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Maya Civilization World History 1st Edition Charles
George Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Charles George, Linda George
ISBN(s): 9781420502404, 1420502409
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 10.06 MB
Year: 2010
Language: english
 Maya
Civilization

Charles and Linda George

 Maya
Civilization
Charles and Linda George
 © 2010 Gale, Cengage Learning

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein
may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by any means
graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying,
recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks,
or information storage and retrieval systems, except as permitted under
Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior
written permission of the publisher.

Every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyrighted material.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

George, Charles, 1949-

Maya civilization / by Charles and Linda George.
p. cm. -- (World history)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4205-0240-4 (hardcover)
1. Mayas--History--Juvenile literature. 2. Mayas--Social life and cus-
toms--Juvenile literature. 3. Mexico--Civilization--Juvenile literature.
4. Central America--Civilization--Juvenile literature. I. George, Linda.
II. Title.
F1435.G43 2010
305.897'42--dc22
2009053266

Lucent Books
27500 Drake Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48331

ISBN-13: 978-1-4205-0240-4
ISBN-10: 1-4205-0240-9

Printed in the United States of America

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 14 13 12 11 10
 Contents
Foreword 4
Important Dates at the Time of the
Maya Civilization 6

Introduction:
The Maya: A Lost Civilization? 8
Chapter One:
The Rise of the Maya 12
Chapter Two:
Maya Nobility of the Classic Period 27
Chapter Three:
Commoners of the Classic Period 38
Chapter Four:
Greatest Achievements 51
Chapter Five:
The Spirit Realm 67
Epilogue:
Postclassic and Modern Maya 80
Notes 86
For More Information 88
Index 92
Picture Credits 95
About the Author 96
 Foreword
E
ach year, on the first day of school, children made the journey. Parents
nearly every history teacher faces bravely allowed many children to go,
the task of explaining why his or and entire communities were inspired
her students should study history. Many by the faith of these small Crusaders.
reasons have been given. One is that les- Unfortunately, many boarded ships that
sons exist in the past from which contem- were captained by slave traders, who en-
porary society can benefit and learn. thusiastically sold the children into slav-
Another is that exploration of the past al- ery as soon as they arrived at their
lows us to see the origins of our customs, destination. Thousands died from dis-
ideas, and institutions. Concepts such as ease, exposure, and starvation on the
democracy, ethnic conflict, or even things long march across Europe to the
as trivial as fashion or mores, have his- Mediterranean Sea. Others perished at
torical roots. sea.
Reasons such as these impress few stu- Another story, from a modern and
dents, however. If anything, these expla- more familiar place, offers a soul-
nations seem remote and dull to young wrenching view of personal humilia-
minds. Yet history is anything but dull. tion but also the ability to rise above
And therein lies what is perhaps the most it. Hatsuye Egami was one of 110,000
compelling reason for studying history: Japanese Americans sent to internment
History is filled with great stories. The camps during World War II. “Since yes-
classic themes of literature and drama— terday we Japanese have ceased to be
love and sacrifice, hatred and revenge, human beings,” he wrote in his diary.
injustice and betrayal, adversity and “We are numbers. We are no longer
triumph—fill the pages of history books, Egamis, but the number 23324. A tag
feeding the imagination as well as any of with that number is on every trunk,
the great works of fiction do. suitcase and bag. Tags, also, on our
The story of the Children’s Crusade, breasts.” Despite such dehumanizing
for example, is one of the most tragic in treatment, most internees worked
history. In 1212 Crusader fever hit Eu- hard to control their bitterness. They
rope. A call went out from the pope that created workable communities inside
all good Christians should journey to the camps and demonstrated again and
Jerusalem to drive out the hated Mus- again their loyalty as Americans.
lims and return the city to Christian con- These are but two of the many sto-
trol. Heeding the call, thousands of ries from history that can be found in
4 ■ Maya Civilization
the pages of the Lucent Books World valuable tools for further research and de-
History series. All World History titles bate.
rely on sound research and verifiable Finally, Lucent’s World History titles
evidence, and all give students a clear present rousing good stories, featuring
sense of time, place, and chronology vivid primary source quotations drawn
through maps and timelines as well as from unique, sometimes obscure sources
text. such as diaries, public records, and con-
All titles include a wide range of author- temporary chronicles. In this way, the
itative perspectives that demonstrate the voices of participants and witnesses as
complexity of historical interpretation and well as important biographers and histo-
sharpen the reader’s critical thinking skills. rians bring the study of history to life. As
Formally documented quotations and an- we are caught up in the lives of others, we
notated bibliographies enable students to are reminded that we too are characters
locate and evaluate sources, often instan- in the ongoing human saga, and we are
taneously via the Internet, and serve as better prepared for our own roles.

Foreword ■ 5
 Introduction

The Maya: A
Lost Civilization?

T
he Mysterious Maya. The Lost Civi- Even though the classic Maya civi-
lization of the Maya. The Magnifi- lization no longer exists, the Maya are
cent Maya. In years past each of hardly a vanished culture. Today more
these descriptors could have been the ti- than 7 million Maya people live in the
tle of a scholarly book about this ancient Mexican states of Yucatán, Campeche,
Native American civilization of south- Quintana Roo, Tabasco, and Chiapas as
ern Mexico and Central America, and well as in the Central American nations
each would have been correctly named. of Belize, Guatemala, and the western
Today, however, much of the mystery portions of Honduras and El Salvador.
surrounding this pre-Columbian civi- They are, in fact, the largest single block
lization is being revealed, and most sci- of Native Americans currently living in
entists agree that the culture of the Maya North or Central America.
is no longer “lost.” Most people, however, still associate
Centuries before European explorers the term Maya with those people cen-
came to the New World, the Maya were turies ago who built an advanced civi-
building huge cities, studying the stars, lization unequaled by any other native
and creating a complex written lan- peoples of the Western Hemisphere.
guage in the jungles and coastal plains Evidence of that civilization—sculpture
of Mesoamerica—a cultural region in- and pottery unearthed in ancient cities,
cluding Mexico and parts of Central an amazingly accurate calendar, and a
America. By the time Spanish conquis- complex system of hieroglyphic writ-
tadores arrived in the 1500s, Maya ing—has been compared with the clas-
cities had long been abandoned and sic civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and
were in a state of ruin. Rome. This highly advanced American
8 ■ Maya Civilization
An artist’s rendition of how the Maya city of Labna looked centuries before European
explorers arrived in the New World. Archaeologists are now learning that the Maya built
huge cities, studied the stars, and created a complex written language during their existence.

culture belonged to the people we call Early Humans and the Land
the Maya. We do not know what they What happened to the Maya? How did
called themselves. Today some Maya they build such a vast empire only to
call themselves the Halach Winik, “the have it crumble into ruins? For answers,
Authentic People.” They speak dozens scientists have long sought information
of dialects of the Mayan language— wherever they could. For more than a
Quiché and Yucatec being the most century scholars dug through ruined
widely spoken. Scholars use the term Maya cities looking for bits of pottery,
Mayan to describe only the language. burial sites, murals depicting everyday
For all other references to the culture, activities, and remnants of tools. Maya
the people, or to their achievements, hieroglyphs were intriguing, but no one
they use Maya. knew how to decode them. For scholars,
The Maya: A Lost Civilization? ■ 9
Archaeologists are learning much about Maya culture by decoding hieroglyphs that the
Maya carved onto their buildings and monuments.
10 ■ Maya Civilization
it was like trying to understand the lieved those books, and the strange
Greek civilization without being able to markings and symbols they contained,
read what the philosophers Plato, Aris- were the work of the devil. The primary
totle, and Socrates, or the historian architect of that destruction was Friar
Herodotus, had written. No matter how Diego de Landa, who, on July 12, 1562,
many artifacts scientists uncovered, ordered the burning of five thousand
they could never be enough to paint a Maya idols and dozens of codices.
complete picture of the Maya. Today, thanks to recent breakthroughs
Archaeological evidence tells only part in decoding Maya hieroglyphs, archaeol-
of the story. Written records yield much ogists are finding answers to questions
more specific information, such as that have intrigued them for decades.
names, dates, and major events. The They are learning, for example, that in-
Maya carved many such written records fluence from Teotihuacan, the sprawling
onto their buildings and monuments. metropolis of more than one hundred
They also created thousands of codices— thousand people in the valley of Mexico,
books made from rectangular pieces of helped spur the blossoming of Maya cul-
bark covered with a type of plaster, tied ture during the Classic Period.
together, and folded accordion style. Some recent discoveries have dis-
Written on those “pages” was perhaps proved earlier theories about the Maya,
the wisdom of centuries of Maya civiliza- causing scholars to rewrite Maya his-
tion. Unfortunately, much of what Maya tory. Space-age technology—such as
scribes wrote in those books no longer satellite imagery, 3-D computer map-
exists. The vast majority of the codices ping, and meticulous chemical soil
were destroyed at the time of the Span- analysis—are providing even more
ish Conquest—burned to cinders in a fit clues. Piece by piece the story of the an-
of religious zeal—by priests who be- cient Maya is emerging.

The Maya: A Lost Civilization? ■ 11

 Chapter One

The Rise of the Maya

N
o area of archaeological study Since the 1960s evidence has emerged
has undergone a more radical that has helped scholars gain a more
change during the past few thorough understanding of who the
decades than the study of the ancient Maya actually were. According to
Maya civilization. Major discoveries Nikolai Grube, a professor of Maya
seem to be made weekly at Maya sites studies in Bonn, Germany:
across Mesoamerica. Other scientific in-
vestigations—primarily delving into There are scarcely any other areas
how climate change may have affected of archaeology where interpreta-
the course of Maya history—are also tions and ideas have changed so
shedding light on unanswered ques- completely as in the field of Maya
tions scientists and scholars have been studies. . . . Although up to just a
posing for more than a century—about few decades ago it was still be-
the origin, history, lifestyle, and decline lieved that the Maya had been
of the Maya. peace-loving maize farmers who
Breakthroughs in the decoding of obeyed their priests’ exhortations
Maya hieroglyphics are revealing the to observe the stars and honor
names of the kings and queens of indi- time, it has now been proven that
vidual city-states as well as dates and they were ruled over by kings and
records of their political activities, al- princes who were just as power-
liances, achievements, wars, and rituals. hungry and vain as potentates
The hieroglyphs also show the profound elsewhere in the world. . . . The ex-
influence of other advanced civilizations tensive Preclassic cities in north-
on the Maya’s development. ern Guatemala were unknown
12 ■ Maya Civilization
 until just a few years ago. New ex- civilization must have built them. Some
cavations there have caused us to early visitors theorized that one of the lost
date the beginning of urban civi- tribes of Israel may have settled there.
lization back by about half a mil- Others felt it must have been ancestors
lennium.1 of some European or Asian culture—
perhaps the Welsh, Vikings, Phoenicians,
or Tartars.
Early Exploration Not until the 1800s did interest in
Early Ideas Maya ruins begin to grow and be associ-
Spanish priests and travelers during the ated with the Maya themselves. In 1822
sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth a London firm published the story of a
centuries marveled at the ruins of gi- Spanish soldier, Antonio Del Río, who
gantic pyramids they saw in Yucatán had visited and excavated in the Maya
cities such as Uxmal, Tulum, Palenque, city of Palenque during the late eigh-
and Chichén Itzá. They wondered who teenth century. His stirring account
had designed and constructed these spurred further expeditions. In 1839
amazing structures. Because of the American diplomat, explorer, and
rather primitive nature of the Maya lawyer John Lloyd Stephens (1805–1852)
who were still living near these ancient and British artist and architect Frederick
centers, it was thought that some other Catherwood (1799–1854) traveled to the

Spanish explorers were amazed at the ruins of the Maya pyramids they discovered in
places such as Uxmal, Mexico (pictured).
 Stephens and Catherwood

J ohn Lloyd Stephens, an American lawyer, was sent to Central America on a diplo-
matic mission for U.S. president Martin Van Buren. He departed for Honduras on
October 3, 1839, accompanied by Frederick Catherwood. Once his diplomatic duties
were completed, Stephens and Catherwood crossed into what is now Belize to ex-
plore the Maya ruins of Copán.
From Copán they made several arduous journeys to other Maya sites, visiting
forty-four in all, according to Stephens, and eventually ended up at Palenque. They
traveled hundreds of miles over trails bordered by volcanoes, through thick jungles,
and over steep mountain ranges. They crossed rivers using precarious bridges made
of tree trunks lashed together or braided lianas (vines). They slept in the ruins. While
Stephens recorded their adventures, Catherwood drew exquisitely detailed images
of what he saw using a camera lucida. A camera lucida used a prism to project the
image of an object onto a piece of drawing paper. Catherwood later colored his lith-
ographs with pastels.

Frederick Catherwood drew several illustrations for John Lloyd Stephens’s book Voyage to the
Yucatan about the Maya ruins. This image, titled “Castle at Tulum Overtaken by Vegetation,”
was one that Catherwood drew while he and Stephens explored more than forty-four Maya sites.

14 ■ Maya Civilization
Yucatán and then to Guatemala. They robes, arrowheads, and spears, and
visited various sites—some on the scrub little else. Nor did one ever think of
plains of Yucatán and some deep in Cen- calling the other indigenous inhabi-
tral American jungles, recording their tants of the continent “civilized.” In
experiences in journals. Accompanying the universally accepted opinion,
their dramatic written accounts were da- they were like their North Ameri-
guerreotypes (an early type of photo- can counterparts—savages. No one
graph) and intricate line drawings, dreamed that throughout the table-
graphically illustrating what they had lands of Mexico, in the tangled,
seen. scrub-jungles of Yucatán, there
With the publication of Stephens’s stood, covered by jungle verdure,
Incidents of Travel in Central America, ruins of temples, acropolises, and
Chiapas, and Yucatán in 1841, interest in stone causeways of a civilization as
the Maya spread. Yet due to the remote- great in extent as Egypt’s. . . .
ness of most of the ruins and their over- “Aztec,” “Maya,” “Toltec,” and
grown conditions—as well as the heat, “Inca” were in no dictionary, and in
insects, and snakes of the tropics—only few histories. These civilizations
a handful of individuals and organiza- were not only dead, for dead im-
tions were willing to devote themselves plied having once lived, but, even
to Maya study. to the world immersed in searching
Another factor at play during the out the antique, absolutely un-
mid-1800s was the perception among known.2
most Europeans and Americans that
such “civilizations” were beyond the Despite this culturally egocentric at-
capabilities of Native American cul- titude, governments, museums, and in-
tures. In his 1948 book about Stephens, dividuals saw the opportunity to gain
American archaeologist Victor Wolf- prestige by studying these ruins and
gang von Hagen explains the prevail- perhaps bringing artifacts back for their
ing attitude: national museums. Another English-
man, Alfred Percival Maudslay (1850–
The acceptance of an “Indian civi- 1931), following in the footsteps of
lization” demanded, to an Ameri- Stephens and Catherwood, arrived in
can living in 1839, an entire Guatemala in 1881 to begin what
reorientation, for to him an Indian would become a twenty-year study of
was one of those barbaric, half- Maya ruins.
naked tepee-dwellers against
whom wars were constantly Maudslay’s Pioneering
waged. A rude, subhuman people Efforts
who hunted with the stealth of ani- Maudslay pioneered archaeological
mals, they were artisans of buffalo methods that have been used for more
The Rise of the Maya ■ 15
than a century—clearing vegetation to provement over the earlier daguerreo-
reveal structures, measuring and draw- types—and in scientific notebooks. In his
ing maps of cities, making plaster casts writings, however, he chose to focus not
of carvings to be studied later, and pho- on the exciting sense of discovery he
tographing hieroglyphs to better enable surely must have felt but rather on the
their analysis. His trek began at the Maya hard work he saw before him. Maudslay
“lost cities” of Quiriguá, located in east- wrote upon arriving at Quiriguá:
ern Guatemala, and Copán, located just
to the south in far western Honduras. He Overhead and all around was a
eventually extended his study to Tikal, dense tropical forest; the under-
becoming only the second foreigner to growth was so dense that we had
reach that remote northern Guatemalan difficulty in finding any of the
site. monuments and even when within
Maudslay recorded his experiences touch of them, so thickly were they
with dry-plate photographs—an im- covered with creepers, ferns and

The Compelling Nature

of Maya Studies
Professor Nikolai Grube, of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität of Bonn, Germany,
explains, in the introduction to Maya, Divine Kings of the Rain Forest, why he finds the
study of the Maya so compelling:

W here else in the world are complete sites of an ancient culture hidden deep in
the jungle; where else are complete regions just blank areas on the archaeolog-
ical map? Where else do we know so little about the economic foundations of an an-
cient civilization? And where else in the world have all the great cities of a culture
sunk without a trace, abandoned by their inhabitants for no apparent reason? . . .
We now have a picture of the rise and development of Maya culture that makes
former representations look like rough sketches. Whereas the focus of older works
focused on the exoticism of the Maya, on their differentness and uniqueness, mod-
ern publications . . . show the Maya to have been people whose problems, inten-
tions, and motives were not so different from those of other people all over the
world.

Nikolai Grube, ed., introduction to Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest. Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany:
h.f.ullmann, 2006–2007, pp. 12–13.

16 ■ Maya Civilization
 moss that it was not easy to distin- He later wrote of the “unexpected
guish them from dead tree trunks. magnificence of the monuments” of
However, we pulled off the creep- Copán; yet upon arriving at Tikal on
ers and then scrubbed away the Easter Sunday 1881, Maudslay again fo-
moss with some rough brushes we cused his written account on how com-
made out of the midribs of the pletely overgrown the ruins appeared:
palm leaflets and, as the sculp- “On the whole I must own to being
tures began to show up, I sacri- much disappointed. The forest was over
ficed one of my ivory-backed hair everything. The work of clearing would
brushes out of my dressing bag to be much more than I could do and there
clear out the more delicate carving appeared to be very little hope of taking
of the hieroglyphics.3 satisfactory photographs.”4

In 1881 Alfred Maudslay became only the second foreigner to explore the Maya ruins of
Tikal (pictured here).
 Maudslay and his porters eventually Evidence of humans—spear points,
cleared much of the brush covering the obsidian blades, residue of campfires,
central pyramids of Tikal. His photo- and shell middens (piles of trash)—has
graphs, published in 1902 in Biología been dated to around 10,500 B.C. in
Centrali-Americana, a five-volume work caves in the highlands of Guatemala,
about his discoveries in Guatemala, specifically at a site called Los Tapiales.
provided a first look to the world at These early inhabitants lived during
these magnificent structures. His clear what scientists call the Paleo-Indian Pe-
photographs revealed details that Cather- riod, extending from fourteen thousand
wood’s pen-and-ink sketches and da- years ago to around 7000 B.C.
guerreotypes could not. Scholars who During the subsequent era—the Ar-
were unable to make the arduous jour- chaic Period (7000–2000 B.C.)—groups
ney to Central America could now of hunter-gatherers gradually settled in
study Maudslay’s photographs and small villages. Each village probably
learn more about Maya hieroglyphs. consisted of members of an extended
Large-scale excavations and restora- family and were led by the patriarch—
tions, mostly funded by American uni- the eldest male. These early villagers
versities, began about the same time as began cultivating wild plants to supple-
Maudslay’s work but on a much grander ment their food supply, thus beginning
scale. The Peabody Museum of Harvard, the practice of agriculture. They also
the University of Pennsylvania, the arranged their villages in a particular
Carnegie Institute of Washington, Tulane pattern that continues in use today.
University, and the Institute of Anthro-
pology and History in Mexico each sent Maya Settlement Patterns
teams of archaeologists. Many of their A settlement pattern is how a culture lays
projects continued well into the twenti- out its settlements—how it arranges its
eth century, greatly adding to the world’s homesteads, villages, and cities. The ba-
knowledge of the mysterious Maya. sic settlement pattern of the Maya was the
plazuela, or “plaza group.” It originated
The Prehistoric Maya during the Archaic Period and developed
Scholars have divided the chronology of gradually throughout the various stages
Mesoamerican civilizations into specific of Maya history. In a plazuela several
periods of time, depending on levels of houses are typically placed facing each
technology, architecture, and social struc- other, with a communal area in the cen-
ture. These classifications—Paleo-Indian, ter. This arrangement was evident in all
Archaic, Preclassic, Classic, and Postclas- levels of Maya society, from the Archaic
sic—are further divided into subcate- Period to modern times, and from the
gories. As new discoveries are made, simplest farm home to the largest city.
however, scientists sometimes have to re- Arthur Demarest, a professor of an-
think their table of organization. thropology at Vanderbilt University, de-
18 ■ Maya Civilization
These thatched huts at Tikal, built in modern times to protect Maya stelae from the
weather, may be somewhat similar to the huts and outbuildings built by the ancient Maya
in their plazuela settlement groups.

scribes how the Maya eventually ex- associated structures often were
panded the basic plazuela arrangement placed in somewhat more regular
into larger communities: rectangular arrangements of two,
three, or four platforms with huts
Usually, several houses of closely facing each other around an open
related families are placed facing courtyard or plaza. The latter
each other around open courtyard served as a living and working
living areas. In turn, several of area for the family, as did plat-
these “plaza groups” are often forms or level areas behind and
placed together to form tiny ham- near the plaza group.5
lets of related extended families. . . .
In the ancient Maya lowland sites The same basic pattern is found in
in pre-Columbian times, such . . . the ruins of Maya cities—with temples,
The Rise of the Maya ■ 19
palaces, and ball courts surrounding a Period (from 2000 to 1000 B.C.), the Mid-
central plaza. dle Preclassic Period (1000 to 400 B.C.),
A shared kitchen garden, still a com- and the Late Preclassic Period (400 B.C.
mon feature in rural Mexico and to A.D. 300).
Guatemala, lay outside homes and
other outbuildings in a typical rural The Early Preclassic Period
plazuela. Chemical analysis of soil The Maya of the Early Preclassic Period
around ancient house mounds—raised exhibited many distinct characteristics.
earthen platforms left behind when Larger multifamily villages, led by a
huts that stood upon them decayed— chief, were established. Agriculture was
verifies that the areas had been under expanded to include more crops and
cultivation. As in modern times, these improved farming techniques. More so-
kitchen gardens were used for growing phisticated art was evident in the man-
plants such as squash, beans, and chili ufacture and use of ceramics and in the
peppers to be eaten or sold at market as development of iconographic artistic
well as herbs for seasoning and for me- expression—the painting and carving
dicinal purposes. of images of people and symbols repre-
senting ideas or events. The Maya of the
The Preclassic Period Early Preclassic Period also exhibited
The Archaic Period was followed by the the beginnings of a more complex, hier-
Preclassic Period, extending from 2000 archical society. During this era cultures
B.C. to A.D. 300. Some scholars call this across Mesoamerica first developed the
the Formative Period because it in- rudiments of writing systems and an in-
cludes the centuries during which the terest in measuring time and in study-
Maya first began to exhibit cultural ing astronomy.
characteristics distinct from other Evidence uncovered at Cuello, an
groups. These include the rise of city- Early Preclassic site in northern Belize,
states—individual cities, ruled by a indicates that these early Maya all lived
king or queen, whose power extended in pole-and-thatch huts constructed on
to the countryside and villages imme- low earthen platforms. Archaeologists
diately surrounding the city. Unlike the have discovered clusters of these plat-
Aztecs of central Mexico and the Incas forms, along with artifacts left behind
of South America, the Maya never uni- by their inhabitants. Evidence also
fied into a single empire. Instead they shows the expanded cultivation of
evolved into a less centralized feudal crops such as maize, beans, squash, and
society. During the Preclassic Period the manioc.
Maya also developed large-scale cere- The manufacture of ceramics is fur-
monial architecture and the beginnings ther evidence that the early Maya were
of hieroglyphics. The Preclassic is fur- settling into more permanent home
ther divided into the Early Preclassic bases. Particular examples of this art
20 ■ Maya Civilization
form have been found at Cuello as well de Agua—ceramics and stone carvings
as along Guatemala’s Pacific coastal have a marked resemblance to art from
lowlands at Monte Alto, Tilapa, La the Olmec culture that developed about
Blanca, Ocós, El Mesak, and Ujuxte. At the same time on the southern Gulf
some Early Preclassic sites along the Coast of Mexico. These similarities in-
Pacific coast of the Mexican state of dicate that the two cultures must have
Chiapas—at sites such as Izapa and Ojo made contact.

A botanist uses Maya artifacts in Belize to test ancient food storage techniques. Ceramics
like those pictured here are further evidence that the early Maya settled into more
permanent home bases during the Early Preclassic Period.

The Rise of the Maya ■ 21

 The Olmec

T he Olmec culture developed in the forested lowlands of the gulf coastal region
of southeastern Mexico, southeast of present-day Veracruz. It flourished from
1200 to 400 B.C. and was long thought to have been the madre cultura, or “mother cul-
ture,” of Mesoamerica. The Olmec people were thought to have created the first cities,
the first monumental structures, and a remarkably accurate calendar; they also de-
veloped a particular type of ball game that became a common feature of many
Mesoamerican cultures. Recent discoveries along the Pacific coast of southern Mex-
ico and Guatemala, however, have been tentatively classified as early Maya and may
prove to have been built as early as, or perhaps before, anything built by the Olmec.

The Middle Preclassic as well as at Kaminaljuyú, in that na-

Period tion’s central highlands.
During the Middle Preclassic Period, During the final centuries of the Mid-
from 1000 to 400 B.C., a more hierarchical dle Preclassic Period, the Maya spread
class structure continued to develop. farther inland from the Pacific coastal ar-
The old tribal society became more simi- eas. During these years they established
lar to the feudal society of medieval Eu- ceremonial centers at Piedras Negras,
rope or the city-states of ancient Greece, Seibal, Cival, Dos Pilas, and El Perú, ex-
with leadership in the hands of a single panding steadily toward the north and
king or queen and an elite upper class to east. They carried with them the trend
support that ruler. Members of the de- toward larger ceremonial centers and
veloping Maya upper class were either more extensive public architecture.
religious, military, or political leaders. Archaeologists have discovered two
Such leaders usually demanded the con- of the largest ceremonial centers ever
struction of public structures. Many of built by the Maya at Nakbe and El Mi-
these structures were used for govern- rador in the Petén region of northern
mental or religious ceremonies, but oth- Guatemala. El Mirador, for example, fea-
ers were monuments and ornate tombs tures two of the largest Maya pyra-
to honor the leaders themselves. Exam- mids—La Danta and El Tigre—which
ples of such public architecture can be compare in size with the Great Pyramid
seen in the Pacific coastal lowlands of in Egypt. Archaeologists believe these
Guatemala, at Abaj Takalik and Cocola, structures were used as raised platforms
22 ■ Maya Civilization
for religious ceremonies. No tombs have emerging that some of the kings of
been discovered beneath them. Maya city-states during the Classic Pe-
riod may have been outsiders—nobles
The Late Preclassic Period from Teotihuacan, for example. During
In the Late Preclassic Period, from 400 the Classic Period, the Maya civiliza-
B.C. to about A.D. 300, the Maya further tion reached its peak of population and
developed their writing system, their the pinnacle of its intellectual achieve-
calendar, their interest in astronomy, and ment, yet it never unified into a central-
their level of artistic expression. These in- ized empire.
tellectual developments are demon- Each Maya city-state featured a huge,
strated in temples with stuccoed and ornately decorated ceremonial center
painted facades, such as those found at with steep-sided pyramids topped with
El Mirador, and in dramatic murals such temples and palaces. Many of these pyr-
as those discovered at San Bartolo in ex- amids were built atop the richly deco-
treme northeastern Guatemala. rated tombs of their rulers and were
The Late Preclassic is the period of continually being rebuilt, layer upon
Maya history that has undergone the layer. Beyond the ceremonial center were
most rethinking due to recent discover- outlying structures that housed artisans,
ies in the jungles of northern Guate- craftsmen, and bureaucrats. Farther out,
mala and the coastal regions of and in the surrounding countryside,
Guatemala and El Salvador. These dis- were farmers and laborers who sup-
coveries have proven that the Maya civ- ported the elite. Most of these city-states
ilization of the Late Preclassic Period were located in the Petén region of
already displayed characteristics, be- northern Guatemala and in the southern
liefs, and practices that formerly were Yucatán lowlands.
only associated with the Classic Period. The Maya civilization of the Classic
Period shared characteristics that origi-
The Classic Period nated during earlier periods of Maya his-
Over the next six centuries—from A.D. tory. These included an interest in
300 to 900—the Maya enjoyed their astronomy, the recording of the passage
golden age during the Classic Period. of time in a calendar, artistic expression,
Maya city-states evolved from purely a system of writing, and the construction
ceremonial centers into full cities sur- of public monuments. All of these came
rounding the ceremonial centers, some together in the stone stela, an architec-
with populations in the tens of thou- tural feature that set apart the Maya cities
sands. Each was ruled by a succession that were built during this period. A stela
of single kings or queens, with a much is a stone column erected in a public lo-
more organized nobility to support the cation to commemorate a particular
ruler and oversee the day-to-day oper- event or person—usually the birth, mar-
ations of the city-state. Evidence is also riage, accession to the throne, military
The Rise of the Maya ■ 23
A common architectural feature found in Maya cities during the Classic Period is the
stela, which was often erected to commemorate a particular event or person. This stela
depicts a Maya king in full regalia.
24 ■ Maya Civilization
victory, or death of a king or queen. Clas- altered the development of Classic Maya
sic Maya cities have many stelae, whereas civilization.
cities constructed earlier—during the Pre-
classic Period—do not. The Arrival of Fire Is Born
Maya stelae are almost the only re- According to the hieroglyphic record of
maining written record of Classic Maya Stela 31, the invasion occurred on Janu-
history. Because so many of the civiliza- ary 8, 378. A large, well-armed force dis-
tion’s books, or codices, that had patched from the mighty city of
recorded historical events were lost to Teotihuacan in central Mexico and ar-
the fires of fanatic Spanish priests, the rived at the Maya city of Waka (now
stelae are virtually all that are left to tell called El Perú) in present-day northern
that history. Likewise, the carvings on Guatemala. At the head of this invading
the surfaces of many stelae have eroded army was a warlord named Siyaj K’ak’—
away over the centuries, making those ”Fire Is Born.” Dressed in extravagant
that survive even more precious. feathered headdresses and carrying
Each stela featured the face of a javelins and mirrored shields, Fire Is
mythological figure or an actual ruler on Born’s army impressed the local ruler,
one side, with hieroglyphic carvings of Sun-faced Jaguar. Sun-faced Jaguar wel-
dates, names, and events on the other. comed the envoy into his city and
They were erected in central areas, in formed an alliance between his city and
front of temples and palaces, so the pub- Teotihuacan.
lic could view them. The earliest dated Fire Is Born’s ultimate goal, however,
stela sits in the central plaza of Tikal, with according to Stela 31, was the conquest
the equivalent of the date A.D. 292 carved of Tikal, a major Maya city-state some
onto its side. The latest stands at Tonina, 50 miles (80km) to the east. His mission,
in southern Mexico, and is dated A.D. 909. it seems, was to bring the region of
Deciphering the stelae that dot the north-central Guatemala under Teoti-
central areas of Classic Maya cities has huacan’s control, either through persua-
revealed specific information about those sion or force. To that end, he recruited
cities and the leaders who ruled them. additional warriors from Waka and
They provide clues about the relations marched on to Tikal less than a week
between individual Maya city-states, in- later. After defeating that city’s army on
cluding their alliances and wars. The ste- January 16, his forces killed Tikal’s king,
lae have also helped fill gaps in scholars’ Chak Tok Ich’aak—Great Jaguar Paw—
understanding of Maya society during and destroyed most of that city’s stone
the Classic Period. One particular stela— stelae, replacing them with their own,
Tikal’s Stela 31—has now been decoded celebrating their victory. According to
and validates a long-held theory. The Stela 31, which was erected a genera-
stela provides written evidence that an tion later, Fire Is Born was proclaimed
invasion by an outside force significantly “Lord of the West,” and later presided
The Rise of the Maya ■ 25
over the enthronement of a new foreign ous outsider remade the political
ruler, perhaps a son of the ruler of leadership of the Maya world. Mix-
Teotihuacan, Spear-thrower Owl. ing diplomacy and force, he forged
Until the arrival of Fire Is Born, the alliances, installed new dynasties,
Maya remained politically fragmented, and spread the influence of the dis-
each city-state charting its own path. tant city-state he represented, the
After A.D. 378 Maya culture blossomed, great metropolis of Teotihuacan
alliances were formed between city- near present-day Mexico City.6
states, and great advances in science
and technology took place. According Over the following decades Fire Is
to author Guy Gugliotta in an article for Born’s name appeared on monuments
National Geographic: all across the Maya’s territory. In his
wake the Maya of the Classic Period
Though fragmentary, the evidence achieved a level of civilization unsur-
that has emerged over the past passed in the Americas that endured
decade suggests that this mysteri- for more than five hundred years.

26 ■ Maya Civilization
 Chapter Two

Maya Nobility of
the Classic Period

T
he Classic Period of Maya history lower in rank; and common people be-
ended centuries before the arrival low that. Some Maya kings ruled over
of the Spanish. Therefore, most of only the city-state in which they lived.
what scholars know today about the Others, through alliances, outside influ-
upper classes of Maya society comes ence, intermarriages, and conquest, cre-
from archaeological evidence found in ated dynasties that controlled several
their cities. This evidence includes the city-states from a central location.
tombs of Maya kings, the carved Maya society had two classes of peo-
records of the stelae, and detailed im- ple: the elite and the commoners. The
ages and hieroglyphs on ceramic ves- elite were called ah mehenob, or “higher
sels and murals. In the ruins of the men,” in Yucatec, a Mayan language in
Maya city of Bonampak, located in the use at the time of the Spanish Conquest
western edge of the Mexican state of that is still spoken in the region. Com-
Chiapas, ornate murals inside the tomb moners were called yalba uinicob, or
of a Maya king paint a vivid picture of “lower men.” The ah mehenob were fur-
life at court during the Classic Period. ther divided into subclasses. The ruling
These include detailed images of how class—kings and queens—though few
the nobility of Classic Maya city-states in number, occupied the highest level of
looked—what physical features and society. According to hieroglyphs, the
adornments they considered stylish. highest rank in Maya society was the
In these images Maya society is por- ahau, or “lord” (sometimes spelled
trayed as having strict social classes, ajaw). This title was used by the ruler
with a king and queen at the top; priests, and others within the nobility. Beginning
nobles, warriors, and artisans slightly in the fourth century A.D., however,
Maya Nobility of the Classic Period ■ 27
Maya rulers referred to themselves as
k’uhal ahau, or “divine lord.” After the
arrival of Fire Is Born in A.D. 378, rulers
in the Petén region included the term
kaloomte in their titles—”Lord of the
West”—emulating that conqueror’s ti-
tle and emphasizing their connection
with Teotihuacan.

The Lifestyles of Maya

Royal Families
The king and queen of a Maya city-state
were revered as gods. As such, they
were not expected to work like com-
mon people. They spent their time pre-
siding over elite councils, making
decisions that affected their city-state.
They lived in lavish palaces within the
city state’s ceremonial center, attended
by numerous servants. According to
murals found in many Classic Maya
cities, each king wore a feathered head-
dress, a cape made from the brilliantly
colored feathers of quetzal birds, intri-
cate jade and shell jewelry, and some-
times an elaborate mask to make him
appear godlike.
Much is known about Maya kings
and queens because hundreds of carved
stelae commemorate their achievements Archaeologists know quite a bit about Maya
and still stand in the central plazas of kings and queens because of the hundreds of
Classic Maya ceremonial centers. The carved stelae that still stand, as well as other
Maya called these multiton stone monu- carvings, like this one, that commemorate
their achievements.
ments lakamtuun, or “big/banner
stones” and erected them whenever
anything happened of historical note. age, often shown standing on a bound
In their book Chronicle of Maya Kings captive or iconic location, their inscrip-
and Queens, Nikolai Grube and Simon tions go on to chronicle the major his-
Martin describe what was usually carved torical events that have occurred since
on stelae: “Carved with the king’s im- the last stone was set up.”7
28 ■ Maya Civilization
 Scholars often can read the stelae, from, whom they married, what they
murals, and pottery and know when achieved during their lifetimes, and
members of the nobility were born, who how and where they were buried. Most
their parents were, where they came kings and queens were buried in elaborate

The King’s Headdress

Nikolai Grube, a professor of Maya studies, explains the significance of the headdresses worn
by Maya kings:

A lthough the king’s clothing differed from that of the commoners and the nobility
in lavishness and the number of attributes, it was the headdress that distinguished
him from all others. There were several different kinds of headdresses, but all contained
the long, green-gold tail feathers of the quetzal bird. . . . They formed the basis for masks
of gods and animals and other objects of the greatest symbolic value that were intended
to express that the wearer was under the protection of the gods. . . .
Because they were believed to have a soul, the headdress and other attributes of
power [of a king who had died] had to be looked after and cared for like living
things; in particular, they had to be provided with nourishment in the form of offer-
ings such as blood and incense.

Nikolai Grube, ed., Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest. Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany: h.f.ullmann,
2006–2007, pp. 96–97.

Although Maya kings wore

several different kinds of
headdresses, all of them
contained long, green-gold
tail feathers of the quetzal
bird. This image, carved on
the wall of a Maya tomb,
shows a typical headdress.

Maya Nobility of the Classic Period ■ 29

tombs that featured colorful murals de- are I-shaped, with a long, narrow play-
picting their lives. Because much of ing field flanked by sloped or vertical
Maya hieroglyphic writing has been walls, often with stone rings placed
translated, these individuals now have high on the opposing walls. The game,
names and life stories. played in some ways like soccer, was a
Royal succession was primarily pa- key element of the Maya creation story.
trilineal, meaning it followed the ances- Maya kings regularly played the game
tral line on the father’s side. As is often to reenact the adventures of the mythi-
the case in kingdoms, eldest sons usu- cal figures called the Hero Twins,
ally became heirs to their father’s whose actions were believed to be es-
throne. Princes were called ch’ok, mean- sential to pave the way for the creation
ing “noble youth,” and the heir appar- of humanity as well as to establish the
ent was called b’aah ch’ok, the “head relationship between the gods and hu-
youth.” Queens did rule some Maya mans.
city-states of the Classic Period, but Part of that relationship was commu-
only when no male heir could become nicating with their gods, and only
king and the dynasty might otherwise rulers were considered worthy to re-
have fallen. ceive such messages. To induce the
trances they believed were necessary to
Communicating with receive these visions, Maya kings and
the Gods queens put themselves through ordeals
Scholars know that Maya kings and of pain and deprivation—going with-
queens, once in power, had their lives out food or sleep, smoking tobacco, and
virtually dictated by the rituals de- inflicting wounds on themselves to al-
manded by the complex Maya calendar. low their blood to flow. Blood, the
Their primary duty was to conduct pub- essence of life, was sacred to the Maya,
lic religious ceremonies—either alone or and royal blood was considered the ul-
serving alongside priests—as mediators timate offering to the gods. In addition
between their people and the gods. Dur- to providing a blood sacrifice, the blood
ing those ceremonies they performed loss weakened the individual and
ritual dances or participated in a partic- helped induce the trancelike state nec-
ular ball game. They also sought vi- essary for a vision quest.
sions—messages from the heavens. During public ceremonies Maya
Archaeologists believe the Meso- kings drained blood from their ear-
american ball game may have origi- lobes, tongues, and genitalia using
nated as early as the fifth century B.C. stingray spines, bone needles, or obsid-
and that its popularity spread as far as ian spikes. Queens are depicted pulling
the modern-day southwestern United barbed cords through their tongues. In
States. Stone ball courts are present in both cases royal blood dripped onto pa-
virtually every Maya city. Most courts per strips, which then were burned. It
30 ■ Maya Civilization
A figure of a Maya nobleman on display at a museum. Nobles served as priests, scribes,
diplomats, engineers, local administrators, and government bureaucrats.
Maya Nobility of the Classic Period ■ 31
was believed that smoke from the the gods. These lower priests also were
bloody paper mingled with smoke responsible for advising those who
from incense burners and rose to feed came to consult a priest about astrolog-
the gods. ical matters—what day would be best
for a wedding or what to name a child,
Priests for example. Priests lived in or near the
Some archaeologists believe religious temples and wore ornate robes and
ceremonies were performed exclu- sometimes masks and headdresses.
sively by Maya kings and queens. Oth-
ers, however, believe that a group of Other Nobles
specially trained people—priests— Beneath the upper ahau class were other
must have performed those duties. No nobles, many of whom served as gov-
archaeological evidence proves conclu- ernment bureaucrats, trade representa-
sively that a separate class of nobles ex- tives, diplomats, local administrators, or
isted that served as priests during the engineers—those who designed and su-
Classic Period, but some believe it must pervised the building of temples,
have because a powerful Maya priest- palaces, causeways, irrigation systems,
hood existed at the time of the Spanish and other public structures. The mem-
Conquest. These scholars insist it is log- bers of this level of Maya nobility were
ical to assume that such a specialty also wealthy landowners called uytzam chi-
existed earlier in Maya history. namital. They shared the easy lifestyle of
At the time of the conquest, the high the king. Their homes—fine stone build-
priest in each city-state, the Ahaucan ings with roofs of stone—were clustered
May, was the keeper of the calendar and near ceremonial centers. They, too, wore
the sacred chronicles—records of Maya fine robes and jewelry, and many were
history and astrological charts. The buried in decorated tombs.
priest’s knowledge of astronomy and Another important member of Clas-
mathematics allowed him to predict sic Maya nobility was the aj tz’ib, the
events such as the arrival of comets and scribe (“he, the writer, who draws”).
eclipses of the sun or moon. They were Unlike the priest, who recorded histori-
also responsible for teaching and pass- cal events hieroglyphically, the scribe’s
ing on the history of their people, includ- role was more closely related to that of
ing knowledge of Maya hieroglyphic an accountant, keeping track of taxes
writing. and tributes and making sure everyone
Below the high priests were assis- paid what they owed the king. Com-
tants—the ahkinob, or “they of the moners were required to pay taxes
sun”—who conducted most day-to-day (usually food, cloth, feathers, or other
tasks. The ahkinob kept temple fires items of value), and representatives
burning, made sure incense burners from conquered lands were required to
stayed lit, and made daily offerings to pay tribute to the king with valuable
32 ■ Maya Civilization
items such as jade, obsidian, feathers, or pared the goods being handed
cacao beans. Martin and Grube explain over with their list of tributes.
the importance of scribes—comparing Such scenes give a rare insight into
their list of expected tribute with what the economics of the Maya states
was actually presented to the king—as and show that one of the king’s
portrayed in murals and on painted ce- most important activities was that
ramics: of increasing his personal wealth
as well as that of the society as a
Tribute scenes show the king whole.8
seated on a sumptuous throne cov-
ered with jaguar skin. Vassals kneel
before him holding out bundles of Images of Beauty
fine materials, feathers and bags of For the Maya nobility, public displays
cacao beans. . . . [The aj tz’ib] com- of wealth and physical ornamentation

Initiation Ceremonies for

Young Maya Nobles
In their book Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens, Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube
describe how a young heir had to prove his worth:

C hildhood was marked by a series of initiation rites, one of the more important be-
ing a bloodletting usually performed at the age of five or six. . . . Although [their
lineage] was their main claim to legitimacy, [older] candidates still had to prove them-
selves in war. A bout of captive-taking often preceded elevation to office. . . .
Kingly investitures [ceremonies celebrating the crowning of a new king] were
elaborate affairs made up of a series of separate acts. There was an enthronement,
the heir’s seating on a cushion of jaguar skin, sometimes atop an elevated scaffold
bedecked with celestial symbolism and accompanied by human sacrifice. A scarf
bearing a jade image of huunal, the “Jester God” . . . an ancient patron of royal au-
thority, would be tied to his forehead. An elaborate headdress of jade and shell mo-
saic, trailing green iridescent plumes of the quetzal bird, would follow. . . . The name
carried in childhood was now joined by k’uhul k’aba’ “divine name,” usually taken
from a predecessor, sometimes a grandparent.

Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube, Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the An-
cient Maya. London: Thames & Hudson, 2000, p. 14.

Maya Nobility of the Classic Period ■ 33

A Maya artisan with tattoos on his shoulder and legs records events on a stela. Tattooing
and body painting were quite common among both Maya men and women, and people
without such markings were often looked down upon.

demonstrated their status. Hairstyles, strations was how they styled their
clothing, jewelry, tattoos, and inten- hair. In ancient times Mayan noblemen
tional scars were part of their public wore their hair long, either braided
image. One of the most visible demon- around the head with a pigtail hanging
34 ■ Maya Civilization
down the back, carefully braided in or- of anthropology at Yale University, dis-
nate designs across the scalp, or cusses body ornamentation in his book
arranged into an intricate design atop The Maya. According to Coe, the Classic
the head. If they had a pigtail, it almost Maya thought certain physical adorn-
always had an obsidian disc hanging ments enhanced their appearance or
from its tip. At times, a man might cut publicly identified them with a particu-
the hair on top of his head short, or lar social class:
singe it off, as part of the overall de-
sign. Facial hair was discouraged, and Both sexes had their frontal teeth
many pulled it out with copper tweez- filed in various patterns, and we
ers. Women’s hairstyles could be quite have many ancient Maya skulls in
elaborate. They formed their hair into which the incisors have been in-
sculptural designs—mostly on top of laid with small plaques of jade.
their heads—and fixed it in place with Until marriage, young men painted
tree sap, honey, or other substances themselves black (and so did war-
that dried in place. Some women’s riors at all times); tattooing and
hairstyles stood more than 1 foot (.3m) decorative scarification began af-
above their heads. ter wedlock, both men and women
The practices of tattooing, intentional being richly elaborated from the
scarring, and body painting were quite waist up by these means.9
common among both men and women
of the Maya elite classes, and the colors The colors used for body and face
and designs employed by individuals painting were very important to Maya
were indications of social position. Tat- men. Young unmarried warriors and
too designs were pricked into the skin men who were fasting painted them-
with a sharp bone, and pigment was selves black. Blue was the color of
then rubbed into the wounds. This was priests and the color that victims of sac-
an extremely painful experience, so tat- rificial rites were painted. Women usu-
toos represented valor and courage. For ally painted their faces red.
intentional scarring, the goal was a A feature unique to the Maya was a
raised scar in a particular pattern. To ac- dramatically sloping forehead, but this
complish this, the skin was cut or was not a natural characteristic. It had
pierced in the desired pattern. Then, to to be shaped very early in life in order
make sure substantial scars would to form the head into what the Maya
form, the individual encouraged the felt was a noble appearance. Coe de-
growth of the scars by keeping the scribes the procedure:
wounds open for a time. Any adult
without tattoos and scarring patterns Immediately after birth, Yucatecan
was looked down upon. mothers washed their infants and
Michael D. Coe, a professor emeritus then fastened them to a cradle,
Maya Nobility of the Classic Period ■ 35
 Jade: The Green Gold
of the Maya

F ew materials are as durable as jade. In Mesoamerica it was prized above all other
stones. Jade is green, and to the Maya it symbolized the color of sprouting maize. Maya
artisans carved it into jewelry for the nobility, but commoners also decorated themselves
with necklaces of small jade beads that they passed on from generation to generation.
Jade is a collective term for several types of green or blue stones, including albite,
chrysopras, serpentine, and a combination of jadeite and diopside. All jade processed in
Mesoamerica originated in the valley of the Rio Motagua in southern Guatemala. It was
found as loose rocks and stones, ranging in size from gravel to rocks weighing several
hundred pounds. Cutting jade was relatively simple. First, a sharp obsidian blade was
used to score the rock. Then rope, a flat piece of hardwood, or a piece of slate was moved
back and forth—with sand, crushed obsidian, or jade dust acting as an abrasive—to
slowly cut halfway through the rock. The jade was then turned over, and the procedure
was repeated. When only a thin section remained, a sharp blow completed the cutting.

This jade necklace and beads were excavated from a Maya king’s grave in Takalik Abaj,
Guatemala. In the Maya culture both the nobility and commoners decorated themselves
with jade jewelry.

36 ■ Maya Civilization
 their little heads compressed be- per chest. This emblem signified his
tween two boards in such a way family’s status and lineage. These neck-
that after two days a permanent laces were either passed from father to
fore-and-aft flattening had taken son or were included in the items
place which the Maya considered buried with a person of great rank. Ear
a mark of beauty.10 pendants were inserted through the
earlobes, with progressively larger and
Another practice, usually employed at larger inserts, and usually made up of
the same time, was an attempt to cross several pieces of ornately carved jade.
the child’s eyes. This was also consid- In all cultures certain physical fea-
ered a mark of beauty and distinction tures and adornments are considered
among Maya upper classes. Many of the desirable and others are not. In cultures
Maya gods appear with crossed eyes. with distinct social classes, a person’s
Parents hung a nodule of resin or a small appearance is often an indication of sta-
bead from the middle of their child’s tus, wealth, and position. Maya ruling
forehead—the child would naturally fo- elite of the Classic Period reflected that
cus on the bead, thus crossing its eyes. trend. They wore large amounts of jade,
Jewelry, too, was a widespread adorn- quetzal feathers, and obsidian—all rela-
ment for Maya nobles, both men and tively rare and expensive items.
women. Most highly valued was jade; it Outward appearance was the most
was green—the color of plants and thus visible difference between Maya nobility
a symbolic color of rebirth—and it was and the common class. Even though
rare. According to archaeologist Charles Maya commoners used many of the
Gallenkamp, “Older children had their same techniques to achieve what they be-
earlobes, septums [tissue that separates lieved to be beautiful, they could not af-
the nostrils], lips, and one nostril pierced ford to go to the extremes of the upper
so they could wear a variety of orna- classes. Whereas nobles led lives of ease
ments.”11 Such piercings were usually due to extravagant wealth and power,
performed on the children of the elite commoners had to work—on the farms,
when they reached the age of five or six. in the quarries, in the workshops, and in
Two of the most common forms of the markets. Their simpler lifestyles re-
jewelry, at least among the upper quired simpler clothing, more utilitarian
classes, were jade choker necklaces and hairstyles, and jewelry and other physi-
ear pendants, both worn by men. The cal adornments that were less expensive.
necklaces usually featured a pectoral, a Although less adorned than the upper
larger piece of carved jade made into class, the commoners were the backbone
the necklace and displayed on the up- of the Classic Maya civilization.

Maya Nobility of the Classic Period ■ 37

 Chapter Three

Commoners of the
Classic Period

D
uring the height of the Classic classes have been based on the writings
Period, scholars estimate that of Spaniards such as Friar Diego de
as many as 20 million Maya Landa. These Spaniards observed first-
lived in Mesoamerica. They believe hand how the Maya lived at the time of
that up to 98 percent of that population the Spanish Conquest and during the
must have been commoners, and the Colonial Period (1521–1810). Likewise,
majority of commoners were farmers. scholars have also observed how rural
Without the labor and support of such Maya peasants live today in Mexico
a large underclass, the Maya nobility and Central America.
could never have achieved such a high
level of civilization. However, the The Yalba Uinicob, or
lower classes—those who cleared the “Lower Men”
land, grew the crops, and quarried the According to de Landa and others who
stone—were seldom represented in wrote about the Maya during and after
Maya art. Few artifacts have been the Spanish Conquest, two classes of
found belonging to common people, commoners—yalba uinicob—lived in
other than stone and bone tools, bits of Classic Maya society. The upper level
utilitarian pottery, grinding stones, and of commoners was made up of skilled
the earthen mounds that indicate the artisans and merchants—what might
former locations of peasant huts. today be considered a middle class; the
For that reason scholars have a se- lower level consisted of unskilled la-
verely limited knowledge of Maya borers. Skilled artisans and craftsmen
commoners during the Classic Period. included stone and wood carvers,
Many of their theories about the lower stucco workers, painters, potters, and
38 ■ Maya Civilization
In Maya society, an artisan such as this one who produced pottery would have been
considered a member of the upper level of commoners.
Commoners of the Classic Period ■ 39
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