The Mayan culture is one of the most interesting of all the pre-Columbian cultures in South America. Geographically, the Mayans are placed in modern day Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and even Mexico. Their civilization is the only Mesoamerican civilization that has fully developed a written language. Today, Mayan is still the primary language of many communities that were influenced by their culture. Inside the Mayan area of domination there are still Mayan descendents which form a sizable population with their own culture and traditions, a mix between pre-Columbian and post-Columbian cultures. The Mayan culture has many distinctive characteristics and was one of the most successful kingdoms in what is now South America. One of the main features of the Mayan culture that we can see today is their ability to build monumental architecture. Some of their unique buildings include:

1.      Ball Courts: These were typical for the Mayan civilization and could be found in every medium sized or big city. The Mesoamerican ballgame seems to have been similar to volleyball, where the main objective was to keep the ball in play. The courts had an ‘I’ shape and were flanked on either side by stepped platforms, which formed stands, and also led to a sacrificial platform, or temples, the game having many religious connotations. The game evolved by the appearance of a stone ring on one of the walls that delimitated the playing area. It is considered that if the ball was thrown thru the ring the team would automatically win. As well, if the ball just touched the ring than the team would score points. Formal games played for large crowds even included human sacrifices. The sport was very dangerous because of the tough, heavy ball. The most widely acknowledge form of the game states that the ball should be struck with the hip only. This lead to severe bruising, and some sources eve claim that players could be killed if the ball stricken them in the mouth, or the stomach.

2.      Observatories: The Mayans based much of their religion on astronomy, so the development of this science was very important. The Mayan culture was based on the movement of the Moon and Venus. For a better observation of these celestial phenomenons, the Mayans built special round temples. These were equipped with specially designed doorways and other features that were aligned for specific astrological events. The Mayan culture is the first Mesoamerican culture to fully develop a calendar. The first was the so called round calendar, which could account for a period roughly the same as a lifetime, 52 solar years. For an accurate account of their history, the Mayans invented the Long Count calendar, which is considered one of their greatest legacies. 

3.      Pyramids: Usually the pyramids had a temple which sat atop them. Although, archeological evidence points to the use of such pyramids as burial places, the temples themselves show no sign of such a use. Some pyramids are two hundred feet high, presumably to be closer to the heavens, and also to serve as political propaganda. The temples were highly decorated and they usually were topped with a roof-comb. This roof comb was usually a representation of the leader of that town, and, because it was the only structure that exceeded the height of the jungle canopy, it could be seen from a distance by anybody. This is one of the explanations for the fact that Mayan culture considered their leaders as being sent by the gods. 

4.      Palaces: The palaces were large structures situated near the center of the city and were highly decorated. They housed the cities ruling elite. In most cases, the building had only one story and consisted of small chambers organized around an interior courtyard. These kinds of palaces can be found in most Mesoamerican civilizations, but the extent of the decorations is specific to the Mayan culture. 

Along with these great buildings that are a testament to their power, the Mayan culture has left a great legacy when it comes to written language, political structures, or astrological achievements. The written language they use is a so called logographic writing system in which syllables play big role. Many have considered this language to have a resemblance to the Egyptian hieroglyphs, but after intensive studies it has been demonstrated that the symbols used by the Mayans didn’t depict whole words, but rather syllables. This language had a total of one thousand signs, but more than half were just variations of other signs. There are more than ten thousand individual texts written in the Mayan language, most of them having been found inscribed on stone monuments, but also on ceramic pottery. The Mayan written language is one of the greatest legacies of the Mesoamerican civilizations.

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