Watch: How did Maya civilisation change?
What happened to the ancient Maya?
From around 1517 - 1697 Spanish invaders (conquistadores) started to destroy the Maya cities and people.
The Spanish were armed with artillery, steel swords and muskets (guns) the Maya had only spears, bows and arrows.
The invaders brought diseases which were new to the Maya. They also tried hard to remove all traces of Maya culture over the following centuries.
Did Maya culture and society survive?
The Spanish conquest resulted in centuries of cruelty towards the Maya people, causing their population to get smaller. In spite of this, many Maya people kept some of their traditions.
The remote villages continued the Mayan beliefs and language. In the late 19th and early 20th century, people began to study the Maya culture. So Mayan people tried to keep their way of life.
Watch: Maya remains
Buildings
The Maya people built many cities, temples, pyramids, palaces and gateways in stone which have been uncovered and excavated.
Each region and city had different building materials, limestone or volcanic materials. There were complex networks of defensive walls and ditches, brightly coloured with paint.
What do they look like now?
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Weapons
Stone blade points used as weapons have been found.
Images show kings and warriors in body armour with swords and shields and tell us about what they wore in battle.
Writing
Mayan writing was the most sophisticated system in Mesoamerica, dating back to 300 BC.
Mayan script survived on stone inscriptions (鈥荣迟别濒补别鈥), frescoes, ceramic vessels, wooden lintels and cave walls.
The Spanish conquistadors tried hard to destroy all evidence of Maya writing in the 16th century and only three books survive, a tiny fraction of all their writing.
What about the Maya today?
Today there are over seven million Maya people, most of whom live in Central America and southern Mexico.
There are 250 museums around the world with Maya items in their collections.
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There are currently鈥31鈥痙ifferent Mayan languages being spoken today.
However, these languages are becoming endangered because of鈥痙iscrimination.鈥疭ometimes people won鈥檛 even be offered jobs if they speak a Mayan language!
To keep these languages alive, some people write literature in Mayan languages as well as Spanish, so that their culture will not die out forever.
Activities
Activity 1: Quiz 鈥 Remains of the Maya
Activity 2: History Explorer game
Play this game to test your knowledge and learn even more facts about the ancient Maya.
History Explorer: Secrets through time
History Explorer: Secrets through time: KS2 History
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