Mayan Civilization – Flashcards
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What is the northernmost Mayan city center?
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Yucatan peninsula
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What are the four social classes in Mayan society?
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nobles, priests, merchants and farmers and peasants and slaves
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What is codex?
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An ancient manuscript text in book form
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What is steles?
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An ancient carved stone marker commemorating an important date or great event.
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What climate did the Mayans live in?
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They lived in a hot tropical climate with forest
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In what time period did the Mayans develop their civilization?
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Around 1500 B.C. They were an advanced Mesoamerican civilization.
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What was Pascal II?
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Was known as Pascal the Great or "The Shield", the King of Palenque in 615 and ruled until he was 80 years old.
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Why was it important to have an accurate calendar system in Mayan culture?
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So they can know which god was in charge of the day and to calculate end of the world. Also to help with planting and harvest.
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How did the Maya contribute to advancements in Astronomy?
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They built large observatories to study the sky and created two calendars for religous festivals and guided farming activities for planting and harvesting.
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What did the Maya do in order to get help from their gods?
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They sacrificed animals, plants, jade and people with ceremonies.
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What type of life did peasant farmers lead and how does this compare to other civilizations that we studied?
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The farmers were the majority of people in the Mayan culture. They farmed the land, built structures and fought in wars and lived together in stick mud huts. The main staple of food was corn and they used a farming technique called slash and burn. Peasant farmers are very similar to other cultures as they are the largest amount of the population and are all hard workers.
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What is slash and burn
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Farmers burned all the foliage in spring before summer rains for a good crop.
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Mayan nobles had many privileges. What were they and how does it compare to other civilizations?
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Nobles had better homes with plaster walls and wood floors. They also had better quality clothes and they didn't have to do hard labor. This is very similar to other cultures around the world.
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Did Mayan kings want more land or power?
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They wanted more power to impress the gods so kings needed power to rule over everyone and sacrifice humans to please the gods.
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Which social class was known as the "backbone" of civilization?
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Peasants
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Name the present-day countries the Maya civilization existed.
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Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, and Guatemala
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What is one theory of why the Mayan civilization collapsed?
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There was overpopulation, so the farming system couldn't sustain it.
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What is one agriculture technique Mayas used?
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Slash and burn
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Who could read the sacred calendar?
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Priests
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What did each day of the Sacred Round represent?
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A god
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Why was pok-a-tok so significant from a religious standpoint?
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The losers were sacrificed as a gift to the gods, which was a religious practice
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What were the names of the two calendars the Mayans developed?
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The calendar based on the sun year, the sacred round
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Which is a crop grown in the Mayan civilization?
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Corn & Beans
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What type of gods did Mayans believe in (polytheistic or monotheistic
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Polytheistic
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Why were humans sacrificed?
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It was believed human blood was given to gods for their strength
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How were slaves treated in Mayan period?
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They weren't tortured, they had no freedom
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What social class was literate?
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Nobles and Priests
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Which social class decided when to go to war?
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Ruler
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Name the three period of Mayas
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Pre-Classic, Classic, Post- Classic
