What Achievement of the Maya Was Their Most Remarkable?

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In Europe, there were several advances being made that would affect our society today. However, simultaneously, societies across the world in the Americas would too be making these types of advances as well. One society in particular were the Maya. These people made technological strides that the Europeans themselves could not even fathom. But, what was their most remarkable achievement? One will find that their achievements of their trade network, a convenient method of transporting goods and messages; architecture, intricate buildings built in large cities on a massive scale; and number system, which takes into consideration some of our key principles in today’s math, have a momentous buildup to the Maya’s most remarkable achievement—their complex calendar, an astonishing nearly accurate calendar that governed Mayan society and is still seen in our own society today. The trade network of the Maya was basic yet convenient at the same time. Utilizing rotating relay teams that delivered goods, it allowed different regions of the Mayan civilization trade resources to ensure that every area could prosper. For example, the people of Cerritos could trade salt to some regions and the Mayapan could trade honey (DOC A). The regions that lacked resources gained them and profited off of the ones in their region. This trade network shows its remarkability in its large scale of about 700 miles—spanning the entire Mayan civilization, and its demand for physical effort which was decreased by rotating relay teams. This trade network impacted the Mayan economy and allowed it to prosper. It still shows some similarities in today’s “trade network.” When packages get delivered, there are always certain stops that your package has to go through, it... ... middle of paper ... ...ayan society and as its own concepts were passed down to our own calendar; the Maya accomplished the feat of time mastery first. The most remarkable achievement of the Maya was their calendar. Every Mayan achievement listed, however, are very remarkable in their own right. Remnants of the Mayan society are still seen throughout our world today from all four of their discussed achievements. One could have an ethnocentric denial of the sheer remarkability of the advancements of the Maya because of some of the advancements of the Western World at that time period, however, the Maya achieved feats that the Western World could not even fathom. In fact, much of Maya architecture, such as their pyramids, cannot even be replicated today. The Mayan civilization may have physically declined centuries ago, but their concepts and principles will forever keep the Maya alive.

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