Mayan Architecture:
The Mayan civilization is known for their construction of architectural structures. They used materials including limestone, cement, and plaster similar to those used in ancient roads. Houses, temples, courtyards, and stepped pyramids were all covered with lime stucco that became the trademark of Mayan architecture. Temples were placed at the top of some pyramids to house and honor certain deities. Also corbel arches, a type of false arch on top of the temples, were developed by stepping blocks closing in the center at a peak.
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Mayan Roads:
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The ancient Mayan civilization is credited for their success in the field of technology. One of their greatest accomplishments was their development of transportation methods, including the way they constructed their roads and waterways. The Mayan roads were also called "white roads" or "white ways" because of the new material they used, differing from those of the modern and classical period. This advancement was constructed with three layers of building material: large stones, rubble, and limestone covering over the roads. The roads connected towns, cities, ceremonial centers, and religious centers within their civilization. The Mayans used both their long and short roads for easier accessible trade purposes. They weren't equipped with modern technologies to move their goods from place to place such as the wheel, which other civilizations were fortunate to have so they mostly walked. The Mayans also used waterways as a primary source of transportation by using boats to commute through the sea and rivers. Boats such as small paddling canoes were used to transport goods to and from other civilizations.
Mayan Calendar:
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The development of the Mayan calendar was known as one of their most important achievements. The Mayan people excelled in their understanding for astronomy, therefore creating a precise calendar system based on the celestial movement of objects in the sky. They developed three dating systems for the calendar including the Long Count, the Tzolkin, and the Haab calendar. This system contained a supplementary series which are glyphs that were taken from inscriptions dating back to the Classical period. All their observations were recorded in codexes and benefitted their daily lives. The Mayans used this system to construct temples, pyramids, buildings, and palaces we see today such as the pyramid of Kukulkan at Chichen Itza. The calendar was later adopted by the Aztec and Toltec civilizations; also being used today by the ancient Mayans in the Highlands of Guatemala and Chiapas.
Incan Agriculture:
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The Incan civilization were surrounded by the Andes Mountains, which contained steep hillsides and dry soil making it not ideal for farming and difficult to grow a surplus of crops to supply to people. As their society continued to grow, they had to develop a new way to expand their food supply. Therefore they placed a series of aqueduct systems on the upper hillsides, where it would guide the water uphill and available to feed their farms. The engineering behind the aqueducts were extremely precise because in order for the flow of water to work it required perfect angles. Because the Incas experienced hot temperatures during the day and sub- zero temperatures at night, they had to adapt with their methods of food preservation; they were one of the first societies to use freeze- drying. The people would leave their food out overnight for the moisture to freeze, and in the morning they would squeeze the ice crystals out. Once the food was warmed by the sun, the moisture would be absorbed and the food would preserve.
Incan Farming Tools:
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The farming tools used by the Incas were basic but effective in the daily life of the people; they played significant roles in the development and expansion of the Inca civilization. The most popular among all the tools is the chaquitaclla which is a human powered foot plow used to break through the soil of the narrow terraces. Like the chaquitaclla, the raucana was also one of the most used in the society and is continuing to be used in the highlands of Peru. This tool specializes in harvesting tubers (mostly potatoes), removing weeds, and preparing the ground for planting. To break up clods of soil, the Incas used a heavy club-like tool usually made from a single piece of wood called the waqtana. Farming in the Incas was a communal effort done by both women and men, with women using the hoe and men with the foot plow.