The Mayan Civilization

            The Mayan Civilization was one of the largest and most important indigenous American Conventional Empires. The Mayan Civilization was known for a polytheistic religion that was based on central gods that were based on the natural world of the Mayans. The Mayans mainly ate corn beans and squash. They Mayans had a population of over two million people at one point. The Mayan Civilization was known for a polytheistic religion, native food and a large population.

            The Mayan religion was focused on gods that were based on the natural world. The Mayan gods were the sun god, the god of maize and rain, the gods of the sky and the gods of the underworld. There are more, but those are the main ones. They have some similarities to Greek and Roman Gods, except the god of maize and the rain.[1] Greek and Roman gods have the god of the underworld, the god of the sky and the god of the sun. They built stepped pyramids to worship their gods.[2] These cross-cultural connections mean that there is a basic idea of religion that is based in nature. Mayan religion is related to its food; one of their gods was partially based on maize.

            The Mayan civilization was mainly fed by corn, squash and beans.[3] The Mayan Population was over 2 million people at one point; this meant that it needed a lot of food.[4] The Mayan Civilization had its roots start in 1500BCE and ended in 950AD. [5] The Mayan Civilization had over 40 cities which had 5000-50000 people each; this takes a lot of food to be farmed to feed these extremely large populations[6]. The Mayan Civilization mainly had a slash and burn agriculture; however, it also used advanced irrigation techniques. The Mayan Civilization was first discovered by a Spanish Monk in 1695 long after the civilization had collapsed.[7] The Mayan Civilization started in southern Mexico and went as far south as Nicaragua.[8]  The Mayan’s geographic location helped it create technological discoveries.

The Mayan Civilization was the only civilization on the American continent to invent writing. [9] The Mayan Civilization was so large population-wise at one point that it rivaled the ancient capitals of the Old World.[10] The Mayan population was a group of people on the Yucatan Peninsula.

The Mayan Civilization was one of the largest and most influential civilizations on the American continent. The Mayan Civilization invented writing and had gods based on nature, like the Mediterranean civilizations during the same time. The Mayan Civilization had as many people as a large city in the modern day. The Mayan Civilization needed to feed this large population, which makes its reliance on slash and burn agricultural surprising. The Mayan Civilization was a leading and influential civilization that still impacts the modern world.

Bibliography:

Fall of Civilizations Cooper, Paul. Fall of Civilizations: Stories of Greatness and Decline. Toronto: Signal, 2024.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “The Collapse of Classic Maya Civilization.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed April 17, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/topic/pre-Columbian-civilizations/The-collapse-of-Classic-Maya-civilization

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. “The Maya Collapse.” Expedition Magazine. Accessed April 17, 2026. https://www.penn.museum/sites/journal/9034/

[1] Paul Cooper, Fall of Civilizations: Stories of Greatness and Decline (Toronto: Signal, 2024). pg. 221

[2] Cooper, Fall of Civilizations, [220].

[3] The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “The Collapse of Classic Maya Civilization,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, accessed April 17, 2026, https://www.britannica.com/topic/pre-Columbian-civilizations/The-collapse-of-Classic-Maya-civilization

[4] Britannica Editors, “Collapse of Classic Maya Civilization.”

[5] Cooper, Fall of Civilizations, [pg. 219]

[6] Britannica Editors, “Collapse of Classic Maya Civilization.”

[7] Cooper, Fall of Civilizations, [pg. 219].

[8] Britannica Editors, “Collapse of Classic Maya Civilization.”

[9] University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, “The Maya Collapse,” Expedition Magazine, accessed April 17, 2026, https://www.penn.museum/sites/journal/9034/

[10] Cooper, Fall of Civilizations, [pg. 220]