The Ancient Mayan Civilization Centuries ago, the Mayan civilization was born. This was a civilization skilled in the art of agriculture, pottery, hieroglyphic writing, calendar making, and mathematics. The time in which the Mayan’s existed can be broken down into three different parts. Originally, the earliest settlements of the Mayans existed in a time around 1800 B.C.E. During this time the native’s days were predominantly composed of tending to the civilizations agricultural commitment. The early Mayans were commonly associated with swidden (shifting cultivation) agriculture. This term refers to the practice where a plot of land is cultivated for a brief period of time, then temporarily allowed time to re grow its natural vegetation
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This artwork gained influences from the Olmec civilization. Along with the Olmec civilization, the Mayans found influences from other Mesoamerican civilizations such as Theotihuacan and the Toltecs. Mayan art reached its peak during the civilizations “Classic Period”(two hundred to nine hundred common era). During this period as well a others, the Mayans were known for their usage of materials like Jade, obsidian, and stucco. Jade is a typically hard material that is most commonly seen in a green color. Obsidian is “a hard, dark, glasslike volcanic rock formed by the rapid solidification of lava without crystallization.” Lastly stucco is a “fine plaster used for coating wall surfaces or molding into architectural decorations.” The Mayans, as stated before, worship many gods and based their civilization on appeasing the gods or trying to “curry the favor of the gods.” Most Mayan artwork reflects the dominance of Mayan religion, because most of the Pieces of art relay messages of spirituality or religion. With this in mind one can further notice the depiction of rulers, gods, legendary heroes, and religious scenes that the Mayans have inscribed on their art. The Mayan art takes its many forms anywhere from the small pieces of carved obsidian the massive pyramids. Pottery was an important piece of evidence found by researchers. The Mayans inscribed their pottery with information that people now find useful to learn about this ancient civilization. On some of the artwork, images of war and sacrifices were depicted. Archaeologists have also found that the materials used to make the pottery can be used as “fingerprinting” to find the history of it. They can see the origin of the pottery, which allows the archaeologist to reassemble trade patterns and other ways of distributing the
This artwork gained influences from the Olmec civilization. Along with the Olmec civilization, the Mayans found influences from other Mesoamerican civilizations such as Theotihuacan and the Toltecs. Mayan art reached its peak during the civilizations “Classic Period”(two hundred to nine hundred common era). During this period as well a others, the Mayans were known for their usage of materials like Jade, obsidian, and stucco. Jade is a typically hard material that is most commonly seen in a green color. Obsidian is “a hard, dark, glasslike volcanic rock formed by the rapid solidification of lava without crystallization.” Lastly stucco is a “fine plaster used for coating wall surfaces or molding into architectural decorations.” The Mayans, as stated before, worship many gods and based their civilization on appeasing the gods or trying to “curry the favor of the gods.” Most Mayan artwork reflects the dominance of Mayan religion, because most of the Pieces of art relay messages of spirituality or religion. With this in mind one can further notice the depiction of rulers, gods, legendary heroes, and religious scenes that the Mayans have inscribed on their art. The Mayan art takes its many forms anywhere from the small pieces of carved obsidian the massive pyramids. Pottery was an important piece of evidence found by researchers. The Mayans inscribed their pottery with information that people now find useful to learn about this ancient civilization. On some of the artwork, images of war and sacrifices were depicted. Archaeologists have also found that the materials used to make the pottery can be used as “fingerprinting” to find the history of it. They can see the origin of the pottery, which allows the archaeologist to reassemble trade patterns and other ways of distributing the