The Maya civilization

The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization developed by the Maya people around  8000 BC. Mayans were centered in one geographical block covering all of the Yucatan Peninsula and nowadays Guatemala; Belize and parts of  Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador. When the Spanish arrived in Central America in the 16th century, the diseases they brought devastated the Maya. However, it is important to note that the Maya people live until today and can be found all over the world.

Mayans everyday lives were busy, either with jobs, trading, producing crops and goods, ceremonies, developing astronomy and mathematics. The Mayan economy was based on farming and trading.  Mayans grew many crops such as melons, beans, chili peppers, and avocados, but their main crop was corn. They traded it in places like Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala, for cotton, cacao, gold, and salt.

Maya's religion is composed of ancient Maya ideas, animism and Catholicism. Some Maya still believe, for example, that their village is the ceremonial center of a world supported at its four corners by gods. When one of these gods shifts his burden, they believe, it causes an earthquake. Everyday Mayans prayed to their gods. Their gods were a very important aspect of their life. They even had religious ceremonies that had human sacrifices. Mayans loved music and dancing, so at religious ceremonies, people played instruments such as flutes, drums and trumpets, and they'd dance.

Mayans made a writing system that used hieroglyphs, where each picture had its own meaning. They were the most developed civilization in the Americas. The Mayans were advanced in astronomy and mathematics. They made calendars, such as a religious calendar that had 260 days. This calendar was made for the Mayans to know when certain religious ceremonies are. Another calendar had 365 days and was split into 18 months of 20 days and 5 days that were supposed to be unlucky days. 
They left us valuable knowledge about astronomy, architecture and mathematics.