The Mayan Civilization

Discover the fascinating Mayan civilization! Learn about their society, innovations, and history with our engaging worksheet.

Maya society developed a system for ranking people. Different groups of people were placed in "classes". The upper class, which included the royalty, were wealthy. The middle class, which included artisans, merchants, soldiers, and priests were considered average workers. The lower class included laborers, servants, farmers, and slaves. These people did hard, physical labor. What is the difference between the classes in the Maya society? Click on the dot on the left-side description, then drag to the right dot with the correct match. Upper Class Royalty Middle Class Soldiers, Merchants, Priests Lower Class Farmers and Slaves The oldest and longest-lasting empire is the Mayas. At its peak, (250 AD – 900 AD), the Maya empire occupied much of the territory that is now northern Central America (including all of Belize and Guatemala), as well as southeastern Mexico, containing the entire Yucatán Peninsula. What area of the world was the Mayan Civilization located in? Central America Europe North America One of the biggest achievements of Maya society is their writing system, which was the most highly developed and sophisticated writing system developed in Mesoamerica. Their writing system is a logosyllabic writing, which combines phonetic signs with pictures representing entire words Look closely at the image above showing the MAYAN symbols. What does the word K'IN stand for? Type your answer below. The Mayans also had extremely sophisticated calendars, recording lunar and solar cycles, eclipses, and movements of the planets with incredible accuracy. Astronomy was used by the Maya for prophecy, rather than for scientific reasons. What do you think the word SOPHISTICATED means? Do an internet search of the definition. What word is a synonym (means the same) for SOPHISTICATED? Advanced Easy Using the word bank below, type the correct missing words in the blank spaces of the paragraph in order for it to make sense. The ancient Maya had a very sophisticated methods of foodproduction, using many farming techniqueswhich provided a great variety of crops, including maize, sunflower seeds, beans, squashes, chilies, and tomatoes, among others. The Mayans believed in a supernatural world filled with powerful gods. They believed that the gods needed to be satisfied with ceremonial offerings. One of the most famous Mayan rituals is human sacrifice – blood was seen as important nourishment for the gods, and human life was seen as the ultimate offering of blood to the gods. Those chosen as sacrifices tended to be prisoners of war or volunteers. Human sacrifice was seen as a great honor. WHAT was seen as nourishment for the gods? Type your answer below. National Geographic Watch the video about the Mayan civilization. Answer the questions after the video. What is not one of the reasons given that the Mayan civilization disappeared? War with other tribes Drought or dry weather Volcanaic Eruption Ice Ageand glaciers Are Mayan ancestors still alive today? YES NO