Ancient Maya

Date: 1000 b.c.e.-900 c.e.

Locale: Guatemala, Belize, Yucatán peninsula of Mexico, western Honduras, El Salvador

History

Although evidence indicates that people lived in Central America after the retreat of the Pleistocene glaciers, the first traces of Maya culture date from about 1000 b.c.e. during the Middle Preclassic period (1000-300 b.c.e.) with the introduction of pottery. The earliest Maya were farmers living in small villages, as evidenced by an oval house platform with post molds at Cuello and ceramics from Cuello, Santa Rita Corozal, Colha, and other sites in Belize.

The Late Preclassic period (300 b.c.e.-300 c.e.) marked the rise of cultural complexity as seen in temples with stuccoed and painted facades, built by the common Maya folk at the instructions of the emerging Maya rulers. The site of Cerros, Belize, emerged as an important Late Preclassic community, with a core consisting of temples and other elite buildings and a larger area of dispersed small households beyond. The Late Preclassic also is noted for the development of long-distance trade for elite items, such as jade and obsidian, that were commissioned by the ruling elite, used during their lifetimes, and often buried with them or as offerings and dedications to building construction or termination rituals. Stucco masks on temple facades are similar to developments at the same time at other Maya communities, notably Tikal, Uaxactun, and Dzibilchaltún, and point to long-distance communication among emerging elites that may actually have fostered the development of the Classic civilization.

The Classic period (300-900 c.e.) is defined as the time when the Maya erected stelae, carved monuments with dates, in the Maya long count. The earliest dated stela is 292 c.e. at Tikal, and the last dated stela is 889 c.e. at Caracol. The stelae are stone slabs, each with a depiction of an important Maya person, often a ruler, on one side and hieroglyphic writing and dates on the other side. The stelae were erected in front of temples and palaces in the central areas of Classic period cities for public viewing and recounted significant events in a ruler’s life, notably, birth, marriage, accession to the throne, battles won, and death.

The height of the Maya civilization was during the Late Classic period (600-900 c.e.), when building efforts, population, and artistic endeavors reached their peaks. The high population densities in cities increasingly taxed the Maya farmers, who provided labor to construct the Maya temples and palaces and food for the city folk.

The collapse of the Classic Maya civilization by 900 c.e. was precipitated by overpopulation and ecological disasters brought on by extensive clearing of the rainforest and overuse of the land for agriculture. Certainly, warfare between regions was endemic during the Late Classic period. Although a few cities, such as Lamanai in Belize, continued during the subsequent Postclassic period (900-1500 c.e.), the center of power moved to the northern Maya lowlands of the Yucatán peninsula, and the Maya living in the southern Maya lowlands returned to their rural farming way of life.

Architecture and city planning

The basic unit of Maya architecture was the plazuela (plaza group), consisting of several buildings around a central plaza. The plazuela was the basis for household architecture as well as that of the temples and palaces in the city cores. Consequently, the urban character of Maya cities was dispersed. The main plaza of a city consisted of a temple along one or two sides, with palaces or elite administrative buildings along the other two sides, with a ball court nearby. The temple consisted of a large, rubble-filled platform with a small room on top, and often a decorative architectural extension termed a “roof comb” that further elevated the temple.

Agriculture and animal husbandry

The Maya developed systems of agriculture to suit the varied environments and the increasing population. Although slash-and-burn agriculture was carried out, hill slopes were terraced, canals were dug in swamps to create drained field or raised field agriculture, and people had kitchen gardens and practiced tree cropping. Traces of agricultural activity, together with preserved plant food remains from Cerros, Colha, Cuello, Copán, Wild Cane Cay, and Frenchman’s Cay, reveal that the Maya ate corn and beans and tree crops such as native palms and forest fruits. With few domesticated animals—dog, muscovy duck, and stingless bee—the Maya relied on wild animals for meat, including fish at coastal sites and deer and peccary inland.

Calendars and chronology

The Maya had two calendar systems based on multiples of twenty that intersected every fifty-two years. The beginning of the Maya calendar corresponds to the year 3113 b.c.e. in the Christian calendar. Archaeologists develop chronologies of the Maya by reference to the dated stelae and also from study of the changing styles of pottery vessels from excavations. Generally, polychrome pottery is typical of the Classic period, whereas carved or incised decoration is typical of the Postclassic period.

Death and burial

The Maya had no separate cemeteries but instead buried people under the floors and in the construction fill of residences and temples. The royal Maya were interred in stone tombs in temples that had been the focus of their rituals and political lives. This tradition reflects the importance the Maya placed on ancestry and lineage membership. Pottery vessels, obsidian and chert artifacts, shell, carved bone, and various perishable items were placed as grave offerings, the number and level of craftsmanship reflecting the deceased’s social standing.

Government and law

The Classic Maya were ruled by the kings of royal Maya dynasties, whose word was law. The Maya rulers in each region were supported in part by subsistence farmers who owed labor and paid a food tax to them. The royal Maya family lived in the cities, along with craft specialists producing finely made goods for the royal Maya, artisans working on a variety of building, plastering, and craft works, and a few bureaucrats associated with the Maya royalty.

Medicine and health

Human skeletal studies indicate the Maya were relatively healthy, although some studies indicate the common Maya were shorter and had less access to imported foods such as seafood.

Navigation and transportation

Boat models recovered from Altun Ha, Moho Cay, and Orlando’s Jewfish, as well as incised depictions of canoes on bones from a burial in Temple 1 at Tikal, indicate the Maya had boats and paddles, but there is no evidence of sails. Their settlement of offshore islands also indicates the use of boats. Overland transportation was by trails and sacbes (limestone causeways). Human porters, sometimes slaves, were used to carry goods.

Religion and ritual

The Maya had a pantheon of gods, but the Maya king was the most important ritual figure. Fasting, bloodletting, and vision quest were carried out by the royal Maya at important state events, notably accession to the throne, marriage, the birth of a child, and death. The public display of royal Maya bloodletting, with a stingray spine, rope, or obsidian blade piercing the tongue, penis, ear, or other soft body part, is recorded on stelae and other carvings and on Maya pottery vessels.

Science and technology

The Maya had a complex mathematical system involving the advanced concept of zero as well as a complicated calendrical system. Technologically, the Maya had no domesticated draft animals and did not use the wheel, either for transportation or in the production of pottery vessels, which were produced by hand using the coil technique. The Maya were sophisticated craftspeople whose skill was reflected in their pottery and chert stone tools and also in their organization and construction of temples and palaces.

Settlements and social structure

Maya settlement patterns reveal a hierarchical social structure. Each geographic region had a capital with towns and villages located around it, owing political and economic allegiance to that city. Trade, as well as fairs and religious events, was focused on the city.

Sports and entertainment

Ball courts are a feature of Maya cities but not of smaller communities. Located at the city center, the ball game was an important political event, with the cost of losing sometimes being death. The game was played with a rubber ball, and the players had elaborate gear. Depictions of the ball game in progress can be seen in carvings at the ball court at Chichén Itzá. The ritual significance of the ball game is tied to the origin myth of the Maya hero twins recorded in the Popul Vuh, a historic text.

Trade and commerce

Although most of the everyday goods and resources were obtained from nearby locations, obsidian, jade, exotic pottery, marine resources, and mercury were obtained from distant areas by the elite and were displayed as status symbols. Some exotics, such as obsidian, a volcanic rock used to make sharp-edged blades, were traded even to the common Maya. Trading ports along the Caribbean include Wild Cane Cay and Cozumel.

Visual and performing arts

The Maya displayed art publicly, from stone or stuccoed masks on temple facades and the brightly colored temples and other public architecture to murals at Bonampak and cave paintings. Multicolored painted pottery was typical of the Classic period, with ritual and historic themes of figures depicted on Late Classic vases, many of which had hieroglyphic writing. Fancy pottery was used in public feasting and ritual ceremonies of the royal Maya, with vessels for chocolate, tamales, and other foods depicted on pottery. Figures were also depicted in relief and sometimes as at Copán, in the round, on stelae, which, along with the hieroglyphs, were historical documents and public statements by the elite Maya. There are artistic depictions of dancers and musicians on pottery vessels and actual musical vessels from Pacbitun and other Maya sites.

War and weapons

By the Late Classic, warfare was endemic among the lowland Maya, with Maya kings competing for control of neighboring cities. The downfall of cities was recorded on stelae at the conquering city. One by one, the Late Classic cities fell, and by 900 c.e., the southern lowland cities were abandoned.

Women’s life

Royal Maya women had power, sometimes by virtue of a marriage alliance with another city or as the mother of a king. They are often depicted in high art involved in rituals and ceremonies. Grave offerings were associated with women of all ranks, reflecting their lineage’s rank. Although analogies between modern or sixteenth century Maya women and the Classic civilization may be questioned, there are artistic depictions showing women involved in a variety of tasks, including weaving and grinding corn.

Writing systems

The Classic Maya had a hieroglyphic writing system that is preserved on stelae and other carved monuments, on pottery vessels, and on some stone carvings. The writing was used to record historical information about the royal Maya and to describe important rituals, but was not about commerce and only incidentally about astronomy and mathematics, as used in the calendars. The ability to read and write was evidently limited to the upper class, as hieroglyphics at some smaller communities were decorative but not real glyphs, indicating that the medium was the message.

Current views

Old views of the empty ceremonial center supported by rural slash-and-burn farmers have been replaced by new views of densely populated cities supported by more intensive agriculture. Reasons for the collapse of the civilization still focus on ecological and demographic problems, but the roles of warfare and climate change are now considered. Once considered a peaceful people focusing on astronomy and mathematics, the Maya as revealed through the decipherment of the hieroglyphs were shown to be a bellicose people. Current examination of the nature of craft specialization and trade of salt, obsidian, chert, and other materials will enhance knowledge of Classic Maya society and economy.

Bibliography

Coe, Michael. The Maya. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1993.

Fash, William. Scribes, Warriors, and Kings. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1991.

Harrison, Peter. The Lords of Tikal. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1999.

McAnany, Patricia, and Barry Isaac, eds. Prehistoric Maya Economies of Belize. Research in Economic Anthropology, Supplement 4. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press, 1989.

Schele, Linda, and David Freidel. A Forest of Kings. New York: William Morrow, 1990.