©2019 erin cobb imlovinlit.com

No one knows where they came from, but

around 2000 BC, small farming villages began to

develop in Central America’s rainforests. By 1000

BC, Mayans were creating larger communities.

Around 600 BC, larger buildings and farmland

were developed, allowing the communities to

grow.

The word civilization comes from the Latin

word civis which means someone who lives in a

town. But a civilization is more than a town. It’s a

group of people that live in an organized manner.

They have a shared language and culture, laws,

religious beliefs, and resources for food. They also

share some form of writing so they can pass on

their way of life to future generations.

During the Classic Period of Mayan

civilization, AD 250 to AD 900, the Mayans

developed many city-states. Today, those areas

make up the countries of Belize, Guatemala,

Honduras, and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.

Each city-state had its own ruler and remained

separate from the others. All of the cities were

built the same. There was a large palace for the

ruler, a plaza for the marketplace, a ball court, and

giant pyramids, or temples. The skilled Mayan

architects used tools made of stone, wood, and

shell.

While the ruler lived in the stone palace, most

of the townspeople lived in one-room mud huts

near their farms. Each city, about 40 of them, was

connected with well-built roadways through the

rainforests and jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Their populations ranged from around 5,000 to

50,000 people each. The cities were often at war

with each other.

The Mayan people used bows and arrows to

hunt for food on land and in water. They also

fished using nets and harpoons. Their vast farms

produced mostly corn, or maize. The Mayans also

Mayan Cities

Life as a Mayan

Mayan palace and watchtower in present-day Palenque, Mexico

No one knows where they came from, but

around 2000 BC, small farming villages began to

de lo in C tral A ri ’s ainf ts By 1000

Each city-state had its own ru

separate from the others. All

built th Th la

the Mayans?

Who Wereby Adrienne Zembower

©2019 erin cobb imlovinlit.com

grew potatoes, avocados, tomatoes, squash, and

beans. They enjoyed corn cakes and ate

everything with a side of corn pancakes, called

tortillas. The Mayans also grew cocoa beans and

used them to make a luxurious chocolate drink.

This rich drink was a delicacy for the most elite

Mayans. These beans were so valuable they were

used as a form of money.

The Mayans had many rituals that centered

around beliefs. Ulama was a ball game they

played. Mayans believed that the more they

played the game, the better their harvest would

be. Located in the center of the city, the ball court

was shaped like a capital I. Losers of the game

were sometimes put to death.

The Mayans were gifted mathematicians and

astronomers. With these talents, they created a

complex calendar. It was made of two parts, a

religious calendar, the Tzolk’in, and a solar

calendar, the Haab’. The calendar cycles

happened at the same time and would meet at

the same point every 52 years. The Long Count

calendar was used to measure time over 52 years.

The Mayans also developed one of the most

sophisticated forms of writing amongst ancient

civilizations. The system contained more than

700 glyphs, or symbols. Each glyph represented a

word or sound. The Mayans recorded events on

stone slabs called stelae and made books, or

codices, using soft tree bark folded up like a fan.

They used these to record rituals, calendars, and

astronomy.

Many of the codices revealed spiritual beliefs

and rituals. Mayans believed in many gods and

that their rulers could communicate with the

gods as well as dead ancestors. Bloodletting, or

ch’ahb’, was a ritual used to invoke spirits. Blood

was released by cutting oneself with a stone knife

or piercing tongues, lips, or ears with the spines

of stingrays. Then, a thorny rope was pulled

through the piercing. The blood was collected on

bark paper and then burned. The smoke carried

the blood to the gods. Ch’ahb’, fasting, and

tobacco smoking were all done to ask ancestors

and gods for rain, plentiful harvests, and

victories in war. The Mayans also sacrificed high-

ranking prisoners of war to satisfy the gods.

These rituals were typically performed at the

beginning or end of a calendar cycle or at

important events of the kings and queens. When

kings died, Mayans believed they also became

gods.

The Mayan Mind

This stelae artifact is displayed in the Anthropological Museum in Mexico City, Mexico. It shows some of the glyphs used by the Mayans.

Lady Xoc at Yaxchilan pulling a barbed rope through her tongue. Bloodletting was an important ritual.

©2019 erin cobb imlovinlit.com

Nonfiction Article of the Week6-21: The Mayans

Informational Text

Activity 2

Skill: Literal Comprehension

Comprehension QuizAnswer each question or complete each statement according to the article.

1. The Mayans lived in the present-day countries of ___________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

2. What is the Mayan period of AD 250 to AD 900 AD called? __________________________________

3. Where did the townspeople typically live? _________________________________________________

4. What did the Mayans use to hunt for food? ________________________________________________

5. The Mayans had two calendars: one religious and one ____________________.

6. What are glyphs? _______________________________________________________________________

7. Who was believed to be able to communicate with the dead and the gods? _____________________

8. What did Mayans believe happened when a king died?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

©2019 erin cobb imlovinlit.com

Nonfiction Article of the Week6-21: The Mayans

Informational Text

For items 1-4, you’ll be citing textual evidence to support what the text says explicitly.

1. Find the sentence that tells where the word civilization comes from. Highlight it in blue.

2. Find two sentences that tell what farmers grew on their farmland.

Highlight them in green.

3. Find the sentence that tells which subjects Mayans were especially knowledgeable about.

Highlight it in purple.

4. Find the sentence that tells when the ch’ahb’ rituals were usually held.

Highlight it in gray.

Finding Text EvidenceFind each piece of text evidence in the article and highlight OR underline it with the color specified.

Skill: Text Evidence

For items 5-8, you’ll be citing one piece or multiple pieces of textual evidence to support

inferences drawn from the text.

5. Find one piece of evidence that tells you that descendants of Mayan people my still live

in Mexico today. Highlight it in orange.

6. Find one piece of evidence that tells you that each city probably kept mostly to

themselves and did not help other cities. Highlight it in yellow.

7. Find two pieces of evidence that support the idea that the Mayans were inventors.

Highlight them in pink.

8. Find three pieces of text evidence from the article that support this statement:

Ch’ahb’ consisted of different types of rituals to invoke the gods.

Highlight them in red.

Activity 3