10 CONTRIBUTIONS of the most outstanding MAYAN culture

Due to the cultural origin of European nations based on Western classical cultures, we tend to think that the Mesoamerican civilizations They have contributed nothing to our lives and we think that everything we have stems from ancient Western societies. To demonstrate the falsity of these thoughts, in this lesson from a Teacher we must talk about the contributions of the Mayan culture, to understand the importance of these American cultures.

The mayan they were a mesoamerican culture which was located in the Central America zone between the ages XX a. C. and the XV d. C. being one of the most important peoples in the history of the region and occupying a key role within thought of almost all Mesoamerican peoples due to their great influence on the great cultures of the zone.

We must bear in mind that the relevance of the Mayans did not remain the same from its origin until the conquest of the Europeans, but went through numerous phases of greater or lesser power. A certain period was key, between the Olmec and Aztec expansion, in which

it was the most powerful civilization of all Mesoamerica.

The reason for this lesson is to understand that, despite being such an ancient people, the reality is that the Mayans were one of the most advanced cultures throughout the history of humanity, achieving contributions that in Europe took more years to arrive and being, therefore, one of the most advanced cultures of all contemporary to its facts.

A problem when it comes to meeting the Mayan people is that, although the preservation of their culture has been sought for decades, there are still many people who fight against the survival of This, being common in American societies a large part of prejudices and inequalities against those settlers who still maintain the identity of a people so old and important.

To continue with this lesson we must talk about the contributions of the Mayans, being necessary to list all the elements created by the Mayans and that had an important role in the world later.

We must bear in mind that not all Mayan contributions were directed to the West, but that many of them were key to the later Mesoamerican population such as the Aztecs, or serving the European peoples who occupied the American zone after the colonization.

The number 0 and mathematics

It is one of the Contributions of the Mayan culture to mathematics. Considered one of the modern techniques of mathematics, it is believed that the Mayans began to use this number before the Europeans, although some sources speak that its use was already common for the olmec centuries before the Mayans. Using symbols to refer to numbers, an example being the turtle used to represent 0, they created a very complex mathematical system similar to the one that would be used by the Arabs centuries later.

Astronomy

The contributions of the Mayan culture to astronomy They are possibly the most important section regarding the contributions made by the Mayan people. Among these contributions we find the creation of calendars annuals based on the Sun and the Moon, the calculation of the movement of many of the planets of the Solar System such as Mercury or Venus, and the almost perfect calculation of the lunar movement compared to that of our planet.

End of the world

It was considered that the world was in constant flux because there were numerous cycles that were supposed to renew the world from time to time. The European vision of these cycles led many to believe that the Mayans thought that the end of the world would occur in 2012, but as we now know, this was not the case.

Languages ​​and dialects

The Mayan culture could be one of the civilizations with the greatest number of different dialects, with a great variety of languages that have been maintained to date in different urban centers. Currently, it is considered that there are about 60 dialects, of which the majority have a very small number of speakers, all of which are an important heritage of Mexican history.

Food

The gastronomy of the Mayans was instilled in the Spanish population who arrived on the American continent and, over the years, they crossed the sea to join European diets. Some of the Mayan dishes that we consume on a regular basis are the corn cakes, guacamole or chili. Your diet based on cassava It was key so that cities could feed themselves, since being a very satiating food full of proteins, it served to feed with few amounts. Although to talk about Mayan food we must highlight the use of cocoa, used for trade and that years later became one of the most beloved elements in Europe.

Improvements in agriculture

Being a people closely related to agriculture and, at the same time, with a great presence of innovation, we must be clear that they were capable of great technological advances related to agricultural work, being able to change the environment in its own way to improve crops. Some of these great agricultural improvements were the use of stacking of dry leaves, the emergence of terraced crops and improvements in Mayan farms. Another important advance in agriculture was the change from the type of crops to others that were more easy to produce in an infertile land like the Mayan, being the case previously commented of the Yucca.

Architecture

We are not entirely sure of the great advances in technology made by the Mayans over the centuries, but it does seem that they were able to achieve advances in technology typical of more advanced peoples, as shown its great architectural capacity. The Mayan technique that was based on starting construction on a raised platform and going up, forming smaller and smaller floors, was copied by peoples such as the Aztecs.

Rubber

A material that over the years would be key for humanity with uses such as that of wheels of automobiles has its origin in the Mayan people. Mixing a sage extracted from the rubber tree and joined with different plants, a material was extracted that It was used to create the balls of the Mayan games, being the material that we know today as Rubber.

Writing

Of all the American peoples prior to the arrival of the Europeans, those who had a best writing system were the mayan, having evidence of more than 700 glyphs used to represent words, letters and syllables. It was thanks to the use of these glyphs that the Mayans were able to tell the stories and legends that currently help us to know the history of the Mayans.

Medicine

Mayan medicine was much more advanced than European medicine in the same period of time. With a mix between the scientific and the spiritual They had knowledge such as the importance of diet and age in health, creation of jade prostheses, hair wound surgery, study of the use of thousands of medicinal plants.

After listing the many contributions of the Mayans, we must talk about the main characteristics of the mayans, to understand the interesting of this great civilization and the reasons why it was such an advanced people for the time. The main characteristics of the Mayans are the following:

• They are considered as the most influential civilization of all Mesoamerica, contributing in one way or another key elements for all the peoples of the American zone.
• Its main place of influence was the Yucatan area, being from there where his ideas spread throughout Central America, occupying the main areas of the time.
• His religion was polytheistic, believing in numerous gods that over the years they passed to other towns in the area with different names.
• With great thinkers it was a culture with the greatest astrologers, mathematicians and writers of all Mesoamerican civilizations.
• With a role focused on farming They were able to generate many inventions that improved the production system of numerous products, being the culture of the time with the highest production.