研究玛雅文明的英文论文

MAYA CIVILIZATION Like the Egyptians, the Maya are well known for their pyramids, which vary in shape, depending on where they were built. The Maya occupied the Yucatan Peninsula注1 and their civilization[文明] was formed as early as 1500 BC. Contrary to[与……相反] popular mystery, the Maya never “disappeared” - millions of them still live in the region, many of which still speak one or another language of the Mayan family. The Maya worshipped[崇拜] the gods of nature every day. Their religion was characterized[以……特色] by the worship of nature gods, especially the gods of sun, rain and corn. Their amazing architecture remain as great ruins at the centers where they used for religious ceremonies[典礼], including Palenque注2, Uxmal and Chichen Itza. About 300-900 AD, the major centers like Palenque, Tikal and Copan were mysteriously abandoned[遗弃]. The reasons are still unknown. A few centers remained in existence until the Spanish arrived in the 16th century. Many people consider Mayan art and architecture to be the most sophisticated[精致的] and beautiful of the ancient New World. The carvings at Palenque and the statues[雕像] of Copan are especially refined[精制的], showing a grace and accurate observation of the human form, which reminded early archaeologists[考古学家] of the classical civilization of the Old World. With the decipherment[解读] of the Mayan script, it was discovered that the Maya were one of the few civilizations where artists attached[附上] their name to their work. The Mayan writing system is a combination of phonetic[语音的] symbols and ideograms[表意文字]. The decipherment of the Mayan writings has been a long laborious[艰苦的] process. Shortly after the European conquest[征服], the overzealous[过分热心的] Spanish priests had ordered the burning of all the Mayan books. However, many stone inscriptions[碑铭] still survive. Today, the majority of Mayan texts can be read almost completely in their original languages. The Maya developed independently the concept of zero and used a base 20 numbering system. They developed astronomy[天文学], calendar systems and writing. The Maya also built observatories[天文台] to watch stars and they produced extremely accurate astronomical observations. In addition, they were highly skilled as potters[陶工] and weavers[织工]. Maya marriages were arranged by adults and priests, and not as frequently by a couple who had fallen in love. The Maya married at a younger age than people do nowadays. When a boy reached 16, and a girl reached 12, they would each have a ceremony. They wore jewelry such as white beads[珠子] for boys and red shells for girls. At the wedding ceremony the couple would be blessed by a priest[牧师]. And it is believed, there was no honeymoon and no vows[誓言] exchanged.

The Maya civilization is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Preclassic period, many of these reached their apogee of development during the Classic period (c. 250 CE to 900 CE), and continued throughout the Postclassic period until the arrival of the Spanish. At its peak, it was one of the most densely populated and culturally dynamic societies in the world.The Maya civilization shares many features with other Mesoamerican civilizations due to the high degree of interaction and cultural diffusion that characterized the region. Advances such as writing, epigraphy, and the calendar did not originate with the Maya; however, their civilization fully developed them. Maya influence can be detected as far as central Mexico, more than 1000 km (625 miles) from the Maya area. Many outside influences are found in Maya art and architecture, which are thought to result from trade and cultural exchange rather than direct external conquest. The Maya peoples never disappeared, neither at the time of the Classic period decline nor with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores and the subsequent Spanish colonization of the Americas. Today, the Maya and their descendants form sizable populations throughout the Maya area and maintain a distinctive set of traditions and beliefs that are the result of the merger of pre-Columbian and post-Conquest ideologies (and structured by the almost total adoption of Roman Catholicism). Many different Mayan languages continue to be spoken as primary languages today; the Rabinal Achí, a play written in the Achi' language, was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2005.来自wikipedia.com 很棒的英文百科

MayaLocation: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and the five Mexican states of Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo. History: The Maya civilization spanned a period of 3,000 years and featured a written language, architecture, a well-ordered social class system, agriculture, art, the development of a calendar, trade and a well-developed religious system.Language: There are around 30 different indigenous Mayan languages. Most Maya also speak Spanish.Daily Life: Present day Guatemalan Mayas still preserve much of their culture and religion. There is a mixture of Mayan and Western European traditions. This aspect is most obvious in religious practices. The modern Maya practice their own brand of Christianity which is a blend of Catholic tradition and ancient ritual. Mayans have long been farmers and traders, and this is still true today. Most farming is subsistence agriculture and the main crops are beans and corn. The fields are cleared by slashing and burning, the same as it was done by the early Mayans two thousand years ago. Best Known Features: Today's handicrafts are still produced using ancient techniques and retain their importance within the Maya culture. Weaving has now become one of the Maya's best known features. Textiles made from cotton were used by the ancient Maya just as they are today. The Maya also make baskets, pottery and wood carvings of animals, saints and brightly-painted toys and chests. Ceremonial masks are yet another specialty.The Maya make up the largest homogenous group of Indians north of Peru, inhabiting a vast area that encompasses Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and parts of the states of Tabasco and Chiapas, as well as Guatemala, Belize and parts of western Honduras and El Salvador. While not the earliest of the great Mesoamerican civilizations, the Maya are generally considered the most brilliant of all the Classic groups. The culture's beginnings have been traced back to 1500 BC, entering the Classic period about 300 AD and flourishing between 600 and 900 AD.Mayan settlements were situated close to cenotes, natural water holes that allowed for survival in an inhospitable tropical climate. The basis of the culture was farming, which included not only the cultivation of maize, beans, squash, and chili peppers, but also "cash crops" of cotton and cacao. Considered the most outstanding intellects of ancient Mexico, the Maya devised a complex style of hieroglyphic writing that has yet to be fully deciphered. They refined the exact sciences learned from other prehispanic civilizations. Through their knowledge of astronomy and mathematics they calculated the lunar cycle, predicted eclipses and other heavenly events with great precision and formulated a unique calendar system more exact than the one we use today.For the Maya, science and religion went hand in hand, forming the core of daily life. A baptismal rite was commonly practiced for children who survived infancy. To secure the favor of their gods, each year was marked by a series of festivals that included ritual offerings, sacrifices and the imbibing of an intoxicating mead called balche. Among the most revered deities were Itzamna and Ix Chel, father and mother of all other gods, and the rain god Chac. Kukulcan was the Mayan name for the feathered serpent, god of the ruling caste. The Maya's highly complex pantheon and multi-faceted cosmology continue to fascinate and perplex archaeologists and other students of the culture.In building their ceremonial centers the Maya followed the design typical of all Mesoamerica, constructing tall pyramidal temples, warren-like single story palaces and the ubiquitous ball court around a broad central plaza. Distinctive architectural features of Mayan pyramids include corbel vaults, towering roofs and elaborate embellishment with stucco reliefs. There is a baroque quality to the artistic style of the Maya, as evidenced in their exotic murals, polychrome ceramics, finely detailed stelae, altars and other stone work. As opposed to the geometric designs typical of other cultures, the human form is common depicted in Mayan art. Insufficient food supply, earthquakes, pestilence, invasion by outsiders, internal rebellion or a combination of these factors have all been suggested as possible causes for the fall of the Mayan eminence. What appears certain is that by 900 AD the Maya's numerous ceremonial centers had been abandoned. Swiftly disappearing beneath dense jungle growth, many sites avoided destruction by Spanish Conquistadors, remaining hidden and remarkably well preserved until the 19th century.Notable sites of the northern lowland region (Yucatan peninsula) include Chichen Itza, Dzibilchaltun, Tulum and Uxmal. Located in the southern lowland region, the Maya heartland, are Bonampak, Copan, Palenque and Tikal.

The Maya are probably the best-known of the classical civilizations of Mesoamerica. Originating in the Yucatán around 2600 B.C., they rose to prominence around A.D. 250 in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, northern Belize and western Honduras. Building on the inherited inventions and ideas of earlier civilizations such as the Olmec, the Maya developed astronomy, calendrical systems and hieroglyphic writing. The Maya were noted as well for elaborate and highly decorated ceremonial architecture, including temple-pyramids, palaces and observatories, all built without metal tools. They were also skilled farmers, clearing large sections of tropical rain forest and, where groundwater was scarce, building sizeable underground reservoirs for the storage of rainwater. The Maya were equally skilled as weavers and potters, and cleared routes through jungles and swamps to foster extensive trade networks with distant peoples. Around 300 B.C., the Maya adopted a hierarchical system of government with rule by nobles and kings. This civilization developed into highly structured kingdoms during the Classic period, A.D. 200-900. Their society consisted of many independent states, each with a rural farming community and large urban sites built around ceremonial centres. It started to decline around A.D. 900 when - for reasons which are still largely a mystery - the southern Maya abandoned their cities. When the northern Maya were integrated into the Toltec society by A.D. 1200, the Maya dynasty finally came to a close, although some peripheral centres continued to thrive until the Spanish Conquest in the early sixteenth century. Maya history can be characterized as cycles of rise and fall: city-states rose in prominence and fell into decline, only to be replaced by others. It could also be described as one of continuity and change, guided by a religion that remains the foundation of their culture. For those who follow the ancient Maya traditions, the belief in the influence of the cosmos on human lives and the necessity of paying homage to the gods through rituals continues to find expression in a modern hybrid Christian-Maya faith.