Maya civilization

The Maya are a people of southern Mexico and northern Central America with some 3,000 years of rich history. The Maya were part of the Mesoamerican Pre-Columbian cultures. Contrary to popular myth, the Maya people never "disappeared"; millions still live in the region, many of them still speak one of the Maya family of languages. This article will mostly concern itself with their civilization before the conquest by Spain.

Table of contents

1 Origins
2 Art
3 Architecture

3.1 Urban Design
3.2 Building Materials
3.3 Building Process
3.4 Notable Constructions

3.4.1 Ceremonial Platforms
3.4.2 Palaces
3.4.3 E-groups
3.4.4 Pyramids and Temples
3.4.5 Ball Courts

4 Writing system
5 Mathematics
6 Decline of the Maya
7 List of Maya Sites

7.5 Most important sites
7.6 Other important Maya sites

Origins

Archaelogical evidence shows the Maya started to build ceremonial architecture some 3000 years ago. There is some disagreement as to the borders and difference between the early Maya and their neighboring Pre-Classic Mesoamerican civilization, the Olmec culture. The Olmec and early Maya seem to have influenced each other.

The earliest monuments consist of simple burial mounds, the precursors to pyramids erected in later times.

Eventually, the Olmec culture faded after spreading their influence into the Yucatan peninsula, present-day Guatemala, and other regions.

The Maya developed the famed cities of Tikal, Palenque, Cop�n and Kalakmul, as well as Dos Pilas, Uaxactun, Altun Ha, and many other sites in the area. They developed an agriculturally intensive, city-centered empire consisting of numerous independent city-states. The most notable monuments are the pyramids they built in their religious centers and the accompanying palaces of their rulers. Other important archaeological remains include the carved stone slabs usually called stelae (the Maya called them Tetun, or "Tree-stones"), which depict ruler along with heiroglyphic texts describing their genealogy, war victories, and other accomplishments.

The Maya participated in long distance trade in Mesoamerica and possibly further lands. Important trade goods included cacao, salt, and obsidian; see also: Obsidian use in Mesoamerica.

Art

Many consider Maya art of their Classic Era (c. 200 to 900 a.d.) to be the most sophisticated and beautiful of the ancient New World. The carvings and stucco reliefs at Palenque and the statuary of Copan are especially fine, showing a grace and accurate observation of the human form that reminded early archaeologists of Classical civilization of the Old World, hence the name bestowed on this era. We have only hints of the advanced painting of the classic Maya, mostly what has survived are funerary pottery and other Maya ceramics. Also a building at Bonampak holds ancient murals that survived by fortunate accident. With the decipherment of the Maya script it was discovered that the Maya were one of the few civilizations where artists attached their name to their work.

Architecture

As unique and spectacular as any Greek or Roman architecture, Maya architecture spans a great many thousands of years; yet, often the most dramatic and easily recognizable as Maya are the fantastic stepped pyramids from the Terminal Pre-classic period and beyond. During this "height" of Maya culture, the centers of their religious, commercial and bureaucratic power grew to become the incredible cities such as: Chichen Itza, Tikal, and Uxmal. And, through its many commonalties as well as decided stylistic differences, remnants of Maya architecture are an important key to understanding the evolution of their ancient civilization.

Urban Design

As Maya cities spread throughout the varied geography of Mesoamerica, the extent of site planning appears to be minimal; their cities being built somewhat haphazardly as dictated by the topography of each independent location, Mayan architecture tends to integrate a great degree of natural features. For instance, some cities existing on the flat limestone plains of the northern Yucatan grew into great sprawling municipalities, while others built in the hills of Usumacinta utilized the natural loft of the topography to raise their towers and temples to impressive heights. However, some semblance of order, as required by any large city, still prevailed. At the onset of large-scale construction, typically a predetermined axis was established in congruence with the cardinal directions and, depending upon the location and availability of natural resources such as fresh-water wells, or cenotes, the city grew by connecting great plazas with the numerous platforms that created the sub-structure for nearly all Maya buildings, by means of sacbeob causeways. At the heart of the Maya city existed the large plazas surrounded by their most valued governmental and religious buildings such as the royal acropolis, great pyramid temples and occasionally ball-courts. Immediately outside of this ritual center were the structures of lesser nobles, smaller temples, and individual shrines ... essentially, the less sacred and important, the greater the degree of privacy. As more structures were added and existing structures re-built or remodeled, the great Maya cities seemed to take on an almost random identity that contrasts sharply with other great Mesoamerican cities such as Teotihuacan and its rigid grid-like construction. Yet, though the entire layout continued as nature dictated, careful attention was placed on the directional orientation of temples and observatories so that they were constructed in accordance with Maya interpretation of the orbits of the stars. Outside of the constantly evolving urban core, the less permanent and more modest homes of the common people existed.

Classic Era Maya urban design could easily be described as the division of space by great monuments and causeways. In this case, the open public plazas were the gathering places for the people and the focus of the urban design, while interior space was entirely secondary. Only in the Late Post-Classic era did the great Maya cities develop into more fortress-like defensive structures that lacked, for the most part, the large and numerous plazas of the Classic.

Building Materials

A surprising aspect of the great Maya structures is their lack of many advanced technologies that would seem to be necessary for such constructions. Lacking metal tools, pulleys and perhaps even the wheel, Maya architecture required one thing in abundance: manpower. Yet, beyond this enormous requirement, the remaining materials seem to have been readily available. All stone for Maya structures appears to have been taken from local quarries; most often this was limestone which, while being quarried remained pliable enough to be worked with stone tools ... only hardening once removed from its bed. In addition to the structural use of limestone, much of their mortar utilized crushed, burnt, and mixed limestone that closely mimicked the properties of cement and was used just as widely for stucco finishing as it was for mortar; however, later improvements in quarrying techniques reduced the necessity for this limestone-stucco as their stones began to fit quite perfectly, yet it remained a crucial element in some post and lintel roofs. In the case of the common homes, wooden poles, adobe, and thatch were the primary materials utilized; however, instances of what appear to be common houses of limestone have been discovered as well. It should be noted that one instance, in the city of Comalcalco, fired-clay bricks have been found as a substitute for a lack of any substantial stone deposits.

Building Process

All evidence seems to suggest that most stone buildings existed on top of a platform sub-structure that varied in height from less than a meter, in the case of terraces and smaller structures, to 45 meters in the case of great temples and pyramids. A flight of often steep stone steps split the large stepped platforms on at least one side, contributing to the common bi-symmetrical appearance of Maya architecture. Depending on the prevalent stylistic tendencies of an area, these platforms most often were built of a cut and stucco stone exterior filled with densely packed gravel. As is the case with many other Mayan relief, those on the platforms often were related to the intended purpose of the residing structure. Thus, as the sub-structural platforms were completed, the grand residences and temples of the Maya were constructed on the solid foundations of the platforms. As all structures were built, little attention seems to have been given to their utilitarian functionality and much to their external aesthetics; however, a certain repeated aspect, the corbeled arch, was often utilized to mimic the appearance and feel of the simple Maya hut. Though not an effective tool to increase interior space, as it required thick stone walls to support the high ceiling, some temples utilized repeated arches, or a corbeled vault, to construct what the Maya referred to as pibnal, or sweatbath, such as those in the Temple of the Cross at Palenque. As structures were completed, typically extensive relief work was added ... often simply to the covering of stucco used to smooth any imperfections; however, many lintel carvings have been discovered, as well as actual stone carvings used as a facade. Commonly, these would continue uninterrupted around an entire structure and contain a variety of artwork pertaining to the inhabitants or purpose of a building. Though not the case in all Maya locations, broad use of painted stucco has been discovered as well.

It has been suggested that, in conjunction to the Mayan Long Count Calendar, every fifty-two years, or cycle, temples and pyramids were remodeled and rebuilt. It appears now that the rebuilding process was often instigated by a new ruler or for political matters, as opposed to matching the calendar cycle. However, the process of rebuilding on top of old structures is indeed a common one. Most notably, the North Acropolis at Tikal seems to be the sum total of 1,500 years of architectural modifications.

Notable Constructions

Often the most important religious temples sat atop the towering Maya pyramids, as assumedly the closest place to the heavens. While recent discoveries point toward the extensive use of pyramids as tombs, the temples themselves seem to rarely, if ever, contain burials. The lack of a burial chamber, however, allows those sacred Mayas access to, at most, three cramped rooms to use for various ritual purposes. Residing atop the pyramids, some of over two-hundred feet, such as that at El Mirador, the temples were impressive and decorated structures themselves. Commonly topped with a roof comb, or superficial grandiose wall, these temples might have served as a type of propaganda. As occasionally the only structure to exceed the height of the jungle, the roof combs atop the temples were often carved with representations of rulers that could be seen from vast distances. Beneath the proud temples sat the pyramids that were, ultimately, a series of platforms split by steep stairs that would allow access to the temple.

Ball Courts

Great Ball-court at Chichen Itza

As an integral aspect of the Mesoamerican lifestyle, their ritual ball-game and its courts were constructed throughout the Maya realm and often on a grand scale. Enclosed on two sides by stepped ramps that lead to ceremonial platforms or small temples, the ball court itself was of a capital I shape and could be found in all but the smallest of Mayan cities.

Writing system

The Maya writing system (often called hieroglyphics from a vague superficial resemblance to the Ancient Egyptian writing, to which it is not related) was a combination of phonetic symbols and ideograms. It is the only writing system of the Pre-Columbian New World that can completely represent spoken language to the same degree as the written language of the old world. The decipherment of the Maya writings has been a long laborous process. Bits of it were first deciphered in the late 19th and early 20th century (mostly the parts having to do with numbers, the calendar, and astronomy), but major breakthroughs came starting in the 1960s and 1970s and accelerated rapidly thereafter, so that now the majority of Maya texts can be read nearly completely in their original languages. Unfortunately zealous Spanish priests shortly after the conquest ordered the burning of all the Maya books. While many stone inscriptions survive (mostly from cities already abandoned when the Spanish arrived), only 3 books and a few pages of a fourth survive from the ancient libraries. Rectangular lumps of plaster and paint chips are a frequent discovery in Maya archaeology; they are the tantalzing remains of what had been books after all the organic material has decayed.

In reference to the few extant Maya writings, Michael Coe, a prominent archeologist at Yale University stated:

"[O]ur knowledge of ancient Maya thought must represent only a tiny fraction of the whole picture, for of the thousands of books in which the full extent of their learning and ritual was recorded, only four have survived to modern times (as though all that posterity knew of ourselves were to be based upon three prayer books and Pilgrim's Progress)." (Michael D. Coe, The Maya, London: Thames and Hudson, 4th ed., 1987, p. 161.)

Mathematics

The Maya (or their Olmec predesessors) independently developed the concept of zero (indeed, they seem to have been using the concept centuries before the Old World), and used a base 20 numbering system (see Maya numerals). Inscriptions show them on occasion working with sums up to the hundreds of millions. They produced extremely accurate astronomical observations; their charts of the movements of the moon and planets are equal or superior to any other civilization working from naked eye observation. The Maya calculation of the length of the solar year was somewhat superior to the Gregorian Calendar.

Decline of the Maya

In the 8th and 9th centuries AD Classic Maya culture went into decline, with most of the cities of the central lowlands abandoned. Warfare, ecological depletion of croplands, and drought or some combination of those factors are usually suggested as reasons for the decline. There is archaeological evidence of warfare, famine, and revolt against the elite at various central lowlands sites.

The Maya cities of the northern lowlands in Yucatan continued to flourish for centuries more; some of the important sites in this era were Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Etzna, and Coba. After the decline of the ruling dynasties of Chichen and Uxmal, Mayapan ruled all of Yucatan until a revolt in 1450; the area then devolved to city states until the Spanish Conquest.

Post-Classic Maya states also continued to thrive in the southern highlands. One of the Maya kingdoms in this area, the Quich�, is responsible for the best-known Mayan work of historiography and mythology, the Popol Vuh.

The Spanish started their conquest of the Maya lands in the 1520s. Some Maya states offered long fierce resistance; the last Maya city state was not subdued by Spanish authorities until 1697.

The Spanish American Colonies were largely cut off from the outside world, and the ruins of the great ancient cities were little known except to locals. In 1839 however, American traveller, John Lloyd Stephens, hearing reports of lost ruins in the jungle, visited Copan, Palenque, and other sites with English architect & draftsman Frederick Catherwood. Their illustrated accounts of the ruins sparked strong interest in the region and the people, and they have once again regained their position as a vital link in Mesoamerican heritage.

Much of the contemporary rural population of Guatemala and Belize is Maya by descent and primary language; a Maya culture still exists in rural Mexico.