Who are the Maya? Life in Mundo Maya?

2. The Maya were obsessed with time.
The Maya used three calendar systems: the Haab, a 365-day solar calendar (which included five "unlucky days"); the Tzolkin, or Sacred Round, a 260-day calendar denoting ritual practices; and the Long Count, a world-time calendar of 5,128 years. They also developed a system that could predict lunar and solar eclipses.

3. The Maya worshiped more than 160 deities.
Their complex religion included gods for victory, rain, crops, health and prosperity. The Maya petitioned and appeased these deities with offerings, including animal and human sacrifices. They also believed in afterlife.

4. Most Mayan cities were built in tropical rain forests.
Because tropical rain forests offer poor soil for agriculture, they can support only small human populations. The Maya's mysterious decline is attributed, at least in part, to their slash-andburn cultivation of the forest.

5. No writer's block here.
The Mayan writing system, consisting of some 800 pictographic and syllabic glyphs, is considered one of the highest achievements of ancient Mesoamerica. Texts were chiseled on stone and written in books of fig bark known as codices.

6. When it comes to math, they put their finger on it.
The Maya created a complex numbering system based on units of 20, derived from counting on their fingers and toes. Their concept of zero was the earliest known to mankind.

7. The Maya put stock in trade.
The Maya created an extensive trade network that stretched from upper Mexico to South America. This route saw the exchange of not only goods, but also new ideas and discoveries.

8. Mayan politics were like the Greeks'.
Unlike the later Aztecs, the Maya had no central king; instead, there were as many as 20 politically sovereign polities, similar to ancient Greek city-states. Each major Mayan city had its own ruler and noble elite and a common or middle class; slaves made up the lowest social stratum.

9. Life was a work of art.
Art was a fundamental practice of Mayan life, as evidenced by masterful terra-cotta figurines, jade-inlaid masks, intricate ceramics, mosaics, and paintings - all created without the benefit of metal tools.

10. Mayans recycled.
Because the Maya had no oxen or beasts of burden - let alone the wheel - men had to pull the huge stones they used in building over rolling logs, sometimes for miles. Thus, earlier temple pyramids often were "recycled" as foundations for newer structures.

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