Social Studies- A Gruesome, Mysterious Tale

Today at school, we watched a video on the Mayans. Unfortunately, we had to take notes, but I still listened.

No one knows why the Mayans disappeared. It is a mystery yet to be solved.The Mayans were very violent. They were constantly engaged in war. I personally think that their fighting and their diseases killed them all, but you might have a different idea. They played a very serious ball game, where the loser was killed. Then, the loser's head would be added to the skulls hanging on their belt. During a war, prisoners were beheaded, and their heads were mounted on display. Could you ever imagine being killed for losing a game?

They were also very religious. The king performed many rituals, but the priest was the main boss of the Maya who did all the ceremonies. They believed in feeding God with blood whenever they did a ceremony, so they would draw their own blood to use. The kings would poke themselves with a stingray's stinger in the spine, and then let the blood drip. It was very painful, and their body was constantly bloody, but they didn't care. They also believed that it was possible to see God through the smoke from the fire.

Temples were often built one on top of another. Archeologists, while exploring a temple site, found items that used to be in the original, first temple.

When they died, they believe that the went to the Underworld, or "place of fright".