Maya cultural exploration exercise - Essay Example

It is one of the most ancient civilizations in the area. The Maya civilization lasted over 3000 years. Maya people lived in the Yucatan peninsula. The guide informed that the Maya lived in one of the most densely populated areas. Culturally speaking, Maya were some of the most culturally diverse people in the area. The Maya culture had spectacular art and state of the art architecture. They are also said to have had advanced systems of astronomy which were well advanced beyond the other civilizations of the time.

The guide informed me that some of the Mayan architecture still survives to date. The pyramids at Coba and Chichen Itza are some of the remaining pieces of architecture from the Maya civilization. To date the pyramids are preserved as a heritage site. From the guide, I realized that the Maya have a calendar that is different from the one commonly used in modern times. The Mayan calendar is one of the most complete calendars of the time. It is one of the best understood calendars of ancient times.

The Maya empire was in its peak in the 6th century AD. At this point in time it was very powerful and very influential in the region. The people depended mainly on agriculture which they were very good at. Other economic activities among the Maya included pottery and hieroglyphics writing. The tour guide explained to me that the Mayan scripture is said to be the only fully written language in the Americas at the time. Along with the writing they also had beautiful art which is considered to be among the most beautiful arts of the time.

The Maya are known to be among the first people to make use of the four compass directions. They denoted the four directions with different colors. My guide informed me that the Maya had thirteen different gods. They believed that some gods ruled the heavens while some others ruled the underworld. They had a god for several natural elements. For instance there was the god of stars,