11,000 The first hunter-gatherers settle in the Maya highlands and lowlands.ģ114 or 3113 The creation of the world takes place, according to the Maya Long Count calendar.Ģ000 The rise of the Olmec civilization, from which many aspects of Maya culture are derived. Evolution of Maya Cultureīelize Maya Artifact found at Ambergris Caye Because of the soft porous limestone bedrock the primary sources of water are found in cenotes (sinkholes) where collapsed bedrock has exposed underground streams and this is where settlements in the north thrived. The northern lowlands are a flat almost featureless expanse of the Yucatán Peninsula broken only by the Puuc hills in a semi arid area of low scrub forests with no surface streams or rivers. This subregion has dense tropical forests, rolling terrain and several navigable rivers. The central lowlands extended from the Mexican state of Tabasco across southern Campeche and eastern Chiapas, into the Peten in Guatemala and across Belize. Many of these resources were controlled by such cities such as Chalchuapa, Kaminaljuyu, Iximche and Utatlan. The Highlands also provided the Maya with jade, quetzal bird feathers, granite and hematite. Local resources like obsidian were exported from this area and used for producing knives, weapons, and sacrificial blades. The volcanic mountain ranges of the Southern Highlands rise up to 14,000 feet and extend from southwestern Chiapas in Mexico to Nicaragua. This area can be divided into three sub regions: Southern Highlands, central lowlands, and northern lowlands. Maya Civilization In MezoamericaĪncient Maya culture flourished from around 2000 BC across the southeastern corner of Mesoamerica. In fact there was a substantial Maya presence in what is now Belize at the time of contact, and during most of the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish exercised jurisdiction over those Maya communities. They did not have a single centralised political authority, and this in fact helped them to continue armed resistance until the end of the 19th century.Īlmost all texts on Belizean history have tended to deny or downplay the existence or extent of both the Maya and Spanish presence in Belize before the British came and in subsequent years. The Maya civilization itself consisted of various distinct groups who inhabited a vast territory. The Maya influenced and were influenced by other indigenous peoples, especially those up to the north, up to central Mexico. Before the Spanish came there were various indigenous societies and civilizations with distinct sociopolitical systems, and many of them shared common features and had contact with each other through trade and war there was a lively exchange of knowledge as well as goods between them. At that time there was no Belize, no Guatemala, no Mexico. when the Spaniards came into contact with the indigenous people in the early 16th century) and for a century and a half later, we must first liberate our minds from the artificial frontiers that were later created, and from the partial histories that have so far been available to us. Some centers are abandoned and written records stop.For us to appreciate the extent and the significance of the Maya and Spanish contact period (i.e. Important sites: Copán, Palenque, Tikal, Calakmul, Caracol, Dos Pilas, Uxmal, Coba, Dzibilchaltun, Kabah, Labna, Sayil.Paramount kings and polities rule from Tikal, Calakmul, Caracol, and Dos Pilos Urban populations peak at about 100 people per square kilometer. The first dynastic kingdoms arise amid changing political alliances large palaces and mortuary pyramids are constructed, and a sharp intensification of agriculture. Widespread literacy is in evidence, including calendars and lists of royal lineages at Copán and Tikal. Important sites: El Mirador, Nakbe, Cerros, Komchen, Tikal, Kaminaljuyu The first massive palaces are built at urban Nakbe and El Mirador, first writing, built road systems and water control, organized trade, and widespread warfare Important sites: Nakbe, Chalchuapa, Kaminaljuyu Hunting and gathering lifestyle prevails.įirst beans and maize agriculture, and people live in isolated farmsteads and hamletsįirst monumental architecture, first villages people switch to full-time agriculture there is evidence for contacts with the Olmec culture, and, at Nakbe, the first evidence of social ranking, beginning about 600–400 BCE
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