant
that they had to trade,
instead. They would build
giant trading routes dug
out of murky swamp land,
and pass goods through
the tunnels. They would
trade items such as gold,
Quetzal feathers, water
and even obsidian.

12. • The Mayans had
advanced calendars,
showing the sun and
moon, when to sow and
when to harvest. They
had three kinds of
farming; slash and burn,
raised bed and terrace.
Drinking water could
often grow scarce.

13. Science

14. • The Mayans had hieroglyphs of their own- not
like the Egyptian ones, though, in which there
were over 700. In the Mayan hieroglyphics,
there are over 800 hieroglyphs. They would
represent letters, words or sounds using
different pictures, ‘describing’ the word. They
were very mathematical and astronomical
people. They had twenty different areas- like
Greek states, each with a ruler, supported by
smaller cities and villages. Although they were
very powerful as a group, there was a lot of
conflict between the different city-states as
people scrabbled for more power.

15. The downfall of the
mayans

16. Fall
• The downfall of the Mayans
occurred when Spanish
fighter Hernando Cortes took
over the Mayans, enslaving
them or brutally slaughtering
them. After the battle was
won, many Mayans died out,
shrinking the population
incredibly. This was also
helped on by the fact that
there was more warfare,
volcanic eruptions and
drought that not everyone
could save themselves from.

17. Mayans today

18. Mayans today
• There are still Mayans left,
though! They still live in
groups in what is now
Mexico. Many still worship
the Mayan gods, do the
Mayan dances and even
dress like them. However,
even though the population
was thinned enormously, it
has grown again and now
holds around 6 million
people. That’s actually more
than they had at the Mayans
peak power!

19. Fun facts

20. Fun facts!
• The Mayans came up with the
concept of ‘zero’. What would we
do without zero?
• They were Mezo American.
• My dad’s been to Mexico to see the
Mayan civilization!
• They weren’t actually called the
Mayans- but they were given that
name by architects today. They
actually went by the name of the
places they were living in- only the
people who lived in Mayapan were
called the Mayans!

21. Quiz time!

22. Quiz time!
• Which of the below was not a god that I
mentioned?
• a) chaac
• b) Itza Chakal
• c) Ix chel

23. Quiz time!
• True of false:
• The Mayans had over 45 different city states

24. Quiz time!
• The Mayans were overall conquered by who?
• Hernandez Cortes
• Hernan Lortes
• Hernando Cortes

25. Quiz time!
• How many aprox. people are Mayan today?
• 6 million
• 2 billion
• 8.56 million

26. Quiz time!
• What three ways did the Mayans farm?

27. The end