Civilization Influence On Mayan Civilization

The Mayan civilization was considered to be one of the most advanced civilizations of Mesoamerica. They had a structured belief system of polytheism in which their livelihoods revolved around. This idea of greater beings drove the Mayans to create enormous advancements in sciences, technologies, arts, religious practices, warfare and human sacrifice, as they wanted their deities to remain content resulting in joyful everyday life, complete with good harvest and altogether happy communities.

The Mayans were extremely advanced mathematicians using a numerical system that contained the value “zero”. Their people had created two different systems to log numbers. The first system was found to be slightly more complex as they used “stylized pictures

They painted inside and outside of buildings showing murals of nobles and rulers wearing elaborate head-dresses and jewels with symbols of their authority. In some, rulers were seated on thrones carried by others. They had created clay pottery worked by hand, some used for cooking and preserving food while others were used in honor of the gods. Over time, the styles of the art changed as it was influenced by different cultures. For writing, the Mayans used a system of ideographic hieroglyphics meaning they represent symbols or sounds not representing objects. Mayan writing has showed their views on religion, astronomy and rituals. Unfortunately, due to harsh conditions over many centuries, very little of the Mayan art has survived and most of it is in poor

Although, as archeologists continued to dig up the past, they soon discovered that not only did the Mayans fight in many different wars, they also frequently practiced human sacrificial rituals as offerings to their gods. Different times of the year were more prevalent for war, so the Mayans were always ready to muster an army by recruiting peasants and deploying scouts, locating and examining their enemies in preparation for their defense. The Mayans would use their scouts to their advantage as they allowed them to understand their enemies and launch surprise attacks. War officers wore feathered head-dresses along with flashing jewelry as they and their warriors marched into battle uttering wild cries whilst carrying large shields accompanied with weapons such as the lance and club, and in later years, daggers and tridents. Looking back at some of the practices from Mayan warfare, we find it strange. During battle, as the night fell, fighting would come to a halt where everyone would stop for supper! Then, as the combat continued, their main objective in any fight was to capture the enemy leaders, signaling the end of battle, and take them back to their city to use in human sacrifice. Any ordinary soldiers that were captured became their