The Maya: What Was Their Most Remarkable Achievement?

The Mayans made great accomplishments that made their civilization flourish. But the question is, what was the Mayans most remarkable achievement? They had three major, recognizable accomplishments, which were the advanced trade networks, calendars, and their architecture. The trade roads led to their lead in communications and the necessary items for their lives. The calendars played a huge role in a Mayans daily life and made an influence for us today. Of all these, the architecture was the key to expand and create the significance in Mayan culture compared to other civilizations. According to Document A, the trade network was an important part to development in the Mayan Civilization. These were complex roads spread throughout Mesoamerica. no horses, donkeys, or other beasts of burdendone by hand or boat. A lot of effort progressed and was put into these systems. Everything transported was done by the porters own hands, covering great distances. The rich goods traded, such as honey, jade, obsidian, salt, and animal skins, made the empire flourish. This helped areas, such as Palenque, which didnt have any goods nearby. But, it still became one the most influential cities of the Mayans through trade. Various groups would get the items they need for their own lives, and many cities prospered.

A great achievement that stood out from other civilizations in world was their alltime accurate calendar. .their calendar was more accurate than any of their time. Based on Document D, Barbara Beck portrays how the calendars were important to the

daily basis for their lives. Whats more, even a 260-day calendar, called the tzolkin, was made to keep track of religious events. The calendar they made to record entire years was called the Uayeb. The numeric system was also featured in the calendars, with 20 days in each month. The calendars gave us an influence today, their calendars having the exact amount of days in a year as ours, 365 days. Theories for astronomy were supported to help create ideas for the calendar. As they were doing this, they were able to study the moon, stars, and planets. The most recognized achievement of the Mayans comes from Document B. It was the remarkable architecture that flourished throughout the cities. It created the measure and strength of the civilization. The architecture also provided the base for height in population & development. Without the lost architecture and the culture preserved in it, we wouldnt have had the knowledge about the Mayans like we do today. Most of our research comes from the lost temples, pyramids, and homes that were found. The art preserved in temples tells of their culture and what signifies them from everyone else. required central organization, craft specialization, and political power. The labor put into this had to be organized, which brought the Mayans all together and to cooperate. The architecture provides the widespread and growth for the Mayan civilization, and the knowledge preserved fills us today.