The Mayan civilization is divided into three time periods which engulfed 3,000 years. The first is the Pre-Classic Period spanning from 2000 B.C.-250 A.D. The second is the Classic Period which spanned from 250 A.D.-900 A.D. The third is the Post-Classic Period which spanned from 900 A.D.-1500 A.D. The Maya lived in the eastern one third of Mesoamerica, mainly on the Yucatan Peninsula. They are a group of related Native American tribes who have the same linguistic organization.

The best known group of Maya are the Maya Proper. The Maya Proper generally occupied the Yucatan. There are other groups of Maya such as the Huastec, who occupied northern Veracruz; the Tzental who occupied Tabasco and Chiapas and the Quiche; and the Cakchiquel and the Pokomam who occupied the Highlands of Guatemala. With the exception of the Huastec, all of these Mayan groups occupied a continuous landscape and they were all part of the Mayan culture. This culture was the greatest civilization among the original cultures of the New World (western hemisphere). Even though the Mayans had common organization, they were not unified under one empire. As suggested above, there were many separate groups with similar cultural backgrounds. The Mayans had common artistic and religious components, but politically they were independent Mayan states.

Agriculture was the main basis of the Mayan economy in the pre-Colombian era. Maize was the primary crop of the Maya. Cotton, beans, squash and cacao were also grown. They had many techniques of spinning, dyeing and weaving cotton. The Mayan culture also domesticated the dog and the turkey, but had no larger animals or machines with wheels.

The Maya had a sophisticated system of writing. It was developed in order to record their transition of power through the generations. This writing was composed of inscriptions on stone and wood, and was usually used on the inside or outside of their architecture. The books they made were called folding tree books. These books were made from fig tree bark and usually placed in the royal tombs. Few of these books have survived due in part to the tropical climate of the region. Also, few of these books have survived due to the Spanish Invasion. Cortez and others claimed their symbolic writing system was the devil's work. Four of these books (codices) survive today. They are as follows: The Dresden Codex, The Madrid Codex, The Paris Codex, and the Grolier Codex.

The art of the Maya reflected their lifestyle and culture. Their art was composed of delineation and painting upon paper, building plaster, wood, stone, clay, stucco molds and terra cotta figurines. The advanced process of working with metal was also developed by the Maya, but was of scarce usage. Much of Mayan art consisted of inscriptions and architecture, ordered by the kings who wanted to have it done of themselves. They did this to ensure their place in Mayan history. They also produced fine pottery, which was comparable only to the pottery of Peru. Art was encouraged by men and women of power who strove to create the history of the Mayan people. These art works justified their society and their interactions with surrounding groups.

Cacao beans, copper bells and many other things were used as units of exchange. Copper was not only used for exchange, but for ornamentation as well. Other things, such as gold, silver, jade, shell and colorful plumage were also used as ornaments. The use and making of metal tools was relatively unknown.

The reason for the downfall of the Maya is unknown. However there are several possible reasons for their downfall including soil exhaustion, water loss and erosion, and the competition between agriculture and the surrounding Savanna. Other possibilities include catastrophes such as earthquakes and hurricanes, disease, abundant amounts of high social structure and invasions by other surrounding people and cultures.

The collapse of the Maya has many explanations ranging from the hypotheses stated above, to single catastrophic events. However, even with all these possibilities, no one really knows what happened to them. The collapse of the Maya remains one of the most intriguing events in human history.

References

http://www.indians.org/welker/maya.htm
http://pacific.st.usm.edu/~tgparker/maya.html
http://udgftp.cencar.udg.mx/ingles/Precolombia/Maya/temp19.html.
http://udgftp.cencar.udg.mx/ingles/Precolombina/Maya/mayasintro.html
Encarta Encyclopedia 1996, "Maya", by Microsoft
Maya Ruins in Central America in Color, by William M. Ferguson and John Q. Royce, 1986.
Late Lowland Maya Civilization, School of American Research Advanced Seminar Series, Edited by Jeremy A Sabloff and E. Wyllys Andrews V, 1986.
The Classic Maya Collapse, edited by T. Patrick Culbert, 1973.

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