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Native ArtThe Mayan HistoryThe Mayans have a very historical inheritance in the many ruins scattered throughout the world. Tourists from all over are experiencing first hand a part of history that just inexplicably baffles the mind, as even today, historians cant seem to agree on the precise cause of the demise of the Maya Indians. There are various tribes that comprise the Mayan community, of which their language is still spoken, although English is also practiced. Origination
Archaeologists are able to date finds and sites of the Mayan civilization using artifacts of ceramic, stone, shells and bone. They also use the Mayans own calendar. The Mayans used a rather complex calendar system. Monumental stone inscriptions were carved using a hieroglyphic script and a method of reckoning the passage of time called the Long Count. The most striking feature of this system is that the Mayans dated events to the exact day. Archaeologists have devised numerous correlations with our own Gregorian calendar to accurately place any event recorded in these Mayan inscriptions. Devised by three well known archaeologists, the most accepted interpretation of the Mayan dates is known as the G-M-T correlation. Using these dates, Archaeologists have been able to decipher three major periods of Mayan Civilization - the Preclassic, Classic and Postclassic periods. For perspective, the flowering of the Mayan civilization corresponds to the later years of the Roman Empire ChronologyThis chronology of the Mayan civilization is rather simple. Simply put, it started in the Preclassic period, rose to dominance in the Classic period, and declined and disappeared in the Postclassic period. Preclassic PeriodThe beginning of Mayan life in Central America (known as Mesoamerica to archaeologists) occurred around 5000 BC, when wandering nomads from the north found they could settle down and domesticate plants. These early crops consisted of corn, beans and other plants. The domestication of plants required that people stay in one location to tend the fields. Thus were born the first Mayan settlements. With the growth of settlements and farming, so came innovations to make life easier. Some of the more important inventions include pottery vessels for storage, cooking and serving of food. Because of its weight and fragility, pottery is not often used by nomads. The presence of pottery normally indicates a tendency to long term settlement. Much of what archaeologists know of the early Preclassic period in Belize comes from the Mayan site of Cuello, outside of Orange Walk Town. Radiocarbon dating from a series of buildings and trash dumps (archaeologists love places where people threw their trash) reveal occupation from about 2500 BC. These structures were small buildings with clay platforms and fired clay hearths. Other items of preclassic origin that were identified include stone utensils for grinding corn and a fluted stone projectile point. During the preclassic time, corn progressed from being a small cobbed, low yielding crop to larger cobbed, high-yielding varieties. The farmers were learning how to maximize their efforts, and passed on what they learned to succeeding generations. With the improvement in farming, the invention of more sophisticated tools, and the growth in size of settlements, the Maya culture became associated with a civilization with larger cities containing ceremonial centers. As time progressed, the sites became more numerous and larger. The sites exhibited more organization with public buildings, elaborate burials, and jade jewlerly. Jade became a spectacular marker of the elite, both in quantity owned and in the quality of the workmanship. Near the end of the Preclassic Period, trading flourished as networks formed between the growing settlements. Most of the major ceremonial centers were started about this time. Classic PeriodThe Classic Period is the Mayan Golden Age. Mesoamerica became adorned with massive, ornate and brightly colored architecture. Exquisite works of art and advances in astronomy and mathematics are hallmarks of this Period. This was the age of the development of one of the most sophisticated systems of writing ever devised in the Western Hemisphere. Much of what Archaeologists know of the Mayan Civilization comes from archeological work done on Classic Period sites. Scientists orginally constructed a model of Mayan society as a ceremonial center supported by widely spaced subsistence communities. But intense study on the agricultural practices revealed that the Maya used highly sophisticated techniques to feed a dense and growing population surrounding the ceremonial centers. These practices included terracing of hillsides and river banks. Terracing allowed intense agriculture of land otherwise unsuitable for crops. Using drainage ditches and irrigation, Mayan farmers maintained corn fields and harvested such diverse crops as manioc, sweet potatoes, and beans. Of great importance was the ramon nut. Large underground chambers were constructed to store the ramon nuts for long periods of time. Some archaeologists theorize that these storage chambers were used in time of famine. The Classic Maya augmented their starch diet of vegetables and nuts with animal protien. The main source of meat came from hunting the abundant white tailed deer, along with the small brocket deer and two species of wild pig. The Classic Maya also collected turtles and large numbers of freshwater snails. Emphasis traditionally has been on the large ceremonial centers of the time. But recently, archaeologists have taken a close look at the entire social structure, and have concentrated on the small Mayan settlements and the rural farmers which supported the Mayan Civilization through the production of food. These subsistence farmers lived in dwellings very similar to the Maya of today. Most homes were constructed of perishable material harvested from the forests. The structure of Mayan society centered around a major ceremonial site. A regional trading system would integrate the products of outlying areas with minor ceremonial sites and eventually with the major ceremonial center. Well developed causeways, called sacbeobs ("white roads" from the plastered surfaces) radiated out from the major sites in all directions toward the minor sites. The Classic Period chronology has been developed based on the rise, flourishing, and steady decline of the Mayan Civilization. Some archaeologists also base these divisions of the period on the influences of major ceremonial centers on all of Mesoamerica and the Mayan Civilization as a whole. There is evidence that the Maya utilized terracing and elaborate water management systems during this time. The evidence of terracing suggests that the Maya began to cultivate even the steepest slopes. The spectacular growth of the Early and Middle Classic Period was followed by a sudden collapse in the early 9th century. The collapse signalled a massive depopulation of the interior regions of the area, while those sites near water, such as Lamanai, appear to have survived into the Postclassic period.Postclassic PeriodArchaeologists continually debate over what triggered the rise of the Mayan Civilization. But even greater debate ensues over why this once great civilization collapsed. The period that followed the abandonment of the rainforest centers is known as the Postclassic Period. This Period closes upon the Spanish Conquest in the mid-sixteenth century. The Post Classic period is characterized by a lack of emphasis on tall pyramids and elaborate structures. Instead, the Maya concentrated on ground level buildings and created their art on stucco which quickly erodes. In fact much less is known of the Maya in the Post Classic Period than in the Classic Period because of the lack of art, artifacts and structures from the Post Classic Period. Many archaeologists agree that the collapse of the Mayan civilization was triggered by a number of factors. Population was probably one of these. According to researchers, parts of the Mayan region were sustaining nearly 400 people per square mile - a heavy density for an agriculturally based society. Other factors could have been malnutrition and disease. Studies of human bones and teeth from Late Classic burial mounds have found strong evidence of these factors, including syphilis and other communicable diseases. The social gulf between the ruling elite and the common people is another factor that archaeologists feel contributed to the decline of the civilization. Some researchers feel that the breakdown of trade contributed greatly to the collapse. Archeologists believe that "realms" may have been established where outlying districts provided items of trade. These items were brought to a central location for redistribution. These economic links become vulnerable during times of stress and change. Other scientists believe that climate contributed to the diminishing Mayan population. The Mayans had settled in the lowlands around 8000 BC and began practicing large-scale farming as early as 2000 BC. By the beginning of the medieval climate optimum in AD 500, the population was nearly 14 million, making it one of the largest centers of civilization anywhere. But the thriving Mayan cities began to experience diminished long-term rainfall patterns. Dry conditions began in 760 and, after a 50-year wet period, drought again set in about 860. Another drought followed in 910. The boom-and-bust cycles of rainy and dry periods contributed to eras of both growth and decline. Therefore, some believe that technology, population sizes, and agricultural intensity overwhelmed the land. Yields declined with the dry conditions and these structural incongruities led to ongoing wars between Mayan city-states that eventually contributed to their collapse. The causes of the Mayan collapse are obviously complex and varied, and not yet well understood. But the consequences of the collapse are clear. Construction of ceremonial centers stopped; the intensive farming methods ceased; the population dropped from an estimated three million to 450,000 in less then a century. Also, "Nova" has extensive information on the Maya. Click for maps of mayan ruins, hieroglyphs, and more mayan history. Additional Maya Research:The Maya nation is an homogeneous group of people who have occupied roughly the same territory for thousands of years. They speak some thirty languages that are so similar that linguists believe that they all have the same origin, a proto Mayan language that could be as much as 7000 years old! They will will explain how geographical isolation made the original language evolve towards an eastern branch subdivided into proto-K'iche and Mam and a western branch subdivided into proto-Q'anjob and proto-Tzeltal and how the further division of these sub branches gave rise to the 30 languages spoken today. The in situ evolution of their language implies that they were the original permanent inhabitants of the Maya area and suggests that that today's two million Mayas probably share a very ancient common genetic origin. That is quite different from the warlike Aztec and Inca nations who invaded their neighbours and absorbed their populations by imposing their language, customs and religion. The Aztecs were a small ambitious "Chichimec" (savage) tribe from the north west who migrated into new lands, absorbed new ideas, evolved further and grew powerful enough to impose their language and gods (Huitzilopochtli), on the indigenous people they conquered. It is the story of outsiders becoming the governing elite of pre-existing populations for a relatively short time. The Incas of Cuzco were also a short lived foreign elite governing a wide variety of pre-existing nations. The Maya had no centralised political leadership. They developed a common culture by absorbing and developing elements borrowed from their neighbours. The long count calendar, writing with glyphs and the basic tenets of their religion can be traced directly to the Olmecs through Izapa. The Olmec civilisation disappeared before the advent of the Christ but its heritage formed the basis for all other mezoamerican civilisations such as the Monte Alban Zapotec, the great Teotihuacan hegemony, the Tula Toltecs and finally the Aztecs. The Maya were also influenced by Teotihuacan that controlled the Mexican highlands from the first to the seventh centuries. The Mayan golden age lasted five centuries from 300 to 800 AD. Then, they stopped building temples, declined and became fragmented in competing states that were easy prey for invading forces from the north such as the Toltec which had been expelled from Tula around the end of the 10th century. The Toltecs became the ruling elite of the Maya in the post classic period. Toltec gods were added to the Maya pantheon but the Toltecs were absorbed as they leaned to speak Yucatec Maya. The Maya were organised in city states, sometimes co-operating, sometimes fighting each other but they shared the same beliefs and deferred to priests who derived power from their knowledge of astronomy, mathematics and numerology. The Maya were very much aware of the passage of time. They recorded some dates on stelae and probably much more in books that are lost now because fanatical Spanish Catholic priests destroyed them to eradicate "pagan beliefs". Retracing the history of the Maya is like finding the solution of a detective novel for we have to rely on whatever clues we can find in what is left of archaeological sites that the Spanish did not plunder or destroy. There are many unanswered questions about the Maya but the cause of their decline remains the greatest mystery. Their civilisation was not destroyed by an overwhelming outside force. The Olmec suffered the destruction of San Lorenzo around 900 BC and that of La Venta around 600 BC but no such catastrophe befell the Maya. Similarly, Teotihuacan was destroyed by warfare around 700 and so was Tula around 1000 AD but Maya power disintegrated from within. Many hypotheses have been proposed, overpopulation, famine, epidemics, civil disorder... Some of these factors might have played a role in some places but I tend to think that the common people just stopped believing in the dogma the elites were using to establish their power and justify their excesses. Similarly, the disintegration of the Soviet Empire can largely be explained by the excesses of a corrupt elite and the subsequent disbelief in the supremacy of the communist system by the common people. There are hundreds of known Maya sites spanning two millennia. It can become difficult to follow, so click for a Maya Archaeological Sites table to use as a quick reference of where some of the more important sites are located (southern highlands, central lowlands and northern lowlands) and the period they are best associated with (pre-classic, classic and post classic).
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