Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Journalist John Noble Wilford notes that evidence for marketplace activity demonstrates an advanced economic structure. Archeologist Richard Terry used a method of chemical analysis to compare the soil of the ruins of Chunchucmil, an ancient Maya city, to that of a modern, unpaved market in Antigua, Guatemala, revealing that it was likely once a vibrant market. [5]
The Maya civilization (/ ˈ m aɪ ə /) was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas .
The Maya relied on a strong middle class of skilled and semi-skilled workers and artisans which produced both commodities and specialized goods. [1] Governing this middle class was a smaller class of specially educated merchant governors who would direct regional economies based upon simple supply and demand analysis, and place mass orders for other regions.
The Maya civilization also played an important role in the Mesoamerican economy, with markets in a growing number of Mayan cities. Cities of the Altiplano had markets in permanent squares, which were attended by officials to resolve disputes, enforce standards, and collect taxes. [ 2 ]
Classic Mayan material culture may provide possible indicators of social stratification within Classic Mayan society. Aspects of housing structure remain, such as the type of building material used during construction and the absence or presence of decoration on the outside of the structure, may indicate the occupant's social standing. [2]
Maya stele in Copán.. The Mesoamerican Classic Period can be established from around 200 to 900 A. D. However, the chronology varies in each cultural area. The precursors to this period are found in the late Preclassic Period, at around 400 B. C, when an increase in efficiency of agriculture technology led to demographic growth, a greater division of labor and specialization, and the growth ...
Maritime trade goods of the Maya. The extensive trade networks of the Ancient Maya contributed largely to the success of their civilization spanning three millennia. Maya royal control and the wide distribution of foreign and domestic commodities for both population sustenance and social affluence are hallmarks of the Maya visible throughout much of the iconography found in the archaeological ...
The social basis of the Classic Maya civilization was an extended political and economic network that reached throughout the Maya area and beyond into the greater Mesoamerican region. [54] The dominant Classic period polities were located in the central lowlands; during this period the southern highlands and northern lowlands can be considered ...