Essay on Maya
Maya
The ancient Maya were a group of American Indian peoples who lived in southern
Mexico, particularly the present day states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan,
and Quintana Roo, and in Belize, Guatemala, and adjacent Honduras. Their
descendants, the modern Maya, live in the same regions today, in both highlands and
lowlands, from cool highland plains ringed by volcanos to deep tropical rain forests.
Through the region runs a single major river system, the Apasion Usumacinta and its
many tributaries, and only a handful of lesser rivers, the Motagua, Hondo, and Belize
among them. The ancestors of the Maya, like those of other New World peoples,
crossed the BERING LAND BRIDGE from Asia more than 20,000 years ago, during
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In 1960, Tatiana Proskouriakoff showed that the patterns of dates were markers of
the important events in rulers lives. The chronological record turned out to serve
history and the perpetuation of the memory of great nobles. Subsequently, major
archaeological discoveries, particularly at PALENQUE and TIKAL, confirmed much
of what the writings said, and examination of Maya art has revealed not only
historical portraiture but also a pantheon of gods, goddesses, and heroes in other
words, Maya religion and mythic history.
HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT MAYA
By 5000 BC, the Maya had settled along Caribbean and Pacific coasts, forming
egalitarian fishing communities. Certainly by 2000 BC the Maya had also moved
inland and adopted agriculture for their subsistence. Maize and beans formed the
Maya diet then as today, although many other foodstuffs squash, tomatoes, peppers,
fruits, and game were supplements. The word for maize wa is synonymous with
food itself, and the maize god was honored from early times.
Preclassic Period
During the Early Preclassic (2000 900 BC), civilization began to take shape in
parts of MESOAMERICA. By 1200 BC, the OLMEC of the Gulf Coast had risen to
preeminence, dominating trade routes that extended from the modern Mexican state
of Guerrero to Costa Rica, passing through Maya regions. At COPAN, Honduras,
and Cuello, Belize, around 1000 BC, local Maya leaders began to imitate Olmec
styles of pottery and jades and