Great Ancient Civilization—Mexico

Imagine chewing the world's first piece fo gum,or sipping the first chocolate drink.Would you like wearing a huge feather costume and dancing in a special festival?These are some of the things that you might have done if you lived long ago with the Maya people.

The Maya were an ancient people who lived in the area that is now southern Mexico and parts of Central America.

Today,many people visit the ancient Maya pyramids and palaces.They buy decorative clothes and beautiful pottery(陶器)made by the Maya today.

There are many things to learn about the Maya culture.So let's begin our journey.

Mexico is a large country in North America.It borders the United States. Mexico is made up of 31 states.Its officail name is Estados Unidos Mexicanos.This name means"United Mexican States".Its capital is Mexico City, one of the largest cities in the world.

Much of Mexico is hot and dry.Along the Gulf coast, the weather is tropical.It is hot but it is also wet.Mexico has many mountains.

In ancient times, the land we now call Mexico was home to different group of people.One of these groups was the Maya.The Maya bulit great cities.Today, you can visit the ruins of many of these cities.

HOUSES

In ancient times, the Maya lived in the mountains and rain forests.Imagine trying to build a home on a mountain or in a rain forest. Most of the ancient Maya lived in simple homes.They made their homes from materials that were nearby, such as vines, mud, and wood.Farmers lived in huts near their fields. A hut usually had one or two rooms, it had a dirt floor.The roof was made out of long grass or the leaves of palm trees.

Rich families lived near the town centers.They had large houses with many rooms.The rooms were divided by cotton cloths.The walls were made out of stone and covered with stucco(灰泥), a kind of plaster（灰浆）.These homes usually had a patio(天井)at their center.Familu members ate and relaxed there.Statues of the gods stood outside these homes to protect them.

Today, many Maya people live in small houses in the country.The homes are much like those of the ancient Maya.Inside the homes are mats.The mats are where everyone sits. Long ago, mats were used as "thinking" chairs.People sat on the mats to think.Today, the Maya still use their mats as a place to think.

CLOTHES

In ancient times,how did the Maya stay cool in their tropical climate? They grew cotton, wove it into cloth, and made it into clothes.Their clothes were usually white.White cotton clothes were cool in the heat. Sometimes, they used plant dyes to add color or designs to cloth.

To stay cool,men usually wore just loincloths(腰布).Women wore skirts and long shirts or loose dresses.People either went barefoot or they wore sandals made of straw or leather.

The ancient Maya liked tattoos(纹身).They loved jewelry,too.Men wore huge earrings,necklaces, and bracelets.Men wore more jewelry than women.Rich people also wore large headdresses, sometimes decorated with colorful feathers.

Today,most Maya wear the same kinds of clothes that are popular in the United States.Some women still handweave white cloth for shawls(披肩)，men's shirts,and children's clothes.Women also embroider(刺绣)bright design using ancient patterns.

FOOD

Would you like to eat vegetables most of the time? In ancient times,Maya ate meat only at special times of the year.They mostly ate vegetables and fruits.Men ate first,then women and children.

Ancient Maya were good famrers.Their most important crop was a kind of corn called maize(玉米).The Maya ground this corn to create cornmeal(玉米粉).They used the cornmeal to make tortillas(玉米粉圆饼，墨西哥人主食)，a thin bread.A grinding stone was an important tool in the Maya house.Today,some Maya women still use a grinding stone to turn corn into meal to make tortillas.

Other important food crops were tomatoes,chili(辣椒) peppers，sweet potatoes,squash(南瓜属植物),avocados(鳄梨),and beans.Farmers planted beans in the same holes as corn seeds.As the bean plants grew, they wrapped around the corn plants.

People also ate bananas,nuts,and papayas(木瓜).These fruits grew wild on trees in the forest.The Maya also raised stingless bees for their honey.

Today,Maya families buy food at grocery stores.Many Maya are still farmers and grow their own food.They farm in much the same way the ancient Maya did.some keep bees and sell the honey.Corn remains the most important crop.Maya still enjoy eating chili peppers.

PYRAMIDS

At the center of their cities, the ancient Maya built groups of large buildings.The biggest buildings were the pyramids.Pyramids have triangular sides that meet at a point at the top.Some pyramids are as tall as modern ten-story buildings.Maya pyramids had steep staircases that led up to temples. In ancient times, these temples were painted in bright colors. The Maya believed that  mountains were special.Their pyramids look like mountains that people built.

Over time, the Mayans built pyramids on top of each other.They used the first pyramid as the base for the new one.Some ruins have four pyramids built one on top of another!

Inside the pyramids were tombs where important rulers were buried.The Maya ruler Pacal was buried inside the huge Temple of the Inscriptions(碑铭神庙) in Palenque.When people discovered the tomb in 1949, it held a large stone coffin and a skeleton covered with jewelry!

MURALS(壁画)

In ancient times,Maya made stone carving, beautiful pottery, and colorful wall paintings.The wal paintings are called murals.Some of the most famous Maya murals are at Bonampak.They were painted over a thousand years ago!The birds and snakes in Maya murals look very real.

Artists often drew heads in profile(侧面), or from the side.This showed a figure with a long forehead and large nose.Artists added carvings to the walls and doors of important buildings. They also carved statues and stone pillars(柱子)called"stelae".These works of art were put in public places.

Today,many ancient Maya works of art are in museums all over the world.People are working to preserve those pieces that cannot be moved.Recently,scientists videotaped the Bonampak murals to help people study them.

Some painters from Mexico, such as Diego Rivera, have become famous for painting murals like the ancient Maya did.Today, some Maya continue their tradition of making beautiful pottery and stone carvings.