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Presenting: The Mayas!
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In the Copán
Ruinas valley, in Honduras (very close to the border with Guatemala),
everyone has heard of the Mayas. We know that a long time ago, they
built big buildings that now are famous ruins. Thousands of tourists
from all around the world come to visit them. Mayan culture surrounds
everyone who lives in the valley. Sometimes people find pieces of
ceramic on their land. |
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Mayan people, called the Chortí, still leave in Copán.
Ancient Mayan culture is very present, but at the same time seems
very far away. With this web site, we are trying to know the Mayas
better the ones from back in history, and the ones from
today! |
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Who were the Mayas?
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The ancient Mayas lived
in a similar way to the Mayas of today, but also somewhat differently.
First, they didn't have the technology that people have today: no
radios, cars, or TVs. But even without these modern things, they
knew a lot about astronomy, architecture, and agriculture. They
were very intelligent: they invented the calendar and the number
‘"zero".
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The
Mayas lived off agriculture, fishing, and hunting. The ancient Maya
grew crops the same way that many farmers still do today. They respected
nature very much and tried to take good care of it. Their sources
of water were sacred and fire was considered a gift from heaven.
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Where did the Mayas live?
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The
Mayas didn't only live in Copán Ruinas. The lived in an area
of 500,000 square kilometers in the south of Mexico, Belize, all
of Guatemala, the west of Honduras, and the north of El Salvador.
Even though they didn't have highways, cars, or planes back then,
they did travel. Those that lived on the coast visited the villages
in the mountains to sell their seashells, salt, and other treasures
from the sea. The people in the mountains traded jade and tools
made of obsidian (a type of volcanic rock) with people from the
jungle, who had parrot feathers or ceramics. And they had a type
of money.
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It
wasn't Lempira bills (the Honduran currency today) but rather seeds
of the cocoa tree. The Mayas loved to have chocolate as a drink,
but the seed was so precious that they used it as their money. Maybe
this seems strange to you, but remember that our money today is
just a piece of paper!
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How did the Mayas get to Copán?
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About
300 years before Christ (or about 2300 years ago) the first people
arrived in the Copán valley. They found a river with crystalline
water, lots of jungle filled with animals, and a good climate. Up
until this point, these people, who, by the way, were not Mayas,
had been nomads, traveling from place to place. But they liked this
place so much that they decided to stay. About seven hundred years
later, the establishment was occupied by Yas K'uk Mo', a Maya prince
from the city of Tikal, now in Guatemala. He became the first king
of Copán. His people started mingling with the original habitants
and while the little town grew, it's people were soon considered
Mayas.
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These Mayas built small houses and planted corn, chili peppers,
and tobacco. They kept bees and made tools from stone that they
got from the mountains. Things were going well for them. The founders
of this little community had children, and these children eventually
had more children, and the town grew little by little. The Mayas
started to build bigger, more elaborate houses and also temples
to honor their gods. As the years passed, a majestic city eventually
grew in the Copán valley.
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Who ruled the Mayas?
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Around
the year 400 A.D., about 700 years after arriving in Copán,
the town was getting very big and powerful. The first king, as mentioned
earlier, was Yax K'uk Mo', which means "First Quetzal Macaw"
. A macaw is a type of parrot, and a quetzal is a smaller, green,
bird. They considered these birds to be so special, so it was a
big honor for the leader to be named like that.
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king - or ruler - was the most important person in the community.
The Mayas believed that he could talk with ancestors and the gods.
Because he was such a special man, they built him a beautiful palace.
When Yax K'uk Mo' died, his son took his place and the Mayas built
him a palace, too. It went like this for years, and in about the year
800, the little Maya village had turned into a big city with a population
of more than 25,000 people. The rulers, who were very powerful, commanded
artists to build enormous "stelae", or carved blocks of
stone. |
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Why did the Mayas disappear from Copán?
And then all
of a sudden... the Mayas disappeared from Copán. Well, it wasn'
t really all of a sudden. A lot of years passed before the last Maya left
Copán. What happened was that the city grew a lot in its last thousand
years. There were lots more people than before, and everyone needed to
eat. So, the Mayas cut down more trees so they could plant more corn,
until there were almost no forests left where the animals could live,
or firewood for cooking, or wood for building. And by cutting down trees,
they dried up their sources of water, and this reduced their crop yields,
and as a consequence, there was hunger and sickness. But these weren't
the only problems. The last rulers of Copán fought continuously
with the nobility, the most rich and powerful people. Everyone wanted
a part of the power and the riches of the king, so that in addition to
the hunger, there were political problems, too.
Because of the hunger and the drought and the political problems, many
Mayas decided to leave Copán. They looked for a better life in
other places, just like people today go to places like the United States
with the hope of earning more money there.
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It's
not certain why in the end the Mayas abandoned Copán. It
could be because there were natural disasters or wars at that time.
We know that around the year 800 A.D. the most powerful people left
Copán, and little by little the workers and farmers followed
them. When no one lived in the palaces or houses anymore, nature
covered them up with a layer of plants and trees. The beautiful
Mayan city turned into what we know today as the ruins of Copán.
But it's not the case that all the Mayas disappeared! They just
went to live in other places, and they're still around today!
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The different periods in the history of the ancient Mayas
Mayan history can be divided into
three periods:
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The
Pre-Classic Period (2000 B.C. –- 250 A.D.) was the start of
Mayan rule in many parts of Central America and Mexico.
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The
Classic Period (250-900 A.D.) was the most glorious time in Copán,
when the rulers had majestic temples built and had a lot of power
and wealth. |
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Post-Classic Period (900-1697 A.D.) was an important era in Yucatán
(Mexico), more than anywhere else, where the city of Chichén
Itzá was one of the most powerful ever. When the Spanish
conquistadors arrived, Mayan culture changed quickly and wasn't
as strong as before.
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Did you know that &
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The name 'Copán'
probably first came into being around 500 years ago. In nahuatl (an
indigenous language in Mexico), it means "bridge". We still
don't know what the ancient Maya named this place. |
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Even
though we don't know what the Mayas called Copán when they
ruled there, we do know that they used glyphs for the name, and
that it was related to the bat (‘"Zotz"), as we
can see in the glyph that appears at the right.
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This decoration
can be found on the front part of Temple A in the Copán archaeological
park. It's a woven mat, a symbol of political power. The community
leaders met in this building, named Popol Nah (House of the Mat). |
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