Aspects of the Mayan Culture Essay - 573 Words

Class structure, warfare, family life, religious practices, and agriculture are all aspects of the Maya’s culture. There are three main periods during the Maya’s time. Pre-classic, classic, and post-classic. The Maya accomplished the most during the classic period. Later on the Maya disappeared and scientist only have a couple of theories on what happened. The first aspect of the Maya’s culture is their class structure. At the top is the ruler. The ruler and his family had all the authority. The priests and the nobles came next. They were the only people who knew how to read and write. Priests would worship the gods to keep their favor. Below them were the merchants and artisans. The merchants made various goods and would either trade†¦show more content†¦They believed in over 160 gods. Their primary gods were forces in nature such as the sun and the rain. They offered many items to the gods such as plants, food, flowers, feathers, jade, and shells. They believed that the gods prefered blood sacrifices. The Maya would kill animals to please their gods. They would even sacrifice humans for their gods. They usually sacrificed nobles and warriors they captured at war. They would even sacrifice slaves and orphans. These practices were important to the mayya because they wanted to please their gods. The last important aspect of the Maya’s culture is agriculture. The Maya grew four main crops; corn, beans, squash, and chili peppers. The Maya had a large civilization so they used three techniques to help them grow more crops. The slash and burn technique was used when there was a lot of vegetation. They would cut and burn the vegetation until there was a clear spot to grow their crops. The terrace technique was used in mountney places. They would cut a stair-like design into a side of a mountain. This allowed them to grow their crops on the flat areas. The final technique was raised-earth platforms. They used this technique in wate ry places. They would create a higher bit of land by putting dirt or other objects on another piece of land. Agriculture helped the Maya grow food for their hungry empire. Class structure, warfare, family life, religious practices, and agriculture are all aspects of the Maya’s culture. TheShow MoreRelatedPhilosophy624 Words   |  3 Pagescritical role in ancient civilization, culture creation, and preservation in the sense that they not only bind, but also influence the societal structure, statutes, and personal lives. This paper documents the Mayan culture taking into consideration their civilization, ideologies, as well as their rituals. Civilization Factors contributing to culture creation and preservation extend from geographical to a number of patterns. 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