Dbq Mayan Achievements

The Mayans’ greatest achievement was neither developing a calendar, nor establishing a complex trade system- but rather, the building of their gigantic cities. But what defines excellency? The answer can be categorized into four sections: significance, scale, genius, and effort. The ancient Mayan civilization thrived in isolation, and it wasn’t until recently that we began to truly appreciate their culture and accomplishments. However, it was their enormous strain many years ago that today results in buildings towering over 130 feet in height. This motivation that drove the mayans nearly 4,000 years ago also produced a variety of remarkable ideas and concepts, many of which we use today. One such example is the Mayan Calendar. The Mayans developed

The Mayans lived in the land between Columbia and the Southern United States, and there were no civilizations to aid them if they ran short of supplies. Therefore, the Mayans had to develop an intricate trade network to satisfy their materialistic needs. The Mayans had no animals to carry the supplies for them, so workers would drag loads of up to 150 pounds for 10 hours every day to transport them to other Mayan cities. (Doc A) This required lots of effort, because though humans are extremely adaptable, it takes a lot of practice and hardship to be able to carry that much weight without completely exhausting the

The Mayans were people with no central government, and yet individuals worked hard to complete buildings for the whole community. The citizens of Mayan cities followed orders from higher political powers, which organized the work and maintenance of these places. (Doc B) The effort put into building these cities must have been unimaginable. The Mayans worked hard to construct many places without the luxury of having a previously established government and system to command over the people. Another reason why the Mayan cities were great is the amount of them discovered- Today, over 2,500 cities have been found, and all of them were built by people who worked with little rest to complete each building in 2-3 months. (Doc B) This shows the scale of this achievement- building all these temples and homes must have taken a large amount of time. The Mayans were also very intelligent people. Their architectural planning was highly advanced, and their buildings were mathematically sound. This means that the Mayan civilization was also very advanced. (Doc B) This genius thinking behind these buildings is what made the Mayans great. It is hard to imagine an average person today thinking outside of the box to create masterpieces like the Mayan buildings. The Mayan buildings still affect us today. In fact, some of the Mayan temples are still visited