Abstract
This paper gives an overview of the ancient Mayan culture, with an emphasis on their art, religion and their daily lives. The author first examines the significance of the Mayan pyramids which still stand today. The pyramids are felt to give insights into the Mayan's religion and government. The paper continues by suggesting theories of why the Mayans disappeared. Despite the disappearance of ancient Mayans, the author suggests that cultural influences of the Mayans still exist in Central America today.

Outline:
Introduction-Who Were the Mayans?
The Case Against the Mayans
The Case for Mayan Culture
Conclusion

From the Paper
"As for what architecture tells us about the Mayan people, the creation of pyramids and temples that were as large and time-consuming as those created by the Mayans indicate a race of people who were strong, intelligent, and willing to work together for a common goal. Very likely, Mayans were interested in their collective society, as well as their own families, and they worshiped their King. Religion was extremely important to them, as has been mentioned. They used their pyramids and other structures as places to worship, and reverence to their gods was a vital part of their daily lives."

Tags:Mayans, Maya, pyramids, Central, America

Abstract
This paper examines the Mayan civilization, which remains a mystery to today's scientists. The paper addresses questions, such as, how a civilization so primitive could manage to become such skillful mathematicians and scientists and why a group this advanced in their scientific studies would just pick up and leave without a trace. The paper also points out that the Mayas were a religious culture that put much emphasis on the study of many branches of science, especially astronomy. The paper concludes that this undeniably advanced civilization managed to blend both science and religion, keeping each in its place yet allowing them to work together, providing emotional fulfillment, intellectual development, and a better understanding of the universe that they lived in.

From the Paper
"Contrasting the views of many Western-Europeans, the Mayas incorporated religion into their astronomical discoveries. The Mayans believed that the planets were actually spirits and that time was "a bridge between the real world and the spirit world" (http://mayanastro.freeservers.com/mayan3.html) and to the Mayas, the only planet more important than the sun was the planet Venus, and they knew that planet, quite possibly, better than any other society of their time. Many wars were timed specifically in relation to the location of Jupiter and Venus and sacrifices to the Gods were made on the first day that the planet appeared after "Superior Conjunction," which is the time in which Venus, the Earth, and the Sun are aligned therefore blocking the view of Venus from Earth."

Tags:Aztec, astronomy, Indian, ancient

Abstract
This paper looks at the field of archeology and how it has evolved over the years. The author uses Mayan culture as a case study in order to illustrate the advances that have been made in archeology over the centuries. A brief history of archeology in North America is given before detailing the process that the archaeologists used in uncovering the history of the Mayans. It discusses the tools the archaeologists have changed because of scientific advances, and how this has disproved many of the early theories about Mayan culture.

From the Paper
"Early excavators and scholars of Mayan life also determined that intimately linked to Mayan religion was the impressive development of astronomical studies ans mathematics, including the use of zero. Mayan astronomy underlay a complex calendrical system that featured an accurately determined solar year (18 months of 20 days, plus an unlucky 5-day period), a sacred year of 260 days (13 cycles of 20 named days), and a variety of longer cycles culminating in the Long Count, based on a zero date in 3114 BC. Mayan astronomers compiled precise tables of positions for the Moon and Venus and were able to predict solar eclipses."

Tags:culture, archeology, anthropology, scientific, culture

Abstract
This paper focuses primarily on the Mayan culture prior to the arrival of the Spanish, with an emphasis on their religion, art and way of life. The purpose of this background information is to allow the reader to understand the picture that Spanish culture came into and therefore to be able to better understand the cultural contributions of both cultures that are found in Mexico and Central America today.

Outline:
General Introduction to Mayan Civilization
The Arrival of the Spanish to the New World
The Creation of a Mayan-Mexican Culture
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Two of the world's greatest, most powerful and most advanced civilizations existed on two different ends of the globe. The Spanish is Spain and the Mayan empire of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Central America both dominated their respective areas and brought about numerous advancements to human civilization. When these two very different world's collided upon the Spanish arrival in the New World, not only did the Mayan empire collapse to the brutality of Spanish colonization, but also a new, unique culture arose that is today a prevalent aspect of Mexico and Central America. The best way to describe this "New World" culture is as a hybrid of the old Mayan ways and the new Spanish ways."

Tags:mexico, Yucatan, ajawlils

Abstract
This paper analyzes the disappearance of the Mayan civilization while focusing on the various theories surrounding its eventual collapse. The writer of this brief yet concise paper details the history of the Mayan culture which emerged in 2000 BC. The Mayan civilization gave birth to numerous cultural progresses such as the establishment of a writing system, an organized political council as well as the introduction of organized religion. This paper examines the theories surrounding the dispersal of the Mayan civilization, when at around 800 AD it was purported to have suddenly collapsed. There have been numerous arguments based on archaeological and anthropological evidence that attempted to explain the collapse of this particular civilization. This paper focuses on several theories which may explain the disappearance of the Mayan people which include climatic changes as well as socio-cultural collapse through the population's expansion.

From the Paper
"The theory that argued that a climatic collapse led to the disappearance of the Mayan civilization was based from scientific findings that were caused by a severe drought. As reported by History Today, "[d]rilling samples from the Cariaco Basin off the Venezuelan Coast show there were intensely dry periods between AD 810 and AD 910..." From this finding, it was found that because there had been scarce supply of the people's basic needs, such as water and food supply, Mayan society disappeared, supposedly due to deaths caused by these series of drought. A more specific version of this theory was presented in Kerr's journal article on the scientific evidence pointing at climate changes as the catalyst towards the disappearance of the civilization."

Tags:anthropology, archeology, history, climate, socio-economic

Abstract
The Mayan culture was bound up in their religion and tied to it by the art and artifacts. This paper focuses on how they built their impressive temples and how they turned their buildings into ceremonial art. It also examines Mayan art including hieroglyphics and sculptures.

From the Paper
" The Maya must have valued art highly. It was incorporated into their lives by virtue of their public buildings being works of art. From their delicate and intricate profiles of kings and gods carved into hand sized pieces of jadestone to their depiction of a massive Quetzelcoatle, the feathered serpent, winding his way down the face of a pyramid, they had art in their daily lives. They decorated their cities inside and out it seems. They carved huge reliefs and stelae, which served a function, but were still amazing works of art in their own right. They could be as clean and sharp as the edge of an obsidian dagger and as massive and brutal as a god carved in the corner stone of a temple high above the plain. "

Tags:hieroglyphic, sculptures, stelae

Abstract
This paper examines and compares the pyramids of Egypt and those of the ancient Mayan culture, found in Mexico and parts of Central America. In an attempt to explain why these architectural legacies share so many striking similarities in spite of the thousands of years and geographical distances that separated the cultures that produced them, the paper considers what was important to the two civilizations and what it was that they were they trying to accomplish by building these complex and enormous structures.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Egyptians
The Mayans
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Half a world and three thousand years apart, two ancient civilizations built a series of remarkably similar structures shaped like and known as pyramids - or The Pyramids to us latecomers. The Egyptians built theirs in the twenty-sixth century b.c., or earlier, a short distance inland from the west bank of the Nile River; to date, eighty are known to exist. Built between 250 and 800 a.d., the dozen or so Mayan pyramids excavated thus far are located in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala and elsewhere in Central America. The biggest, the Great Pyramid of Khufu, at Giza in Egypt, was originally built to a height of 481 feet (though the top thirty feet have simply disintegrated over time) and was for more than four thousand years the largest man-made structure ever assembled. The Mayan pyramids are somewhat smaller, but imposing nonetheless."

Tags:sophisticated, superstitious, religious, significance, reach, skyward, heavens, stars, gods, height, shape

From the Paper
"She examines the sculpture of the Late Classic Maya in order to produce a telling story of their myths, symbols, and rituals. Sweet focuses on the ritual recreation of the Maya belief system in connection with the use of natural and metaphorical caves and the depiction of these same caves in the symbolic representation found on the architecture of the Late Classic Maya period. She examines both the picture or image symbols and the hieroglyphic or text symbols. Sweet explores the relationship between the text and the image, focusing on the pictographic qualities of the text and how these pictographs relate to the symbols found in the image. In essence, the text is comparable to the written story or event and the image refers to an actual or a metaphorical part of the story or event."

Tags:american, ancient, archaeology, latin, mesoamerican, religion, symbolism

Abstract
This paper explains that the Greek, Roman, and Mayan worlds are of prime interest because of their influence upon the cultural and societal aspects of the civilizations that followed them. The author points out that the Mayan religion has greatly influenced Western thought and culture, although not as predominant as the Greek and Roman systems, because of its perceived origins in a traditional non-Western setting. The paper relates that the Mayan pantheon was very complex. Heaven and Hell were not considered either as reward or punishment for behavior on earth; rather, they were the after-life abodes natural to different classes of people, for one passed on to the sphere appropriate to one's class and occupation.

From the Paper
"Culturally, the Greek "polis" or city-state was presided over by a particular god as protector and patron, such as Athena for the city of Athens. Different communities could choose the same deity as their protector; Sparta, for example, also had Athena as its patron god. The members of the "polis" constituted a religious association obliged to honor the state's patron deity as well as the community's other gods. Thus, the central ritual of a "polis" was the sacrifice of animals to demonstrate to the gods as divine protectors the respect and piety of the members of the "polis"."

Tags:polis, class, influence, origins, after-life

Abstract
This paper explains that the Mayans, primarily from the lowlands in the central regions of southern Guatemala, built incredibly sophisticated urban centers, created an astronomical science and mathematics among the most sophisticated in the pre-modern world and established the most developed and complex system of writing in the Americas. The author points out that, because the Mayan cities were used as religious centers for the surrounding rural population and not as a true urban culture, the decline of the cities after 900 A.D. did not involve a colossal social change. The paper relates that customs and traditions of the ancient Maya are still very much a part of the fabric of Guatemalan life, sharing a common ancestral heritage that is expressed in religion, music, dance, foods and social organization.

From the Paper
"Today, the Maya can be found in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and the five Mexican states of Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo. There are approximately thirty different indigenous Mayan languages, however, the majority of the Maya also speak Spanish. The present day Guatemalan Mayas have preserved much of their culture and religion. However, there can be found a mixture of Mayan and Western European traditions, an aspect most obvious in religious practices, in which the modern Maya have created their own brand of Christianity, a blend of Catholic tradition and ancient ritual."

Tags:agriculture, mathematics, religion, handicraft, language