please respond to my two peer below ( due 2pm Hawaii time 10/30/17 no late work)

Weekly Study Field Notes

Field notes are a very important part of anthropological research. Anthropologists use their field notes to make records about what they are seeing and thinking while conducting research. For your collaboration you are being asked to make your own field notes, based on the assigned course materials. Each week, as you read the assigned material or watch an assigned video, you will create a new set of field notes in which you are expected to write down such things as important concepts, things that you might have questions about, or even things that you find surprising or interesting. Just like the notes that an anthropologist makes in the field, your notes must be clear and easy to read because you will be sharing them with your peers in the collaboration

Complete the following sections in the spaces below:

First and Last Name:

Ashley Hayes

Date:

October 26th, 2017

Title of Assigned Readings (including chapter numbers) or Videos:

Cybertower. (2011, May 25). The importance of ancient Maya civilization [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.cornell.edu/video/maya-civilization-2-importance-of-ancient-maya-civilization

Reflections:

Mesoamerica was one of the few places in the world where large-scale political and economic systems evolved (Cybertower, 2011). Mayans began and developed their cultures in tropical forests unlike most civilizations which lived next to or near a larger body of water such as a river or lake (Cybertower, 2011). The Mayan culture was very different from other cultures who used political and economic systems of power. “Maya states tended to be relatively small in terms of the territories they controlled” (Cybertower, 2011). The Mayans focused on their civilizations more in terms of “economic links, and aristocratic marriages, and political alliances” (Cybertower, 2011). Also, many of the structures built were not for living spaces or communities but were made entirely for the king, gods and to serve as sanctuaries or sacred religious spaces. Mayans and other peoples within Mesoamerica practiced farming as their main source of food supply. Mayans discovered many truths about astronomy and science and put this knowledge into practice within their culture.

Emerging questions/analyses:

How did the Mayans invent the calendar of which so many people know today?

Why were the Mayans so different from other cultures around them? Were they mostly isolated and if so when did they begin to reach out and communicate with other cultures?

Who were the first cultures the Mayans chose to practice trading and commerce with? Were they Europeans or other civilizations found in Mesoamerica or the Americas?

Important concepts:

Mesoamerican civilization encompassed many cultural and intellectual achievements in comparsion to other cultures of the time.

One of the important concepts is the fact that the people of Mesoamerica made a lot of cuisines and grew food which are still used diets from around the world now.

Some of the important foods they used in Mesoamerica which are used today are “corn, beans, squash, chili peppers, tomatoes, avocados, chocolate, and tobacco” (Cybertower, 2011).

The Mayan civilization was an important part of Mesoamerica.

The largest buildings within the Mayan civilization were built for religious purposes instead of for domesticated living as seen in various cultures from around the same time.

Farming within Mesoamerica was essential as it provided most food sources to its people.

Mayans had a great love for astronomy and science and even though they did not have the best resources, technologies or tools, they learned from the world around them to become the great civilization we know them as today.

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