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Map of the Maya region showing locations of some of the principal cities. Click to enlarge. Until the 1960s, scholarly opinion was that the ruins of Maya centres were not true cities but were rather empty ceremonial centres where the priesthood performed religious rituals for the peasant farmers, who lived dispersed in the middle of the jungle. [11]
More than 80 different theories or variations of theories attempting to explain the Classic Maya collapse have been identified. [10] From climate change to deforestation to lack of action by Maya kings, there is no universally accepted collapse theory, although drought has gained momentum in the first quarter of the 21st century as the leading explanation, as more scientific studies are conducted.
In the 9th century, there was a widespread political collapse in the central Maya region, resulting in civil wars, the abandonment of cities, and a northward shift of population. The Postclassic period saw the rise of Chichen Itza in the north, and the expansion of the aggressive Kʼicheʼ kingdom in the Guatemalan Highlands
Relatively rapid collapse affected portions of the southern Maya area that included the southern Yucatán Peninsula, northern Chiapas and Guatemala, and the area around Copán in Honduras. The largest cities had populations numbering 50,000 to 120,000 and were linked to networks of subsidiary sites.
The ancient metropolis was the capital of the Maya’s K’anwitznal kingdom, and during Ucanal’s peak, from roughly 630 to 1000, city settlements covered about 10 square miles (26 square ...
Bonampak was a Maya state of the Classic Period in the Usumacinta basin, a complex political region where the city faced wars against other major Maya powers like Yaxchilán. The fame of Bonampak comes from the Temple of the Murals which hosts a complete room painted with unique mural paintings showing scenes of ceremony, war and human sacrifice.
Calakmul's Stela 88 stands upon the stairway of Structure 13. Calakmul is a modern name; according to Cyrus L. Lundell, who named the site, in Maya, ca means "two", lak means "adjacent", and mul signifies any artificial mound or pyramid, so Calakmul is the "City of the Two Adjacent Pyramids". [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 ...