Why did the Maya have so much advanced technology for their time?

Uh ... they didn't.

At their peak - AD 250-900 they were essentially still a late Neolithic society - no wheels, no bronze let alone iron, no metal tools or weapons, no understanding of pulleys or block & tackle, no wind or water mills, no breeding of animals for selected traits, no mortar, no kilns or fired ceramics, no ships or ocean-born trade, and only the crudest most basic form of leather-working. They did have a kind of paper, but then so did the Chinese (several centuries earlier) and so did the Greco-Romans and the Mayan's European and Near Eastern contemporaries. (Technology, FYI, refers to tools and intruments, not theoretical sciences or Mathematics.)

Mathematically and astronomically, the Maya were in a few ways ahead of, in some ways on par with, and in most ways behind the Sumerians and Egyptians 1000-3000 years earlier. Though they had calculated the siderial, solar, and lunar year with greater (and wholly unnecessary) accuracy than was done in Europe at the time, their actual calendar gained a day on the sun every 4 years (the Julian Calendar gains a day every 400 years). Though they did calculations with impossibly large numbers (as part of their apocalyptic "end-of-the-world" religion) and even used a zero, their mathematics were still limited to basic arithmatic: no algebra, no calculus, and no geometric or trigonometric proofs, axioms, theorems, or functions.

Yes, they built some amazing stone monuments and temple-palace complexes (erroneously called "cities" - a city is a urban community and polity of merchants, artisans, and laborers; an enclave of priests and princes with an occassional parade and market day is something else), and also channeled water pretty effectively when they had to, but then so did other Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures ... thousands of years before the Maya.

The Maya were advanced in many ways eg they were able to build immense monuments, they had writing, calendars, astronomy etc but they did develop these, just inherited them from earlier local peoples. They did, however, improve greatly upon the earlier models. They did not, however, have the wheel (lacking draught animals meant they could not utilise it). They also did not use metal tools or weapons, using obsidian instead. They knew how to smelt copper, and used it for bells and religious use, but largely did not smelt metals.

So, although they were advanced, they did build upon the discoveries of others. And, by European standards, while they had many great achievements, they were not advanced in terms of metal work, the wheel or the diffusion of writing skills to the general population.

Manuscript wise, the Spaniards supposedly destroyed all that, all though, me thinks otherwise, as to why end of the dark ages, age of enlightenment, industrial revolution, agricultural and culinary greatness all happened after the discovery of AMERICA! These manuscripts still exist, although for only a select few, who have been deciphering all along.

All secrets of our Universe are stored there.

Duh, they did. Show me your source of your information, and perhaps, I will believe you. Other than that, without the food brought to Europe from the Americas, Europe would still be in Dark Ages. A lot of this food was HYBRED by the ancient masters of agriculture. There are toys with wheels, and rubber was used for bouncing balls, even! Without rubber from the ancient Americans, where would our technology be? To say something as naive as: "Though they had calculated the siderial, solar, and lunar year with greater (and wholly unnecessary)..." is like saying our own scientific accuracy is unnecessary. Then why do it? why the need for modern day accuracy?

Maya people had a golden age, which began before many other cultures had theirs. Science is still finding lots of interesting things pushing back the dates, further and further into the past. A lot of math arises from technology, as you may know. Too bad the conquerors had to go and destroy so much.

Neolithic? Absolutely, and absolutely not. We use stone to this day. Does this make us neolithic? If you mean working with stone vs metal, then you are wrong here too. Neolithics also used metal (copper), etc. Know one really knows how they built their impressive cities. Yes, believe it or not, the Maya lived and celebrated in their cities. They had holidays and ceremonies. They married and worked. They domesticated animals and even ate chocolate as a favorite beverage during relax time. What you are reading is obviously not the latest research done by these remarkable people. They even built roads and had tiolets, just like the Aztecs.

Their buildings are astronomically aligned with incredible accuracy.

Remember this, the potato famine in Ireland happened, because of the reliance on the Native American plant in Ireland. When the crops failed due to fungus infestation, because they had only planted one strain, they came to America, who welcomed them with open arms! Also remember, you can't have such an advanced society without advances in foods. This is where the Natives excelled, as even today, corn is KING, from livestock feed to sweetner in almost everything to fuel to pop corn to starch... this brought about by the simplest of technology, the planting stick.

Once again, it is hard to really get a good understanding about a people when the brutes destroyed so much in their aggressive quest for gold, fame and new lands. Like what happened to Africa, the Natives are still reeling from the invasion!

i dont think it was advanced for there time . i just think it was lost to time , we are just re-learning it now , so it seems new to us . thus advanced back then. ;-)

I don't think so. Where is the word, India in maya, instead of the other way around? Did the Indians also conceive of the Zero first? Did they plant the first corn, potatoes, squash, avocados, chocolate, vanilla, peanuts, Pumpkins, sweat potatoes, cotton, Chili peppers, beans, etc, using science, first, too?

Please, try not to compare, or make up science by stating something that is not taught in schools, such as, the "ancient Indians transfered their technology to the Mayans", if you have no definitive proof. Perhaps, it was the other way around?

Please don't assume that the Maya killed and ate everyone that came to their lands, because you really have no proof, as you try to interpret old sanskrit writings, or whatever they are??? God bless!

The Maya are still alive and well, so their tech lives on. They did have the wheel, as is found in their toys of thousands of years old. Like the end of Planet of the Apes, where Apes are hiding the truth about where things really came from, until they find the doll that speaks: "Mama!" They did have lots of writing, which was supposedly destroyed by the Spanish Priests and friends. Who knows if they are really all hidden??? Who knows what we really learned form them, when you consider the beginning of our age of enlightenment, end of dark ages, and industrial revolution all began after the conquest!

They had ancient libraries, Schools, and celestial observatories, which look like ours today, only somewhat crumbled by time. They used crystals for all kinds of things, possibly even as lenses.

Amazing how with even all the destruction, they still have one of the most wonderful, marvelous cultures to observe to this day.

The best Calendars. The discovery of zero, first in history. a complete pantheon, which is related to science in more ways than one. They were not as heart sacrificing as they say. Many of these stories were passed down by the conquerors. Imagine that. How could Cortez see so much as he ran on La Noche Triste? Night time, running, being able to see so much, way on top of those huge pyramids, that everything would have to be in perfect sight? BS! Show me proof! Because in the Popol Vuh is written: They fought against the Lords Of Illusion in the great Ball Game Sacrifice, and won, thus defeating even Death!

Maya is illusion in India, but she is also much more! Here Maya is AMAZING! The calendar's year is supposedly off by only a few seconds according to our own calculations, same goes for many other orbits in space, including Pleiades. Please consider? Joy to our world!!!

i luv Cutie1o1

I Have World Geography This year Can Some One GiveMe A Source Of Where I CAn Find Info On Mayan Ball Game

Mayans and other indigneous cultures in Latino America where super advanced and continues to be a mystery on how accomplished they became during there pre-columbian time. Unfortunately thanks to the so threatened Spaniards it was decided to burn many Mayan codices that included very important documentation on Who what why when and there existance. They Obviously did not obtian our modern technology back then but they where very very well rounded people in all matters such as.. Astrology, Mathmatics and Earth Bound.etc etc, If you are truly interested see the remainding codices, I suggest you find some answers in Wikipedia and other professional sources. Because the guy like stormarm just takes you in circles and sadly alters the Mayans existance. Good Luck!

Among all countries in the world, India has inherited
the largest number of ancient manuscripts from time
immemorial. They were written on the widest range of
subjects known to humans.

Indians have travelled around the world in ships to
spread their knowledge since millenia. The oldest
universities of the world like Patali Putra and Taksha
Sila are located in India. Scholars from far east and
Europe came here for higher knowledge.

"The oldest University of the world was founded at
Taxila, where taught the great grammarian Panini."

http://ccc.1asphost.com/hamidsaeed/darood/HIST-PAKISTAN.htm

The Hindu Puranas say that Maya was the great architect
of of people of the nether world. In the Puranas,
Ketu Maala was the ancient name for the South America; the name survives
as Gautemala in South America. In the Puranas, the name Ketu usually
appears in the compound names of the Danavas. Bali means sacrifice in
Sanskrit and Telugu; the word was given as the name of the king of
Danavas. The Mayas killed visitors to their land in the name of scrifice
to their gods and used to eat the bodies as part of the ritual. What
else can we expect of people to be called Danavas?

It is Indians who were the inventors of science and
technology in ancient times.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_technology_in_ancient_India

http://doctorprasad.blog.com/

The following links show that ancient Indians transfered their technology to the Mayans:

http://www.archaeologyonline.net/artifacts/who-discovered-america.html

http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Pacific.htm

http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2005/10/master_builder.html

http://www.jansamachar.net/display.php3?id=&num=49&lang=English

The Maya were advanced in many ways sothey were able to build immense monuments, they had writing, calendars, and astronomy but they didnt develop these, just inherited them from earlier local people. They did, however, improve greatly upon the earlier models. They did not, however, have the wheel (lacking draught animals meant they could not utilise it). They also did not use metal tools or weapons, using obsidian instead. They knew how to melt copper, and used it for bells and religious use, but largely did not mealt metals.

So, although they were advanced, they did build upon the discoveries of others. And, by European standards, while they had many great achievements, they were not advanced in terms of metal work, the wheel or the diffusion of writing skills to the general population.