What were Maya inventions like?

The Maya were very clever inventors. They created useful tools and ideas.

They studied the stars, created calendars, and developed a special writing system.

They built raised roads to make travelling easier and special tools to carry their goods.

Some of these inventions still influence how we live today!

When it rained it could be difficult to travel through the wet and muddy jungle floor.

Raised roads, known in the Maya language as sacbeob, were built in the rainforest to make travelling easier. A single raised road was called a sacbe.

The roads were made using stones which stopped them getting muddy. This meant the Maya could travel whatever the weather and conditions.

The longest known sacbeob is called Yaxuna-Cobá. It is around 100km long.

Maya people did not use vehicles with wheels to move things. Instead they carried loads on their backs.

They used a tumpline, which:

• was a carrying device used to carry heavy loads on someone’s back
• allowed people to carry loads of around 57kg
• had a strap which went round the forehead.

A metate is a stone tool that would have been used for grinding maize to make tortillas.This tool is still used by some Maya people today.

The Tzolkin calendar was 260 days long and it was used to plan religious ceremonies.

Each day had its own special name.

Some Maya people still use it today.

The Haab calendar had 365 days. It could be used with the Tzolkin calendar to form a calendar wheel.

The Maya watched the sun, moon, stars and planets to create their calendars.

The Maya invented an advanced form of writing, known as glyphs. Each glyph represented a word, sound or syllable.

The Maya wrote about their many achievements, their gods, their leaders and much more.

They wrote on walls, stone slabs and in special folding books.

Some of these special books have helped archaeologists understand more about Maya society.

The Maya, along with the Olmec and Aztecs who were other civilisations in Mesoamerica, created and used a type of rubber!

The Maya mixed the sap from the rubber tree and morning glory vines to create a type of bouncy rubber.

It is believed to have been used to make balls for their famous ball game, pitz.

This rubber material was discovered and used thousands of years before the modern-day rubber that we know today.

Have a look at the thinking points below and think about your answer to each question. You could even write them down on a piece of paper or discuss them with somebody else if you want to.

• The Maya built raised roads to travel across the jungle. What does this tell you about the Maya and what was important to them?

• The Maya wrote about their achievements, gods and leaders on stone slabs, walls and in special books. How is this similar or different to how we record information today?

Let's find out what you know about ancient Maya inventions in this quiz.

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