Maya civilization
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The Maya civilization is a Mesoamerican civilization. It is famous for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas and for its spectacular art, monumental architecture, and sophisticated mathematical and astronomical systems.
It began during the Preclassic period. At its peak, during the Classic period (c. 250 to 900) it was one of the most densely populated and culturally dynamic societies in the world. And it continued throughout the Postclassic period until the arrival of the Spanish.
The Maya civilization shares many features with other Mesoamerican civilizations. They did not invent writing, epigraphy, and the calendar. But their civilization fully developed them. Maya influence can be detected as far as central Mexico, more than 1000 km (625 miles) from the Maya area. Many outside influences are found in Maya art and architecture, which are thought to result from trade and cultural exchange rather than direct external conquest.
The Maya peoples never disappeared, neither at the time of the Classic period decline nor with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores and the subsequent Spanish colonization of the Americas. Today, the Maya and their descendants are a considerable part of the population throughout the Maya area and maintain a distinctive set of traditions and beliefs that are the result of the merger of pre-Columbian and post-Conquest ideologies (and structured by the almost total adoption of Roman Catholicism). Many different Mayan languages continue to be spoken as primary languages today; the Rabinal Achí, a play written in the Q'eqchi' language, was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2005.
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[change] Geographical position
The geographic extent of the Maya civilization, known as the Maya area, extended throughout the northern Central American region, including the present-day nations of Guatemala, Belize, western Honduras and El Salvador, as well as the southern Mexican states of Chiapas, Tabasco, and the Yucatán Peninsula states of Quintana Roo, Campeche and Yucatán.
As the largest sub-region in Mesoamerica, it includes a vast and varied landscape, from the mountainous regions of the Sierra Madre to the semi-arid plains of northern Yucatán. Climate in the Maya region can vary tremendously, as the low-lying areas are in danger of the hurricanes and tropical storms of the Caribbean.
The Maya area is generally divided into three loosely defined zones: the southern Maya highlands, the southern (or central) Maya lowlands, and the northern Maya lowlands.
[change] History
[change] The pre-classical period
The area where the Maya civilisation developed was inhabited from around the 10th millennium BC. The first Maya settlements occurred about 1800 BC, in the Soconusco region. This is in the modern-day state of Chiapas in Mexico, on the Pacific Ocean. Today, this is referred to as the Early Preclassic period.[1] At the time, humans began to settle down permanently. They started to grow livestock. Pottery and small clay figures were made.[2] They constructed simple burial mounds. Later they developed these mounds into step pyramids. There were other civilisations around, especially in the north. Examples are the Olmec, the Mixe-Zoque, and Zapotec civilisations. These people mostly lived in the area of the modern-day state Oaxaca. The exact borders of the Maya empire in the north are unclear. There were probably areas where Maya culture overlapped with other culures. Many of the earliest significant inscriptions and buildings appeared in this overlapping zone. These cultures and the Maya probably influenced one another.[3]
[change] The classical period
What is known as the classical period lasted from about 250 to about 900. During this time, many monuments were constructed. There are also many big inscriptions during that time. In it, the Maya moved to building large cities. This is known as urbanism. Many important intellectual and artistic developments happened in an area that is known as the southern lowlands.[4]
Like with the Ancient Greek their civilisation was made of many independent city-states. Intensive agriculture was done around these city states. Well-known cities were Tikal, Palenque, Copán and Calakmul. Lesser-known cities were Dos Pilas, Uaxactun, Altun Ha, and Bonampak, among others. In general, the city distribution in the south is better known than that in the north. Some known population centers in the north were Oxkintok, Chunchucmil, and the early occupation of Uxmal.
The most notable monuments are the pyramids they built in their religious centers and the palaces of their rulers. The palace at Cancuén is the largest in the Maya area. There are no pyramids in the area of the palace. Other important things the archaeologists found include the carved stone slabs usually called stelae (the Maya called them tetun, or "tree-stones"). These slabs show rulers along with hieroglyphic texts describing their genealogy, military victories, and other accomplishments.[5]
[change] Trade with other civilizations
The Maya also had trade routes that ran over long disances. They traded with many of the other Mesoamerican cultures, such as Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, and other groups in central and gulf-coast Mexico. They also traded with non-Mesoamerican groups, that were farther away. For example, archaeologists found gold from Panama in the Sacred Cenote of Chichen Itza.[6]
Important trade goods were cacao, salt, sea shells, jade and obsidian.
[change] Sudden collapse
In the 8th and 9th century, the cities in the southern lowlands had problems, and declined. At the same time, the Maya stopped making big monuments and inscriptions.[7] Shortly afterwards, these cities were abandoned. Currently, archaeologists are not sure why this happened. There are different theories. Either ecological factors played a role in this, or the cause of this abandonment was not related to the environment.
[change] Post-classical period and decline
In the north, development went on, form the 10th to about the 16th century. The influences from the outside left more traces in the Maya culture at that time. Some of the important sites in this era were Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Edzná, and Coba. At some point, the ruling dynasties of Chichen and Uxmal declined. Afterwards, Mayapan ruled all of Yucatán until a revolt in 1450.[8] The area then degenerated into competing city-states until the Yucatán was conquered by the Spanish.
The Itza Maya, Ko'woj, and Yalain groups of Central Peten survived the "Classic Period Collapse" in small numbers. By 1250, they started to form competing city-states. The Itza maintained their capital at Tayasal (also known as Noh Petén). The remains of this city are thought to be below the modern city of Flores, Guatemala on Lake Petén Itzá. Tayasal ruled over an area extending across the Peten Lakes region, encompassing the community of Eckixil on Lake Quexil. The Ko'woj had their capital at Zacpeten. Postclassic Maya states also continued to survive in the southern highlands. One of the Maya kingdoms in this area, the Quiché, is responsible for the best-known Maya work of historiography and mythology, the Popol Vuh.
The Spanish started to conquer Maya lands. This took them much longer than with the Inca or Aztecs, because there was no capital city. This meant that when they had conquered one city, this had little influence on the whole empire. The last Maya states, the Itza city of Tayasal and the Ko'woj city of Zacpeten, were continuously occupied. They remained independent of the Spanish until late in the 17th century. They were finally subdued in 1697.
The Maya people did not disappear though. There are still about 6 million of them. Some are well-integrated, others continue speak one of the Maya languages and uphold their cultural heritage.
[change] References
- ↑ See, for example, Drew (2004), p.6.
- ↑ Coe, page 47
- ↑ Coe, pages 63-64
- ↑ Coe, page 81
- ↑ Maya Art Return. Retrieved on 25 December 2006.
- ↑ See Coggins (1992).
- ↑ Coe, pages 151-155
- ↑ This city's name is perhaps the source of the word "Maya", which had a more geographically restricted meaning in Yucatec and colonial Spanish. It only grew to its current meaning in the 19th and 20th centuries.
- <cite class="book" style="font-style:normal" id="Reference-Coe-2002">Coe, Michael D. (2002). The Maya, 6th edition, Thames & Hudson.
- Coggins, Clemency (Ed.) (1992). Artifacts from the Cenote of Sacrifice Chichen Itza, Yucatan: Textiles, Basketry, Stone, Shell, Ceramics, Wood, Copal, Rubber (Memoirs of the Peabody Museum). Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-873-65694-6.
- Drew, David (2004). The Lost Chronicles of the Maya Kings, New edition, London: Phoenix Press. ISBN 0-753-80989-3.
[change] Other websites
- Web page of the Maya Blue Pigment
- Mayan Tools, Weapons & Artifacts
- Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya at the National Gallery of Art
- Learn more about Maya hieroglyphs and Maya numbering from the National Gallery of Art
- Mayan Architecture
- Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies
- Mayaweb (Dutch and English)
- Maya articles by Genry Joil.
- Mesoweb by Joel Skidmore.
- The Daily Glyph by Dave Pentecost.
- Junglecasts - podcasts by Ed Barnhart, Nicco Mele, Dave Pentecost
- Ancient Civilizations - Mayan Research site for kids
- Guatemala, Cradle of the Maya Civilization
- Mayacaves.org A mesoamerican cave archaeology community forum, field notes, and report site. The site is run by the Vanderbilt Upper Pasion Archaeological Cave Survey and is intended to be a resource for students and researchers in Guatemala and working in caves in Mesoamerica.
- The Maya Explorer Interactive calendar, number system converter.
