Mayan Tools and Materials The Mayan pyramids are a technical wonder. However, to truely appreciate the wonder of these pyramids, one must see that the tools that were used were quite primative in their usefullness. They were limited to simple copper chisels and stone tools. (To view the image larger, click on it) Citation The materials that were used for the building of the pyramids would be considered quite unorthdox today. While they did use stone and "traditional" materials, they also used a great deal of wood to build their pyramids. The reasoning for this is quite simple: a type of wood that exists in abundance in the areas the Mayans used to live, chico-sapote, have, when first cut, a greater strength than stone. Since the Mayans knew nothing of how wood decays, they simply assumed that the wood was better to use than the stone. While this logic was good in the short-term, it is the reason why many of the Mayan pyramids have fallen into a state of disrepair, as can be seen when looking at the pyramids. This site is maintained by Ryan Cohagan at Creighton University. Please feel free to visit our course syllabus. My e-mail address is cohagan@creighton.edu I would appreciate some feedback. Created:Created: November 5, 2001 Updated: December 12, 2001