The Ancient Maya were a civilization that occupied areas of southern Mesoamerica from approximately 1800 BCE to 900 CE. The area occupied by the Ancient Maya included, but was not limited to, the modern-day Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and parts of southern Mexico. These areas were rich in natural resources such as obsidian, jade, limestone quarries, rivers, and lagoons. Ancient Maya research divides Maya time period into the Preclassic (1800 BCE – 300 CE), Classic (300 CE – 900 CE), and Postclassic (900 CE – 1500 CE) periods with additional subsets within each period.
The Preclassic period displayed rural farming communities that developed technologically advanced housing and led to the introduction of ceramics to the area. Towards the end of the Preclassic period, the Maya began to develop trade systems, stylized art, and development of larger centralized communities. Maya farming and subsistence was technologically advanced and used a plethora of environmental resources and adaptations such as terraced hillslopes, gardens, and acquisition of marine and terrestrial animals. This eventually led to the thriving Maya culture of the Classic period which spooled the growth of urbanized areas that were subsidized by rural farmers in surrounding areas.
As with the increase in development and population of most civilizations, the Maya during the Classic period developed hierarchical social structures and spatial development that most likely emulated their social structures. Maya civilization developed large cities that were very spaced out in the plazuela style which were surrounded by rural populations. The plazuela consists of a plaza style space with buildings surrounding it and defined most of the spatial layout of Maya urban areas (Figure 1). Current archaeological research seeks to interpret the possible relationships between the Ancient Maya urban centers and the rural farming communities. The Maya also developed their own written language in the form of iconography (Figure 2) as well as an advanced calendar, mathematics, and astronomy. Trade had advanced during the Classic period, which most likely contributed to the hierarchical social structure as indicated by the outward display of elite goods. There was additional development of Maya magico-religious culture as indicated by images of their gods, bloodletting, the ball game, and various other rituals. Ritual burial of the dead in the floors of their homes during this time also contributed to the development of magico-religious culture and social hierarchy ideologies.
Figure 1: Plazuela Style Architecture
Nearing the 8th century there was a decline of Maya populations in previously heavily populated urban areas. The cause of the decline of the Maya Classic period has been attributed to three potential causes: overuse of natural resources, warfare between city-states, or acute environmental disaster. The reason for the rapid decrease in the Maya population of urban centers and southern lowlands is not known, but the Maya culture continued to persist in more northern areas. Descendants of the Maya as well as their language endured into the modern age. The Maya language evolved and expanded over time, but linguistic analysis was able to utilize one form of the contemporary Maya language in order to decipher the Ancient Maya iconography. Deciphering Ancient Maya iconography was integral to learning as much as we now know about the Ancient Maya.
Figure 2: Ancient Maya Iconography
All information and figures in this report came from:
McKillop, Heather
2004 The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives. Abc-clio.
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