Mayans Culture by blanka

They used masks for their ritual dancas. They decorated them brilliantly, and thay made them in gold, stone, wood, obsidian & shell.

 Women wore a boluse made in cotton called huipil, which was considered a very luxurious cloth. They were decorated with complicated patterns.

Men, on the other hand, wore clothes made of plants and feathers.

The ancient Maya believed in cycles of creation and destruction that last 5,200 years. They believed that the cycle have begun in either 3114 B.C. or 3113 B.C. of our calendar, and is expected to end in either A.D. 2011 or 2012.

The Maya believed Earth to be flat and four-cornered. Each corner was located at a cardinal point and had a colour: red for east, white for north, black for west, and yellow for south. At the centre was the colour green.

Some Maya also believed that the sky ad several layers and that it was supported at the corners by four gods called “Bacabs”. Other Maya believed that the sky was supported by four trees of different colours and species, with the green ceiba, or silk-cotton tree, at the centre.

Earth was supposed to be the back of a giant crocodile, resting in a pool of water lilies.

Heaven was believed to have 13 layers, and each layer had its own god. At the top was the muan bird, a kind of owl. The Underworld had nine layers, with nine corresponding Lords of the Night. The Underworld was a cold, unhappy place and was thought to be the destination of most Mayans after death. Heavenly bodies such as the Sun, the Moon, and Venus, were also thought to pass through the Underworld after they disappeared below the horizon every evening.

The Maya pantheon had around 166 gods. This is because of they thought there was at least a god for each aspect. Some cultures aso thought of a supreme god, called Iztamná.

The mayan calendar dates from aproximately the 1st century B.C.. It is made up of 260 days and it is so accurate that it is a 10 000th of day more exact than aour actual calendar.

The calendar had 20-day months. They used two calendar years:

- The 260-day Sacred Round Calendar, or tzolkin.
- The 365-day Vague Year, or haab.

The Sacred Round Calendar has 13 months of 20 days each. They believed that each day was associated to a god that carried time from day to night. Those gods are Imix, Ik, Akbal, Kan, Chicchan, Cimi, Manik, Lamat, Muluc, Oc, Chuen, Eb, Ben, Ix, Men, Cib, Caban, Eiznab, Cauac, and Ahau. Some of them were animals.

It is used to determine special events related with gods.

The Vague Year calendar is similar to the actual calendar. It has 18 Months of 20 days each. It has to do with seasons and agriculture.

The months are known as: Pop, Uo, Zip, Zotz, Tzec, Xuc, Yaxkin, Mol, Chen, Yax, Zac, Ceh, Mac, Kankin, Maun, Pax, Kayab and Cumku.

Heyyy, this is my blog about mayans for computer science. Hope you like it!