Easter Island travelogue
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Maya (mä¹ye), related tribes of Central America occupying the Yucatán and E Chiapas in Mexico, much of Guatemala and Belize, and W Honduras, and speaking Mayan languages. They may derive from the Olmec, or they may have originated c.1000 B.C. among nomadic tribes in N central Petén, Guatemala, where there are evidences of a once-flourishing agricultural people. Among indigenous American cultures the Maya emerge as undisputed masters of abstract knowledge, with a system of hieroglyphic writing that they used to record political and dynastic history. Their system of mathematics was an achievement not equaled for centuries in Europe. The 365-day Mayan year was so divided as to be more accurate than that of the Gregorian Calendar. Sculpture, used in architecture, reached a beauty and dignity unequaled in aboriginal America. Most of the population, estimated at 14 million in the 8th cent., lived in suburban agricultural communities. Mayan history is divided into three periods. From early in the Pre-Classic period (1500 B.C.?-A.D. 300), corn was cultivated. Late in that period the calendar, chronology, and hieroglyphic writing developed. In the Early Classic (300-600), Mayan culture spread throughout the area. The greatest Mayan accomplishments in art and science occurred in the Late Classic (600-900) at such centers as Copán, Honduras; Palenque, in Chiapas; and Uxmal, in the Yucatán, all abandoned in the following century. At the beginning of the Post-Classic period (900-1697) an invasion by Kukulcán, who conquered Chichén Itzá, brought Toltec elements into Mayan culture. The Toltec took Chichén Itzá, but were absorbed c.1200 by the Maya. In 1283 Mayapán became the civil capital. The century preceding the Spanish conquest (1546) was dominated by civil wars and a series of calamities. Today some 4 million Maya retain many elements of their culture combined with that of the conquistadors. Numerous Mayan-derived dialects are spoken, and agriculture and religious practices owe much to Mayan tradition.
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