Madrid Codex (Maya)

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/madrid-codex-maya

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the geographical origin?Western Yucatán, Mexico
2. What is the current repository?Museo de América, Madrid, Spain
3. What is the Madrid Codex and why is it special?It is a very old Maya book made of bark paper, one of only four surviving pre‑Columbian Maya manuscripts. It shows pictures and writing about Maya gods, calendars, and daily life.
4. Where did the Madrid Codex come from and where is it now?It was made in western Yucatán, Mexico, during the Postclassic period. Today it lives in the Museo de América in Madrid, Spain.

Pre-Columbian: Pertaining to the history and cultures of the Americas before the arrival of European explorers in the late 15th century.
Postclassic Period: A historical era in Mesoamerica (c. 900–1521 AD) characterized by shifts in political structures, trade networks, and cultural practices.
Screenfold Format: A book format where pages are made of folded sheets of bark paper, resembling an accordion, allowing for continuous text and imagery.
Amate: A type of paper made from the inner bark of certain trees, historically used by Mesoamerican cultures for codices and other purposes.