COLEGIO DE NUESTRA SEÑORA DEL BUEN CONSEJO
SOCIAL STUDIES
ANCIENT MAYAN CIVILIZATION
THIRD GRADE
Name: ___________________
Made by: Loren A. Peña E.
Checked by: Jorge Esclasans
Approved by:
Grade: _______________ Date: __________
THE MAYA CIVILIZATION
MAIN GOALS:



Understand who the Mayans were and their daily life.
Identify Mayans’ territories on a map.
Recognize how Mayans lived before the Spanish.
1. The timeline of the Maya Civilization: is often divided up into three major

periods:
the Pre-classic Period (2000 BC to 250 AD)
the Classic Period ( 250 AD to 900 AD)
Post-classic Period ( 900 AD to 1500 AD)
2. Who were the Mayans and where did they live?
The Maya civilization was a group of people who lived in Central America.
They lived there for a long time and some of the Maya people live there even
today. The Maya people used a written language before Columbus came to the
Americas. They were good at arts, building, and math. They knew about stars and
planets, which helped them, make calendars.
The Maya civilization was settled in northern Central America. Today, this
region falls into modern day southern Mexico, most of Guatemala, all of Belize,
the northern tip of Honduras, and a northeast piece of El Salvador.
3. Mayan Society - How was the Mayan society structured?
Maya society was very structure, they had a caste system
Upper caste
Middle caste
Nobles and priests: The
only people who could read
and write in the ancient
Maya
world
were
the
priests and some of the
nobles. The priests ordered
when to plant, when to
harvest, when to marry,
who to marry, when to
make a personal sacrifice,
Lower caste
Warriors, craftsmen, and
traders:
Warriors
were
special, craftsmen lived in
the cities, and craftsmen
made jewelry and carved
little statues in jade, copper,
stone, gold and silver. They
made the most incredible
pottery and baskets.
Slaves
Slaves
and
were
farmers:
the
lowest
level, they did not have any
rights or privileges, most of
the
victims
of
human
sacrifice were selected from
the slaves. Farmers and
their families worked very
hard. They did have days
off
to
attend
religious
how to behave, and when
festivals
and
family
to go to war. The priests
celebrations.
were incredibly powerful.
4.- Mayan cities and government
The Maya civilization consisted in many city-states. Each city-state had its
own independent government. These cities were designed in a similar pattern;
there was a palace for the king, a plaza for the marketplace and several stone
step pyramids that served as temples to their gods. There was not a single
Mayan empire.
You can visit the ruins of these
important
Mayan
city-states
“Tikal” and “Chichen Itza”
5. - Mayan daily life.
What did they eat?
Mayans ate simple food; maize or corn was the central food in their diet. They
made all types of food from maize, including tortillas. For meat the Mayans ate
fish, ducks and turkey and many vegetables such as beans, squashes and
tomatoes.
The Mayans used to drink hot chocolate with spices. Mayans considered that
chocolate was a gift from gods and used cacao seeds as money.
The CHOCOLATE word comes
from
the
Mesoamerican
language “Nahuatl” meaning
“bitter water”
What did they wear?
Mayans wore different clothes depended where they lived and their social
status.
Priests and Nobel
wore colorful clothing
made
from
animal
skins; they also used
crowns with feathers
and
luxury
jewelry
made from gold.
Commoner
wore
simple clothing. Men
used
loincloths
to
wore
and
women wore long
skirts.
Mayan entertainment
Mayans loved ball games. The ball game “Ulama”
was played throughout Mesoamerica, it was a famous
sport but it had a religious significance, too. It was
always played on a court shaped like a capital “I”, two
teams competed against each other to get a ball
through a stone ring.
The ball had to be kept off ground using only knees, hips
and elbows, never hands or feet. The largest ball court has
been found at Chichen Itza in Mexico.
Religion
Mayans worshipped many gods; they believed gods could change
themselves into human or animal shapes. Priests performed ceremonies to keep
gods happy. Mayans thought the world was divided into three parts: Heaven, earth
and underworld.
Bolon Tzacab
Chaac-chaac
Bolon
Chaac-chaac
Itzamna
Kukulkan
Itzamna was the god
Kukulkan
of fire who creates
powerful snake god
was the god of
was the god of
the Earth, he ruled
known as “feathered
storms
rain
day
night.
serpent”. It was the
and fire.
Mayans believed he
first god of the Itza
created the calendar
people.
and
was
a
Tzacab
and writing. It was the
most important god.
The
Mayans
made
books
called codices. Unfortunately the
Spanish conquerors destroyed and
only four books survive today.
wind
lightning.
and
WORKSHEET Nº 1
Name: ___________________
Grade: _______________ Date: ___________
1. - Write true or false
a) The Maya civilization was divided into three periods.
________
b) The Maya civilization was settled in South America.
________
c) Mayans developed a writing system.
_______
d) Mayan civilization was a single empire. ________
2. - Answer the following questions.
a) What is a city-state?
b) How was a city state divided?
c) Which were the most important city-states for Mayans people?
3. - Fill the blank with de correct word.
Upper class / city- state/ slaves / pyramids
a) Each_____________ had its own government.
b) Priests were considered ________________.
c) _______________ served as temple for gods.
d) ____________ belonged to the lower class.
4. - Match with a line.
Lower caste
Middle caste
Upper caste
Most of the victims of human
This caste was integrated by
traders; they made jewelry from
sacrifice
priests and Nobel, they were the
gold, silver and other metals.
slaves.
They
were
craftsmen
and
were
selected
from
only who know how to write and
read.
WORKSHEET Nº2
Name: ___________________
Grade: _______________ Date: ___________
1. - Write true or false
a) Mayans thought that the world was divided into four parts. ________
b) Men used to wear shorts and women long dresses.
________
c) In the Ulama game Mayans could use hands and feet. _______
d) Kukulkan was known as the “feathered snake”. ________
2. - Answer the following questions.
a) What was the Ulama game??
b) How did Mayans call their sacred books and how many of them survive?
c) Where is located the largest ball court?
3. - Fill the blank with de correct word.
Nahualt / cacao seeds / maize / chocolate
a) Mayans used ____________ as money.
b) Mayans drunk hot ____________ with spices.
c) The main food in Mayans diet was _____________.
d) The Chocolate word comes from ________________.
4. Write the differences between priests´ and commoner´s clothing
RESOURCES
www.dkfindout.com/uk/history/mayans
https://kidskonnect.com/history/ancient-mayan/
http://www.ducksters.com/history/maya/
http://mayas.mrdonn.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization
www.ancient.eu/Maya_Civilization