Similarities & Differences of the Hopewells and Mayans

There are a lot of differences with the Hopewell civilization and the Maya civilization. They both are from different parts of the world. Keep reading to find out about both civilizations and what makes them both completely different but somewhat the same in some subjects.

The Maya civilization is located in Mexico. The Mayans are known for many mathematical and astronomical inventions. One of the inventions is the Mayan calendar which is very popularly known about today. It looks like this:

This Mayan calendar was the calendar that predicted the end of the world in 2012, which obviously that is not what it meant. All the Mayans did was end the calendar up to 2012, it wasn’t the END of the world, and they just did not continue the calendar because time goes on forever! That is not all the Mayans are known for. They were known for the great pyramids that they created that towered over the people of their civilization. This is what one of them looks like:

 This specific pyramid is called the Chichen Itza and it is very popular to this day.

Aside from the Mayan’s inventions their diet was a wide range of different foods. This is what they ate:

Maize

Beans

Squash

Chilies

Fish

Deer

Ducks

Turkey

Tomatoes

Sweet Potatoes

Papaya

And….

CHOCOLATE!!!! 

Yes, the Mayans invented chocolate made from the Cacao tree. So if it weren’t for them, we would not have chocolate today and that is a world I would NOT want to live in! So to stay on topic about the Mayan’s lifestyle the clothing was very simple, the Men wore Loincloth and the Women wore sack dresses and long skirts. Their homes were made out of either Limestone or Adobe. The Mayan’s religion was all about worshipping all of the nature Gods. And those Gods are:

God of Rain

Lady Rainbow

God of Maize

God of Sun

The Mayans also believed in the afterlife.

The writing style of the Mayans was very popular throughout other ancient civilizations, Hieroglyphs. Mayan Hieroglyphs look like this: 

Now for the Hopewell civilization. The Hopewells are known for their amazing architecture and their burial mounds. One of their mounds look like this:

Doesn’t it look like a snake?

The Hopewell’s diet wasn’t as exciting as the Mayans (only because there is no chocolate involved ) But this is what they ate:

Sunflower

Squash (ooohhh! Look! The Mayans ate squash too!)

Goosefoot

Maygrass

Deer (And the Hopewell’s hunt for deer just like the Mayans!)

What the Hopewell people wore was made out of textiles. They also only worshipped one God and that would be the Mood Goddess (that is a difference with the Mayan civilization!).

So, as you can see there is a slight similarity with some topics with both civilizations and differences. But personally, I like the Maya civilization because they invent CHOCOLATE!!! YUM! THANK YOU MAYANS!