The Mayan Indians lived in Mexico for thousands of years before the Spanisharrived in the 1500s. The Maya were an intelligent, culturally rich people whoseachievements were many. They had farms, beautiful palaces, and cities with manybuildings. The Mayan people knew a lot about nature and the world around them.This knowledge helped them to live a better life than most people of that time,because they could use it to make their lives more comfortable and rewarding.Knowledge about tools and farming, for instance, made their work easier and moreproductive.The Maya believed in many gods, including rain gods, sun gods, andcorn gods. The people built large temples to honor the Mayan gods. Skillful workersbuilt cities around these temples. It was difficult for them to construct these cities,because they had no horses to carry the heavy stone they used to build with.Workers had to carry all of the building materials themselves. Today, many of theseancient Mayan cities and temples are still standing.Although the cities that the Maya built were beautiful, and the people worked hard tobuild them, very few of the people lived in them. Usually, only the priests lived in thecities. The other people lived in small villages in the forests. Their houses weremuch simpler than the elaborate structures in the cities. They lived in small huts withno windows. The walls were made of poles covered with dried mud, and the roofwas made of grass or leaves. Most Maya lived a simple life close to nature. TheMayan priests studied the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets. They made a calendarfrom what they learned. The year was divided into 18 months of 20 days each withfive days left over. The Mayan calendar was far more accurate than the Europeancalendars of the time.