cinnabar is a bright red mineral made of mercury (a shiny liquid metal) and sulphur (a yellow chemical).

an offering is something that is given to a god as a part of a religious ceremony

The mysteries of the Copan tomb

History

Maya cities and the geography of Mesoamerica

Bloodletting and the Maya

The calendars of the Maya

Cacao and maize

What made the Maya so distinctive?

In ‘Non-European societies: Benin or the Maya’ pupils are encouraged to compare and contrast their understanding of Anglo-Saxon England with a non-European society that was roughly contemporaneous. In ‘Significant turning points: how did experiences differ during WW2?' Pupils extend their chronological understanding by studying the significant turning point of WW2.

In ‘The Vikings: how did Viking settlement help to make England?’ pupils studied the political narrative of how Viking settlement helped to forge England. In ‘Non-European societies: Benin or the Maya’ pupils are encouraged to compare and contrast their understanding of Anglo-Saxon England with a non-European society that was roughly contemporaneous.

If pupils study Benin, they learn about Benin's culture and society and how its looted artworks have caused modern controversy. If they study the Maya, they build knowledge of this civilisation to analyse what made them so distinctive.

Non-European societies: Benin or the Maya

the Maya are an indigenous people of Mexico and Central America

Mesoamerica is an area of land that stretches from the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America

ceremonial means something that refers to a ceremony or is used in a ceremony

a ballcourt is a large stone structure used in Mesoamerica to play the Mesoamerican ballgame pok-ta-pok

a lintel is the beam such as a piece of stone or wood over a door or window which supports the bricks above the door or window

bloodletting was the practice of cutting part of the body to release blood

a celestial body is an object in space, like a star, planet, moon, or comet

a calendar is a chart that's used to keep track of days, weeks, months and years

a cycle is a sequence of events that occur repeatedly and follow the same pattern each time

the cacao plant is a South American tree with yellowish flowers and reddish brown seeds, which are used to make chocolate and cocoa

maize is another word for corn and is a tall-growing grain that produces yellow kernels on long ears

distinctive means something that is special, unique or different from everything else around it

astronomy is the science that studies everything in space, such as stars, planets, moons, comets, and galaxies

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Non-European societies: Benin or the Maya

The Maya: what made the Maya so distinctive?

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