The Mayans Greatest Achievement

* The Mayas created a written language, a numerical system, an accurate calendar, and an advanced agricultural

Just like us, the Mayans had a Number System. The Mayans number system was based on 20 (Doc C). They used different symbols for different numbers. It is very important to have a symbol for zero because it is the place value (Doc C). Making a number system was a genius idea because it really helped out people in the past.

Using a base of 20, the system used combinations of dots, bars and shells to represent numbers.(Doc C) Ingenious thinking and mental effort were invested into creating this incredible philosophy of counting using different symbols. Exchange industry, goods, travel, what do all of these words have in common, they were all part of the complex Mayan Trade Routes. The trade routes stretched from Ecuador and Colombia to southwestern United States. They were completely isolated from their neighbours, so the journey to trade with them was treacherous. (Doc A) The significance today would be the fact that people were able to safely travel and explore new places, and meet new people/tribes along the way. Through meeting new people the Mayan culture was able to expand the land and area to which they lived. Copán, Tikal, El Mirador are all exquisite examples of Mayan architecture. In large Mayan cities it took around 80-130 full time workers and two-three months to build one home for a family. Over 2,500 Mayan city locations have been found suggesting that some cities had populations in the tens of thousands, with colossal stone pyramids, palaces, temples, ball courts and other ritual buildings. (Doc B) Mental and physical effort were used in the organization of all of the people and the carrying of the materials without any modern machines and creating the extraordinary

No one else seemed to have a system like this with the use of shells , dots, and bars. Not only is it a unique and smart way of organizing a system but it played a part in many things in their society including the Mayan calendars I talked about earlier. This evidence supports that the Mayan number system was remarkable because of its uses of symbols, and its influence on their calendars.

The Mayan calendars and people were genius. In order to create accurate calendars, the Mayans built observatories, “... to use in studying the sun and moon, planets, and the stars” (Document D) and “... collected information over many years in order to make their predictions and develop their systems” (Document D). This shows the brilliance of the Mayan people. No other accomplishment required this much intelligence in order to be accomplished.

The calendar was based on the sun it tracked the 365 day year and would tell when seasonal events would likely occur. The mayans also created a ritual calendar which was a calendar that was a cycle of 260 days, and it marked the ceremonial life of the people.This two

I believe the most remarkable achievement was how the Mayan were able to create and build their cities.The Maya lived in mesoamerica, part of Central America including central Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. The Mayan had over 2,500 Maya locations according to Document B in the packet The Maya: What Was Their Most Remarkable Achievement. How is it possible that the Mayan were able to make over 2,500 cities? They had populations in tens of thousands also according to Document B in the packet The Maya: What Was Their Most Remarkable Achievement. One of the largest Mayan cities had a population of 70,000.

In some ways the Mayan people were very advanced. In other ways they seemed to be very primitive. What was their most remarkable achievement? In my point of view there remarkable achievement was the Mayan calendar because of my 3 reasons and I would also include ethos, pathos, and logos and an counter argue. First, there was two main calendars which had an impact in the Mayans world. There was a ritual calendar and a solar calendar which the solar calendar we use today and in fact we still use those guidelines. Second , they were advanced when the Maya priests-astronomers took the time to put in predictions and to develop their systems. Saying, “ So great was their knowledge that they could predict eclipses of the moon. ” This was a

After looking over the symbols they created and how they were simple and understanding, I realized that the Mayans were way ahead of their time. All they used were dots and lines and as a zero, it was just a rugby ball looking thing. Instead of creating 400 different symbols to create just the number 400, they used four symbols and just changed the combination of them differently. Forty used three symbols, one rugby ball symbol and two single dots. Four hundred used three symbols too, two rugby ball looking symbols and just one single dot. By far more the one of the better in complex number systems. Compared to the Aztecs, who had feathers for 400 and finger symbols for 1, the Mayan’s number system was easy, with just dots and lines.

The most remarkable achievement of the Maya is their number system. However from all of their achievements I feel the less but still important ones was the cities and buildings they built, their trade network, and their calendar.

Throughout time, there are many instances of early civilizations accomplishing breathtaking feats that we find awe worthy even today. These cultures helped shape humanity as a whole, and paved the way for people everywhere. Of these early cultures, one of the most remarkable was undoubtedly the Mayans. The Mayans lived in Mesoamerica, around Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize. They were an isolated group of people that thrived on farming and raised crops such as Maize, Beans, and Chili Peppers. They also Fished often and hunted Deer and other woodland creatures.

     The mathematics developed by the Maya was a base 20 numbering system. This is similar to the base 10 system we use today. The Maya were able to do this using only three symbols, the dot, the bar, and a symbol for zero.

In hieroglyphic writing, astronomy, and mathematics, the Mayan Indians were far ahead of any other people in the New World.(Foley 20) The Mayan invented a solar “civil” calendar including three hundred sixty- five days.(Ivanoff 86) The accuracy of the Mayan calculations is all the more extraordinary in view of the fact that they had no

The Mayans were also were technologically advanced. They used their own math system. One dot stood for one, a bar symbolized five, and a shell figure was zero. The numbers were expressed vertically with the highest on top. The also created a very precise calendars. Two different calendars were calculated 260-day and a 365-day. They were able to calculate the dates because at noon time there was no shadow. This was important for them to use in predicting eclipses, scheduling religious ceremonies, and when to plant and harvest.

The Mayan priests studied their measurement of time. The Maya had a calendar with 18 months each containing 20 days, plus 5 unlucky days that made up the Mayan year. They also had a religious calendar that had 260 days in it. Each day was given a name and a number. They believed that each day was a god that carried the weight of the day on its back.