Maya+Dalton

The Mayans are located in Central America called mesoamica what is known as Guatemala, BELIZE, El Salvador, and Honduras, mostly the Yucatan Peninsula.
 * 1. Where did your tribe live?**


 * [[image:map_of_mexico.gif width="401" height="392"]]﻿ [[image:http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/maya/map.gif width="275" height="205" caption="chiapas map"]]**


 * 2. How does climate affect the way your Native America tribe meet their needs for food, clothing,**
 * and housing?**
 * **The climate is different in the many areas that the Mayans lived in. They had Highland and Lowland. The climate was dry and hot in the low land. There was not enough rain. So the Mayans had to use cenotes (sinkholes filled with water). The Highlands climate was cooler and humid. Both climates were good for farming. There were earthquakes and tsunamis.**
 * **The Mayans mostly grew corn or maize, but they also grew squash, beans, amaranth, manioc, cacao, cotton for light cloth, and sisal for heavy cloth and rope. They also grew tropical fruits such as papayas and avocados. They also grew sweet potatoes and chili peppers.**
 * **The Mayans did not need heavy clothing due to the hot humid climate. They grew cotton plants. The Mayan women would spin the cotton plant into thread and then weave the thread to cloth. They decorated the cloth**
 * with plant dye and made designs. The men wore loincloths with long panels hanging from the front and back.**
 * The women wore wrapped skirts with a loose blouse or dresses called smocks. If it got cool in the evening or**
 * night they would wear a blanket around their shoulders. The more wealthy families had** **beautiful embroidery on**
 * their loincloths or dresses. Some of the men wore beautiful decorated headdresses with** **long** **colorful feathers.**
 * They mostly walked barefooted, but sometimes they wore sandals made from straw.**
 * They mostly walked barefooted, but sometimes they wore sandals made from straw.**






 * **The Mayans had different houses based on their status. The Mayans built giant pyramids with temples on the top. The temples were located in the center of the city. They were used for religious ceremonies. The priest lived in the rooms at the base of the pyramids. The Wealthy Mayans lived in stucco-covered stone houses near the temples. Their homes were large and had many rooms divided by cotton curtains. The merchants and craftsmen lived on the outskirts of the city. They had smaller homes but comfortable. The farmers lived the farthest from the city. They lived in one room huts. The hut could be oval, square or rectangle in shape. The walls were made from thin wooden poles. The roofs were made from palm leaves or long grasses with a small hole to let the**
 * smoke out from cooking.**
 * 3. How do georaphy /landforms affect the way your Native America tribe meet their needs for food, clothing, and housing?**
 * The Highland had moutains, valleys and Coastal plains. The Lowlands had swaps, savannas, and rainforests. The**
 * Mayans had to cut down rainforest to grow crops. They did the slash burn farm method was used. This** Method was were areas of the forest were burned and cleared for planting. The ash provided some fertilization. They could use the land for farming for a couple of years then they would have to move.

The volcanic highlands were the source of obsidian, jade, and other precious metals like cinnabar and hematite that the Mayans used to trade and make jewelry and tools.





The Mayan lands contained many natural resources that were of interest to other people such as those who lived in the highlands. These included salt, honey, cacao, animal skins, bird feathers, and obsidian.
 * 4. How did your tribe rely on and use natural resources?**

The Mayans were farmers, artists, spinners, weavers, fishermen, priest, sculptors, painters, potters, basket makers, maids

Mayan cities had a central market where people of the region could come to exchange goods. The Maya of the highlands also traded with those in the lowlands carrying goods on their backs or sometimes traveling along rivers.
 * 5. Did your tribe have a money system or a barter system? Describe it**

Each city had a supreme Chief who ruled over the city and the surrounding area. If he dies, a son or brother will take over. In some cases a women can take over. Each city had a chieftan that reported to the Chief. He was like a mayor or judge. He would punish a thief, murderer or minor crimes. THe lower class were made to be soldiers. A ceremony was performed before they went to war. At evening they would stop fighting until the next day.
 * 6. What type of government did your tribe have? How did they handle conflicts?**




 * 7. What makes this tribe unique, different from other tribes? They were unique because they built**
 * pyramids. The Mayans built these huge pyramids without the help of domesticated animals or wheels, which had not been invented then, or metal tools. The tools they had were very simple like basalt axes and fire axes used on wood, while they used tools made of quartzite, limestone, granite, obsidian and flint on stone. The Mayans thought beauty was having a cone or flat shaped head. They did this by flatten the baby head between two boards. Another sign of beauty was being cross eyed. They would put a bead on the babies nose to make the baby cross-eyed. All Mayans filed their teeth to be pointed.** **They introduced zero to math**. Almost every city had at least one ball court. They played a ball game played by skilled men, kind of like professional players. The Mayans created a complicated calendar that recorded past, present, and future events.



[[image:http://comps.fotosearch.com/comp/CSP/CSP357/mayan-pyramid-chichen-itza_~k3579554.jpg width="341" height="245" caption="Stock Photo - mayan pyramid in chichen-itza, mexico. fotosearch - search stock photos, pictures, wall murals, images, and photo clipart"]]