The Maya

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The Maya was a very advanced civilization that had many important aspects to their culture. They dominated Central America for a very long period. The time of this great civilization is split into three main periods: Pre-Classic, Classic, and Post-Classic. The Maya’s greatest and most cultural achievements came from the Classic period, but the fall of this period is one of the greatest mysteries in all of history. The Mayans abandoned many primary city-states and moved for an unknown reason. Nobody is sure why this happened, but it is sure that the Maya was one of the greatest civilizations of their time. Their culture was based on their class structure, warfare, religious practices, family life, and agriculture. These were important because they made up the Maya’s unique culture. To begin, one main aspect of Mayan culture was their class structure. Their society was divided into several classes. The highest authority in each independent city-state was the ruler, who was thought of as the god-king. He ruled the city-state, and he decided when and where to go to war. Underneath the ruler, the next class was the nobles and priests, and they were the only members of the Mayan society who could read and write. They did many tasks such as gathering taxes, supplies, and labor for construction projects. While wearing gold jewelry and jaguar skin robes, they led peasant armies into battle. The next class after the nobles were the merchants and artisans, and even though the Mayan economy was mostly agricultural, the functions of merchants and artisans were still very important. The Mayan merchants imported precious goods from other lands by traveling by sea, river, and roads. Artisans made different objects, and several were made to pay ... ... middle of paper ... ... a powerful civilization that lasted 3,500 years, building on their culture and its aspects throughout this time. However, the mystery of the Maya puzzles many historians, but there are some possible theories. Some people believe that the population was growing too fast, there were long periods of drought that caused crop failure, there was uncontrolled warfare, or that there were invaders from Central Mexico. It even could’ve been a combination of these factors, but the fall of the golden age of the Maya may always be a mystery. Class structure, warfare, religious practices, family life, and agriculture made up Mayan culture and helped it thrive during its Classic period and during the other periods, too. Since the Maya was an exceptional civilization, they made several advanced cultural achievements, and they left aspects of their culture that still live on today.

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