What Happened to the Maya? Decline and Abandonment Moreover, the sophistication of Tikal is also evident in the appearance of Maya hieroglyphic writing and complex systems of time-counting. This is reflected in the building of monumental structures, including pyramids, palaces, and plazas, as well as monumental sculptures and vase paintings. In addition, between 600 and 800 AD, Tikal enjoyed a flourish in architecture and in the arts. It has been speculated that during this period, Tikal had extended its hegemony over much of the southern Maya lowlands. Tikal maintained its importance during the Classic period, and reached its peak during the last centuries of the period, known also as the Late Classic period. By the Late Pre-Classic period, however, Tikal had grown into a significant ceremonial center. The city originated as a small village during the Middle Pre-Classic period, around 800 BC. Tikal was one of the largest urban centers of the Maya civilization during the Classic period, as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas at that time. The site is located in the northern part of the Petén region, Guatemala, and is considered to be part of the southern Maya lowlands. One of the most impressive sites of this period is Tikal. ( diegograndi / Adobe stock) The Marveling Maya City of Tikal The Maya ball game court (juego de pelota) at Chichén Itzá - Yucatan, Mexico. During the Classic period, which lasted until around 900 AD, the Maya established around 40 cities throughout Central America. This is regarded to be the peak of the Maya civilization. The emergence of such cities is considered to be the beginning of the Classic period. By 250 AD, these centers had developed into cities with temples, pyramids, palaces, ball courts and plazas. These early Maya settlements relied on agriculture and crops, such as corn (maize), beans, squash, and cassava (manioc) were cultivated.Īs time went by, the Maya began building ceremonial centers. This marks the beginning of the Pre-Classic period, which lasted until around 250 BC.
The earliest Maya settlements have been dated to around 1800 BC. Early Classic period on show in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. Today, there are about 70 different Mayan languages, spoken by around 5 million people.Ī Maya mask / stucco frieze from Placeres, Campeche. By the Pre-Classic period, however, this single language had experienced a diversification amongst the various Maya peoples. It has been pointed out that the earliest Maya used a common language. The absence of a unified Maya civilization is also reflected in their language. It seems that each of these states was centered on a city, which would effectively make them city-states. Instead, in each of the three regions mentioned before, the Maya organized themselves into small states that were ruled by kings. The Maya were never a unified civilization. These are the northern Maya lowlands, in the Yucatan Peninsula, the southern Maya lowlands, in northern Guatemala and the adjacent parts of Mexico, Belize, and western Honduras, and the southern Maya highlands, in southern Guatemala. This area, however, may be divided into three sub-regions, each with its own environmental and cultural differences. Maya wooden handcrafted masks in a traditional Mexican market. Unlike other indigenous populations of Mesoamerica, the Maya were concentrated in one geographical area, which corresponds to the modern area of southern Mexico, Guatemala, northern Belize, as well as the western parts of Honduras and El Salvador. It may be pointed out that the word ‘ Maya’ is a modern collective term not used by the indigenous populations themselves. Whilst the exact reason for the mysterious decline of the Maya is still unclear, several competing theories have been developed by scholars based on the available archaeological evidence.
More precisely, however, it was the Maya cities of the southern lowlands that were abandoned one by one. Around the 9 th century AD, however, the Maya civilization went into decline. The beginnings of the Maya civilization have been dated to the 2 nd millennium BC. The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization that was located in Central America.
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