Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
As the Maya civilization developed, the ruling elite codified the Maya world view into religious cults that justified their right to rule. [339] In the Late Preclassic, [ 343 ] this process culminated in the institution of the divine king, the kʼuhul ajaw, endowed with ultimate political and religious power.
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 ...
The Mayans would peak as a civilization between 250 - 900 AD. This included complex cities, social life, and politics. Mayan civilization began to decline after this time period, and remaining Mayans would revert to more of a hunter-gatherer society. These remaining tribes would eventually be conquered by Europeans in the 1500s. [citation needed]
Maya polities engaged in violent warfare for political control of people and resources. Some scholars have suggested that the capture of sacrificial victims was a driving force behind warfare. [1] Among the most critical resources were water and agricultural land.
Archaeologists discovered ancient Maya structures hidden in the Mexican jungle, revealing insights into a civilization dating back to 200 AD.
Ancient Mayan social classes included a complex relationship between elites, including kings and merchants, and commoners. [1] The highest ancient Mayan social class included a single centralized leader known as the king or Kʼuhul ajaw , who was most often a man but occasionally a woman. [ 1 ]
Researchers studying sediment in Belize's Blue Hole have found that the weather may actually have been what caused the collapse of the Mayan civilization. Theories as to why a civilization as ...
A new analysis of ancient DNA from the ancient Maya city ... whose remains the team studied were interred there between AD 800 and 1,000 — during the height of Chichén Itzá’s political power ...